away for just a bit. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. the prospect of interview appears to be growing. nbc following new information about a possible meeting between president trump and special counsel robert mueller. plus a breakthrough decision after high level talks, north korea has agreed to send athletes to the winter games in south korea next month. and then there's this. >> make up for it. fires to the end zone. touchdown. alabama wins. >> an epic comeback and overtime. crimson tide win another national championship title after stunning victory against the georgia bull dogs.

good morning, everyone. it's tuesday, january 9. this morning, we are learning more about president trump's potential interview with special counsel robert mueller. after nbc report that the legal team is expressing a range of options. including written responses in lieu of formal sit-down. "washington post" reports that mueller is likely to seek a formal interview. now that is according to two people familiar with the talks. the post reports that mueller accompanied by deputy james coral raised the meeting with the lawyers. limited portion of questions possibly within the next several weeks. source familiar with the meeting tells nbc news that the potential timing is still up in the air, but could be within a matter of weeks.

this as nbc news pete williams reports that mueller will have the final say and that the president probably could not refuse a subpoenaed answer to questions. the president could plead the fifth amendment, but in june trump said he will tell the special counsel his story after former fbi director james comey testified before the senate. >> no collusion. no obstruction. he's a leaker. >> would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of those events. 100%. i didn't say under oath. i hardly know the man. i'm not going to say i want you to pledge allegiance. who would do that. think of it. i hardly know the man. it doesn't make sense. no i didn't sena and i didn't say the other. >> so if robert mueller wanted to speak with you about that. >> i would be glad to tell him what i just told you. >> yesterday on "morning joe" spoke about the request at the senate judiciary committee

release the testimony transcripts of fusion gps partner glen simpson who wrote in the "new york times" that he and research firm has been smeared. and that he wanted his testimony to stand in full. yesterday judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley republican from iowa said the transcript would not be made public. witness interviews yet to be completed releasing transcripts could jeopardize the integrity of the committee's work. democrats also expressed concern about the recent criminal referral. sent by grassley and senator lindsey graham to the justice department. grassley responded that neither senator blumenthal anymore sheldon white house have reviewed the classified regarding steal or underlying information on which i was is based so they can't possibly speak to its merits. statement said he hoped to make

the materials available to the senators as soon as possible. despite falling unscrutiny in the russia probe, white house says it reno, ma'am naltedrenom one time deputy national security adviser, mcfarland was nominated for the position last may. stalled over concerns can over her knowledge of trump campaign and russia. in july testified before congress she was not aware of any issues or events surrounding michael flynn's contact with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. indicated mcfarland was aware of a crucial phone call between flynn and kislyak that was intercepted by american intelligence. if mcfarland's nomination moves forward, she will likely have to answer questions concerns what she knew about flynn's conversations with kislyak. republican senator lindsey

graham was on the view yesterday. at one point asked about the russia investigation and mentioned the meeting with the lawyer inside trump tower back in 2016. here's what he had to say. >> there's no evidence of colluding yet. i think mueller should look. you've got to trump tower committee. meeting with several russians. they're afri inoffering to help we have yet to find out if they took up that offer. i think mueller should look at that. >> didn't don junior say, oh, i love it. >> yes, let's see what comes from that. >> would you describe that as treasonous. unpatriotic. >> it's a dumb meeting. i wouldn't have taken it. if someone comes to mow and says the russians would like to help you, i say no thank you. a tweet over the weekend attracted a lot of attention. >> saturday trump called himself like really smart.

and a stable genius. do you think he's like really smart and a stable genius. >> i think this, if he doesn't call himself a genius, nobody else will. >> he ran against 17 republicans and krucrushed us all. he ran against a clinton machine and won. you can say anything you want to say about the guy. i said he was a zen phobic. he won. guess what, he's or president. >> is he still all those things. >> in my view, he is my president and he's doing a really good job on multiple fronts. >> joining us now to talk about the white house reporter from the washington examiner, sara westwood. sort of coming to the defense of the president, but admittedly saying he was very critical of the president at one point. bob corker we'll.

also coming to the defense of the president. do we know what's behind this change of tide for those two men and do you think it's going to last. >> heading to 2018, recognition among republicans that the best way to prepare for a pretty grueling midterm season is to prevent a united front. he's not someone that forgets disloyalty easily. we saw them golf together pretty frequently in the spring and summer of last year. formed as bond as president trump as found himself without allies on capitol hill. corker is another surprising turn around. given how recently corker called president trump someone who is incompetent and potentially leading us towards world war three. shows you how much republicans know they could be in trouble this year. they know that in states like tennessee where bob corker is retiring from the senate. president trump remaining

popular. democrats are going to mount a serious challenge. invest in their candidate. if they're not united, they risk losing the senate and house. >> i can imagine what that flight down to tennessee with bob kocorker must have been lik for him. let's talk about steve bannon. is he a friend or pure enemy. i'm curious to know if there's any indication the white house feels they may want him in the fold to help with 2020. do you see that happening or the white house can do this without steve bannon and his supporters. it's really hard to see what utilities steve bannon could even bring to the table at this point. without financial backers. without political allies. even though he aligns with the populous agenda that president trump ran on and is probably more aligned on policy with president trump than just about any high profile republican figure, it's his methods. tactics that have really dricve

the white house away. he double down on a flawed candidate like roy moore. it was not someone to line up behind. steve bannon's arrogance drove the nail in the coffin. in that statement expressing regret for what he said about don junior. look what was not in the statement. no apology for calling president trump's daughter dumb as a brick. no apology for going after jared kushner's intelligence and business ties. the white house remembers that. spokesman eventually said bannon is past the point of no return. >> a lot of people criticizing saying that really wasn't even an apology. just sort of shifting what he was trying to say. amid the ongoing troubles hanging on president trump, he hit the road and got back into campaign mode. doing what he does best. promoting his agenda and himself. spoke in nashville yesterday. farm bureau 99th annual

gathering. continued the drum beat of big election win in 2016. also claiming that democrats who voted against the newly passed tax bill did so against the interest of farmers. >> every democratic in the house and every democratic in the senate voted against tax cuts for the american farmer and for the american worker, but republicans came together and delivered his torqtoric relief our farmers and middle class. if the democrats ever had the chance, the first thing they would do is get rid of it and raise up your taxes. sometimes by 40, 50, 60% higher than you're paying right now. >> from now on, most family farms and small business owners will be spared. you're going to be spared and really is the word punishment of the deeply unfair estate tax

known as the death tax so you can keep your farms in the family. [ applause ] >> that was a tough one to get. that was a tough one. obviously you love your families or you wouldn't be standing for that one. >> we're streamlining regulations that have blocked cutting edge biotechnology. setting free farmers to innovate thrive and to grow. oh, are you happy you voted for me. you are so lucky that i gave you that privilege. the other choice wasn't going to work out too well for the

farmers. hate to tell you. or the minors or anybody else. >> after that, he headed to the dp game in atlanta where still ahead. roll tide roll. incredible comeback. all the game's highlights coming up. >> winter olympics starts in one month. north korea now planning on sending a team. those stories and a check on weather when we come back. stay with us.

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south korea says that north korea has officially accepted seoul's question that the north send a delegation of high level officials and athletes to the olympic games which begin one month from today.

south korea deputy mun ifcheer g teams. taekwondo. media and others. perhaps an audience group. two north korea figure skaters have qualified for the game so far. in opening remarks, south korean unification minister said the interkorean should be headed to establish reconciliation and peace and north korean counter part said we hope to solve all interkorean issues through dialogue. easing military tensions and the reunion of families separated by the korean war were discussed although no additional details have been released on that. two sides also agreed to reopen military hot line. initial morning talks lasted a little over an hour. second round concluded a few hours ago. timing for a third session of discussion is currently being discussed. trump administration ended tre temporary protection status for salvadorians living in the united states. program was started back in 2001

by president george w. bush after el salvador was hit by two devastating earthquakes. trump administration ended same status for h. act to provide a permanent solution for people who have lived and worked in the united states for years. >> check on the weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, california finally getting enough immediated raneeded rain now potential for mud slides. and bad conditions there. >> san francisco, 24 hour rainfall total. three inches. 3.15. 16 most they've ever had in calendar day. downtown san francisco not something that happens very often. now shifted down to the central coast. waiting to see how bad it's going to be. so far spared around los angeles area. heavy rain north of san diego.

go through the day. we do think it's going to move into the region. the area that had the burn, the big thomas fire, the one that was the largest, the one that had the most acreage went to this area here. now the rain is just starting to move in. a lot of the mountain sides don't have the vegetation to hold the soil in place. if they get the downpours like they think they will. we start to get mud and debris flows. watch the highways to see if they stay open during the day today. in all. 17 million people under flash flood watches. mostly because of the los angeles area. few spots up to the central mountains and a little air in santa rosa just trimmed back. the other story the warmth. finally above freezing. new york city at 33 degrees. first time above freezing since christmas day. extended period of cold come to an end in areas of the east. big thaw. denver at 65 today.

indianapolis at 40. appreciate this. another cold blast coming to the northern plains the beginning of next week. enjoy 41 in minneapolis. chicago 48 tomorrow. cleveland 48. and as i mentioned. that cold does come back, the warmth is very short lived. des moines, look at this. by thursday, friday, saturday. temperatures come crashing back down. so in the east, it looks like our warmest days are friday, saturday. also going to be rainy. >> welcome the warm weather despite the rain. california facing a terrible wildfire season and now the potential mud slides. the united states, 2017 was the costliest year for natural disasters on record after a trio of monster hurricanes and fierce wildfire season. announced yesterday the u.s. endured losses that cost about $306 billion. that's a new record for the country after hurricane katrina and other disasters in 2005 caused about $215 billion in

damage. the noaa also reported last year's disaster killed 362 people in u.s. and puerto rico with the death toll continues to rise as more information is reported from the hurricane ravaged island. now the news coming only weeks after the house passed $81 billion disaster aide package. senate did not take up the bill and now working on its own version. >> we remember how brutal of a summer that was with all the hurricanes. a lot of people still recovering. still ahead. strikes again. surprise move at half time leads to epic finish in last night's national title game. much to the dispoint of two of us here. all the highlights next in sports. shawn evans: it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers,

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meanwhile from the third quarter. throws a deep ball. connects for the 80 yard tou touchdown. bull dogs go up. not so fast georgia. here comes freshman quarterback. he find an open man to tie the game at 20 under four minutes to go. then with three seconds left, for the win, kicker andy does his best ray finkel impression. missing the field goal. wide left. end of regulation. going into overtime. georgia leads by three after a field goal. fires the ball to end zone to smith. 41 yard pass to end the game and that one wome crimson tide wins 17th overall. a spark to the offense

contributing three touchdowns and 166 yards on the night. leading the comeback and to the victory. legendary coach for the most national titles. in college football history at six. mean while the championship drought continues for the georgia bull dogs. never too early to start talking about who will win next year. west gate las vegas super book has alabama as 3-1 favorites to defend titles with georgia next at 9-2. followed by clemson at 6-1 and ohio state 8-1. ayman, you'll get your second chance next year. >> i will say this. amazing game. really excited about the game, all three quarterbacks super i don't think -- young. for the freshman quarterback. got to be huge for him. >> even for hurts. started for alabama. still a sophomore. both teams going to be good for

a long time. >> we're not sore losers. >> talk about coming off the bench. he's a freshman and doing what he did last night. that is a story. >> he's got to be feeling good this morning. that's for sure. >> that's correnks for that. still ahead. what we're learning about president trump's upcoming physical as the white house battles back against questions over his mental health. amid rumors of a possible senate run. sources close to mitt romney reveal he was treated for cancer last summer. those stories and more coming up next.

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welcome back. legal dance underway. between special counsel bob mueller and bid to question president trump directly. >> divide is between what mueller and his team want and what the president's lawyers are willing to offer. even continues to insist there's no collusion, nbc has the details. >> nbc has learned trump may meet face-to-face with special counsel robert mueller. president's legal team and tral investigators met in december to discuss a range of options according to three sources familiar with the matter. options include whether the president would be interviewed directly by the special counsel

or investigations or provide written responses. the location duration and topics. legal experts say it's unlikely investigators would agree to anything other than that an inperson interview. >> prosecutors want a live body in front of them for a lot of reasons, including they want to be able to assess tone and inflection. they want to ask follow-up questions. they want to be able to probe. >> just so you understand, there's no collusion. >> there's a range of pitfalls to the president testifying in person. pointing to former president bill clinton kbwho seemed uncomfortable at times when he appeared before a grand jury. >> it depends upon what the meaning of the word is. >> president trump maybe a unique legal challenge. >> he will go off script. he's very hard to control and control is the key element when

you have a client facing a potential investigation. meanwhile the white house is blasting a report from axios. the president's private scheduled has been dialled back significantly. cutting time in oval office in favor of time watching tv and tweeting. a spokesman calling questions about schedule and work ethic ludicrous. >> thanks tokristen welker for that report. when asked for a press why the president felt excelled to tweet that he was a very stable generalhou generalhou genius, when most of the press calls him unstable and stupid and the record shows quite a difference than what the media is portraying him to be, he comes back with exactly what he is. which is he's brilliant in the business world and as a president. the president's physical is scheduled for friday. be performed by admiral ronny

jackson. first appointed physician to the president for barack obama and now serves president trump. any information about the president's health will be released from his physician and nothing will be released without the president's consent. the white house says psychiatric exam will not be part of the president's physical as political notes if president trump or any other 71-year-old covered by medicare checked on cognitive functions and possible safety risks like depression and other neurological problems. in discussing the president's finance, trump's long time friend and inauguration chairman said quote, it's not mental stability. it's management by controlled and orchestrated chaos. >> president trump is set to meet with bipartisan group of house and senate members later today to discuss striking a deal on immigration preform. ahead of that meeting. two of the top democrats sending mixed sf ed signals. nancy pelosi says he's holding

out hope of extending daca program. protects hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants. speaking yesterday, chuck schumer accused the white house of making unreasonable demands including calling for $18 billion to pay for trump's wall along the southern border. >> the four congressional leaders met with representatives from the white house last thursdays and had encouraging meeting. unfortunately, following that meeting the white house issued a series of unreasonable demands. entirely outside the scope of our ongoing negotiations about daca and board security. it's part of a pattern of behavior on the part of this white house during sensitive bipartisan negotiations. >> republican senator jeff flake says it's not shocking mexico is not paying for the wall has the president had proposed, but called on his colleagues to strike a deal to protect these young immigrants.

>> during the campaign the president talked about building a wall. we all knew at the time mexico was not going to pay for that wall. they're not. that's why the president is asking for $18 billion of u.s. taxpayer money to fund that wall. >> party, no individual is going to get everything that they want. that's the white house won't get everything they want. the democrats in congress won't. neither will the republicans. this will be a compromise. i'm simply suggesting tonight that let's get real about the time involved between now and when we need to fix this. let's not put in a temporary bridge later. >> house foreign affairs chairman republican ed royce of california is not seeking re-election. the 13 terms congressman joins a

growing list of republicans who have decided not to run in this year's midterm races. royce' seat was considered vulnerable after hillary clinton won his district by not that i know points in 2016. after news of royce's retirement, the cook political report has shifted the race from lean republican to lean democrat. meanwhile, republican leaders reportedly urging jd advance to run for u.s. senate in ohio. politico reports that mitch mcconnell has talked to advance about launching a bid against democratic senator brown and other political news former republican presidential candidate mitt romney was treated for prostate cancer last year according to an aide. aide said romney was successfully treated over the summer. news comes as he considers a run for utah's senate seat. democratic hedge fund manager announced he will not run for office in 2018. told reporters he would instead pour $30 million in an effort to

flip the house from republican control. his political group plans to push millennial voter turnout in ten states. including against house speaker paul ryan in wisconsin. white house reporter for the washington examiner, sara westwood. great to have you back with us once again. talk a little bit about the 2018 elections and looking ahead. do you foresee a democratic waive here or is it a little bit overstated. if so, only in the house or do you see that it could actually also favor them in the senate. well, the party of the president historically loses ground the first midterm of a presidency. so republicans were positioned to take some hits. even if you factor out president president trump ee's uniquely unpopular status. that's going to matter. that hillary clinton wan. trump was november popular to begin with. in the senate side, republicans have more or less a dream matt.

more democrats on defense in states that trump won than comfortable for democrats, republicans are hoping to pick off some democrats. and hoping the economic growth wech se we've seen because of tax cuts and deregulation will be a posing force to anti-trump energy and end up looking more like a normal election because those two equal and opposite forces could cancel each other out. hoping they can capitalize on a lot of this anti-trump energy and flip at least the house, if not the senate. >> normal election. what does that look like? >> let's talk budget here sara. given sort of immigration being the sticking point whether it's the funding for the wall or daca from the democrats. do you think there's going be a short-term spending deal here to buy more time. >> well, republicans don't want daca to be in the spending talks at all. they say that immigration has

really nothing to do with appropriations. they want the negotiations to be focused on raising defense budget caps. something they brought to the table and democrats want parody between defense and nondefense budget caps. main sticking point. a lot of democrats recognize if they don't tack on a daca protections to the spending bill, then they may be stuck in a protracted fight over things like the wall, over things like ending the diversity visa lottery program. things republicans really want to stick into a daca bill. democrats best strategy for avoiding that kind of fight is get it in the spending talks. white house and republicans said that's a nonstarter. legislate separately. it's hard to see what they will do. they've had two short-term spending bills. i think they will be reluctant to do that again. >> sara westwood for us, thank you. fire and fury author michael wolff appeared on the late show

with stephen colbert where he was told the president would be tuning in. >> he's walls watching. >> he asked one of the remaining context i have said he asked for me media schedule today. so that might mean that all he's done today is watch me on television. >> however, i don't want to disappoint michael. at the time of the interview, president trump was just returning to the white house from the college football national championship in atlanta where they unfortunately t georgia bull dogs lost. turn to business. educational toy maker v tech agreed to pay a major settlement on internet connected toys. joins us live from london live. what many r can yore can you te this settlement. >> the company is going to be paying two-thirds of a million dollar dollars to the ftc. faced allegations they've been

using and holding on to kids digital data without permission from parents. this is something a lot of parents are concerned about. ftc said worse than that, actually leaving that data liable for cyber hacking which is obviously a huge problem. the commission faced a lot of criticism over the last couple of years for not moving quicker on these kind of cases. this case from 2015 when first alerted about it. a lot of concerns with children's privacy with smartphones out there right now. speaking of critics and kids, the clothing company h and m in a lot of hot water over a sweatshi sweatshirt. they immediately after criticism online pulled the product and photo from the website for seemingly being racially insensitive. a lot of bad pr for h and m here. >> rightfully so. i don't know how that happens.

also looks like trouble on the horizontal for camera maker gopro. cutting a fifth of work force for the second time in two years. what does it mean if the company? obviously they revolutionized being able to take the action shot, but is it in trouble now? >> yes, so essentially that share price has been in a lot of trouble over the last couple of years. this week, reported higher j.p. morgan to consider a sale. saw the sale price drop 30%. come back slightly. ceo has come on and said we are willing to entertain buyout offers. clearly they business model in a lot of trouble. laid off 20% of staff. looks like they're winding down drone business clearly not generated the kind of profits they were looking for. >> live from london, thanks so much. >> i got to say the whole h and m thing is a head scratcher. you have the brightest minds coming. millions of dollars spent and they come up with that. something so incredibly racially

insensitive. unbelievable. still ahead, oprah winfrey for president. not so fast. how her speech as stirred speculation she may be eyeing the white house in 2020. plus bill karins with the weekend weather coming over the country. don't get your hopes up though. let's begin. yes or no? do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? do you want $4.95 commissions for stocks, $0.50 options contracts?

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of the original disease. i never felt i was going to die. we know so much about transplantation. and we're living longer. you cannot help but be inspired by the opportunities that a transplant would offer. my donor's mom says "you were meant to carry his story". welcome back. after oprah's speech on sunday. a lot of us talking about it. growing call for her to run against president trump in 2020. obviously the speculation has been fuelled. her partner hinted at a possible run because he told the la times on sunday. it's up to the people and that she would absolutely do it. so some speculation growing there. a source close to winfrey tells nbc news she has no intention of running for president. some democrats are excited at the prospect of oprah 2020

ticket. former president obama iowa state director brad anderson tweeted at winfrey to call him. democrats were not the only ones blown away by the speech. ivanka trump commented on the remarks. just saw the powering and inspiring speech at the globes. let's all come together, women and men, and say times up. >> i think the source closest to winfrey, we should probably go with what he said to the la times over anything else. >> unless the other source was gayle king. then you would have two conflicting source sgls we need to get gayle king on line to get the confirmation. bill karins, bill, california finally getting much needed rain. it could lead to really dangerous conditions like mud slides and other things. >> just goes into the category, people think california can't really win. droughts. then fires because it's been so dry. or if it's really wet.

grows a lot of vegetation and dries out and gets fires anyway. relief for southwest. water year starts october 1. rainy season begins. usually typically they should be around five inches of rain. they've had 12 hundredth. put me somewhere around an inch to half inch. not blockbuster amounts. that's when we get the debris flows. thomas fire was. this was by far the biggest fire we had and officially the biggest fire in california state history. went from filmore to santa barbara. all these little mountains. that's where we're worried about mud slides and debris covering up highways or heading for homes. so far, so good. as far as the warmth goes, new york city 33 degrees. boston 32. warmest locations have been since december 25. about 350 hours.

and, again, today is going to be in the 40s in these areas. at least heading and warming up in the right direction. with all this cold, yasmin and ayman, the two of you are very intelligent, right? >> a bit of a tossup question. >> a bit of a loaded question. >> it's do you want to explain what this process is here. alligator snout in a frozen pond in north korcarolina. >> i wouldn't want to be there. >> do you know what the terms is when cold-blooded animals go into hibernation. >> it's called broomatian. >> educate you guys one at a time. >> all right. everybody. still ahead, north and south korea coming together for the first time in years for high level talks with one another. live to seoul for details on the diplomatic breakthrough

struck by delegation members on both sides in just a bit. stay with us. and sometimes, i don't eat the way i should. so, i drink boost to get the nutrition i'm missing. boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. all with a great taste. boost gives me everything i need... to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein be up for it

. welcome back and to the korean peninsula, south korean and north korean officials held discussions. the discussions focused on next month's winter olympics in the south. seoul says pyongyang has officially accepted its invitation to participate. >> joining us from south seoul, korea. bill neely.

a lot of build up and anticipation to this meeting. what can you tell us about how it all played out earlier? >> reporter: good morning, ayman, these talks would have seemed unthinkable some months ago. they have yielded some modest results. north korea says it wants to send and will send a team to next month's winter olympics that begin if a month in pyeongchang in south korea. the two sides have also talked about reopening a military hotline that's been closed. that's the second hotline that's been reopened in well just about a week and south korea has suggested reunited families that were separated by the korean war decades ago. so real results there. this is where the talks are not just really about sport, because you know, yes, north korea, for the first time in eight years

will send this delegation of official, athletes, even cheerleaders. south korea's delegation leader began by saying north korea should stop provocative acts. the north korean didn't respond. he said they would use dialogue to try to reduce tensions. the u.s. is under no illusion the state spokesman saying this morning, the u.s. remains clear united states about north korea's track record on goings. time will tell. the suspicions, of course, that the north is trying to drive a wedge between south korea and the u.s., but the prospect, ayman, at least, that there will be north korean team next month's olympics and the two teams may even walk together at the openinger is.. back to you. >> all right. very interesting if development. bill feeley, thank you very much for that. coming up next on "morning joe," more on the bob mueller russian probe as trump's team weighs a range of options with the special counsel.

>> the hurdles in getting the president to speak. the possibility mueller may have to subpoena him. jay johnson joins the conversation. "morning joe," everyone, moments. can we do this tomorrow? ♪ can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven, in the largest heart failure study ever, to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow... ♪ when can we do this again, grandpa?

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. welcome back, everybody. here's the stories you will be hearing in the day ahead. >> we start we house with kristen welker with a look at what's on tap for president trump. good morning. >> reporter: hi, louis, good morning. today, president trump will put the focus on one of his key campaign promises, immigration. he will meet at the white house with a bipartisan group of members of the house and senate to discuss next steps towards immigration reform. the president is pushing for money for his border wall, while democrats are insisting on a fix for daca. the program that helps young people coming here as children. the legal team and federal investigators met in december to discuss a range of options between the president and special counsel or his team. according to three sources familiar with the matter, those options include whether the president would be interviewed directly by the special counsel

or his investigators or provide written response the location, duration and topics. legal experts say it's unlikely investigators would agree to anything other than and in-person interview. a lawyer for the president says they're cooperating with the investigators, they want the russia probe resolved quickly. >> it's interesting to see how that all plays out. meanwhile, president trump's choice for the human service will appear for his hearing. alex azar will go before the secretary committee. they will grill him on hisconnect connections to the drug industry. chris christie is scheduled to deliver his final state of the state address. he is turning control over to democratic phil murphy. he leaves office after a failed rating after a failed presidential run and the grinlgate scandal. >> that does it for us on this

tuesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. he fires into the end zone. touchdown! alabama wins! >> my goodness. good morning, everyone, that was quite a fight last night. who stayed up for it? >> oh, i did. >> did you stay up for it? >> all right the room stayed up for it. >> you are a bulldogs fan, hold on, let me talk to aymon for a bit. he's fought happy, right? >> unfortunately, yeah. >> these alabama-georgia games, the two of the best college games i've seen, you remember the sec championship back in i guess 2012. >> yeah. it's a historic rivalry. sec football arguably one of the best conferences in the country, though. my b