as parent it scares me to death. this body doesn't take seriously the safety of my children. and seems like a lot of parents in south florida will be asking the same question later today. >> chris fur murphy. democratic senator from connecticut. our country lost 17 innocent souls to gun violence. that's our broadcast for tonight. as with every night, thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from new york. good morning, everyone. it's thursday february 15th. i'm ayman mohyeldin and we gwynne this morning with the breaking news out of parkland, florida, where another school shooting has now left 17 people dead this morning. authorities say shots began ringing out at the high school shortly before students were supposed to be dismissed for the day. the gunfire began around 2:30 in the afternoon as fire alarms started going off. florida senator bill nelson told msnbc it was the shooter that pulled the alarm. >> he wore a gas mask and smoke grenades. he set off the fire alarm so the

kids would come out into the hallways and thus he had the opportunity with a crowded hallway to start picking off people. >> when deputies arrived at the school, hundreds of skunts were already fleeing. you can see those imagines on your screen. according to the broward county sheriff's office, the shooter identified at 19-year-old nikolas cruz concealed himself in the crowd and was among those running out of the school. the sheriff's office says 15 victims died, two more died at a local hospital. at least 14 others were injured. investigators are working to identify all of those victims. senator bill nelson who you just heard there a moment ago will be coming up on "morning joe" as a guest in a little bit. >> as yesterday's horrific hooting unfoelted students recounted the fear and the terrifying scenes inside of those hallways as students described how teachers pulled

them to safety. hiding in classrooms and bathrooms and underneath tables as they're slaying classmates lay on the ground. >> i saw two girls dead next to each other holding hands. >> you heard they were best friends. >> i heard that. there was another body in front of me -- there was three on the bathroom door and another one. >> i was just standing there with my teacher. we didn't know what was going on. once we saw the students running, i started to think what's happening. i heard the gunshots. i just ran. >> heard six shots loud, loud shots. after i heard that, oh, my god we got to go so i started running as fast as i can. >> also stories of heroism of bravery. the school's football coach

apparently jumped in front of the students to protect them. he was thought to have lived. he had died. israel did not name the coach, though. >> we're also learning new details this morning about the suspected gunman, nikolas cruz after a massive police maunlt. cruz was taken into custody about an hour after shooting took place. he was believed to be armed with an ar 15 style semi-automatic rifle and multiple magazines. the superintendent of the school said he had been expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons and was enrolled in another school in the district. according to the miami herald, administrators considered him enough of a potential threat that one teacher, in fact, said a warning was e-mailed last year against allowing him on the campus with a backpack. investigators are combing through social media to learn more about cruz. >> he is in custody.

we've already began to dissect his websites and things that social media that he was on and some of the things have come to mind are very disturbing. >> what was it about him that made you think that perhaps there wasn't something right? >> he was just erratic. he was messing with his fingers and talking about doing crazy things. he was never right in the head. >> he got in trouble with shooting his guns all the time. he would bring guns to the school multiple times. >> he was just always crazy. i never got close to him because i always had a feeling there was something wrong. >> let's go now to parkland, florida. good to talk to you this morning. thanks for joining us. talk to us about the details we're learning about yesterday's shooting. >> reporter: we're learning new details about nikolas cruz, the 19-year-old suspect in this shooting. we're learning that he was staying with the family of a friend. that's because both of his parents had been deceased. his father died back in 2004 and

his mother had died in november of last year. now like you mentioned he had been expelled from the high school and had be attending classes else are. that's according to the superintendent of broward county schools. students here described him as a loaner, somebody who kept to himself who was withdrawn from others. some of them described him as, quote, being kind of weird. we are also hearing more details from some of the students who were inside as you can imagine it was a terrifying situation while all this was unfolding. here's what one student had to say about being trapped inside the school while this was happening. take a listen. >> it was right across my classroom, you know. i'm trying to keep, you know -- keep really calm crown. i'm not trying to panic. other kids are going to panic, you know. i'm telling other kids to silent their phone and keep calm. just pray to dwgod. some kids are in pain.

just be quiet, you know. rather deal with the pain and risk a life or multiple lives. >> reporter: obviously the school will remain close for the rest of the week. all the school activities have been canceled. grief counsellors will be on hand and the governor in florida has ordered all flags to be ordered to half staff. >> let me ask you quickly. we know there were 17 fatalities, 15 at the school, two died later at the hospital, what more can you tell us about the conditions of those that remain in the hospitals and those that were injured? >> reporter: a total of 17 people were transported to hospitals, two of those individuals ended up passing away. we're told that five of them have life-threatening conditions at this point. we are expecting to hear more details in a news conference coming up at 10:30 this morning. >> completely terrifying to think about your kids being involved in that school and

getting that phone call. we appreciate you joining us. we'll talk to you again later on in the hour. president trump has reacted to the shooting on twitter writing, quote, my prayers and condolences to the families of the victims of the terrible florida shooting. no child, teacher or any one else should ever feel unsafe in an american school. he followed that up with another tweet shortly after that saying, quote, just spoke to governor rick scott. we are working closely with law enforcement on the terrible florida school shooting. the president did not make any on camera remarks nor was there an official white house press briefing. the regularly scheduled one was canceled because according to press secretary sarah huckabee sanders, quote, we're pretty focused on the florida shooting. however according to the "the new york times" advisers recommended trump say something but he has opted not to. the president does not have any public appearances scheduled for today. our internal white house documents obtained by nbc news show that more than 130

political appointees working in the office of the president did not have permanent security clearance as of november 2017. that includes the president's family members and senior advisers. ivanka trump and jared kushner as well as white house counsel don mcgahn. director of strategic initiatives. the white house would not comment on this. all 47 positions that report directly to the president were working with some form of interim security clearance a year after the transition began. that's about a quarter of all the political appointees and at least 85 in the white house, vice president's office and national security counsel were working without permanent security clearances. 42% of those listed in the documents had only interim security clearances as of november. political reports that a third white house official resigned yesterday after being told that he would not qualify for full clearance. george banks had served as

special assistant to the president since february of last year. chairman of the house oversight committee trey gowdy said, his panel has launched a probe into when the white house knew about the allegations against former staff secretary rob porter. gowdy said i am interested in how someone with credible allegations of domestic abuse, plural can be hired. >> the vice president says the white house chief-of-staff will continue for months to come this as kelly seems to be losing support internally. after white house staffers initially felt porter should resign due to accusations of domestic violence, kelly agreed with another unnamed aide who is concerned actually that future allegations of misconduct could cause more resignations. kelly reportedly told press secretary sarah huckabee sanders to make his tuesday night endorsement of porter even more supportive, two sources also tell the times that kelly ordered an immediate end to new interim security clearances last fall and they resolve any issues

from receiving full clearance raising questions about his ignorance about porter's situation. this as mike pence side stepped a question about kelly's comments but stood by him. >> 100% confident that general kelly has been fully honest and transparent in his explanation of rob porter's departure? >> there are very few americans or american families that have served this nature more honorably or sacrificed more for this country than the family of general john kelly. john kelly's service in uniform, his distinguished service at our department of homeland security where we saw dramatic reduction of illegal crossings at our southern border and his distinguished service as chief-of-staff gives me and the president great confidence in this good man. >> in political terminology that

is a nonanswer. >> nonanswer. >> still ahead, we'll have much more on what we're learning this morning about the deadly mass shooting at a florida high school yesterday including reactions from lawmaker willers. >> and later president trump breaks his silence on domestic violence after praising -- a check on your weather when we come back. experience the 2018 lexus nx

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she was sending us texts like saying i love you, i'm sorry and all that because she didn't think she was going to make it, but she's okay thank god. she was right near the shooter from what she told me he. >> she answered the phone just trembling in shock that she saw people being shot at. >> i texted him when i first got here to see if he was okay. and he told me that he couldn't talk because they were rushing him into the closet to hide. he told me we're still here. we hear gunshots outside of a

classroom. >> again, could not imagine being a parent on the outside of that wondering if your kid is okay, getting text messages saying there's an active shooter. i read from one kid that he had said if i don't make it, mom, thank you for everything you've done for me. >> oh, my god. >> can you imagine? >> i can't. >> welcome back. those are just a few of the parents and students who attend the high school where a mass shooting yesterday left 17 people dead. joining us here on set a journalist and commentator bob gosh. thank you for joining us. i want to take a look at this from an international perspective. how are people overseas reacting to the number of mass shootings that have happened in this country quite far and how does the u.s. compare to other countries with regards to mass shootings? >> well, unfortunately for just as this is true for americans, people around the world have gotten a little used -- the united states makes news because of mass shootings far too often.

there is a direct core lation between the sheer number of guns in the public space in this country and the violence. the u.s. makes about 4.5% of the world's population, 40% of all the gun violence in the world, more than a third around of all mass shootings take place in this country. if you were just, there is only one country in the world that has more mass shootings and that is yemen and yemen is a country that's been under war for three decades. >> we are not in a civil war. >> correct. for the rest of the world, it's gone from a point of shock and horror to a shaking of head. it's america again, which is really very disturbing. >> it seems as if even domestically that feeling is happening, here we go again. >> the fact there's no political solution to this and congress is unable to do anything -- >> that's the other thing that

surprised people. this is a can do country, this is a can-do culture. america has made a name for itself being able to solve problems. why can't this country solve this fundamental problem? that is what people around the world ask. i've just come back from a year and a half of living abroad and during that there were more than a dozen such instances that made international headlines. too often they don't even make the international headlines but there were a dozen who made headlines, why can't you guys fix this? what is the problem here? how can it be -- why is the blame always on the nra? why is that such an insurmountable hurdle? why can't washington fix this? why can't the president, president obama first and now trump, making speeches and want to pray for the grieving and not doing anything? this can-do country. >> we're asking a lot of those same questions as well.

>> let me ask you really quickly. we've seen in the last couple of days some rising tensions between israel, iran and syria. israel carrying out air strikes. it's a volatile situation. what do you see happening there? what is actually happening on the ground? >> it's the last thing that we need, yet another protagonist with israel's air force getting involved. iran was using syria to fly drones into israel and is israel felt that it needed to react to that which is understandable. the most interesting thing to me is that the israeli air force flew one attack raid into syria, wiped out half, more than half of the country's air defenses. >> wow. >> for years now from the obama administration and now we hear that the reason why the united states cannot apply an air blockade on syria to try and prevent the violence on the ground is because the syrian air defenses are too strong. one raid by the israeli air force and they wiped down more

than 50%. that puts things into perspective. >> it is certainly one more development in the region probably cannot handle. great to have your perspectives on both the shooting and what is happening overseas. >> thank you. let's get a check on your weather now with bill karins. it's going to be warm and wet today but the real question is what's going to happen this weekend. >> a lot of questions. i'll explain the uncertainty on that. good morning, everyone. we're waking up to temperatures that feel like april instead of the middle of february. it is at this hour 62 degrees in louisville. that's much higher than it should be in the afternoon even in march we're after 46 in new york, 49 in d.c. you get the picture. very warm throughout the country. unfortunately it's very murky out there. a lot of fog. another one to two inches locally to three in the mountains. flood watch for this area. southern ohio, west virginia, southwest corner of pennsylvania. today's forecast in this jumps out at you, 80 degrees possible today in oklahoma city, 73 in

st. louis but the winter is returning to the northern plains and there is some snow out there to be found. let's talk about this weekend forecast. the storm system will be coming out of the gulf mostly just a rain event as we go throughout saturday into saturday afternoon through tennessee and kentucky. notice by saturday afternoon this starts moving into a colder air mass, snow possible in chicago, maybe a wintry mix around interstate 70 then by saturday night the blue shows you the night. this is our european model and this gives a good dose of snow actually to southern portions of new england. the snow forecast, i'm going to show you two quickly here. this one is the euro. it shows four to eight inches possible. why this is a low confidence forecast, our american gfs model shows nothing. absolutely zip. that's why we call this the low confidence forecast. we have three days to figure this mess out. >> okay. we'll give you three days to figure it out. we'll check back with you in those three days. >> two and a half days, actually. >> you got it. still ahead, when we come

back, powerful reactions from the sports world in the wake of yesterday's horrific school shooting including call for change from one all star who actually attended the high school. sports is next. crohn's disease. you're more than just a bathroom disease. you're a life of unpredictable symptoms.

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day in schools. it's not enough apparently to move our leadership, our government, the people running this country to actually do anything. that's demoralizing. >> it was golden state warrior head coach steve kerr delivering a powerful statement yesterday following the mass shooting at marjory stoneman douglas high school in parkland, florida. it left at least 17 dead and 14 more injured. kerr also stated that a solution is voting for people to focus on, quote, real safety issues not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars. and chicago cubs first baseman anthony rizzo, a 2007 graduate from marjory stoneman douglas high school tweeted his support for his alma mater urging them to, quote, stay strong. but like kerr he added, quote, this is out of country and our country is in desperate need for change and the ripple effects of the florida shooting reached team usa athletes including figure skaters the skaters found out about the shooting before

they competed for a medal in the pairs free skate competition. although the pair became the first americans to land a quad twist, they failed to medal coming in 15th. alexa tweeted that her thoughts were with the victims and prayed for the hearts and the mourners to be lifted up, however, team usa was able to add another piece of hardware to its collection, 22-year-old mikaela shiffrin won the gold medal in the giant slalom for her second career olympic title. she finished .39 faster than the second place finisher. she is out to defend her title from the 2014 sochi games this friday and shiffrin has the potential to end these olympics with five medals, even with the gold medal from shiffrin the u.s. remains in fifth overall in the medal count. norway leads with 16 overall and germany leads in the amount of gold medals with eight. >> thanks for that. obviously the sports world reacting even from the olympics athletes reacting to what happened here. >> when you see things happening

at home and you're overseas, it's difficult to take that all in. >> absolutely. still ahead, we're looking at reports that president trump is eyeing the proposal to hike the federal gas tax to help to pay for his infrastructure plan. >> we'll go to parkland, florida, once more for the very latest on the mass shooting at the marjory stoneman douglas high school. we'll be right back. your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. hnew litter?lled this no. nobody has! it's unscented! (vo) new tidy cats free & clean unscented. powerful odor control with activated charcoal. free of dyes. free of fragrances. tidy cats free & clean. when no scents makes sense.

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welcome back. we're still following that breaking news out of florida. it is the bottom of the hour. let's get back to the breaking news in florida. a 19-year-old is in custody right now after at least 17

people were killed in another deadly mass shooting. the shots rang out at the high school yesterday. gunfire reportedly began around 2:30 in the afternoon shortly before students were supposed to be dismissed for the day. the chaos started when a fire alarm began to sound. there had been a fire drill earlier in the day. hundreds of students were already fleeing according to the sheriff's office, the shooter concealed himself in the crowd and was among those running out of the school. >> i was just standing there with my teacher. we didn't know what was going on but once we saw the students running. i started to think what's happening and then i heard the gunshots and i was like oh, my god. i just ran. >> i heard six shots, loud, loud shots. after i heard that, i was like we got to go. i started running as fast as i can. >> the sheriff's office says 15 victims died at the school. two more died at the hospital. at least 14 others were injured. right now investigators are working to identify all of the

victims. >> so part of this massacre was captured in graphic detail. video of students hunkered down inside a classroom screaming in fear as gunshots rang out in the background have emerged. the video is 11 seconds. and before we play it, we have to warn you that it is extremely difficult to watch. >> holy [ bleep ]. oh, my gosh! oh, my god! [ shots ] [ screams ] >> my god, those screams just terrifying. >> bone-chilling. joining us now is correspondent mya rodriguez. as the hours tick on we are learning more and more about the suspect involved in yesterday's shooting. talk to us about that. >> reporter: we are learning is that police say they recovered an ar-15 from the shooter from this scene that was used in yesterday's mass shooting. this is the deadliest mass

shooting at a school in florida in its history. we're also learning that even though we know that nikolas cruz was a former student here, he was no longer here. he was attending classes at a different school and he was staying with a friends family. that is because his mother passed away in november of last year, his father had passed away back in 2004. students that remembered cruz from his time here at marjory stoneman douglas high school tell us that he was a loner. he kept to himself. he was withdrawn. some of them described him as being sort of a weird person. they did not want to get to though him better because he was so awkward around them and had a tendency to say strange things to them. students, of course, have been just dealing with all of the fallout from this. the trauma that they went through. take a listen to what some of them went through as they were at the school when this was unfolding. take a listen. >> we head outside two or three minutes later start hearing

gunshots. everyone is confused and panicked. some people started running, some people stayed back. as soon as the gunshots continued people started running away. >> reporter: and we do know that 15 people do remain in the hospital at this point. hospital officials here in broward county are telling us that five of those in the hospital are facing life-threatening injuries. >> let me ask you really quickly, i know in these moments of tragedy there are also moments of heroism from inside the school. obviously all of it compounded by fear but what have you learned from students and what acts of bravery and heroism have emerged from this horrific or deal? >> reporter: we've heard from students that teachers were trying to shield them from the bullets, others saying that teachers knew something was wrong. there had been a fire drill here at the school earlier in the day and there was a fire drill again that was pulled when the shooting started.

police say that it was the suspect, they believe who did activate the fire alarm that second time. teachers figured out that something wasn't right. they immediately kept the kids inside the classroom and preventing them from going out into the shooting itself. >> thank you very much for all those details. >> thanks for some of those heroics. more lives would have been loss if they didn't keep the students in the classroom. it's unclear what, if any, this impact is going to have on the governor race, there are clear divisions in the reaction to the shooting with some candidates offering prayers and condoll loenss and others calling for action. terrible day in parkland with a devastating loss of life. the teachers and first responders who stood in harms way to protect students are heroes. from republican adam putnam. prayers for all the students, teachers and staff at the marjory stoneman douglas and to our first responders. be safe and god speed. from tallahassee, the mayor

who's seeking the democratic nomination for governor, quote, while i am prayerful for them i am not satisfied with that singular act. i am not satisfied with the status quo of politicians sending thoughts and prayers to victims of gun violence while they cash campaign checks from the gun lobby. we must act to prevent these traegz. and from progressive businessman chris king, quote on days like this prayers are not enough. thoughts are not enough. our broken hearts are not enough. there will be no moment when it is right to address this crisis in we continue to allow these shootings to happen. we need to act. and here's from a miami beach mayor fill lip levine calling on the state to give more local leaders more power to act. >> we have to ask ourselves a question, have we done everything we can do to make our schools as safe as possible. i can tell you that mayors and elected leaders aren't legally allowed to do anything to make

gun ownership more responsible. if they do, they're under penalty of removal from office and significant fines. so then we have to ask ourselves, what are they doing in tallahassee? we've had over 14 school shootings now since 2010. the time is now for us to act and i call upon tallahassee, let your local elected leaders make sure that in their communities we have responsible gun ownerships so catastrophes like what happened today does not occur again. >> senator chris murphy of connecticut who's an outspoken advocate for gun law reform especially in the wake of sandy hook delivered a very passionate address yesterday on the senate floor moments after the students as students were still being evacuated. >> turn on your television right now you're going to see scenes of children running for their lives. what looks to be the 19th school

shooting in this country and we have not even hit march. let me just note, once again for my colleagues, this happens nowhere else other than the united states of america. this epidemic of mass slaughter, this scourge of school shooting of after school shooting. it only happens here not because of coincidence, not because of bad luck, but as a consequence of our inaction. we are responsible for a level of mass atrocity that happens in this country with zero parallel anywhere else. as a parent it scares me to

death that this body doesn't take seriously the safety of my children and it seems like a lot of parents in south florida are going to be asking that same question later today. >> murphy also later tweeted, quote, don't tell me tomorrow isn't the appropriate time to debate gun violence. if you're a political leader doing nothing about this slaughter, you are an accomplice. jim heinz reacted. >> i will would tell you there's sort of a sense of resignation here right now. the pattern will be perfectly predictable. there will be a moment of silence. people will wish everybody thoughts and prayers and sympathy for the victims and then the congress of the united states will do absolutely nothing. >> it's a bad day and south florida is hurting and here we go again and every time as you say one of these mass shootings, we say enough is enough and then

it happens again. >> trying to make this about policy and about gun control. is this the appropriate time to be doing that? >> it's not only because people don't -- they don't know how this happened. who this person is, what motivated them, how did they get ahold of the weapon for this attack? i think it's important you know all of that before you jump to conclusion that there's some law we could've passed to prevent it. >> coming up on "morning joe," bill nelson, tim kaine and jim hiemz who is the governor of the shooting at the virginia tech. when a gunman killed 20 first graders and six adults back in 2012, the shooting is the 18th time a firearm was discharged on a school campus so far this year. i'm going to say that again, the 18th time a firearm was

discharged on a school campus so far this year. twice as much as this time last year. the "the new york times" since newtown there has been more than 273 school shootings nationwide in those shootings, 439 people were shot, 121 of those were killed. 12 of the 273 school shootings are considered mass shootings where four or more people were shot on an average since 2014. there has been seven school shootings each month. we'll have more on the shooting coming up. switching gears now, earlier yesterday president trump broke his silence on domestic violence after earlier praising a former aide accused by two ex-wives and bemoaning the stigma of what he called mere allegations. he responded to reporter's invitations to respond after ignoring earlier requests. >> thank you all very much. >> mr. president, why have you not spoken out against domestic violence? do you believe the women?

>> we're leaving. >> i oppose domestic violence and everybody here knows that. i am totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind. everyone knows that and it almost wouldn't even have to be said, so now you hear it, but you all know it. thank you all very much. >> switching gears here responding to a question about russian meddling yesterday, vice president mike pence made a false claim about the intelligence community's assessment of the 2016 election. >> the first thing we all agree on is that irrespective of efforts that were made in 2016 by foreign powers, it is the universal conclusion of our intelligence communities that none of those efforts had any effect on the outcome of the 2016 election. >> but in his january 2017 assessment, u.s. intelligence agencies said they did not reach that conclusion nor did they

consider that question. the cia had to clarify that assessment remain the same after director mike pompeo made a similar claim last october, so far pence has not clarified. still ahead, elizabeth warren addresses her claim about native american heritage. what she says about her last comment and her last shot at president trump over his attacks on the matter. bill karins will be back with a check on the forecast including falling temperatures for some parts of the country. stay with us. this is the story of green mountain coffee roasters dark magic told in the time it takes to brew your cup.

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prospect of the gas tax saying in a statement, quote, while there are a number of issues on which president trump and i disagree, we agree that things worth having are worth paying for and the president even offered to help provide the leadership necessary so that we could do something that has proven difficult in the past. a federal gas tax was last raised by 25 years ago, conservatives are unlikely to support the measure especially since it would offset their only big legislative achievement under the president's plan so far which is the recent tax cuts. still the white house says, everything is on the table. >> senator elizabeth warren is defending her claims of native american anses tri. the senator also condemned president trump for using the name quote, poke ca hon tas as a slur against her. >> we have a president who can't make it through a ceremony honoring native american war heroes without reducing native

history, native culture, native people to be the butt of a joke. the joke i suppose is supposed to be on me. and i get why some people think there's hey to be made here. you won't find my family members on any roles and i'm not enrolled in a tribe. i respect that distinction. i understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes and only by tribes. >> the senator once claimed that her mother had cherokee blood but cred only said that her mother was part native american. she added, quote, i never used my family tree to get a break or to get ahead. i never used it to advance my career. >> let's get a check on your weather now with bill karins. you say we could have some snow this weekend but there's some reporting on that. >> areas in the northeast it could be in the 60s today, get snow over the weekend and be 60s

or maybe even 70s next week. so it's going to be quite a little swing here. unbelievable warmth already. it's 59 in charlotte this morning. just incredible warmth. a lot of clouds and rain today. flood watch in effect from pittsburgh to columbus and through west virginia. today's forecast is still winter in the northern plains, minneapolis to billings still cold but the armth from texas all the way through the east coast. very cloudy and murky. a lot of fog out there. tomorrow some of that colder air sneaks through the great lakes and arrives in the northeast. there will be showers out there but still very mild throughout the southeast. as we get into the weekend, this is our european computer model. this one is saying of decent heavy snow event, heavy wet snow too. four to eight inches from boston, southern new england, new york city included, philadelphia to d.c. our american model was saying hardly anything but that comes in every six hours. we just got the new updated and now it is actually showing a little bit of snow.

before it was snowing nothing. this is four inches, the purple, the mountains and the poke owe knows. i-95 is a rain event. still is hinting at the potential of rain event. someone in southern new england or the northern mid-atlantic will be dealing with a heavy wet snow saturday night. >> thanks for that. another trump cabinet member is facing criticism of high price expense. secretary david shulkin covered up the price tag for an overseas trip and epa scott pruitt speaks out on his pen chant for first class flights. and at our factory in boston, more than a thousand 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, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less,

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welcome back. the secretary of veterans affairs david shulkin is set to appear on capitol hill this morning. he's lickly to be grilled over the revelations his chief of staff allegedly altered a letter the price to bring his wife on an overseas trip. misrepresenting the purpose of a trip to europe last year so shulkin's wife could accompany him and his staff at the taxpayers'expense. the doctored e-mail made it appear that he was receiving an award from the danish

government. the i.g. report said he improperly accepted tickets to wimbledon. during the trip to england and denmark, the i.g. said it began investigating the issue after receiving an anonymous tip. some investigators said that the secretary and the staff put out misleading details to the heed ya. the v.a.'s press secretary said all of shulkin's trip activities were reviewed and approved by the ethics committee. >> so shulkin has denied any wrong doing and responded to the report's findings in his own report to the secretary general. the latest top trump administration official to come under fire for costly t

taxpacker-funded travel mike coffman has called on shulkin to resign. it's exactly corruption and abuses like this that doesn't help our veterans. >> what was that thing, drain the swamp. another one of the cabinet members is breaking his silence on high-priced flying at the taxpayers' account. epa administrator scott pruitt said he needs to fly first class because of unpleasant interactions with other travelers. he cited incidents on flights shortly after he was picked by president trump on the move. he told a local tv station that the decision was made by his agency's security team. now pruitt confirmed he flew first class from washington

boston before continuing on to new hampshire to meet with the state's governor. detailed some of the travel expenses, expenses include more than 1600 first-class seat for a short flight in june from washington d.c. to new york city. six times. six times what the epa paid for his aides to sit in couch. pruitt is the first epa administrator to have a 4-hour security detail. he's taking other security details. a soundproof privacy booth to prevent eavesdropping on his conversation. >> lots of precautions taken there. coming up next on morning joe, another community reeling after another deadly school shooting. a gunman opened fire leaving at

least 17 people dead. what the gunman's possible motive may have been. congressman jim himes join the conversation after this latest mass shooting, if congress will take any action. nope. don't we need to run? nope. it just explodes in a high pitched 'yeahhh.' yeahhh! try directv now for $10 a month for 3 months. no satellite needed.

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welcome back before we toss over to "morning joe" as we mentioned moments ago, the va chief goes ahead of congress to discuss his agency's budget. he'll be grilled about the trip to europe last year. meanwhile, treasury secretary steve mnuchin will also be on the hill, laying out the trump administration's budget plans. the alleged international drug trafficker known as el chapo is due back in federal court today. he'll appear for a pre-trial hearing.

all right, that does it for us on this thursday morning. "morning joe," everybody, starts right now. i was sitting there with my teacher, we didn't know what was going on. once we saw the students running, i heard the gunshots and i was like, oh, my god, i just ran. >> i heard six shots loud, loud shots. after that i heard that, i was like, we got to go. i started running as fast as i could. >> all the kids came inside the room, everything, teachers pulling us in and telling us to be quiet. >> oh, i hope the other kids are okay. oh, my god. but at least 17 students and teachers were not okay. yesterday's school shooting in parkland, florida, left at least 17 people dead and 14 others injured. authorities say, shots began ring