be stressed about right now. >> why stress on tomorrow when tomorrow hasn't even come? >> did you see her when she went to the prom? how did she look? >> she looked beautiful. >> you would never recognize that she has xp. >> yeah. for real, though. >> these kids all hope for a brighter future, but look around at where they are now and you realize, they're already in a special place that's just as bright. that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm lester holt. thanks for watching. good morning. i'm gigi stone woods in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it is 7:00 out east, 4:00 out west. here's what is happening. breaking news out of syria where the state department is monitoring reports of a chemical attack that may have killed dozens. we'll have the latest. and a deadly fire in trump tower in new york. details on where the first family was when the flames broke out. and is john kelly coming undone? new reports of the chief of staff blowing up, threatening to quit. meanwhile -- >> the president feels that the

administrator has done a good job at epa. >> justified. why the president doubled down on the epa chief and what he's doing about the excessive spending. we begin with breaking news from syria. u.s. state department officials are keeping a possible eye on a chemical attack against civilians. dozens were killed and 22 young children are among the dead. the place took place in the city of douma near the capital damascus. syrian government forces have been bombing the area since friday. according to reports, barrel bombs were dropped on shelters and hospitals. nbc's tammy lightner. >> reporter: barrel bombs were dropped near shelters, but the

latest reports have it as more than 40 people dead. the video coming out of there is horrick. many pictures of children and infants being hosed off, which is typically what we see when there's a chemical attack. many have the paralyzed stares that we have come to know. but it is not severe what that i have been told. state media is denying reports. we know there are a number of families hiding in shelters, so there could be a high number of casualties. reports on the ground indicate a number of injuried and death and that the death come out. the syrian government has well as the russian state government

have consistently deny ied, but there have been 200 attacks since the syrian war began. this comes a day after the civilian military for an attack last april nearly killed eight people. it's the last major rebel group in this area. eastern ghouta began evacuating last week, but there is still ongoing fighting request holdouts in douma. gigu? >> it's a horrifying scene, tam put leitner, thanks. and new details on just how bad the relationship with chief john kelly is now out. the report shows how john kelly faded as white house dp

disciplinary. then i'm out of here, guys, kelly apparently said. some interpreted it as a resignation threat, but according to a senior administration festival. he was leavinging, early just to be home. coming to the balance of spending more than husband predecessor -- his predecessor. scott is doing a great job. president trump also defending his plan to secure the u.s. border with mexico. now this weekend hundreds of national guard troops are being deployed there with the pentagon calling for thousands more to join them.

and myra rodriguez has more. >> reporter: national guard troops are heading to the reporter. >> the texas national guard is preparing to immediately deploy with supporting aircraft, vehicles and equipment to the region. >> reporter: it could be a several months-long bulletin. norma who helps members across the border has concerns. >> i don't know that our community is the answer. >> reporter: this comes amid a sharp increase in the board es up 203% since then.

the group of migrants heading to the border stopped their journey. one of the organizers here saying, no one is worried about the national guard. he, donald trump, works everything into a circus. the migrants say the president justified useing this. republican-led states by arizona, new mexico and california didn't governor so --

>> shawn, we want to talk about president trump attacking democrats on the border issue last night saying we're sealing up the southern border. people of the great country want safety and security. the dems have been a disaster on this very important issue. now, shawn, if this is a preview to the midterms, what is the president basing this calculation on? >> well, it's unclear what he's sort of thinking going toward november, but one possibility is that he is trying to fire up the republican base, the conservative base. if you look at the way he's talked about immigration, he's eager to pick a fight with democrats. immigration is an issue. border security is an issue that really, really impassions the base. so he's laying the ground for the argument that will excite his base. the risk is that immigration and border security is something that also stirs a lot of passion on the democratic side. there's already a lot of anger

when it comes among liberal voters. he may think, i'm firing up my base, but at the same time he's risking the other side to come out against his party in the midterms. it's a risky move. we'll see what his ultimate plan is moving to the mud terms -- midterms. >> we'll see if they take the ang tore the polls. in a new report, it says, sources who discussed it with trump say it, quote, freaked him out to see the unusually array. but it did little for his signature promise to build the wall. now, julia, the bill being the $1.3 trillion omnibus, but what do you make of that report in terms of understanding president trump's decision on the border? >> right. well, it makes a lot of sense.

commentators on fox news take this very seriously. and the president did not necessarily have a defeat but had a setback in the only us in spending bill. he only got a small portion of the border along the war. we see that he's obviously had a few wins during his administration, especially in tax reform. the appointment of neil gorsuch. however, i think immigration is very important to his base. and he really needs a win prior to the mid--term elections. however, it does risk him galvanizing his opponents on the left. however, to mya's point in her package previously aired, a lot of progressives really went

after president obama even for not sending enough troops to the -- it is interesting to see how president trump's opponents have really attacked president obama and the left for not being tough on immigration. however, we see pump reemore on story. >> john kelly and his deteriorating influence in the white house. this comes from leanne who said, when you lose that power, you are told what to do. as an intern, that seems like a

stretch. what is going on? >> well, when you look back at when john kelly was hired as the chief of staff. there was so much turbulence in the white house. they were fighting each other and here is somebody who sort of imposed things to go a certain way. when i talked toly makers and republicans on the capitol hill, they sensed that things were going better. but we have seen that change and kelly has not been able to create this cycle in the white house where it does not matter who is in charge in terms of the top aides. there's going to continue to be a lot of turbulence and final

say is done by president trump. w i think what we see and is happening with kelly raises the question, can anybody restore a traditional whose really only the white house can know. >> julia, why do you think john kelly is still there? he's lasted longer than reince priebus who had less trials but still was fired in ten months. >> obviously, there are times when the president consults with john immigration, he

was the former president of co land security. and they have a number of differences on how president trump's leads. trump dearly does not want pruitt to really try to, i guess, satisfy the basis. however, they consult on a variety of policy issues and the president sees something valuable in kelly like that. >> they certainly have different styles. thank you so much. in a few minutes, we'll talk hs.

and coming up, we'll talk about trump tower and where the flames broke out. her. we needed a car that would last long enough to see it all. (avo) subaru outback. ninety eight percent are still on the road after 10 years. come on mom, let's go! 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.

new details now in the fire at trump tower in new york city. one person was killed and six more injured after flames broke out late saturday afternoon. three firefighters were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries. no members of the first family were in the building. president trump took to twitter to thank the firefighters tweeting, fire at trump tower is out. very confined, well built building. fire minneso firemen and women did a great job, thank you. the fire started inside a residential apartment not equipped with a sprinkler system. investigators are still trying to figure out the cause. back to breaking news of the alleged chemical attack on civilians in syria. activists accuse the syrian government of dropping barrel bombs with a chemical agent on

civilian shelters and a hospital. they say dozens were killed including 22 children. they have released videos of deceased victims and people being treated. douma has been under sincere gunfight since friday. joining me is jack jacobs, msnbc military analyst. thank you for joining me. the syrian forces deny the government forces were available, instead blaming white helmets. that doesn't seem plausible, what do you think? >> it doesn't seem plausible at all considering the russians and the syrians control all the air space. nobody else flies there. and the syrians have done this many, many times before. it's totally implausible denial. >> absolutely. and u.s. officials are saying the reports confirmed are clearly horrifying and demand an immediate response by the international community. do you think we can expect a

u.s. missile strike like the one that followed april's last chemical attack. >> well, we did it last time. and if left up to general mattis, we would respond in the same way. but it is curious about what the president's response will be and whether or not he will permit general mattis to go ahead and retaliate with a missile strike. it will be interesting to see what happens in the next couple of days. every bets that there will be a strike to retaliate, but it remains to be seen whether or not the president wants to, wants to give the russians and the syrians a bye. >> this comes just days after president trump said he wants to withdraw u.s. troops from syria, narrowing the timeline to six months. so this doesn't seem realistic at this point. >> we can do it, but the

question is whether or not we should do it. general mattis is opposed to it. military people are generally opposed to it. part of the problem is that we almost have isis completely on the run. solidifying the gains can only be possible if we stay there another six months to a year at least. if we pull out now, we are leaving the kurds and our allies on the border of turkey to the whims of the turks. we are going to continue to argue extraneously about pulling out now and give up the gains we have made over the last few years. >> certainly a difficult situation. colonel jacobs, thank you for explaining this to us. up next, new information about the facebook security breach and what to expect when founder mark zuckerberg heads to capitol hill this week.

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cambridge analytica's co founder is speaking out once again, suggesting the facebook personal data breach is far worse than has been reported this past week. so here's christopher wiley in a "meet the press" interview airing later this morning. >> do you believe the number, 87 million, is the high end or do you think that is still possible that number is much higher? >> i think that it could be higher. absolutely. there is, you know, a genuine, you know, a genuine risk that this data has been accessed by quite a few people. and that it could be store in various parts of the world. >> great. his comments come ahead of facebook co-founder mark zuckerberg's appearance before three congressional appearances starting with the senate judiciary committee on tuesday. we'll bring back julie manchester and john sullivan.

it appears all of us have been compromised on facebook, or a lot of people have. julia, what do you think of mark zuckerberg's testimony? will this do a lot to move the ball forward? all eyes are on him. >> it is interesting because we don't see mark zuckerberg give a lot of public interviews. he likes to stay behind the scenes and leave it to facebook's pr team. so it will be interesting to see how he handles the testimony. i think we have seen congress really go after a lot of firms in silicon valley for their conduct during the 2016 election. so it will be interesting to see how he conducts himself, what he reveals. i think we have seen facebook really try to put on a very strict buttoned-up pr defense in the last couple of days. and we'll really have to see if that flies by congress this time. >> yeah, it's going to be very difficult situation to explain yourself out of it. sha sean, what should we expect from

congress as soon as these herings wrap up in terms of the investigation? >> we'll see what congress does. when they come back after a two-week recess, they sort of wound down major legislation that they're planning. in the senate, the confirmation hearings with mike pompeo and others, we'll see what comes and develops on the hill, if anything, in the next few months. >> julia, i want to ask quickly about mike pompeo's congressional hearing for secretary of state on thursday. is this going to be smooth-sailing or a few bumps? >> he will oppose the pompeo process and democrats have come out to support pompeo. that will do it for me.

i'm gigi stone woods. thank you for watching. at the top of the hour, it is "politics nation." his guest is steph curry from the golden state warriors. you don't want to miss it. yo "your business" is next. what does life look like during your period? it's up to you, with tampax pearl. you get ultimate protection on your heaviest days and smooth removal for your lightest. tampax pearl and pearl active. for up-to 100% leak-free work outs.

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