rudy giuliani makes the first rounds. didn't recall out the possibility that michael cohen paid off other women on behalf of the president and much, much more. >> and has pell decided to stick with it after a weekend phone call from the president. >> and the dangerous lava shows no signs of slowing down. at least 26 homes have been destroyed as the lava flows much closer to residential neighborhoods.

>> good morning, everyone. it's monday, may 7th. we begin with president trump's new attorney. rudy giuliani saying that mueller should be shut down. on friday, judge ellis in the eastern district of virginia suggested the real reason mueller is pursuing manafort is projecting him to sing against president trump but strategy is a time honored defense. you don't really care about mr. manafort, the judge said, you really care about what information mr. manafort can give you to lead to mr. trump and his eventual profession cushion and impeachment.

the special council has unfetterred power to do whatever he wants. >> the judge in sum and substance said this is a witch hunt. and quite correct, attorney general sessions should step up and dismiss this entire investigation. there's no evidence of any of the things you're talking about. the only evidence -- the only crimes are committed by the government which is why the judge is so outraged. i wouldn't be surprised if he didn't dismiss that case. >> so the president's attorney visited with the president at the glofl club in virginia yesterday. he told the washington post quote, he stays focused on iran, north korea and china and we'll bother him when we have to. however on friday trump was eager to speak with reporters

about the case and cast mueller's prosecutors as biased partisans. watch this. >> i want to talk to the people in charge if they can prove that it's a fair situation. the problem we have is that you have 13 people, they're all democrats and they're real democrats, angry democrats and that's not a fair situation. >> and there are new questions about michael cohen's role as donald trump whether he maintained a secret slush fund to make damaging stories disappear during the campaign. the journal reports that in february of 2016 cohen nearly doubled the amount of credit he could use on his condo. he opened another for a half million dollars. three months before that the journal reports that cohen gained access to another

$529,000 tied to his wife's parents' mortgage. >> cohen is under investigation in a broad case that involves the payments of stormy daniels and the play mate who claims she has happen affair with donald trump. prosecutors and the fbi are examining whether cohen committed bank fraud by misstating the intended purpose of the loans like when he claimed to use a home equity line of get to pay stormy daniels. giuliani was asked about the retainer the president used to reimburse michael cohen. >> did michael cohen make other payments to other women. >> i have no knowledge of that. this is the kind of thing that i've settled for celebrities and

famous people. every lawyer that does that kind of work has. >> this was basically common place, the president had effectively a slush fund that administered by michael cohen and that he would just be expected to take care of these things. they were a regular occurrence. that in and of itself should be very disturbing. most people of weltd and celebtity, they don't have extramarital affair slush funds and the suggestion is unsulting. >> two people familiar with a arrangement pell the new york times that president was aware of the payment to the porn star months before he denied it. the time says that the chief financial officer has known since last year the details of how cohen was being reimbursed which was mainly through

payments of $35,000 per month. the reimbursement to cohen totaled $470,000 leaving it unclear what the payments were for. new the trump legal team declined to comment on the story. president trump claimed the stories driven by giuliani's statements were mistaken. >>. >> you're going to find out because you know, we're going to give a full list and people know and virtually everything said has been said incorrectly and it's been said wrong or it's been covered wrong by the press. >> now, later giuliani put out a description that it reflected his understanding of the situation, not the president's. >> let's add one more thing to the mix. stormy daniels' appearance on saturday night live.

>> i can take it from here. >> as your attorney i highly advise against you -- >> so what up, girl. just tell me what do you needs for this to all go away? >> a resignation. >> yeah, right. i solve north and south korea but can i solve us? >> sorry, donald it's too late for that. i know you don't believe in climate change but a storm's a coming baby. >> starting off with what up girl is the best. giuliani appeared on abc to deflect from this awkward exchange. >> the president does acknowledge meeting stormy daniels. correct? >> i'm not really involved in the daniels thing so i don't know. i mean, he denies that it happened. she has written a letter denying

it. >> we do have a pick coeur of th -- picture of them together. >> there's the picture. >> looks like my friend donald trump before he was president but -- and that looks like the woman who was on saturday night last night. i think she kind of -- >> giuliani not knowing where to go on that thing. i think there needs to be a point where he says i don't really have a lot of knowledge about the situation. >> daniels' lawyer says the cameo will not harm his case setting trump's own snl appearance during the election. >> daniel, good to have you with

us on this busy monday morning. let's talk a lot about what rudy giuliani has been doing. he add viewed trump to steer clear of talking about the investigation and trump immediately spoke to the press about it. what does this tell you about the legal team? >> you saw giuliani say yesterday on this week that every lawyer in america would tell trump not to speak to mueller and trump may just speak to him because he thinks he did nothing wrong and so clearly the legal team on strategy is not working because they are just more questions and so when giuliani tells bob costa and everybody's talking about me and it's not exactly working because people are criticizing what rudy is saying and it's quite a turn around who was america's mayor

to become for trump. >> a lot of people are comparing giulia giuliani's time in the white house to a shorter stent that we can predict. trump is said to have known about the payment to stormy daniels months before actually denying it on air force one when he was asked by reporters there. what do you make of this back and forth denials from president trump and his team with regard to the payment made to stormy daniels and his knowledge of it? >> it feels like they don't know how to address their problems with that payment. when rudy said trump had reimbursed cohen, that solved one problem, but it also raised a question of why wasn't that reimbursement noted on campaign finance forms especially when he said imagine if it had come out during the campaign and so clearly, there's something that

mueller might find where he can go to cohen and say, what exactly and happened and we're going to charge you unless you cooperate. that's creating real problems for that. >> all right. stick around for us. we'll talk to you in a little bit. north korea is criticizing the u.s. apparently spoiling the mood of the president's meeting with kim jong un. saying that the u.s. is quote, misleading public upon by claiming that the trump administration's maximum pressure campaign are what brought pyongyang to the table. the president is hosting south korea's moon jae-in on the 22nd and on friday, trump discussed the meeting. >> we're having very substantive

talks with north korea and a lot of things have already happened with respect to the hostages and i think you're going to see very good things. as i said yesterday, stay tuned and also the trip is being scheduled. we now have a date and we have a location. we'll be announcing it soon. >> we a chance to bring in -- we're doing very well with the hostages. we're in constant contact with the leadership. we are in constant contact with north korea. we've actually worked out a time and a place which will be announced shortly. and very soon. we haven't been asked to. >> the latest on the volcanic eruption in hawaii that's been sending lava flows into

residential nabeighborhoods. >> and prlt has less than a week to make a deal with european allies convincing him or trying to at least to stay and of course a check on your weather when we come back.

we're on a mission to show drip coffee drinkers, it's time to wake up to keurig. wakey! wakey! rise and shine! oh my gosh! how are you? well watch this. i pop that in there. press brew. that's it. so rich. i love it. that's why you should be a keurig man! full-bodied. are you sure you're describing the coffee and not me? full-bodied. i'm about to start the hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. it starthen a decisionussion, and now you're working toward something together. can you afford it? is it the right time? yes. and you feel good about it. because you're doing this for him

in return for everything he's always done for you. at pnc, we're here to help you take steps today to make a plan to borrow and stick with it. bienvenido a casa, papá. pnc. make today the day. mr. elliot, what's your wiwifi?ssword? wifi's ordinary. basic. do i look basic? nope! which is why i have xfinity xfi. it's super fast and you can control every device in the house. [ child offscreen ] hey! let's basement.

and thanks to these xfi pods, the signal reaches down here, too. so sophie, i have an xfi password, and it's "daditude". simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. welcome back. a senate primary in west virginia. there is growing concern among republicans that former don blankenship is zursurging. they'd reviewed polling showing blankenship moving ahead and if blanken ship does not secure the republican party's nomination, he told them yesterday he does not rule out the possibilities of a third party run.

west virginia law contains a sore loser clause. backlash for his term of the china people, he released this aid owe radio ad. >> they seem not to realize that china is a country, not a race. the establishment homicide given millions of our jobs to china people and left many west virginia people top fend for themselves send me to the senate and i will represent west virginia people and not china people. >> so many things in that story -- >> so many thing to talk about. >> i like the sore loser clause. >> very original. >> let's get a check on your weather with bill karins. >> this is going to be a fantastic week. this is the reward week after

that miserable spring we've had. there's really not much in the way of bad weather on the map. the next storm system is up in idaho and montana. one little disturbance to come through at 4:00, 5:00. high elevations of west virgi a virginia, southern half of pennsylvania. maybe a hit and miss shower and then into tuesday some clouds will linger here. but that's it. i mean, it's looking like a really nice week ahead and we remain very hot. 93 in dallas. 90s up into kansas, so warm air. it will be in the middle of the west. southeast looks great today the storm that we're watching today in montana will bring a few thunderstorms. then by friday that system weakens by the time it gets to

the northeast. so not a lot of bad weather. very few tornados which is great. >> we like a calm week ahead in weather. it's usually not calm everywhere else in the country. >> and switching gears to hawaii. officials say that lava is pouring out of the big island's volcano. at least 26 homes have been destroyed in one subdivision where molten gas and steam have been opening from the ground. lava pouring out on a street. you see those pictures are absolutely incredible. look how slow moving that is. residents have been allowed to gather medicine and pets and officials say they would be able to do so every day as authorities monitor which areas

are okay. >> it looks like you're watching a movie. just look at how close the homes are to all of those and how many homes are being destroyed. look at that. wow. unbelievable. still ahead, the warriors and rockets on the verge of a matchup. details next in sports. wants cue options chains? ones that make it fast and easy to analyze and take action? how about some of the lowest options fees? are you raising your hand? good then it's time for power e*trade the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. alright one quick game of rock, paper, scissors. 1, 2, 3, go. e*trade. the original place to invest online. my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldn't spend time with my grandson. now depend fit-flex has their fastest absorbing material inside, so it keeps me dry and protected.

go to depend.com - get a coupon and try them for yourself. go to depend.com - here's the story of green mountain coffee roasters sumatra reserve. let's go to sumatra. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. which helps provide for win's family. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. 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.

i'm about to start the hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. money managers are pretty much the same. all but while some push high commission investment products, fisher investments avoids them. some advisers have hidden and layered fees. fisher investments never does. and while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. welcome back. time now for sports.

we'll start with the nba playoffs. the pelicans looked to even their series with the warriors. this was a 38 h-point performan. the pelicans only managed 92 points. the warriors lead the series three game to one with a chance to clinch a spot on the western conference finals tuesday. and they will be joined shortly by the rockets. harden had 24 and the defensive end, what a star he's turning into, had sux blocks on the night. the rockets win game four 100-87 and are now one win away from getting to the finals.

let's go to the nhl playoffs. two teams have reached the finals. the lightning and any hopes of another boston team coming back, the bruins did take an early lead. the lightning responded with three goals of their own. muller and the lightly advance to their conference finals in four years. they wait on the winner of the best series up to this point. the capitals and penguins. >> kind of crazy, not anymore because the las vegas golden knights advance to the western conference finals after eliminating the sharks in a 3-0 victory. 28 saves for his fourth shutout in the playoffs. the knights wait to see if they face the jets or the predators. >> and a three-one walk off gwen

t -- against the indians. they eve won 14 of the last 15. he's the youngest yankees since 1908 to hit a walkoff. meanwhile the red sox win 6-1 against the rangers. mookie betts leaves the game early. and kershaw is placed on the disabled list for ten days with left bicep tendonitis. and up to four weeks missed due to surgery for traumatic hematoma. if you miss ud it over the weekend it was a foul tip that hit anymore the the wrong place. >> i missed that one. i was going to say about the golden knights, i remember the season after that shooting in las vegas they paid a tribute

and everybody was saying how important it was for the team to have a good season because it just boosted the morale of the city and look at them winning the conference championship. congratulations to them. >> much for from the media blitz over the weekend. >> and we are ruling out the first mj -- look at that. >> history, folks. >> look how happy you look. >> that was not on a monday morning. >> that's our twitter page. be sure to log in and check it out. our behind the scenes moments. super exciting. and mj first look all in one word. we'll be right back. i'm a fighter. always have been. when i found out i had age-related macular degeneration, amd, i wanted to fight back.

my doctor and i came up with a plan. it includes preservision. only preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd. that's why i fight. because it's my vision. preservision. try areds 2 + multivitamin. ♪ ♪ adapt supply chains based on trends, tweets and storms. and make adjustments on the fly. ♪ ♪ the ibm cloud. the cloud for smarter business. the ibm cloud. i'm about to start the hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. pepsoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear.

i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. never give up. see me. see me. clear skin can last. don't hold back... ...ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts.

welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the top stories. bob mueller appears to have suffered a setback as he try to bring a case against russian citizens for their reported role in the 2016 election interference. one of three businesses accused of facilitating an alleged russian control operation.

it's un clear whether they formally accepted the court summons related to the case. >> we've learned that mueller's team has interviewed tom barrack. the ap was first otoreport the news. one person who spoke to the associated press that the questioning focused on former campaign chairman paul manafort. manafort and gates have both been indicted by mueller. >> and the clock is ticking for mueller's team. mueller does not face any specific legal deadline but he will reach a point this summer when justice department dictate he would have to go dark so he doesn't appear to be trying to sway voters' decisions which would be at odds for guidelines

for prosecutors. and giuliani isn't ruling out the possibility of trump taking the fifth. he said he wouldn't have to ocooperate with a subpoena from mueller if it is issued. >> it kind of gives the american people a glimpse of what we have to deal with day in and day out with abuses not so much of bob mueller but of the people that work for him. they're way over the top. when they look at the questions they propound, what do you think, what do you feel? it's like come on in and commit perjury? >> he's the president of the united states. >> are you confident the president will not take the fifth in this case? >> how can i be confident of that? when i'm facing a situation with the president and all the lawyers are and in every lawyer

in america thinks he'd be a fool to testify. he wants to testify. he said it yesterday and we said to ourselves my goodness, i hope we get a chance to tell him the risk that he's taking. so he may testify. >> president trump's leader of the cia, but ahead of that sitdown, haspel considered pulling her nomination. she raised that idea on friday setting the likelihood that brutal interrogation tactics could be reopened and it could damage the spy's reputation and her own reputation. one official telling nbc news that she decided to go ahead with the hearing.

she's expected to face tough questions. she is expected to tell senators that she would resist any effort by political leaders to order the cia to ever again engage in brutal interrogations. she is a highly qualified nominee who has dead katded over three decades of service to her country adding her nomination will not be derailed. so leets talk a little bit about this. joining us from washington, the coauthor of the political play book. >> so president trump has will the troubled nomination headed to the hill this week. talk about how you see the confirmation sort of guideline or sort of her confirmation

hearing shaping up? >> so it's extraordinary when you have the white house secretary go all the way to virginia with another senior official to try to persuade her to keep her nomination in the running. what you didn't see is john kelly who has been sidelined in playing a big role in the white house, he was not part of that team. but i think she's going to face really tough questions about her role in the thailand interrogation of top al qaeda figures a decade ago. it seemed like some of what she did back then is coming back to haunt her. >> let me ask you about rudy giuliani. it's less likely if he did speak with mueller and there's no suggestion that he would not plead the fifth amendment. do things to be a showdown

between trump and mueller in the last couple of days? >> it depends on how much trump is willing to take because if he took the fifth and did not talk to mueller a lot of people including some republicans would say why isn't he -- if he's innocent why isn't he just telling that to mueller? it would look like he's hiding something and the supreme court could say to trump, you have to talk to them and that would be a big political defeat for trump. >> all right. thank you, daniel. >> thank you. >> so president trump also faces a saturday deadline on whether to recertify the iran nuclear deal to congress. trump has repeatedly vowed he's going to pull the u.s. out of what he's called the worst deal in history. while the president has recently

expressed an openness to a renegotiated deal perhaps brokered by macron over the weekend, trump's attorney revealed what appears to be a new desire inside of the administration. >> we've got a president who's tufz, a president who doesn't listen to the people who are nay s sayers and a president committed to regime change as we are. what do you think is going to happen to that agreement? that nuclear agreement? yep. with that gone and sanctions back, we have a real chance of escalating these protests. >> gosh, from stormy to the iran nuclear agreement. >> he's very open about it. regime change, talking abouting

about things we can feel these protests. >> and there was one point that giuliani was going to be appointed as secretary of state. >> so let's talk a little bit about the reaction from this nuclear deal being torn up. how is this playing out in iran and what are the iranian officials saying about what iran will do if in fact the deal gets torn up? >> yeah, so we have the on the record comments and then off the record comments. on the record, the president is saying this would be a quote, historic police take on the behalf of the united states. off the record, a lot of papers they're likely to restart their nuclear program. the president saying basically that if the u.s. cuts out of the deal, quote, that's fine. the mischief of the u.s. will be cut and we will take our own

path. one of the questions is about the sanctions. if the u.s. comes out of the deal but the european countries do not, how effective will they be? if all of these countries are doing business in iran it removes the teeth and the ability of the u.s. to push if further. >> the u.s. has decided to go it alone and some of our other allies have decided to stick with it. >> the trump administration trying to orchestrate this dirty ops campaign, and really an attempt to discredit the accord. what can you tell us about this? >> really disturbing actually. especially -- i used to work in the federal government. i was there when it was being

negotiated and you have a group called black cube. according to reports first in the guardian over the weekend we understand that they were hired by the trump administration to find dirt on the people who were negotiating the iran deal in washington, d.c. foreign policy advisor to president obama. they're talking about their personal lives, their marriages and we heard from him over the weekend. he said quote, it crosses a dangerous line. black cube for their part denying any involvement. although they don't comment and then they do. >> i want to get this story in. we have these women that were sort of dressing up as men to see a really huge soccer, but football tournament there. you can see images of them, we're watching them right now. what more to do you know about this? these are women dressed as men to get?

. >> this group of women snuck in. there's no law of women going to these football matches but often times they're denied entry. there's a big game tonight so we're keeping our eyes on the stand for them. >> all right. thanks, cal. >> meanwhile, while the deal is not perfect it is better than nothing at all. and make sure to catch him on "morning joe." john mccain's new rebuke of the president trump. >> plus, bill karins is back with another check on the forecast and what's shaping up to be a quiet weather week. i'm not a bigwig.

or a c-anything-o. but i've got an idea sir. get domo. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. give us the data we need. in one place, anywhere we need it. help us do our jobs better. with domo we can run this place together. well that's that's your job i guess. ♪ my bladder leakage was making me feel like i couldn't spend time with my grandson. now depend fit-flex has their fastest absorbing material inside,

so it keeps me dry and protected. go to depend.com - get a coupon and try them for yourself. go to depend.com - and i heard that my cousin's so, wife's sister's husband was a lawyer, so i called him. but he never called me back! if your cousin's wife's sister's husband isn't a lawyer, call legalzoom and we'll connect you with an attorney. legalzoom. where life meets legal. am i willing to pay the price for loving you?. you'll make my morning, but ruin my day. complicated relationship with milk? pour on the lactaid. it's delicious 100% real milk, just without that annoying lactose. mmm, that's good. lactaid. the real milk that doesn't mess with you. and try calcium enriched lactaid. 100% real milk with 20% more calcium. still no lactose.

i'm about to start the hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. welcome back. a source close to john mccain

confirmed to nbc news that the arizona republican does not want him to attend his funeral. mccain intimates have informed the white house of their current plans for the senator's funeral to be held in washington's national cathedral. mctan's wish for trump to skip his funeral. mccain has been battling an aggressive form of brain cancer and has been home. the white house did not immediately return a request for comment. >> it's sad to hear him talking about that. let's take a turn here and get a check with bill karins. >> this is the week, this is your reward for all the rainy damp weather we've dealt with

earlier this spring. this is just a few sprinkles now from rochester to syracuse. here's today's forecast and there's not a lot bad on this t. we could have an afternoon thunderstorm on miami. the humidity starts going up in florida. gorgeous on the east coast. perfect lunch weather today. notice boston at 58, one of the coolest spots in the country. middle of the country is great and all of the warmth continues in the west. we're much above normal now. april was well below and we've dialed it up. today we'll top out at 102 in phoenix. omaha looking good. oklahoma city, feels a little early for that. 91 already and some f of it tri to sneak to the east and

philadelphia we get into the upper 70s toward the end of this week. the oes coast doesn't get hot but it's comfortable for everybody. >> still ahead, what oil prices may be signaling about president's decision on the iran nuclear deal. and the other stories driving your business day ahead. i'm about to start the nature's bounty hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes.

no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. (cat 2) hey, what's that? (cat 1) whoa, gravy! (cat 2) you mean extra gravy! (cat 1) what?! (cat 2) that's friskies extra gravy-chunky! (cat 1) chunky gravy purr-adise! (cat 2) purr-adise? really? (vo) feed their fantasy. friskies. oh hi sweetie, i just want to show you something. xfinity mobile: find my phone.

[ phone rings ] look at you. this tech stuff is easy. [ whirring sound ] you want a cookie? it's a drone! i know. find your phone easily with the xfinity voice remote. one more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. juror all righ--

all right. welcome back. the deadline to renew or end the iran nuclear deal is luming. we're joined now live from london. good morning to you. what more can you tell us ability the rising oil prices and what it can be signaling? >> so we've seen crude on both sides of the atlantic. they've both been rising to very high levels. that's partly because of tension we heard from the president of iran over the weekend talking about the regrets that washington will experience if they decide not to waive sanctions. that's the deadline on saturday that president trump is looking to make a decision. the government there has not been investing in all infrastructure and that's what's got oil traders concerned about supplies. supply. we see the price going up pretty

significantly. another big deal is between nestle and starbucks.

recertify the historical accord. "morning joe" just moments away. i'm about to start the nature's bounty hair, skin and nails challenge. so my future self will thank me. thank you. i become a model? yes. no. start the challenge today. and try new tropical

citrus flavor with collagen. nature's bounty. but behr premium stain y can weather any weather. overall #1 rated, weathers it all. find our most advanced formula exclusively at the home depot. hesumatra reserve told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's go to sumatra. where's sumatra? good question. this is win. and that's win's goat, adi. the coffee here is amazing. because the volcanic soil is amazing. making the coffee erupt with flavor. so we give farmers like win more plants. to grow more delicious coffee. that erupts with even more flavor. which helps provide for win's family. and adi the goat's family too. because his kids eat a lot. all, for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee roasters. packed with goodness. wearing powerful sunscreen? yes! neutrogena® ultra sheer. unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. the best for your skin.

ultra sheer®. neutrogena®. (cat 2) hey, what's that? (cat 1) whoa, gravy! (cat 2) you mean extra gravy! (cat 1) what?! (cat 2) that's friskies extra gravy-chunky! (cat 1) chunky gravy purr-adise! (cat 2) purr-adise? really? (vo) feed their fantasy. friskies. i had severe fatigue, went to a doctor. became diagnosed with hodgkin's lymphoma. i had to put my trust in somebody. we recommended chemotherapy, and then a stem cell transplant. when his disease progressed, i thought that he would be a good candidate for immune therapy to unleash his immune system against the cancer. i'm back to working hard. i've honestly have never felt this great. the evolution of cancer care is here. learn more at cancercenter.com appointments available now.

♪ welcome back, everybody. joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m. national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. good morning to you. happy monday. talk to us about axios's one big thing this morning. >> the white house staff that we're talking to do not believe rudy giuliani's reign as trump's tv lawyer is sustainable. it's not only that he's doing cleanup on his own cleanup on his own cleanup on the legal side of things, but he's also continuing to make pronouncements on policy with which he has no actual involvement or knowledge. so firstly it was the north

korea when he said -- made an announcement about hostages before the white house or the trump administration was ready to make that announcement. very high stakes situation when you're dealing with americans imprisonened in north korea. then made another one over the weekend about iranian regime change. i spoke to a white house official and it's widespread concern inside the building. >> yeah. to that point, jonathan, i wanted to ask you i heard someone else suggest that rudy giuliani is hired to be a media lawyer to be out there being the public face of the president's legal fight against the special counsel bob mueller, not necessarily the courtroom lawyer, which is for somebody like emet flood. what do you make of that distinction? is giuliani expected to be the man leading the fight against special counsel bob mueller. >> that's 100% true. people said -- i heard people say on television that they're profoundly changed their strategy. they haven't. their legal strategy is much the

same, it's their political strategy has changed. rudy's job is to muddy the waters and attack mueller and discredit the whole investigation. he's doing a bad job of it, that's the problem. >> people are comparing giuliani to scaramucci who lasted about 11 days, i believe, inside the white house as white house communications director. what are you hearing on this comparison that people are making? >> it's more they're comparing him -- it's the experience of being a senior white house staffer and watching it unfold on tv like a spectator. not having any clue you're sarah sanders, the white house press secretary and literally watch it unfold on tv. i have no earthly idea what he's going to say next. >> you got that sense on friday when sarah huckabee sanders did not know what giuliani was saying. >> this is public. i'm not revealing anything private. this is clear to everyone. >> she was very clear about that

as well. >> jonathan, let's talk about other things you have reporting on and this has to deal with tomorrow's west virginia senate primary and the real concerns republicans are having in that state. what exactly are they worried about with dan blankenship. >> dan blankenship, barren who ran a campaign, racist campaign, he's been attacking mitch mcconnell's wife for her chinese heritage. look, i'm talking to sources who are involved in some of his opponents or in the republican infrastructure, the polling shows he's surging towards the end and could actually win the primary. this is potentially another roy moore situation where you have a very, very damaged republican leading into the election against joe manchin. a very winnable election, by the way. >> i want to switch gears. our own carol lee is guest writing for you on what she calls a defining week for the trump doctrine.

what is she saying? why does she think this is a big week for the president? >> carol has a great piece she leads off this morning and she really wraps together all of these huge foreign policy announcements that are coming. we've got trump on saturday deciding whether he's going to effectively pull out of the iran deal. they've got jerusalem embassy coming up shortly thereafter which is again going to put more focus and heat into the middle east. then we've also got -- we're probably going to find a date and location of trump's north korea meeting with kim jong-un. so all of this is happening at once. and very, very high stakes issues all coming together. >> high stakes indeed. jonathan swan, live for us in washington, d.c. we'll be reading axios a.m. in just a little bit. all of your viewers, of course you too can sign up for that newsletter by going to axios.com. that does it for us this morning. "morning joe" starts right now.

we've got a president who's tough, a president who doesn't listen to the people who are nay sayers and a president that is as committed to regime change as we are. what do you think is going to happen to that agreement? that nuclear agreement? yep. >> rudy giuliani is president trump's newest member of his legal team, but waded into some foreign policy on saturday. he was out in another media blitz over the weekend taking on the mueller probe and trying to clean up his mistakes in the michael cohen matter as giuliani put it, quote, i am focussed on the law more than the facts right now. wow. what a way to start "morning joe" on this monday morning, may 7th. with us we have national