thank you so very much for being with us and good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. they'll name it chutzpa. that's our broadcast. thank you for being here with us. good night from msnbc news headquarters here in new york. why did donald trump fire james comey, again, new reporting on a secret memo that factors directly into bob mueller's obstruction investigation. and the president refuses to let up his attorney general, ending his night with another shady tweet against the man he says he regrets hiring. and a journalist reportedly shot to death in kiev tuesday shows up at a news conference yesterday very much alive. the question now is why did the ukrainian government stage his murder? good morning, everyone.

it's thursday, may 31. aim ayman mohyeldin. we begin with the russian investigation. the counsel has obtained more information about the potential obstruction of justice. andrew mccabe provided robert mueller's team with a secret memo he wrote, fearing a cover story had been hatched for the firing of comey. mccabe attended a meeting in may of 2017 shortly after deputy attorney general rob rosenstein wrote his memo that claimed comey was fired for his handling of the hillary clinton investigation. well, "the times" sources say in the meeting, rosenstein said that the president had originally asked him to reference russia in the memo. rosenstein did not elaborate on what he wanted him to say. >> that seemed like the possible evidence that the firing was actually related to the fbi's investigation into the trump

campaign ties to russia and that rosenstein helped to provide a cover story by writing about the clinton investigation instead. the fbi fired mccabe in march after an internal report determined he had not been fully truthful in his answers about the handling of the clinton probe. at the time, mccabe said, quote, i'm being singled out and treated this way because of the role i played, the actions i took and the events i witnessed in the aftermath of the firing of jim comey. >> and president trump went to bed with the u.s. attorney general on his mind, it seems tweeting a quotation at 11:21. the recusal of jeff sessions was an unforced me trail of the president of the united states. sessions was spotted leaving the white house yesterday after the president singled him out earl yesser in the morning tweet -- earlier in the morning tweeting these comments from trey gowdy. >> if i picked someone to be the chief law enforcement officer and they told her oh, by the

way, i'm not able to participate in the most important case in the office that would be frustrated too. senator sessions, why didn't you tell me before i picked you? there are lots of good lawyers in the country, he could have picked someone else. >> so after that, trump posted gowdy's remarks, yesterday, rudy giuliani said he has some grievances but he won't fire him before this is over. giuliani had this to say. >> well, i don't think anybody in the cabinet in any administration is totally secure. yeah, i don't think the president is going to touch him. mueller or rosenstein. >> has he ever said to you, i'd like to get rid of jeff sessions? >> i decline to answer that. >> so he commented on the state of the preparations for a potential interview between president trump and bob mueller. nbc's kelly o'donnell tweeted this. giuliani said he has done in

person and by phone sessions with the president and he said he's doing the q&a to educate me and giuliani says i want to know what i can say that's not privileged, what i can't say which is privileged. the president's lawyer appeared to push bob mueller on a september 1st completion deadline. 11 days ago he said that mueller had said he hoped to wrap up the investigation of the president by that september 1st deadline but yesterday giuliani seemed to suggest it was the trump legal team's deadline for mueller to retain his credibility. listen to this. >> what they have heck, by september 1st the public should have an explanation of what mueller has. i really want that because i don't think he has it. >> the president said he -- >> well, if he doesn't, file his report by september 1st, in september, he's clearly doing a comey. >> okay. so last night giuliani was on fox news where he talked more about the trump legal team's unconventional strategy in the

russia probe. >> some people have criticized my strategy which is the president's of to some extent playing to the american people. if this were a regular case i wouldn't be doing it, but the people who will decide this are the people of the united states and the 2018 election. and they -- boy, they're switching fast and the democrats are running for cover. you don't hear them say the words impeachment anymore. >> all right, joining us now to discuss is politics reporter roll call brigitte bowman. thank you for joining us so early, appreciate it. let's start with giuliani's comments there, really saying that the people are going to decide this are the people that are voting for the president nonetheless. what do you make of that? >> i think it is notable that he's acknowledging that there's a political strategy to all of this. republicans do tend to believe that the threat of impeaching president trump should democrats win the majority in the house is something that could really energize the president's

supporters. remember, this election cycle we are seeing a lot of energy on the democratic side. republicans are concerned that their voters, particularly trump voters, people who may have voted for the first time in a while in the 2016 election might not turn out in november. but if they see a vote in november as defending the president from impeachment that could energize those on the ballot. >> we'll get pack to the midterms because that's emerging as referendum on both the republican party and on trump at large. but i want to ask you about the attorney general jeff sessions and the set of tweets that have come out from president trump in the past 24 hours with relations between the two. by most people's accounts strained once again. can we expect to see any possible fallout? and the big question is could this be enough to push sessions out? it does not seem likely that the president is going to fire him because of all the obvious questions that's going to raise. >> that's a really good question. i'm interested to see if there's any congressional pushback from

either republicans or even democrats in congress to some of these increased tensions and suggestions by the president that he doesn't want sessions still in charge. members of congress tend to, you know, be opposed to the president meddling with the justice department. whether this is enough to force sessions out remains to be seen. remember when he was a senator he was really passionate about the criminal criminal system, about policies that as he direct -- he has direct authority over. would he be willing to give that up, i'm not so convinced of that but we have to wait and see. >> you can't help but think a tweet like that really undermines sessions on the -- when he sees something like that. >> yeah, how will the rest of the doj feel? >> don't forget, he was one of the first people to support president trump. i know a lot of talks are surrounding the primary out in

california. how are the republicans' ground game looking in california right now? >> so republicans in california right now are really focused on turnout. it is interesting republicans have seen a decline in the state in recent years. just yesterday those voters who don't identify with either party actually surpassed registered republicans in terms of voter registration. so republicans are effectively almost a third party in california right now. democrats are really targeting a number of republican held house seats in california. they see a lot of opportunities for flipping the number of seats here. so republicans are trying to make sure that their voters turn out. the state and the national party have both been active here. the national republican congressional committee which is the political arm of house republicans actually has an office, a field out of in southern california. i was just there last week. they have a number of staffers on the ground making phone calls, making sure voters remember there's an election coming up and that they turn out

and vote. >> we'll touch base with you in a little bit. lawyers for michael cohen were wrangling over what should be protected by attorney/client privilege. the judge has given the legal team just over two more weeks to review more than 2 million items. his attorneys said it will take until mid july to finish by the judge set a june 15th deadline saying quote, it is important for the court to balance the slow, deliberate needs of those who are asserting attorney/client privilege with the need for an investigation to go forward. now, prosecutors say they are still trying to piece together the contents of a shredder and get access to two blackberries. meanwhile, michael avenatti has dropped his bid to join the cohen case after the judge said that he would first have to drop his quote, publicity tour. however, he claimed that trump's voice is on audiotapes that cohen recorded. >> just like the nixon tapes years ago, we now have what i

will refer to as the trump tapes. mr. ryan admitted that there are audio recordings that michael cohen was taking for years. not only do they exist, but they are under lock and key and some of them relate to my client and her attorney/client privilege communications. >> you're calling these the trump tapes. that is very interesting. that's very exciting. but you don't in fact know whether donald trump is or is not on any of the tapes yet. >> well, i know for a fact that donald trump is on at least one of these recordings already. i'm not going to -- >> how do you know that? >> i won't get into details of how i know that. >> but would you say that in court? >> absolutely. >> so you're saying as a matter of fact you know that at least in one occasion he is on the tape. >> yes. >> you know that because you have heard that tape? >> i won't get into -- >> if you haven't heard that tape do you know that or think that because someone told you that? >> let me answer your question, okay. on at least one of the

recordings donald trump is on one of the recordings, at least one of them. i know that for fact. i stand behind it. if you look at my track record over the last three months it is impeccable. >> would you describe that as something you have personal knowledge of it? >> yes. >> so the topic of the audiotapes was raised in court yesterday, but cohen's attorney did not identify anyone who may be on those recordings. they claim that president trump's voice is on them. is avenatti's assertion alone. let's turn to mike pompeo meeting with north korean vice charge kim yong chol last night in the government owned apartment in new york city. these pictures provided by the state department no press was actually allowed into the meeting. the dinner meeting which lasted just under an hour and a half is part of the background leading to the trump/kim summit which may or may not still be on. and if so, may or may not still be taking place on june 12th in

singapore. pompeo was mum after the meeting saying it was great and they dined on quote, american beef. pompeo and chol are set to have more meetings today and pompeo will speak to the staff later on this afternoon. the major goal of the meetings is to continue to discuss a time line for north korea's denuclearization. it comes as u.s. teams continue to meet with north korean officials in both panmunjom and singapore. all right. now a bizarre story overseas where a journalist turned up at a news conference one day after being declared murdered. richard engel has the details. >> reporter: gasps of disbelief. and applause as russian journalist arkady babchenko who ukrainian police was murdered, shot three times in the apartment, dying in an answer ambulance, even putting out a sketch of the suspect. yesterday, back from the dead walking in with the police

announcing it was all staged. i apologize to my wife for all the hell she had to do through, babchenko said. news of his murder sparked an outcry. supporters laying flowers at memorials and blaming russia for ordering the hit. babchenko is a critic of vladimir putin. while russia denied involvement, many of putin's critics have been shot or poisoned over the years including opposition leaders right next to the kremlin. he was shot in the pack five times right in front of his girlfriend, but this time ukraine security forces say it was a sting operation which led to the arrest of a man allegedly paid $40,000 by moscow to organize the murder. there was no other way, babchenko said, but many are asking will the hoax create doubts about other reporters actually murdered for doing their jobs? >> all right. our thanks to richard engel for

that report. a lot of interesting questions in that methodology there by the ukrainian secret service and authorities. the kid who brought that white house press secretary to tears, plus the latest on the kim summit. and the president's meeting with kim kardashian. what came of that. we're back in a moment. stay with us. powerful potential... signature toughness...

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welcome back. sarah huckabee sanders was rattled during yesterday's briefing. she was struggling to answering a question she wasn't anticipating from a likely reporter. >> at my school we had a lockdown drill. mental health is the word about the fact that we or our friends could get shot at school, specifically, can you tell what he the administration has done and will do to prevent the senseless tragedies? >> i think that as a kid and certainly as a parent there is

nothing that could be more terrifying for a kid to go to school and not feel safe, so i'm sorry that you feel that way. this administration takes it seriously and the school safety commission that the president convened is meeting this week again in an official meeting to discuss the best ways forward and how we can do every single thing within our power to protect kids in our schools and to make them feel safe and their parents dropping them off. >> she is the mother of i believe four kids, you can understand why she's visibly rattled by that question. that was 13-year-old benje choucroun who was there to cover the white house, sports and fitness day, time for kids, instead he used his question to ask sanders about the school shootings and gun reform. widely shared and praised across social media. while he was initially nervous because sanders is quote a big deal, he's glad he could draw

attention to the issue. he looked like he had it. i didn't think he was showing any nerves there. yes. yesterday, kim kardashian-west talked about prison reform and a possible pardon of a grandmother who has served two decades of a life sentence for a first time conviction based in her role in the drug trafficking case. jared kushner arranged the meeting and in fact, he is overseeing the push to overhaul the nation's prison system. trump tweeted out this photo of him and kim in the oval office yesterday. now, after the meeting kardashian-west tweeted her thanks to the president. going on to tweet, quote, we are optimistic about ms. johnson's future and hopeful that she and so many like her will get a second chance at life. >> quite a day at the white house. >> yeah, joking aside, i think obviously this president deals a lot with celebrities. we talked a little bit about this yesterday. he had an affinity for celebrities so if there's

somebody out in the public eye who can raise an important issue and get the president's ear so be it. it's a good day. let's get a check of your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. anyone headed to the charlottesville area, a lot of problems overnight. if you watch my finger, you can see that these showers and thunderstorms lasted for about six hours. one spot picked up a foot of rain. there was a flash flood emergency in place overnight and there's a report of two people in a prius that got washed away. they have yet to be found. there are numerous roads washed out in the area. be careful throughout this region if you're going to be traveling and near there. we still have one flash flood warning, actually two near waynesboro also. and we have a flash flood watch for the washington, d.c./baltimore area. this is until 2:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and localized two to four inches. this is expected with the next round of thunderstorms later this afternoon. and into tonight. we had a pretty impressive complex of storms roll in

through oklahoma. look at all the lightning strikes this one. this woke people up overnight. tulsa, looks like round two is coming on through. and then we do this all over again. we have 14 million people at risk of storms. this area of orange especially vulnerable to damaging winds and they'll roll through louisville and lexington and bowling green later on today. if you want heat, head to texas. san antonio at 99 today and the heat index will feel like 105 this afternoon. >> phoenix, already 101. incredible start to the summer. thanks for that, bill. still ahead, the cancer study that has people talking. and trump weighs in on the roseanne controversy without having to address racism. how he managed to do just that, coming up. o you. so if you have heart failure, ask your doctor about entresto. it helped keep people alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren,

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along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. and it has a guaranteed great taste. man: boost gives me everything i need to be up for doing what i love. boost high protein. be up for it. it's time now for sports, starting game 2, stanley cup finals. well, so far the las vegas golden knights in the first year as a franchise have more stanley cup victories than the washington capitals. and looks like the vegas would get the best of the caps in game 2 after an early goal. however, the caps led by ovechkin, rebounded, but the play of the game. vegas has a wide open net. denied! that's caps goalie braden holtby for what will surely be an

iconic moment for all caps fans. it is already being dubbed the save. let's see it one more time. oh, stick save. a beauty. it was one out of the 37 shots he stopped throughout the game. but that one clinched the game 2 victory. this evening the series at one game apiece. game 3, saturday. as the series heads to our nation's capital. well, now to major league baseball where phillies slugger rhys hoskins is likely headed to the ten day disabled list. see that? he fouled the pitch off his face. oh, right off his chin. well, according to philadelphia manager gabe kepler, the ct scan revealed a fracture of his jaw. he'll receive further evaluation back home in philly. well, to pittsburgh, a -- that's a hard slide into second. not going to like that. it wasn't that bad, right? he didn't actually knock him

down. yeah, but that leads to some words here. joe musgrave prompts word from javier baez. two teams did clear their benches. a nice little jog and warm-up for everyone. cooler heads prevail. the players returned to the dugouts. no further altercations. pittsburgh won 2-1. well, let's look ahead to game 1 of the nba finals in oakland. golden state has already ruled out andre iguodala for the opener. he has been a key player for the warriors in guarding against lebron in the past has missed the last four games in the western conference finals with a knee injury he suffered against the rockets on may 20th. we have to wait and see how things shake out. if you're wondering, amin, i know you guys have been wondering, 12 point favorite, golden state is for tonight. >> who are you going to take in the series? >> you're going to give me the spread or straight up? >> straight up, it's not really fair. >> so you're ruling out lebron?

>> i think he'll be lucky to win one game back in cleveland. >> wow. bill karins on the road. >> yasmine, you want to weigh in? >> golden state warriors. >> a safe bet. still ahead, new reaction to the roseanne controversy. plus, ivanka trump at her dad's side, leading some to ask where's the first lady? we'll have melania's response next. ke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. even "close claws." (driver) so, we took your shortcut, which was a bad idea. [cougar growling] (passenger) what are you doing? (driver) i can't believe that worked. i dropped the keys. (burke) and we covered it. talk to farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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welcome back. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. it's the bottom of the hour. let's start with the top stories. president trump weighing in on the controversy surrounding comedian roseanne barr. he said that bob iger called valerie jarrett to let her know that abc does not tolerate comments like those made by roseanne barr. gee, he never called president down ald j. trump to apologize for the horrible comments made about me on abc. maybe i didn't get the call? white house press secretary sarah sanders defeated his grievances. >> well, the president simply calling out the media bias. no one is defending what she said, the president is the president of all americans and he's focused on doing what is best for our country. >> meanwhile, after roseanne tried to defend her racist comments by blaming the sleep aid ambien, sanofi said, people

of all races, religions work at sanofi all day to improve the lives of people around the world. while all treatments have side effects, racism is not a side effect of any sanofi medication. where in the world is melania trump? it's been 20 days since the first lady's last public appearance where she greeted the newly freed americans held captive in north korea. four days later the white house announced she underwent a procedure for a benign kidney condition. while recovering at walter reed medical center, she tweeted out her praise of the doctors saying in part, i am feeling great and look forward to getting back home to the white house soon. so that was may 16th. now in the meantime, melania's unexplained absence has stirred up some speculation about her health and whereabouts. president trump and his daughter ivanka were front and center at the white house yesterday promoting youth sports and

fitness. an event which seems perfectly tailored to the first lady's initiative. but still no melania in sight. instead she tweeted, i see the media is working overtime speculating where i am and what i'm doing. rest assured i'm here at the white house my family, working hard on behalf of children and the american people. all right. turning to some political headlines from around the country, in missouri prosecutors have agreed to discuss tampering charges against governor eric greitens in exchange for his resignation which he did announce on tuesday. the agreement viewed by the kansas city star does not require him to admit guilt. he alleged used a donor list to raise money for his campaign. grietens plans to resign tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. in 2012, nominee mitt romney was a harsh critic as you remember of donald trump during the 2016 campaign and yesterday

romney revealed who he voted for. his wife, ann romney, told the news, quote, i wrote in the name of a person who i admire deeply who i think would be an excellent president. romney's primary is on june 26th. all right. president trump appeared to have somed what -- some bad information when he waded into the primary in new york last night. backing donovan over michael grimm who resigned and actually went to prison on federal tax fraud charges but in tweeting the endorsement, trump actually wrote that donovan had quote voted for tax cuts which donovan did not do. he was one of 12 republican no votes last december. the president has not corrected his mistaken tweet. all right. let's talk more about this. joining us to discuss politics is bridgette bowman. good morning. do you think we'll see some blow

back? >> that's a key question. what are the trump supporters going to do, how are they going to factor in the endorsement into who they're going to support in the republican primary. michael grimm was running as the more pro trump candidate. this primary had gotten pretty nasty between the two of them. grimm had accused donovan of not sufficiently supporting the president and grimm reacted to the president's endorsement last night saying endorsements don't mean everything. donovan wasn't there for the president when it really mattered. so we have to see how this plays out. i think it is notable that the president is once again putting his name behind candidates in contested republican primaries. and putting his name behind candidates that republicans in washington believe are more electable. it was an open question going into this election cycle whether the president would back incumbents or back challengers to those incumbents who claim they're more closely aligned with the president, so the fact he's backing donovan is certainly notable. >> so to that point, let me take

it one step further. it's notable he's endorsing donovan but what does it tell us about a strategy to have president trump play a visible role or try to keep him somewhat on the sidelines for now? what's the preference from each side, from the president's side as well as from the republican side? >> so the president has clearly indicated that he wants to be out on the campaign trail. it seems like he's going to be focusing on a lot of these red states with key senate races. places where he's really popular. the places where you might see some disconnect between where the president is active and where he wants to be active maybe and where some republicans in washington might prefer that he stay out of it are in these competitive house races, places that hillary clinton won and where the president is not as popular. we have to see how he navigates that. it seems right now he's sticking to the red states. >> it's definitely a campaign style rally for everyone he

loves. >> absolutely. what races are you keeping an eye on? >> there are a number of states having primaries on tuesday. i'm really watching california. a lot of these contested house primaries, democrats see a number of opportunities in california when it comes to flipping seats to win back the house. we're also going to have a senate republican primary in montana. so we'll see who comes out of that. who is going to take on democratic senator john tester in a state that president trump carried by about 20 points in 2016. there are also a number of potentially competitive general election house races whose match-ups will be decided on tuesday. one of the races that i'm watching a couple in iowa, particularly iowa's first district, held by republican congressman blum. we had him at the top of the list as most vulnerable republican incup bents.

this is a place that obamacar y carried twice. we have to see if the other one gets through the primary and what it means for that race going forward. >> all right. thank you very much for joining us. i appreciate your insights as always. >> i'm wondering if the democrats have a consistent voice across the board. all right. still ahead new guidelines for one of the most common cancers in this country. experts now say you should start screening for colon cancer and the startling statistics that have them issuing this advice. plus, bill karins is back with a check on the forecast including some potentially dangerous heat for parts of the country. we'll tell you about that next. sometimes,

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of colorectal cancer needs to be tested earlier. rehema ellis has more. >> reporter: there's a fight against the third leading cancer killer, 140,000 suffering from the disease. like larry johnston who was 47 years old when she got the devastating news she had stage 4 colon cancer. >> i feared i wouldn't even see my kids graduate high school. i feared i wouldn't be here. >> reporter: this mom is certain she is here because she got tested early. something the american cancer society is now urging more people to do. saying colorectal cancer screening should begin at 45, five years earlier than previous recommended. >> the risk for an individual developing colorectal cancer is beginning to move younger. >> reporter: in the last 24 years, the number of people

diagnosed with colorectal cancer under age 50 is up a stunning 51%. is it just one option for screening? >> there are many options. this is one of them, called the colonoscopy. >> reporter: this colon cancer specialist said patients should ask their doctor for the tests some of which are less invasive. >> the best screening test is the one that gets done. particularly the option of colonoscopy or even doing an x-ray exam nation. >> if you see any changes go to your doctor and demand a colonoscopy. you don't want to mess around. >> reporter: a crucial screening that larry johnston knows is a life saver. >> very important subject there. thanks to rehema ellis for the report. of course the new guidelines are recommended for people at average risk for colon cancer. if you have a family history or are african-american or even have chronic intestinal disease, talk to your doctor for you may

need to screen -- >> i will say historically for a long time colon cancer was more of a male dominated disease but both men and women need to get screening for it. let's get a check of your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. thunderstorms this afternoon will cause additional flooding problems around the nation's capital, 8 million people are at risk. from the mountains of virginia and we got nailed last night. 6 to 12 inches of rain. one flash flood warning left. there was a lot of pictures of washed out roads out of charlottesville. again, this afternoon and this evening, more heavy rain and storms for you. then the severe weather risk today. we had strong storms in oklahoma. today we'll watch the storms firing up in missouri. from springfield up 44 to st. louis and then they'll roll through over the top of the mississippi and ohio rivers here from paducah to evansville, and to bowling green. damaging winds are the greatest concern. then the heat is the story into the weekend. it's very humid, and it's

extremely hot in texas. with the high moisture out there, this is the very first uncomfortable air mass we have had of the summer season. you have 97 in dallas. it will feel like 102. midland, texas, up to 107 in west texas today. that's very hot, near record if not record heat. memphis it will feel like 101. this is the first time we have seen that heat headed up to cleveland and chicago. by friday, charlotte, 96, then look at tulsa. that's gross. 97 for a high. humid. and your heat index will feel like 109. and as i mentioned this isn't going anywhere any time soon. we continue this right through saturday. especially arkansas, oklahoma, louisiana, texas. >> i don't think tulsa appreciates being called gross. >> is that a technical weather term? >> they have great weather and they know when they get into the summer season it's -- it's

gross. >> thanks for that, bill. still ahead, the federal reserve looks to roll back another set of rules put in place in the wake of the financial crisis. and the markets rebound one day after heavy losses and easing fears over italy's political crisis. plus, walmart is helping the employees to get a higher education. all the stories driving your business day, coming up next. spacious interiors... powerful potential... signature toughness... and one more thing... the world comes with it. the new, reimagined 2019 jeep cherokee. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. i bet i'm the first blade maker you've ever met. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making our thinnest longest lasting blades on the market.

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welcome back, everybody. the federal reserve has proposed a plan that could loosen rules for banks when it comes to risky trading. the central bank yesterday unanimously advanced the proposition to revise what's known as the volker rule. it was proposed during the financial crisis in an effort to curb the high risk trades and generally prevents banks from trading through their own profit or having stakes in the hedge fund or a private equity fund. the change would allow banks to have stakes in the funds, and would allow the firms to trade for themselves on a limited basis. the firms including some of the country's biggest banks would face fewer audits and would not have to spend as much time providing compliance to regulators, regulators have said they want to enforce the volker rule differently because the existing practices are costly and they are confusing. so the dow recovered from the earlier losses to close at a high for first time since the political strife in italy plunged the markets globally into some chaos.

as one fear ebbs another fear looms. cnbc reports. what more can you tell us about this? >> still a lot more to worry the investors at the end of this week. nothing particularly different about the situation in italy, we're still facing, italians are facing the option of whether a free-spending populist government, stocks in asia and europe have stabilized after tuesday's crashes. in another european country with a lot of public debt, spain, a potential vote of no confidence. the other big concern for markets in europe involve steel and aluminum tariffs, the eu managed to seek an exemption from the u.s., that's lasted for about three months now. we're hearing that the expiration of the exemption tomorrow the tariffs will be

reimposed despite talks between the u.s. and european union. >> walmart and this new pretty incredible employee perk that could help almost a million and a half store workers. >> yeah, 1.4 million u.s. workers, if they're part-time, full-time, salaried, walmart or sam's club, they can pay $1 a day, in order to earn a bachelor's or associate's degree at the university of florida, bellevue, the company says it's going to subsidize the program. they want people to pay that $1 a day to make sure they have skin in the game. if my math is right that's $365 a year, from what i remember of grad school in new york, that's a lot less than the average college credit. >> it's a great perk and walmart comes under fire for the treatment of their employees, so this is one in the positive column for that company. willem marks, thank you.

coming up, axios' alexi mccammen has a look at this morning's one big thing. and the secret memo from former fbi director andrew mccabe on the firing of his former boss, jim comey and now in the hands of bob mueller's team. and as michael schmidt lays out his report on the memo and the alleged request president trump made about comey's firing and senate republican mike lee. we came with big appetites. with expedia, you could book a flight, hotel, car, and activity all in one place. ♪

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welcome back. joining us now from washington, d.c., with a look at axios a.m. political reporter for axios alexi mccammen, great to have you with us, what's the one big thing you're tracking this morning? >> ivanka trump and jared kushner have not been hitting the press very hard lately but they've been busy.

they're planning for the long game. they've told friends that they're not planning on leaving d.c. any time soon. they're working on sort of smaller-ball policy initiatives that democrats would support. which is especially forward-thinking if you think that they're going to win back the house. so we're tracking how even though they're not in the public eye as much, they're not having as much leaks as they had in the beginning of the administration, they're in it for the long haul. >> considering jared and ivanka's relationship to the president, daughter and son-in-law and their role in the white house, at one point was being seen as negative. how is that being seen now, their relationship and roles in the white house? >> i saw someone wearing a t-shirt last weekend that said "what do ivanka and jared do all day?" within the white house it's almost the opposite. their roles have become reality, i think it's in part not only because of the initiatives they've moved forward on separately. but because some of their internal enemies like steve

bannon have left the white house. making their roles easier. >> i know per your reporting, that jared and ivanka aren't going anywhere soon. having secured the security clearance. what's on the agenda. i know that jared portfolio is all-encompassing from prison reform to middle east peace, is there anything being done on those for those two? >> jared kushner is working on criminal justice reform, prison reform. yesterday he was leading a meeting with kim kardashian in the white house on this topic. overseeing middle east piece and things on that front. he's leading most if not all of the white house's criminal justice reform meetings. and ivanka trump helped sell tax reform by pushing to expand the child tax cut and remember she's working a lot on women's empowerment issues and workforce development and things on that front. >> they're preparing for a

possible democratic takeover of the house. >> some of the issues they're working on they know will have bipartisan support and especially support from democrats and one big example, not to harp on this is jared kushner's prison reform. that's something that i've heard from democrats on the hill, is something that they are very much looking forward to. and actually appreciate his efforts on. because they didn't know going into this trump administration whether or not trump and those under him would prioritize this and i know it's something democrats and especially a number of members in the cbc are looking forward to working with him on. >> i want to ask you because i know you guys are offering a sneak peek at the white house's new campaign on the dangers of opioids, and i wanted to ask you what we could expect from this campaign. >> it what a slogan or mentality of engage and enrage. and president trump is someone who really likes this old-school message of this is what your brain looks like on drugs.

so that's the strategy that they're using moving forward. to sort of not only inform people on how they can learn more about this issue, but how they can get help for themselves and friends and they're using that, they're doing that by sort of making them angry about the issue and encouraging them to engage with this issue in various ways. >> i wonder if the egg commercial is coming back, that i remember growing up with. >> a powerful commercial. alexi, thank you very much to all of our viewers, you can sign up for axios' newsletter. that does it for us on this thursday morning, i'm yasmin vossoughian, alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning, it's thursday, may 31st. >> can we just stop and drink that in? willie, this spring what a beautiful, beautiful spring, if you like your skies to look like they did in the matrix. >> you would be shocked to hear

it's going to rain again this weekend. >> oh, no. >> only for the last three months. >> so sick of it. >> the good news is while it rains the weekend, it at least during the week -- >> it rains. >> welcome to "morning joe." with us we have nbc news capitol hill correspondent and host of kasie d.c. on msnbc, kasie hunt. >> i've never been in the lightning bolt shot. very exciting. >> good to have you back. >> it was a joke up my spine. >> former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner is with us and look who's here. he doesn't smile because he's a strict journal. . "new york times" journalist, michael schmidt. >> he's actually an emotional