♪ this morning president trump turns the attention back to that infamous 2016 trump tower meeting involving his son don jr. and russian nationals, but it appears he may be changing the story about why the meeting happened in the first place. plus, the president insults lebron james on twitter and all-star agethletes and melania trump are responding. there's been a wave of arrests after an explosion occurred while president maduro of venezuela was giving a speech. ♪

good morning, everyone. it is monday, august 6th. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis bergdorf. president trump reignited the controversy around his campaign's june 2016 trump tower meeting with russian. the president tweeted on sunday, fake news reporting, a complete fabrication, that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, donald, had in trump tower. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics, and it went nowhere. i did not know about it. well, he appears to be referring to "the washington post's" reporting, quote, trump has confided to friends and advisers that he is worried about mueller probe could destroy the lives of what he calls innocent and decent people, namely trump jr., who is under scrutiny by mueller for his role organizing a

june 2016 meeting at trump tower with russians promising dirt on hillary clinton. as one adviser described the president's thinking, he does not think his son broke the law but is fearful that he may have wandered into legal jeopardy. former communications director was spotted on the tarmac adjoining the president on his trip to ohio. according to trump jr.'s senate testimony, hicks was in the middle of the president dictating his son's misleading statement about adoptions to "the new york times", followed by explanations that quickly unravelled. listen to this. >> politics is not the nicest business in the world but it is standard where he they have information and you take the information. in the case of don, he listened. i guess they talked about, as i see it, they talked about adoption and some things. >> there was nothing as far as we know that would lead anyone to believe that there was anything except for a discussion

about adoption. >> the president didn't sign off on anything. he was coming back from g20. the statement released on saturday was released by donald trump jr. and i'm sure in consultation with his lawyers. the president wasn't involved in that. >> he certainly didn't dictate, but, like i said, he weighed in, offered suggestion like any father would do. >> one of those false statements you heard there was from president trump's lawyer jay sekulow yesterday to george stephanopoulos. he got a chance to ask him about that. >> why did you deny president trump's involvement? when did you learn that the denial wasn't true? >> well, let me tell you two things on that one. number one,s a you kn as you knt point i was in the case a couple of weeks. as my colleague rudy guilliani said, i had bad information at that point. i made a mistake at that point. >> he didn't say where he got that bad information from, by the way. >> interesting. joining us, reporter for

"the washington post", eugene scott. he had a late night last night. i saw you on cas"kasie dc." i appreciate you getting up for us. >> sure. >> the president basically with his tweet threw his son donald trump jr. under the bus. how do you see it? what's the significance of the tweet for donald trump jr. and for the narrative about what happened at the meeting? >> i think the biggest issue is the impact it has on the presidency and campaign as a whole. the president, of course, was not attempting to throw his son under the bus. he was attempting to protect his son, but in the process he seems to admit more clearly than he ever had before that the primary focus of the meeting was not on learning about how to change adoption policy in russia, but to get information from a foreign government, one that's an adversary of the u.s. government, to use against an american in an election, and no lawyer would have given him any advice suggesting that this was

what he should be doing with his time. >> do you think this, eugene, adds more fuel to the fueler investigation here, which obviously we know trump is demanding be wrapped up and we know mueller is looking at trump's tweets for evidence. >> absolutely because it certainly brings up the question what about trump know, what did he know beforehand and what role did he play in it. i think one thing that people are doing that seems to lose focus and context about this meeting, it wasn't trump's son at the meeting. it was donald trump jr. who was a senior adviser for the campaign along with jared kushner along with paul manna port. this was not a personal family gathering. this was something that the involved some high and senior officials of a leading presidential campaign, involved in something nefarious. >> eugene scott for us. we will talk to you again in a little bit. thanks, eugene. >> sure. and president trump spent a good part of his weekend embroiled in a war of worlds,

not with a fellow world leader but with basketball superstar lebron james. the president tweeted late friday night, lebron james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. he made lebron look smart. it followed a tweet on the new school for at-risk children he opened in his hometown of akron, ohio. the interview included james' negative assessment of the president saying trump kind of used sports to divide us. in the wake of the president's tweet, james has received a wave of support, including from michael jordan. a spokesperson for the nba legend tells nbc news he supports james, adding he is doing an amazing job for his community. it appears james may have support from at least one person in the white house. first lady melania trump broke from her husband, commending james on his school, saying in a statement she would be open to visiting the facility. her spokeswoman maintained in a

further statement that mrs. trump was not taking sides on the matter. sound like it. should be noted five years ago trump had nothing but praise for james, tweeting congratulations to king james on winning athlete of the year in last neat's espys. >> how things change. president trump didn't bring up his criticism of lebron james in ohio on saturday. in what was build as a rally for troy balderson who is locked in a tight race in a generally republican district, but the president only made passing remarks on the special election. instead, he took time to embrace another ohio politicians, embattled jim jordan. >> jim jordan. how great is he? how great is he? what a great defender he has been. what courage. i tell you what, there is brave, tough cookie. if you want to stop the radical

pelosi and waters -- maxine waters -- agenda, there's only one choice in this election. that's vote for troy balderson, he's going to help mark meadows. he's going to help vince. he's going to help jim. he is going to help everybody. the fact is we need more republicans. people say we have a majority. we don't really have. you're the elite. you are the elite. you're smarter than they are. you make bigger incomes. you've got everything going, you know. so let them keep calling -- you ever hear it, hey, you go to the best schools. you do a tremendous job, you own companies. you work for tremendous salaries. you do all of the things that you do. you're talented, with your hands, with your mind, and then you hear, the elite has just

said. the elite? they're more elite than me? i have better everything than they have, including this. and i became president and they didn't, meaning you became president. and it is driving them crazy. >> all right. here is an interesting nugget. meanwhile, ohio governor john kasich actually claimed yesterday that balderson did not invite trump to appear at that campaign rally. >> all right. let's go overseas now while the rhetorical back and forth between the trump administration and iran has appeared to cool down in recent days, things may be about to heat back up. at midnight tonight the first set of sanctions waived under

the landmark iran nuclear deal are set to be imposed. part of the u.s., president trump announced the withdrawal in may. mike pompeo says they will be enforced and remain in place until the iranian government changes course, naming iranian leaders bad actors who have to behave like a normal country. >> joining us from london, nbc international correspondent cal perry. good to have you with us on this monday morning. explain to us what is expected to take place in the sanctions. how significant are the sanctions kicking back? >> these are crippling sanctions for the country of iran. these are two waves of sanctions you will see in the next three months, these sanctions coming at midnight. they will hit iranian currency hard. it will hit the sale of precious metals, two of the largest industries in eye rain, the

automotive and aviation industry, will be hit hard as well as sanctions on european companies if they break the sanctions, companies like mowing, mazda, air bus. we are talking about crippling sanctions. there will be a second wave on november 4thth. that will hit the oil shipping and the central bank. these sanctions are tantamount to regime change in a country that is seeing sort of protests bubbling in cities around the country. this is going to make things much for straesfessful for eye . >> how do we expect iran to respond to these sanctions that are being kicked back into place? also talk about the significance of the strait of hormuz here. >> if you look at that map, and we pulled the map of the persian gulf, there were military exercises over the weekend,

iranian military exercises, about 100 ships. these are normally well-publicized exercises. cent com which controls on the u.s. military side that controls things going out of the point, said that the iranians have drilled around the strait. that is iran's lifeline to the rest of the world. >> cal, let me get your take on something that has happened. the former president of eye iran taking to twitter to weigh in about the lebron james/donald trump controversy. >> hitting trump where it hurts, right? we have the tweet. @realdonaldtrump. he says,, a basketball player way before his time, well before colin kaepernick, 20 years ago

in 1996 he refused to stand before the national anthem. he received death threats. his house was burned down. >> oh, man. >> so some interesting cultural trolling by the former iranian president, or maybe they're trying out for a sports show. >> take a page out of the book of the president. >> mahmoud ahmadinejad is enjoying retirement. >> maybe it means he is coming out of retirement. thanks, cal. still ahead, what we know about the explosion that took place while venezuela president maduro was speaking. >> a new announcement shows voter turnout is surging among the blue side. a check on those stories when we come back.

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v welcome back, everybody. some big news over the weekend out of venezuela, venezuelan leader nicolas maduro survived what his government is calling an assassination attempt.

>> incredible footage. >> it was. it occurred as he was giving a speech to soldiers, broadcast live on television. he was speaking when an explosion he occurred. the camera then cuts to a wide shot of the scene, and following another apparent explosion -- there you see it there -- a large amount of the soldiers in attendance are breaking rank and fleeing, as you see on your screens there. the venezuelan government says the attack came from overhead drones. in an address shortly after, he blamed far right grupoups in venezuela in addition to, quote, financiers and planners that live in the united states and the state of florida. he says it is part of a plot linked to colombian president, something that they tell reuters is absurd. a national group in tee shirts has named responsibility on twitter, although it has not been confirmed.

venezuela has detained at least half a dozen people. >> mike pompeo is down playing the latest spar. north korea's foreign minister accused the u.s. of failing to live up to the agreement president trump and kim jong-un signed, saying his country is, quote, alarmed about u.s. intentions. he complained about u.s. sanctions and what he says is america's reluctance to negotiate a formal end to the war. pompeo noted that the tone was different than the apocalyptic back and forth of last year. on friday pompeo said, we still have a ways to go to achieve the ultimate outcome we're looking for. a u.s. diplomat delivered to a north korean official a letter from trump for kim responding to trump's recent letter to kim which was revealed on thursday. meanwhile, this morning north

korean state media called on the united states to drop sanctions against that country. that comes just days after a confidential u.n. report leaked which reportedly states that the dprk has not stopped its nuclear and missile perhaps, and has continued to conduct illegal trades of oil and coal. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, a little bit of severe weather and a lot of heat. >> yeah. good morning, louis. the weekend turned out half decent in some areas on the east coast. it is hot in the west, and it will get worse with the fires. up in the middle of the night, alarm clock, you don't need it in iowa. you have been in and out of thunderstorms all night long, a lot of lightning with the storms. they moved through mill wacwaukd will now make a run for chicago. severe outlook, peoria, chicago all in it. 22 million people at risk. of course, that will mean

airport delays when the line goes through chicago and detroit. let's get to the hot monday forecast. 48 million people under heat advisories. just about all of new england, even areas towards burlington, vermont will be very warm, philadelphia included. baltimore and also d.c. not included in the heat index, but still very hot. the heat index is a combination of the temperature taken in the shade, add it to the humidity. it will feel like 99 this afternoon in new york city. burlington also 99. rochester at 97 and d.c. at 96. new york city goes 92, 91, 87, so it will be a warm week ahead. as i mentioned, we will talk more about the big heat wave heading for the west coast again, the least thing any of the firefighters want to hear about. >> yeah, i was going to say they're not getting a lucky break out there. thanks for that, bill. still ahead, the red sox looking for a series sweep

against the yankees. this one went into extra innings in boston. all of the details next in sports. this is a story about mal and packages. this is a story about mal and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ the new united explorer card makes things easy. traveling lighter. taking a shortcut. (woooo) taking a breather. rewarded! learn more at theexplorercard.com but there's one... that blows them all out of the water. hydro boost water gel from neutrogena®.

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thomas becomes the fifth player in the last 30 years to win nine or more pga tour titles before the age of 26. turning to major league baseball, in los angeles the dodgers salvage a win in the final of a three-game series and a 2017 rematch, 3-2 victory puts it back into first place with arizona atop the nl west. the phillies maintained their lead atop the east completing a four-game sweep of the marlins with a win yesterday thanks to cabrera's go-ahead homer in the eighth inning there. finally, to boston where new york tried to avoid a critical series sweep. it was not the case. it was scoreless in the first when mookie betts pushed one over the green monster and out of the park. a little glimmer for the yankees. but the bronx bombers busted it open in the seventh, scoring two runs on an error and one on a wild pitch in addition to an rbi

single. blue saved big time, giving up three runs, only one of which was earned allowing the sox to tie it at 4. in the tenth, benintendi hit one up the middle. boston wins a crucial one, 5-4. it is boston's fourth four-game sweep of the yankees since 1969 and opened it a 9 1/2 game lead over the yankees in the division. >> you want to give us the inside track on how barnacle is feeling? >> i think we can get the inside track because he is sitting over there. >> i don't think he is happy he is here on a monday and it is so early, but he's happy about the sox. >> you happy, barnacle? >> oh, it was unbelievable. >> there you go. that's the reaction you need right there. >> someone turn the lights on for him at least, will you. >> fantastic. >> look at him. >> can't wait to give it to

willie. >> he's so happy. can we go back to that shot? >> all right. >> he's obviously not been following the news over the weekend. still ahead, much more on the sanctions against iran that are scheduled to be put back in place today. we will go live to tehran for the latest. >> plus, new reporting about foreign money flooding into president trump's manhattan hotel. we have that story and much more coming up next. ♪ ♪ a hotel can make or break a trip. and at expedia, we don't think you should be rushed into booking one. that's why we created expedia's add-on advantage. now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. scheduled to be put back in ♪ add-on advantage. discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. only when you book with expedia. it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous.

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♪ welcome back, everybody.

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis bergdorf. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories. while the rhetorical back and forth between the trump administration and iran appeared to cool down in recent days, things may be about to heat back up. at midnight tonight the first set of sanctions waived under the landmark iran nuclear deal are set to be reimposed. part of the u.s.'s withdrawal that president trump announced back in may. let's cross over live to tehran. nbc news bureau chief joins us from there. ali, give us a sense how iran is expected to respond. >> reporter: well, ayman, as you know, initially the iranians didn't react well to the sanctions being reimposed. it was one of outrage and anger. they called them illegal and tried their best to get the other signatories of the nuclear deal on their side, but that hasn't gotten much traction. now they're trying to counter the tangible effects of what they describe as an all-out war

by the trump administration on iran's economy, which is in really bad shape, by the way. the currency is in free fall. the real has lost around 80% of its value over the last year. there's hyperinflation. the price of basic goods, if they can be found, goes up by the hour and people are stockpiling because of shortages and fears of not finding essential items. now, this is all happened before the sanctions even kicked in at midnight tonight, as you mentioned. now, on saturday iran's interior minister said if the government doesn't come up with a plan to deal with u.s. sanctions, then you could see up to a million jobs being lost in the country. now, the sanctions, which snap back tonight, cover the purchase of dollars, bank notes, trade in gold and other precious metals and iran's automobile industry, and the government announced yesterday measures to try and stop the bleeding by easing foreign exchange rules, lifting restrictions on the import of dollars and gold in the country,

but it seems unlikely it is going to work. for now, rouhani, iran's president, will address the nation to talk about the economic crisis and respond to trump. but the general feeling here is tensions still will go up as long as the economy is in bad shape. ayman. >> ali, let's talk about the people here. iran has seen a rash of recent protests, mainly about the state of the economy there as you have been talking about. how is that playing into all of this? >> reporter: well, yasmin, it is a very pertinent question, and the protests are a major source of concern for the ruling establishment, as they mainly stem from bread-and-butter issues. people are concerned about the economic well-being of the country. protests have taken place in a few cities, including tehran, over the past week, driven by concern over the economy but as well a wider anger towards the political system. however, they're still far from the scale of the protests that took place in december and

january. they're much less spread out, but the general consensus is they will continue as long as the economy is tanking. back to you. >> we're going to stay on top of this, and i know you will as well. thank you for. all right. president trump was on defense over the issue, tweeting that the 2016 trump tower meeting that involved his son, donald trump jr., and a kremlin-linked attorney was totally legal according to the president. the president is saying that the meeting was intended to get information on an opponent, which seemingly contradicts a statement from more than a year ago. nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell has all of the details. >> reporter: feeling the heat. >> even though it is 110 degrees in this crazy room -- >> reporter: saturday night at a sweltering ohio rally, the president raised alarm over ongoing election interference. >> we got to stop meddling, we have got to stop everybody from attacking us, but there are a lot. russia is there, china is there. >> reporter: but he was running

a fever on twitter, denying a news report as a complete fabrication, that i am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son donald had in trump tower. that june 2016 meeting included a kremlin-linked russian lawyer and lobbyist along with the president's son, son-in-law jared kushner, and then-campaign chairman paul manafort. but the president changed his story, dropping the earlier claim that russian adoption policy had been the focus. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent. totally legal. he adds, i did not know about it. for 16 months the special counsel has been examining russian interference and whether the trump campaign had any improper involvement. this new tweet may draw further scrutiny, but a lawyer for the president questioned whether the trump jr. meeting crossed any red line. >> the question is what law, statute, rule or regulation has been violated. nobody has pointed to one. >> they actually pointed to several, including conspiracy to

defraud the united states. >> reporter: defending his eldest son and name sake and defending himself, appeared to ignite the president's frustration, enough to make this claim about the media. they can also cause war. they are very dangerous and sick. top adviser kellyanne conway offered this explanation. >> he said it really refers to those who aren't also telling the truth and giving emotion over information. >> reporter: the pet's lawyresi lawyer said he has no indication that donald trump jr. is a target for criminal liability. the president's son-in-law received his security clearance after investigators were well aware of his attendance at the meeting. and the lawyers say president trump wants to speak to the special counsel, but the legal team remains concerned about the potential risks, and so no final decision has yet been made. ayman. >> all right. our thanks to kelly o'donnell for the report. new reporting from "the washington post" offers a

glimpse into how the president is making money from foreign governments even as he leads u.s. foreign policy. the post obtained a may 15 letter from the general manager of the trump international hotel in manhattan, stating after two years of decline room rentals increased by 13% in the first three months of 2018 because of a visit to new york from the saudi crown prince. the general manager wrote that the trump hotel did not have suites big enough to accommodate the crown prince but members of his entourage stayed there for five days in march. such transactions fueled criticism trump is reaping revenue from foreign governments even as he controls u.s. foreign policy towards those companies. trump is currently being sued by the state of maryland, accused of violating the ee momoluments clause. the midterms are three

months from today, and in ohio over the weekend president trump predicted democrats will be disappointed in their effort to reach control of congress this november. take a listen. >> all throughout, like 100 years, 125 years, whoever has the white house, that party tends to lose the mid terms. i don't know why. we have the greatest economy in the history of our country. we have things that have never happened before. if the democrats get in, they're going to raise your taxes, you're going to have crime all over the place, you will have people pouring across the border. why would that be a blue wave? i think it could be a red wave. i tell you what -- really, i think it should be a red wave. >> now, despite the president's prediction, the pugh research center relosed new numbers for voter turnout this primary season. overall, the analysis found through june of this year 13.6 million people had voted in democratic house primaries, an 84% increase compared to 2014,

the last midterm election. about 10.4 million votes had been cast in gop house primaries. that's a bump of about 24%. in ohio, the number of democratic and republican primary voters also grew. democrats saw a 67% increase compared to a 39% increase for republicans, but overall republicans still held the advantage in the raw number of votes cast in ohio. in iowa, democrats saw a hugin crease in voter turnout this primary season with 152% increase while republicans saw a steep drop of 35% there. >> joining us once again, reporter for "the washington post", eugene scott. let's talk about the don jr. meeting at the trump tower tower in 2016. we know opposition research happens a lot and that is, in fact, legal. opposition research, eugene, from a foreign government not necessarily so. absolutely. there's an op-ed in "the washington post" this weekend

that said no law would have advised the trump campaign to actually attend that meeting. that's because enough people familiar with how these laws work know that accepting this type of information, especially via solicitation from a foreign government to be used against you opponent in an american election, is, in fact, illegal and there's no justification that the president gave via twitter explaining why he thinks this was appropriate and acceptable under u.s. law. >> not to mention adding to eugene's point there, the fbi and law enforcement had warned both the trump campaign and the clinton campaign there was an attempt by foreign governments, including russia, to try to infiltrate them. interesting to see the president not taking take warning seriously. eugene, a new "washington post" report dives into presume's financial gain from foreign governments through one of his new york city hotels. are we any closer 18 months into this presidential term to seeing president trump's personal financial statements? >> reporter: it doesn't look

like it at this point. i mean the president has not suggested that he would do anything in terms of releasing his tax returns, and calls for doing so actually have decreased. but there is growing interest in whether or not he has made more money in his hotel business specifically from his role as president. we don't know for sure whether or not the saudi government paid for this most recent visit you hear described in "the washington post", but we do know that a judge did allow for a case to move forward, figuring out whether or not this is legal according to the constitution. >> all right. live for us in washington, d.c., eugene scott. great to have you with us. thank you. >> thanks, eugene. >> speaking out on the shuttered group. the critical allegations he is laying out against the white house over what he says was the true goal of the commission. plus, bill karins is back with a check on the forecast, including some relief from the heat for some. ♪

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welcome back, everyone. a member of the president's disbanded commission to investigate supposed voter fraud is speaking out. maine secretary of state accused the white house and the commission's vice chair of making false statements. he also claims an outline of the commission's report came with sections with specific names that were blank, indicating a push to find evidence based on predetermined conclusions. dunlap believes the panel was set up merely to validate the president's baseless claims he has repeated many times of voter fraught. >> bill karins, what do you have for us? >> we are continuing with the heat in the northeast like yesterday, and we're still watching southern california and much of the west, the heat is getting worse instead of better. these fires went out of control this weekend, too. mendocino went from the 25th largest in the history of state of california and now is up to four. remember last year, thomas fire,

that was number one. we still have the carr fire burning, too. 48 million people at risk in the northeast today. just like yesterday, very hot and humid. it won't be like 105 to 110, but it will feel like 95 to 100. if you are outside for an extended time, or the kids or the pets, a little extra water would be good. the heat advisory is the lower category, and when we get to the heat warning this is where it is dangerous to be outside. this area is used to being hot, but you're going to be especially hot today and it looks to continue for much of the week. look at the week ahead forecast. one of the big things is going to be what happens here in the west with these temperatures. today in 87 in seattle is not too bad. you get warmer as the week goes on. thunderstorms today in chicago, maybe one round this morning and another round this afternoon. the same for detroit. by the time we get to the middle of the week, that front kicks to the east. it will cool things off a little

bit, but with humidity in place we will deal with showers and thunderstorms. i'm not too concerned with flooding like we had for the last two weeks, but the numbers get very warm in the west. we go very hot. of course, you have the firefighters trying to fight the blazes, and if any new blazes form, they'll spread rapidly. 102 in boise. up to 97 in portland, oregon. that's a hot temperature for you. 91 in seattle. another front cools off the great lakes, 81 in chicago. we get a little relief in seattle, but still hot and dry in many areas of the west. typical summer storms here in the southeast. but, guys, the fire numbers out in california, just adding them up, and it is pretty incredible stuff. >> thanks for that, bill. still ahead, markets overseas under pressure in some parts over the concerns about president trump's trade policies. and starbucks looks to get into cryptocurrency but creates confusion with its goals over the currency. details on those and others

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welcome back. let's turn to business. markets overseas are kicking the week off on a mixed note as investors shrug off the latest concerns over the president trump's global trade war. cnbc's joumanna joins us live with more. tough words over the weekend over trade policies. >> reporter: absolutely louis. they said they will not allow the u.s. to blackmail them and the people's newspaper not

mincing words. they wrote an editorial saying president trump is starring in his own street-fighter style deceitful drama of distortion and intimidation. that was in the people's daily newspaper. on friday afternoon they revealed an extra $60 billion worth of proposed tariffs if the u.s. were to go ahead with their threat of another $200 billion worth of tariffs as well. as you would expect, chinese equities were down more than 1%, actually they're down more than 25% for the year. so definitely feeling the effects there. but let me bring you some corporate news as well. walmart last week announced they were testing driverless cars to bring online groceries home. today they've announced they are testing robotic technology to bring products to shoppers quicker and to fill online orders quicker than in the past. they are testing the new technology in salem and new hampshire and they have plans to have it fully running by the end of the year.

we'll see how that goes. >> also, joumanna, starbucks created buzz over the weekend after announcing a new cryptocurrency venture with microsoft on friday. there's confusion what the company is looking to do in the sector. first there were reports you could use bitcoin to buy a frappuccino and it was finally taken away. what is the story with starbucks and cryptocurrency? >> reporter: sadly, you won't be able to buy your trap chinos with bit counsel. they have unveiled a new company that will make it easier for customers to convert their cryptocurrencies and bitcoins into cash, and then they can use the cash to buy starbucks' products. they're not quite ready to accept cryptocurrency yet. some of the bit processing speeds can vary 10 to 20 minutes time, which is a long time to wait for a coffee. >> that is a long time to wait. i can't wait that long.

thanks so much. >> especially when you have to get up for a morning show and you need that jolt of caffeine. >> i would be angry if i stood there 20 minutes while someone paid with bitcoin for their latte. coming up on "morning joe", president trump changing the story over the 2016 trump tower meeting. the potential fall-out over the president's admission his son met with russians to get information on an opponent. what this could mean for bob mueller's investigation and how the president's legal team is handling their clients' revelation. >> plus, democratic governor andrew cuomo of new york joins the conversation to discuss the nra's lawsuit against him, claiming he paid a role in the group's recently announced financial troubles. "morning joe", just moments away. s into making our thinnest longest lasting blades on the market. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world.

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us? >> happy monday. axios' one big thing, inside trump's summer playground. as we have seen here on msnbc the president is at his club in new jersey. he will be there all week, and the trump staff has changed their theory about how to manage trump on vacation. so they used to try to keep him busy, pack his schedule, but my colle colleague jonathan swan has learned that the president's week is pretty open. he likes to be able to meet with other members. he likes to be able to wander around, golf when he wants, but there's some side effects to that. one of them is the president is constantly on the phone, and somebody who spent a lot of time at bedminster with him tells us staff has no idea who he is talking to. >> i love that little nugget. >> who is he talking to about this? tell us about the new report titled the tivo presidency from

jonathan swann. >> this is trump watching trump. we knew on the president's campaign plane he used to love to watch the rallies as he was flying home. he would do an event, and on his own boeing 747 he would watch coverage of whatever event he had just done. well, he has taken that habit to the white house. so the president on his big tv in the dining room right next to the oval, he's got a tivo, and swa, if n found out it is preloaded with the president's favorite highlights of himself. >> wow. >> >> from rallies and going back to the debates. he watches this like an nfl coach watching game film, and he will give little narration. somebody who has watched it with him says the president will say, wait for it. and he'll say, do you see what i'm doing here. >> in all fairness, yasmin does that every day after the show. >> right. >> she gets off and texts me the highlights of the show. let me ask you quickly about some interesting tweeting over

the weekend. axios i know has been reporting on the president's trump tower admission that caught a lot of people by surprise. what is your takeaway about what he said about the infamous 2016 meeting with the russians? >> this could turn out to be a historic tell-all, and the president had hinted at this before, but now he's saying clearly that that trump tower meeting was about getting political information. why does it matter? in axios style, this is a meeting that as your viewers know, special counsel bob mueller is very focused on. if the president's lawyers want to argue he doesn't know that much about it, as he said in his tweet, he didn't know before, but now that he's tweeting about it, it makes that argument harder. but our be-smart trump insiders tell us they believe the president is in the end going to give an interview to mueller. he wants to, no question about that. he thinks he can make his own best case, and as one associate said to me, he just can't help

himself. >> crab the popcorn. that should be interesting to say the least. mike allen, live for us in washington. >> see you on the tivo. >> yes, see you on the tivo. we will be reading axios am in a bit. sign up for the newsletter. >> that does it on this monday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis borg dov. "morning joe" starts now. >> i think it is important to point out in a situation like this, you have over time facts develop. >> alternative facts. >> facts develop. >> alternative facts. >> facts develop. yeah, when donald trump is your boss facts can be stubborn things. his lawyer was on tv yesterday, forced to completely reverse something he had said publicly just a year earlier. he blamed bad information for the original lie without saying where exactly, joe, that bad information came from.

>> well, wherever it came from, it is very obvious you have, first of all, sean spicer lied or was lied to when he went out and gave the briefing, saying that there was nothing but adoption that original meeting was about. then, of course, you had jay sekulow lying or perhaps he was just lied to by donald trump. either way, it is bad when he also said it was all about adoption. then you had sarah huckabee sanders doing the same thing. she lied to the american people or she was lied to by donald trump, and, of course, donald trump lying from the very beginning, getting everybody together on air force one, concocting the lie about adoptions, mika. i will tell you, federal prosecutors, state prosecutors, any prosecutors will look to somebody's