monday night, as we start a new week together. thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ this morning, donald trump jr. tries to set the record straight. he's wayi he's weighing in on the 2016 trump tower meeting once again after his father, president trump, tweeted that it was about getting information on hillary clinton. the paul manafort trial, rick greats testifies that he worked with trump's former campaign chair to commit financial crimes including filing false tax returns. plus, violence in chicago, everybody. police say at least 74 people were shot between last friday afternoon and monday morning. it is insisted overall that gun violence is down this year.

♪ good morning, everybody. it is tuesday, august 7th. i'm yasmin vossoughian along sued louis bergdorf. we're starting with new attention around donald trump jr.'s trouble. the president's eldest son said in a radio interview that looking into the matter is, quote, a big waste of time. listen to this. >> this is just another distraction when, again, after two years of, you know, you non-stop investigation, with everyone in the media, everyone in the fbi, everyone in this -- whoever. the whole world is looking at this and they have yet to produce anything that even remotely resembles what they've been talking about, and yet, every other day, oh, my god! we've got it now. we've found the needle in the

haystack. >> did the issue of adoption, it's near and dear to my heart because i have two adopt edisons. did that come up? >> yes. >> in the meeting? >> like i said, it was the primary thing we had spoken about in the meeting. you know, that's not the premise that got them in the room, and then they started -- it was essentially a bait-and-switch to talk about that, and everyone has basically said that in testimony already. so this is nothing new, but, you know, like i said, i'm now understanding it is an important issue to you and near and dear to many people's hearts, but this was nothing that was a campaign issue to us. this wasn't relevant to us, and it wasn't something we were going to do anything with. >> except that's not what the president said over the weekend. trump jr. was not pushed to explain the shifting explanations behind the story. meanwhile, "vanity fair" has reporting on former communications director hope hicks' reappearance at the president's side over the weekend, just hours before he tweeted about the trump tower meeting. hicks served as the go-between

when the president dictated his son's misleading statement that claimed it was primarily about adoption. according to "vanity fair", hicks planned to spend the weekend at the president's golf club in new jersey. people said he asked her to come along to the rally. "vanity fair" recently reported that hicks was discussed by some as a dark horse to one day replace john kelly as chief of staff. while speaking to the press aboard air force one hicks said she would perhaps consider it if the time was right. we will have more on this later when "vanity fair" reporter emily jane fox joins "morning joe" and prosecutors called rick gates, manafort's one-time partner and deputy in the trump campaign. gates, avoiding eye contact with his boss, testified he was heavily involved in helping manafort hide millions of dollars overseas.

he also told jurors manafort directed had him to make payments through wire transfers using income and accounts manafort asked him not to disclose. the former trump deputy campaign chair acknowledged crimes he committed on his own behalf, likeembezzeling money from manafort. the charges against him come with a ten-year sentence. >> supporting the state's acting governor, the president backed a congressional secretary of state chris kobach had, vice chair of his defunct voter fraud commission. trump made the endorsement in a tweet, of course, hours before

voters are heading to the poles. according to "the new york times" a number of high-level party options urged trump against supporting kobach fearing he could lose the general election. west wing aides had hoped to keep the kansas race away from mr. trump's line of sight, but were uneasy about what he may do during his trip to the golf resort. that's where the president unveiled his endorsement. collier county who collier who a few days ago made the case why he should not side with kobach. >> this morning voters in ohio head to the polls in the closely-watched special election in the state's 12th district. the heat is in a dead heat. a poll has danny o'connor ahead by one point over his opponent troy balderson. last week a poll showed the opposite. the district has been reliably

red for three decade, but this election season there's a clear trend of democrats outperforming in republican territory. henry olson, a senior fellow at the ethics and public policy center, points out ohio's 12th district is split between an after fluent core with loads of romney, clinton voters and towns with lots of obama-trump voters. in 2016 trump carried frankly county, home to the state capital, while trump carried each of the rural counties. overall trump beat kliclinton b 11 points in that district. in michigan, the democratic primary for governor pits gretchen whitmer against abdul el-sayed. now, in kansas, republicans are seeking a nominee for the open gop seat where democrat paul davis is expected to make a strong showing in november. meanwhile, democrats have a

crowded field of their own in the third district to take on incumbent congressman. in washington's 8th district, a seat welcome by hillary clinton in 2016, voters have until today to cast mail-in ballots. lacy clay is facing a challenge from corey bush. a lot of action there, yasmin. >> absolutely. let's head overseas. the united states has reimplemented economic sanctions against iran that were lifted under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. specifically, the action targets iran's auto, civil aviation and coal industries. it also impacts the trade of gold and other precious medals, in addition to banning the importing of carpets and food. rouhani criticized the trump administration saying, quote, if you stab someone with a knife and then say you want talks, then the first thing you have to

do is remove the knife. rouhani did say he would sit down with trump for a meeting, something trump recently said he would do with no preconditions. however, rouhani said, first the united states would have to apologize and compensate for the past, adding, what sense do negotiations make when they impose sanctions. he said that the meeting is only suggested for domestic consumption in america ahead of the elections. a joint statement was issued criticizing the president's approach to this. secretary of state mike pompeo says sanctions relief would require enormous change from iran's leadership. however, nsa leader john bolton says the administration is not looking for regime change, a stark contrast from last summer when he promised regime change before the end of 2018. >> the declared policy of the united states of america should

be the overthrow of the mullahs regime in tehran. the behavior and the objectives of the regime are not going to change, and, therefore, the only solution the to change the regime itself. and that's why before 2019 we here will celebrate in tehran! >> our policy is not regime change, but we want to put unprecedented pressure on the government of iran to change its behavior, and so far they've shown know indication they're prepared to do that. i think this is regime is on shaky ground. >> white an aboutface from bolton to say the last. joining me now from axios, dave lawler. good to have you. let's talk about the newly-imposed sanctions on iran. we are hearing from rouhani obviously we're not having talks unless you take away the sanctions, also hearing they want the jcpoa reinstated if they were to sit down with the president and negotiate from

there. what is the possibility that rouhani and trump are to sit down in the future? do you think that the sanctions have basically dunawone away wi that possibility? >> what the trump is betting is either stepping back the sanctions -- this is just step one, there's more to come -- will convince the iranian regime they have to sit down with trump and make a deal on his terms, a much tougher deal than the one they've already made, or that pressure on the regime will just build because people in iran will be so upset by the economic pain they're feeling. iran is saying that's not going to happen. the europeans are scrambling meanwhile to save the existing deal, so it is a chaotic situation. this is just step one. >> let's switch gears and talk about the paul manafort trial. yet rick gates testifying. all eyes were on that, of course. that is paul manafort's ex business partner as many of us

well-know. is that testimony from rick gates basically a slam-dunk for mueller and his team? >> it is dramatic. it is certainly detailed. rick gates is saying, here is what i did and here is where paul manafort signed on the line, kind of endorsing what i did. obviously, you know, if you are paul manafort's defense attorney you are going to say this guy has been sitting up here telling you he lied, he cheated, he even cheated my client, and now he wants you to believe that everything he tells you is true. and he so that makes it difficult in terms of witness -- i'm not a lawyer, but i assume it is a complicating factor, although the detail here was certainly enough i would guess to convince some on people in the courtroom that rick gates and paul manafort were committing crimes together as he said there were. >> there were certainly a lot of details in the testimony. dave lawler, we're going to talk to you in a bit. thank you. >> thanks. a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck lombok and bali sunday night, killing near 100 people.

after thousands of buildings collapsed and were damaged, rescue workers found chaos and destruction across lombok, due to an exodus of tourists rattled by a second powerful tremor in a week's time. rescuers dug through rubble to look for victims after a lack of heavy equipment. power and communication were also cut in some areas on the island. the quake left at least 20,000 people homeless. all transport off of the island is booked until wednesday at the earliest, but local airlines say they will add extra flights to help tourists leave the area. all right. still ahead, everybody, the latest on the deadly violence that gripped chicago over the weekend and what city leaders have to say about it. later, a new study warning that the trump administration could potentially waste billions of dollars on the president's proposed border wall. those stories and, of course, a check on your weather with bill karins when we come back. ♪ (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything

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welcome back, everybody. chicago mayor rahm emmanuel and police department officials are calling on residents to help step the surge in violence up following the deadliest weekend in that city in more than two years. at least 74 people were shot, 12 of them fatally, between friday afternoon and monday morning. the victims' ages ranged from 11 to 62. local media says 47 people were shot just on sunday alone, the most shooting victims in a single day since september of 2011. speaking yesterday, the mayor and the superintendent of the city's police department visibly frustrated, called for accountability of the people behind the violence. watch this. >> >> there are too many guns on the street, too many people with criminal records on the street,

and there is a shortage of values about what is right, what is wrong, what is acceptable, what is condoned and what is condemned. and we as a city in every corner have an accountability and a responsibility. >> you know what i never hear? i hear people holding us accountable all the time. i never hear people saying, these individuals out here in the streets need to stop pulling the trigger. i never hear that. i never hear that. they get a pass from everybody, and they shouldn't, they shouldn't. >> here is the thing. despite the weekend's blood shed, officials saying gun violence is actually down 70% from a year ago, while homicides have fallen 20% in that same time period. >> recently, writings by mike pence could put the president in an awkward situation involving impeachment of president trump.

pence argued that a president should be held to the highest moral standards and should be removed from office if not. he cited then president bill clinton's affair with a white house intern and public lies about it as an example. in one piece, pence writes in part, quote, if you and i fall into a bad moral habits, we can harm our families, our employers and our friends. the president of the united states can insin rate the planet. seriously, the very idea that we ought to on have at or less than the same moral demand placed on the chief executive we place on our next-door neighbor is ludicrous and dangerous. throughout our history we have seen the presidency as the repository of all of our highest homes and ideals and values. to demand less is to do enjustice to te injustice to the blood that bought our freedoms. he also adds in another article, further, the president's repeated lies to the american people in this matter compound the case against him as they

demonstrate his failure to protect the institution of the presidency as the inspiring supreme symbol of all that is highest in our american ideals. >> how time changes things. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. hey, bill. >> good morning to you. we are watching this mendocino complex fire. it just continues to expand in size. now they're reporting that over 280,000 the acres, it is now the largest fire in california's recorded history. the fire history goes back to about 1932. how is this for a stat? we just broke the record with this fire, this video you're looking at here. last year the thomas fire broke the record for the largest-ever. in back-to-back years the larkest blazes ever, and this doesn't take into account the carr fire which burned 1,000 structures and killed five people seven days ago. yeah, our thoughts and prayers to all of the people in california and all of the families and firefighters on the

lines in 100-degree temperatures fighting those huge blazes. for today we are doing it again. it is dry and hot. 25 million people under excessive heat warning from vegas to los angeles to kingman. now the northwest is getting into it. excessive heat warning issued for portland, and it will be hot in seattle and all areas of washington state this week. excessive heat in the northeast, kind of your typical summer weather. 31 million people from new york city to maine are under heat advisories. that usually means temperatures between 95 and maybe 100. once it goes above 100, at that time you get excessive heat warning. it will feel like 98 in new york city, raleigh will be 99. thursday looks to be a better day as temperatures drop a little bit. but, once again, the california stats are just -- these fires are not regular fires. they're enormous blazes. up to this point the fire season

had been a little below average. in the last month it exploded. >> is it because of the extreme heat they've been having on the west coast? >> because of the drought conditions they've had, a long-term drought, and the heat on top of that. there's a lot of fuel to burn. >> thanks, bill. still ahead, everybody, we have great video. a soldier giving his family of a lifetime. you see part of it there. you don't want to miss this special moment, although you may want to have some kleenex ready for it. we're back in a moment. ♪ here. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association.

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welcome back. time now for sports. we begin in columbus, ohio where buckeye fans rally outside of ohio stadium to show support for head football coach urban meyer. he has been placed on paid administrative leave while the school investigates claims he may have had knowledge of domestic abuse allegations involving a former assistant coach. we will see how it plays out for him the university of north carolina suspended 13 members of the football team by selling team-issued nike jordan sneakers. nine players, including the quarterback, have received four-game bans while two will sit for another two games and another pair for one. the ncaa approved the request to delay two of the suspensions affecting multiple players at the same position. turning to nascar, the nascar chairman and ceo is

taking an indefinite leave following his arrest sunday night in sag harbor, new york. according to police officers, they determined france was intoxicated after pulling him over for running a stop sign. he was arrested and found to be in possession of oxycodone pills. france, the grandson of nascar's founder, issued a statement apologizing for the impact of his actions. his uncle, jim france, will take over as interim chairman there. finally, for the moment of the night we head to cleveland where with the help of the indians, u.s. coast guard chief petty officer tim lee was able to pull off a surprise reunion for his young sons. their emotional response and the look on their face, his face, it just says it all. it is what it is all about. it is incredible. i love this moment. >> you can tell at first the son

doesn't necessarily know it is his dad because he's so shocked about it. he's like, is that my dad and then he runs to him. it is so cute, a sweet moment for them. >> we need more of that for sure. >> yeah. still ahead, a social media site's crackdown on content. a new push by several major technology companies to ban alex jones and info wars. plus, president trump weighs in on the deadly wildfires in california, claiming the state is wasting water, but fire officials say he's wrong. those stories next. e. e. but if that's not enough, our app helps monitor your spending too. and if that's not enough to help you save, we could start a carpool. look at this traffic. don't worry. ok, if that's not enough we'll start a trainpool. oh i have a meeting in five minutes. and if that's still not enough... i got it. we'll just create a shortcut. we'll do anything, seriously anything to help you save. ally. do it right. talking 4th quarter? yes. your hair is so soft!

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis bergdorf. let's start with the morning's top stories. president trump's oldest son speaking out about his 2016 meeting with a russian lawyer at trump tower on the heels of his father's about-face on the sitdown. don trump jr. is down playing the meeting after the president admitted it was about getting dirt on hilary clinton. peter alexander has more on this shifting story. >> reporter: president trump on vacation, but hardly in vacation mode. no public appearances but plenty of public complaints. watching cable news coverage, still fuming about robert mueller's inquiry even after himself reigniting controversy about the 2016 trump tower meeting between his son and a russian lawyer tied to the kremlin. donald trump jr. trying to clean up after his father admitted outright it was about getting dirt on hilary clinton, blaming

the media instead. >> they've gotten plenty of mileage out of this thing and they're going to keep milking it as long as they possibly can. >> reporter: the president as stunning reversal coming by tweet. this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, a far cry from the misleading explanation he dictated from air force one on his son's behalf last summer, the president and his'des at the time insisting that meeting, now central to mueller's investigation, was primarily about russian adoptions. >> they talked about, as i see it they talked about adoption and some things. >> he certainly didn't dictate but, you know, like i say, he weighed in and offered suggestion like any father would do. >> reporter: the president's new argument that the research effort was totally legal, done all the time in politics. but it is illegal for a campaign to accept or solicit a gift of any value from a foreign person or government. the president's lawyer defiant. >> the question is what law, statute, rule or regulation has been violated and nobody has pointed to one. >> reporter: one question still looming over the president's

week here in new jersey, whether he will finally agree to sit down with an interview with special counsel robert mueller. the president's lawyer, rudy guilliani telling nbc news he is preparing to respond to mueller's request in the coming days. yasmin. >> thanks to peter alexander for that report. meanwhile, a person familiar with the matter telling nbc news that the so-called manhattan madam is set to testify to the special counsel's grand jury this week. the source says mueller's team questioned kristin davis about russian collusion last week. davis has ties to former trump campaign adviser roger stone. in a statement to nbc news last week, stone called davis a long-time friend and associate and a brilliant business woman. he also claimed, quote, she knows nothing about alleged russian collusion or any impropriety related to the 2016 election. after being contacted by mueller's team in july, davis said, quote, for them to come to me for information on russian collusion, i don't have anything on that. she called it, quote, out of the blue and very upsetting.

in 2014 davis began a two-year prison term for selling prescription drugs to an fbi informant. he she earned the nickname manhattan madam for running an escort service with a wealthy client list that she said included new york's governor at the time, elliott spitzer. she served several months on riker's island for her dealings in prostitution. and senator rand paul was in moscow where he met with russian lawmakers and invited several of them to visit washington. sitting beside a high-ranking member of russian senate who has been under american sanctions since april, senator paul said one of the reasons for the trip is because he wants to have engagement with moscow. paul met with former ambassador kislyak. he invited members of the foreign relations committee to visit the nation's capitol and added he will impose the passage of new sanctions against russia. russian lawmakers pressed paul to stand up in defense and push

for her release, adding if he can it will show he is a, quote, real human being. she is a gun activist currently held as a russian agent. eight lawmakers visited moscow over the july 4th weekend ahead of the trump/putin summit. let's talk about the california fires. officials are weighing in on president trump's recent tweets about the deadly wildfires tearing across the state. the president tweeting last night, california wildfires are being magnified and made so much worse by theed bad environmental laws which aren't allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. it is being diverted into the pacific ocean. must all tree clear to stop the fire from spreading. but as "the los angeles times" points out, the current wildfire situation is unrelated to water supplies or to environmental laws. fire agencies have not been complaining about a lack of water. major reservoirs are near the

worst fire zones and all are at or near historic levels. the president also tweeted yesterday, governor jerry brown must allow the free flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the north and be foolishly diverted into the pacific ocean. can be used for fires, farming and everything else. >> andrew: cording to "politico" trump's comments may be referencing an unrelated dispute between brown and california republicans over how much of the state's water can be diverted to california farms. one strategist told "politico" trump's recent tweets don't know, quote, an elementary understanding of water policy. a new watchdog report shows major flaws in the trump administration's long-promised border wall. the government accountability office claims a wall could cost more than projected, take longer than planned, and not perform as expected. the group has also found that dhs has not properly documented plans for building part of the

wall in san diego. trump has been pushing congress for more money recently, even threatening a government shutdown if his budget demand are not met. white house officials the entire wall could cost 8 to $12 billion while dhs estimates clock it as high as 21 billion, yasmin. let's talk about the wall a little bit. joining me world news editor for axios, dave lawler. once again shall good to talk to you. let's talk about the newly-released watchdog report louis just talked about. is it hurting trump's chance of getting more border wall funding? 25 million i think he want for the wall. >> his biggest challenge might be the mid sterm election. he is talking about shutting down the government and demanding wall funding. we are talking about billions of dollars, so if you are a member of congress and you're voting leading to the midterm, this is a polarizing issue, so even billions of dollars are not

going to change your mind. you are thinking about survival. >> do you think the misprojection is affecting taxpayers in the way to vote for the wall? >> it is certainly going to affect taxpayers. we are talking about huge discrepancies in what the trump administration says the wall will cost and what non-partisan analysts say the wall will cost. if you believe the trump administration it is only going to cost maybe 8 to $12 billion, that might be a cost you are willing to spend. $70 billion, something like that, that's much more expensive. if mexico would cut a check, that would change the equation here, but it doesn't sound like that's going to happen. so, yeah, no, it is going to be an issue continuing. >> the president would love it if mexico just cut a check, but it doesn't seem like, as you said, that's going to happen. let's look ahead to the mid terms while i have you, dave. do you think immigration will be a big issue that the gop will campaign on? >> this might be not the issue that, you know, paul ryan would choose, but president trump can't avoid talking about immigration.

this is his number one issue, dating back to the many campaign, and he is driving the conversation on quitter. so the wall will come up. i'm sure that democrats will bring up the dreamer issue and separation of family so it will be a major factor. >> what are you hearing that the gop wants to campaign on versus the democrats? what will be sort of the winning issues on the ballot with the midterm election with regard to both parties? >> republicans would love to campaign on the economy, especially members of congress. the economy is flying. tax cuts are popular, particularly among republicans. that's an issue they think is simple to express to voters. look, your paycheck is up, yet they probably have to be campaigning on the more divisive issues. for democrats, they think health care might be a winning message, especially with reports coming out that trump will return to health care, talk about defunding, you know, ripping up obamacare again. those are two issues they would like to campaign on, but

president trump is driving this conversation. >> dave lawler. thanks. good seeing you. >> thanks. i want to go to the passing of the man once described as ronald reagan's closest political confidante in the white house, former nevada governor and senator paul laxalt. he served in office from the 1960s through the 1980s. he connected with reagan during the gold water campaign in 1964 and two years later they were elected governors of neighboring states. laxalt managed his challenge to president ford and chaired two successful campaigns in the 1980s. laxalt was a conservative hero in his own right, leading the fight against the panama treaty. he was considered the rightful heir of reagan. his grandson is the republican candidate for governor this year. still ahead, some of the country's biggest media companies taking on alex jones's

info wars. the move they're taking to stop jones amid continued claims he is spreading misinformation. a dramatic rescue by police in atlanta, saving the life of one man and it is all caught on camera, plus bill karins back with another check on your forecast. we will be right back. ♪ ♪ 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.

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with the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. one week? that definitely works! rapid wrinkle repair®. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. see what's possible. welcome back, everybody. four media giants are banding together to take down controversial info wars from their site. they all have removed info wars and its creator alex jones' content from its platforms in various degrees. it is in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation. he has been behind several right-wing conspiracy hearings, like claiming the sandy hook shooting was in fact a hoax. he has a large following with most pages garnering millions of

subscribers. apple moved sunday to remove their platform spotify, following suit. facebook announced it unpublished four pages belonging to jones, repeatedly violating the standards. youtube followed suit, terminating his account. the move has caused an uproar in circles questioning a -- >> police released footage showing a rescue by officers. officers worked to pull a man from a car engulfed in flames. it took place early sunday morning. the man was trapped in the front seat of the vehicle following an accident. one officer used a fire extinguisher to keep the flames from spreading while another pulled the passenger from the burning vehicle. officials say all three of the

vehicle's passengers are in stable condition. those officers definitely heroes, bill. it is just pretty stunning footage there. >> you know cars can, you know, blow up. that's just crazy. yeah, hats off to them for that. job well done, yeah. incredible stuff. louis, i can't top that video but i have some impressive pictures from colorado, from an epic hail storm event that took place yesterday. this is the cheyenne county zoo, and there were softball and baseball-size hail all over the place. unfortunately, it hit the zoo and some of the animals weren't protected. a couple of birds did perish. a couple of people were hit by the hail and actually taken to the hospital. 11 people were treated, five were significantly injured. i mean if you are hit by baseball-size hail it can leave a mark. hopefully it won't do that again. colora colorado looks safe. we have heat continuing in the northeast. 31 million people under heat

advisories from new york to maine. this will be dropped most likely tomorrow as it cools ever so slightly. we add some thunderstorms to the forecast. the thunderstorms in colorado have now moved into areas of kansas. a lot of thunderstorms from kansas city through illinois this morning, had even a tornado warning overnight and severe storm warning in areas around springfield. a soaking morning, driving interstate 70. columbus looks okay now. as we go throughout the day today, the front will inch to the east. we'll pop up thunderstorms for you in western pennsylvania, maybe a few in central new york. h by the time we get to wednesday, showers and storm are more plentiful from new york city to d.c. and hit and miss from tennessee through the southeast. yasmin, this front eventually will knock down the temperatures in areas of new england where it has been hot to start our august. >> i think knocking temperatures down in that area could come as

a nice day. >> for a couple of people. >> for a couple of people. thanks, bill. still ahead, the federal government takes its latest shot to try to stop the merger between at&t and time warner. plus, facebook looks to get its hands-on your financial information. details on why the company is going to the biggest banks looking for that data. ♪ at uber, we're listening to what matters most to you. and we're committed to improving every ride. starting with features designed to make it easy for your driver to find you... taking the stress out of pickups. ♪ we're putting safety at the heart of everything we do... by making it easy to verify your car, and driver. uber has new leadership, a new vision, and is moving in a new direction... forward the new united explorer card makes things easy. traveling lighter. taking a shortcut. (woooo)

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let's turn to business. amid the continued backlash oerch data privacy breaches, facebook reportedly wants access to your financial data. joumanna bercetche joins us live information about their customers. in return facebook will give them access to their users. what more can you tell us about this? >> it's ironic. isn't it? facebook shares up 4.5% on the news yesterday. they're looking to find ways to partner up with large u.s. banks to share financial information about customers, and so one of the things they would look at offering is things like financial services, offering on facebook messenger, account alerts, fraud alerts. in early stages of discussions with big banks like jpmorgan, wells fargo and citigroup. one large group pulled away from discussions due to privacy

concerns. you named it. a company under a lot of fire because of hits handling cambridge analytica and harvesting user information and selling it on to third parties. comes is an interesting time for them. of course, there are pressures on facebook to expand revenues's this is one way to do it. fetting involved in the financial services as well. amazon is also having those discusses. >> making an argument in a bid to block the at&t-time warner merger. what the doj is saying about the judge that initially approved the deal missed things. especially misjudged the economic impact of this deal, especially time warner's bargaining power. what more can you tell us? >> exactly it. recap a little. back in june the u.s. district court judge richard leon gave approval for at&t to acquire time warner.

second largest media merger of all-time. the government appealed the order. that the judge didn't properly understand and ignored economic theory saying time warner wasn't have increased bargaining power over pay tv distributors and argued on the back of the deal, rising fees. if they win, the merger would need to be unwound. very tricky. >> great have you with us. talk to you tomorrow. coming up, axios, "one big thing." and on "morning joe," downplaying the 2016 trump tower meeti meeting. don junior, the excuse he offers for a meeting weekend the wake

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welcome back, everybody. joining us from washington with a look at axios, ceo jim vandehei. good morning to you. >> good morning, talk to us about axios' "one big thing" today. >> a fascinating study by morning consult looking at dangers for any company weighing in on donald trump. everybody wants an opinion on the president. turns out that's a bad strategy for companies. that there's not much upside at all for a company taking a stand on a trump proposal. whether it's pro or con trump. both sides have deep reservations about it. in fact, there's probably more risk than reward, because the group that feels most strongly about it are sort of real red-blooded trump supporters with a visceral reaction if a brand takes a stand on a trump idea. >> does it matter which industry these companies are in? or that doesn't really make a

difference? >> it does. this is a broad-based look at consumers in general. one industry, tech industry, seems to be most out front in terms of taking position. whether a muslim ban, immigration. recently google made a decision about a government contract involving drones because of pressure from its own employees. tech companies are out front, but this applies to most companies. employs want them to take positions on guns or other topics but they understand the risk. >> talk about a new poll exies has on immigration this morning. >> yes. a lot of viewers, especially those in competitive house and senate races might wonder why republican candidates talk so much about immigration. the reason it is, even if not a hot topic in the district, there's total alignment between trump popularity and what people think of the wall and think of immigration. it is so clearly the chief

motivator of the republican party right now. even more so in a lot of districts than taxes or other bedrock republican topics of the past. total symmetry. if you are for the wall, if you have concerns about immigration, you're almost undoubtedly a trump supporter. >> even with the debacle of the family separation policy, seems as if immigration still is top of mind for a lot of republicans. >> one of the cool things we've done, poll different subgroups. one of the groups is suburban women and also voters who are never hillary voters. who voted for trump mainly because they didn't like hill y hillary. even in those groups, divided on the wall. almost split 50/50. more support for the wall. i think largely as a symbol of being tougher on the borders, but not as radioactive of a's toic. obviously, the child separation was a debacle for republicans

but not a political price at this point. >> new reporting on the tech industry regards to the midterm elections. talk to us about silicon valley's awakening when it comes to the ballot box. >> three serious tech folks rahning for seats in congress. basically you're seeing this uprising in tech. just talked about it in the corporate setting. also you see more and more awareness that their future will be determined by what's happening in washington. now you're starting to have people come from the tech community and run for office. remember, there was an anale al but now because the two words are colliding, tech and regulation colliding, see it with face book, google, the president's words about amazon. probably more from the tech world thinking their minds, solutions, algorithms, et cetera, to be the solution in

washington. >> what else are you following today? >> watch the trial super closely. see what trump is doing from his vacation home. always been up tweeting about iran. pay close attention. there's a real divide between us and europe how to deal with the iranian sanctions. a lot of people are worried that the words today are only going to escalate things with iran when we've already escalated things with the chinese and obviously the koreans. >> curious to see how that will play out. jim vandehei, good seeing you. reading axios a.m. in a little bit. sign up for the newsletter, signup.axios.com. that does it for us on this tuesday morning. i'm yas lynn vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning. it is tuesday, august 7th, and we