thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ baby just a little bit, just a little bit ♪ ♪ chain, chain, chain ♪ chain, chain, chain >> this morning the world remembers the queen of soul, aretha franklin, the 76-year-old singer passing away after a difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. also this morning, new reporting on the president feeling emboldened after revoking john brennan's security clearance. those weighing in on the move. another secret recording released by white house aide omarosa, this time appearing to detail her interests action with lara trump who offered her a job after being fired. ♪

good morning to you. it is friday, august 17th. i'm richard louie alongside frances rivera as well as louis bergdorf. ayman and yasmin have this morning office. we're starting with the woug post which reporting that president trump feels emboldened by stripping brannan of his security clearance. two aides adding that he feels a visceral disdain for the former director when he sees him on tv. white house officials said trump did not focus on his power to remove clearances until this summer. white house aide confirm that trump made his decision about brennan who serves as an nbc contributor. sarah sanders recommended they announce the action wednesday amid an onslaught of news coverage from former aide's omarosa manigault newsome's new

book. the white house provided a list of former officials and one still serving at the justice department whose security clearances are under review, regardless of whether they have them or not. on wednesday, lengthy action against brennan, and the rest of the reviews to the russia probe, telling the "wall street journal", these people led it so i think it is something that had to be done. national security lawyer mark zaid said brennan could pursue a due process claim, saying he is unlikely he could win it back. that while gina haspel is remaining sigh eleventh about the treatment. asked if haspel approved of trump stripping brennan of the security clearance and if she had known about it and advised the president on it in advance, cia spokes men tim barrett told "the daily beast" that the cia does not comment on former

security clearance. but former senior intelligence officials signed a let speaking out saying, we feel compelled to respond in the wake of the ill-considered and unprecedented remarks and actions by the white house regarding the removal of john brennan's security clearances. we all agree that the president's actions regarding brennan and the threats of similar actions against other former officials has nothing to do with who should and who should not hold security clearances and everything to do with an attempt to stifle free speech. you don't have to agree with what brennan says, and, again, not all of us do, to agree with his right to say it subject to his obligation to protect classified information. well, this after former navy admiral william mccraven, who oversaw the raid that killed osama bin laudden wrote a lette challenging the president to revoke his clearance as well. what are republicans saying

about trump's decision to take away the security clearance? >> to be honest, for the most part republicans on capitol hill are supportive of the decision or at least not speaking out against it. there's a few isolated voices that sort of cried foul on the president's move including senator bob corker, who heads the foreign relations committee in the senate. but for the most part what we're hearing is broadly supportive of the president. john cornyn who over sees the intelligence community and who is the second in command among senate republicans came out in support of the president's decision. rand paul, who has been a close ally of president trump for years now, not only supported the decision but called for it before it happened. cory gardner, one of the most important republicans politically because he heads the national republican senatorial committee, came out in support of the decision. so for the most part republicans in both the house and the senate are saying they think the president made the right decision. this is not something where he is going to get any sort of criticism in a significant way from his party or from the base.

>> betsy, we've been talking since yesterday about how unprecedented this is, but what are the parameters here? what can the president do, especially with the other list, the ones he is considering after feeling emboldened according to "the washington post"? is there a cap on the president taking away former administration officials security clearances? >> my understanding is that there is not. i don't know of any particular limitations on the president's ability to take this ak non-. remember, he's the commander in chief. the buck stops with him. he has the ultimate say when it comes to questions rarting to how intelligence and national security matters are handled. from a constitutional perspective there are supposed to be very limitations on how the president wields that power. of course, it doesn't mean he is not going to get significant criticism from people in the intelligence community, but his ability to act here is largely unconstrained. that's why we can expect to see the president and the white house additionally take moves against more figures in the intelligence community who are critical of the president. and this is really important, because for many of these people

having a kurt clearance securita key part of their ability to work. it is not just about press tying but employment. >> when it comes to the president, but interesting with "the washington post" reporting saying there are aides he is more thorough in the process or he drops it all together. whether he listens to them, we'll see. betsy, thank you. >> sure thing. fans across the world are celebrating the life of aretha franklin, the queen of soul. the singer's long-time publicly cyst says franklin died of advanced pancreatic cancer yesterday. she was surrounded by friends and family at her home in detroit. she had a career spanning over six decades and is known for "respect," "change of fool" and "you make me feel like a natural woman." she became the first woman inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame. beyond her distivgtinctive voic

she was a figure in the civil rights movement. talk about how she is being remembered there in the days to come, jay gray. >> reporter: what an incredible woman and life. rolling stone eight years ago called her the greatest singer of all time. aretha franklin's iconic career began in the new bethel baptist church where her father was a pastor. her voice changing music and echoing around the world. all hail the queen. ♪ >> reporter: aretha franklin's long struggle with pancreatic cancer ended thursday morning. >> she just recently said she would never retire. she didn't retire, she just decided she would just rest in peace. >> reporter: flowers, balloons and fans lined the sidewalk outside new bethel baptist church. inside -- ♪ >> reporter: a vigil. >> we come to say thank you.

thank you for the queen of soul, aretha franklin. ♪ you make me feel >> reporter: she is being remembered from harlem -- >> she represented someone who was so strong and so determined. >> reporter: through los angeles and around the world. honored not only for her powerful voice but also her strong commitment to civil and women's rights. >> just the fact she was a black woman to stand up in that time and ask for respect. ♪ r-e-s-p-e-c-t ♪ find out what it means to me >> reporter: her 1967 anthem, one of her many hits that continued through 50 years. ♪ >> reporter: music that moved many to tears, like her memory does now. >> we love you, aretha. rest in heaven. and you will be sorely missed.

>> reporter: you know, franklin sang at three presidential inaugurations, as you talked about the first one inducted into the rock & roll hall of fame. she is being remembered and honored not only by those who love her so much in her hometown of detroit, but musicians and entertainers across genres around the world. frances. >> no kidding. a lot of us playing aretha all day yesterday and today, too. jay gray for us. thank you. in the manafort trial the jury is set to resume deliberations after sending the judge a set of questions on the first day of trying to reach a verdict. late in the afternoon the judge received four questions from the jury focusing on some of the arguments made by manafort's lawyers. the most detailed question was made by the jury and was, quote, whether one was required to file a foreign bank account report or

fbar if they own less than 50% of the company and no signatory authority. fbars are required of people with foreign bank accounts containing more than $10,000. they asked to define shell company, reasonable doubt and whether it can be amended to include the indictment. according to legal analyst daniel goldman, the jury's question are generally a positive signal for the manafort defense team. it suggests the jury is digging into the weeds of the case with the main focus on reasonable doubt. manafort's lawyers have argued the government must prove manafort is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. the jury's questions also believe he likely controlled the flow of money at the center of the case, which is good for the prosecution, and he could be found guilty on at least one fbar account. omarosa dropped another secret recorder in her future with the trump white house, this time to back up her claim she

was offered a $15,000 a month job with the campaign, this just days after leaving the white house. this tape, the excerpts from it are from her conversation with campaign official, lara trump, the wife of eric. the date before "the new york times" ran this article about omarosa departure which includes a quote from former reality tv star saying that she has a story to tell. the latest tape excerpt begins with a reference to this article. >> listen, obviously with, like, "the new york times" article and stuff, you know, it's -- it's -- >> what's "the new york times" article? >> the one that -- the one that -- i guess it was in today, what they wrote about it. it sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you've got in the back pocket to pull out. clearly, if you come on board the campaign, like, we can't have we got to -- >> oh, god, no. >> everybody positive, right.

and the only thing we have to consider when we're talking salary as far as the campaign is concerned is that, as you know, everything is public, and all of the money that we raise and that pays salaries is directly from donors, small dollar doan yors for the moyors -- donors for the most part. so i know that you were making 179 at the white house, and i think we could work something out where we keep you right along those lines. specifically, i haven't even added up the numbers, but we were talking about, like, 15k a month. let me see what that adds up to. times 12. yeah, so that is $180,000. does that sound like a fair deal for you? >> well, those four excerpts are the ones omarosa chose to share from a longer conversation. nbc news has listened to the tape in cool and the clips are in proper context. lara trump issued a statement saying this. when omarosa was fired by the white house chief of staff in december of 2017 my entire family was concerned for her

because we had no idea about the basis of her dismissal. we still wanted her on our team because we cared so much about her personally. that's why i reached out to offer her a position with the 2020 trump campaign before we knew anything about the gross violations of ethics and integrity during her white house tenure. another one of omarosa's bombshell tapes is a fraud. the discussions about a position with the campaign took place over several weeks. omarosa claims the jobs are offered to people to each them quiet about their time in trump's orbit. according to omarosa that includes the president's long-time body guard. cnbc siting filings that this year he was paid $15,000 a month for the 2020 republican national convention. the white house denies omarosa's claim it is hush money. still ahead for you, "the boston globe" receives a threat after leading an effort to run free speech editorials across the country.

later, president trump's military delay is delayed after estimated costs start to skyrocket. ♪ ♪ this is a story about mail and packages. 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 ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens ♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is

simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. welcome back. security was heightened at "the boston globe" after the newspaper reportedly received a threatening phone call yesterday. according to axios, an e-mail went out from the building manager saying local and federal authorities were taking the call seriously and additional security measures had been added around the property. the threat came after the globe published an editorial pushing back against president trump for labelling the news media the enemy of the people. the paper helped coordinate more than 300 similar editorials. president trump criticized the paper for leading the effort, tweeting, "the boston globe", which was sold to "the new york times" for $1.3 billion, plus $800 million in losses and investment, or $2.1 billion, was

then sold by the times for $1. now the fwloglobe this is collu. meanwhile, the resolution reaffirms the, quote, vital and indispensable role the free press serves and condemns the attacks on the institution of the free press. the trump released new numbers for us, shedding on light on how many migrant children are and still are separated from parents. according to court filings, 2,654 migrant children were separated from their parents at the southern border. 565 kids, or about one-fifth of the total, they remain separated and are still in the custody of health and human services. 366 of those childrens parents have already been deported outside of the united states. 24 of those children are between the ages of zero and five years old. they remain separated from their parents. six of the children's parents have already been deported. the administration also says

that 154 parents have waived their right to be reunited with their kids. however, the aclu has challenged that number, saying some parents were mislead or coerced into waiving their right to reunification. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, what have you got for us? hopefully somewhat nice weekend? >> reporter: we're going to be dodging the raindrops, a lot of areas on the east coast. it is still very humid, and that cold front is going to be kind of lingering over the eastern seaboard triggering a lot of showers and storms. if you look at the map this morning, already, you know, pouring still from memphis to chicago, had a line of storms go through. you're clear now. indianapolis, rain is about to arrive, a line of thunderstorms coming your way. hit-and-miss shower sincere and storms in central new york. later today as the front approaches the new england area, we could get severe storms out of this. wind damage could be the biggest threat and large hail with some of the storms. we are talking areas north of new york city, you will the through way to albany, southern

portions of half of vermont, back towards binghamton, wilks bar and over to bingham. let's time the mess through friday. going throughout the morning, hit and miss showers in the ohio valley. by 355:00 storms should be exitg nashville and heading to northern alabama. new york city, hit and miss showers and storms. dry in d.c., richmond, raleigh and charlotte, you will be very hot today. taking you into saturday, showers and storms going through saturday afternoon. d.c., richmond area, baltimore, new york city, southern new england, pittsburgh, i mean you mention it, all of these little dots represent a chance for showers and storms, which covers a lot of the eastern seaboard. with it, of course, will come a lot of airport delays this afternoon and on saturday afternoon. >> all right. lots to watch on this weekend as we get ready for it. bill, thank you so much. don't go anywhere because we have the highlights from

yesterday's preseason nfl action. i know you have a couple of opinions on that. plus, louis has the new york mets, yes, the mets who scored three touchdowns and a field goal last night. put it all together. a once-in-a-lifetime event, next in sports. we're back in a moment. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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matchup was none other than a superbowl rematch between the champion philadelphia eagles and new england patriots, but the man who led philly to its first title, backup quarterback nick foles had a questionable start in terms of his health it so far, missing labs week's preseason opener with an upper body injury, leading last night's rematch with what the team says was a strained shoulder after he took a shot stepping into a throw in the second quarter. we will see how he fares. turning to major league baseball where the league suspended jose raena and fined him an undisclosed amount after he pegged a rookie with a 97 1/2 mile per hour pitch, with the first pitch sparking the benches to be cleared and a brawl. he is reportedly expected to appeal the decision. we go to arlington, texas. the rangers pull off one of baseball's most elusive plays after a routine ground ball,

infielder steps on third and then tags the runner out there and tosses over to the second baseman who tags out the final runner as texas completes the triple play and gets out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning. that is the major's first triple play in which the batter was not retired since 1912. an important one at that as the rangers go on to beat the angels 8-6. finally we head back to philadelphia where the mets apparently saved all of their runs for the end of the season, scoring a team-record 24 in last night's romp of the phillys. it included a grand slam during the mets ten-run fifth inning. final scored, three touchdowns and a field goal, 2-4. >> three touchdowns and a field goal, i love it. way to go, louis. good stuff. still ahead, we will hear what republicans on capitol hill have to say about president trump revoking john brennan's

security clearance and what it means for other intel officials. plus, minoritiy leader pelosi is facing competition. those stories and more coming up next. 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. you need a higher standard of craftsman. see for yourself at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. get 2.9% financing on the 2018 ls 500. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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♪ good to be with you. you made it to friday. i'm frances rivera alongside richie louie and louis bergdorf. a dozen of the highest ranking

foshler u.s. intelligence officials are speaking oes against president trump revoking john brennan's security clearance, calling it an attempt to stifle free speech. the former admiral reacted in a public letter, writing, john brennan is one of the finest americans i know. therefore, i would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so i can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken against your presidency. if you think for a moment that your mccarthy-era tactics will suppress the voice of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. the criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you will be. on capitol hill, mixed reactions. >> i don't like it. it is inappropriate. there may be something that i don't know. i don't think so. banana republic kind of move.

>> i believe that john brennan has acted in far too politically a role since he left the cia. nevertheless, i do not see the grounds for revoking his security clearance. >> mr. brennan has gone way over the line in my view, and i think restricting his clearance, pulling his clearance makes sense to me. i don't think we should change the system because of brennan. i think the idea of collaborating with people in prior administrations to keep us safe makes sense, but i can't imagine sharing anything with brennan given his hatred towards president trump. >> why do people who no longer work for the federal government still continue to have a security clearance? >> do you worry this is just nakedly political? it is all people who have opposed the president in some political way, not just on the national security front? >> politics happening in washington, d.c.? i'm shocked. >> now to new reporting from the

"wall street journal" that infamous "access hollywood" tape was the impetus for the hush money tape to stormy daniels. a person familiar with the journal tells the journal that michael cohen initially resisted the idea of buying the siel lens of the porn star when it was brought up in 2016. the $130,000 non-disclosure agreement was reportedly signed just days later. federal investigators are looking into whether the payment amounted to a reported campaign contribution. cohen denies any wrong doing, and the president says any claims of an affair are untrue. and the trump administration reportedly wants to cut bills of dollars in foreign aid approved by congress. the administration wants to target expiring assistance funds it deems unnecessary. the leaders of the senate foreign relations committee, senators bob corker and bob menendez, both vowed to fight

trump's attempt to bypass congress and cut the u.s. foreign aid budget with senator corker questioning the legality of the move. the trump administration attempted to implement major cuts to foreign aid in the budget, however senators reinserted the funds and the president signed the budge. the president's desired military parade will not happen this year after all. the parade scheduled for november 10thth has been pushed to potentially next year. it came after a defense official told nbc news earlier in the day the estimated cost of the parade skyrocketed to $92 million. that's a drastic increase from the 12 million which the defense department said it would cost last month, and significantly more than the 10 to 30 million the white house budget director told congress it could cost in february. yesterday the american legion came out against the parade, saying in part, quote, until

such time as we can celebrate victory in the war on terrorism and bring our military home, we think the parade money would be better spent fully funding the department of veterans affairs and giving our troops and their families the best care possible. back in june a senior u.s. official told nbc news, quote, there is only one person who wants this parade, referring to the president. want to bring back in political reporter betsy woodrough. we agree it is a ridiculously exorbitant amount of money. but if it goes -- what can it cost? >> the significance of paying for this political parade is probably more symbolic than practical. the united states federal budget is mammoth, and $90 million or so is -- with the trump administration approach to some of the matters relating to

fiscal conservatism. several months back the president announced he was cancelling joint military exercises with south korea, and he said the reason he was cancelling the exercises, which the south koreans really wanted as part of their defense, he said the reason he was cancelling the exercises is because they were so exorbitantly expensive. they cost, if memory serves, about $14 million. now we have the white house and the pentagon suggesting they have $90 million to spend on a parade that would be purely symbolic. it is not consistent. >> and the optics not good currently, especially when you look at what is happening. also add on to that the back and forth with the intel committee yesterday. right, exactly. it is an interesting example of inconsistency and a bit of a rift with the way this white house talks about national security matters and people with the broader national security and intelligence communities view the administration's posture. the reality is that the white

house seems to be viewing some of the national security matters as ways to score political points with the base. the president, of course, loves spectacle, loves events, loves any kind of big, demonstrative moments that will capture media attention. but when it comes to actually paving the way, that people in the national security and apparatuses, this president has drawn more criticism perhaps than any president in recent memory, perhaps in terms of etiquette and decorum when it comes to national security questions. >> great to have you, betsy woodruff from "the daily beast." we will see you later on "morning joe." >> senate democrats announced they are ready to escalate their fight over supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh's records from the national archives does not respond to the freedom of information request. >> today we say we are ready to

sue the national archives for judge kavanaugh's full records if the request is not granted. the american people deserve a methodical and thorough examination to the supreme court. >> democrats want all of kavanaugh's documents released including the three years he served as white house staff secretary. republicans have refused to request the information from the national archives and the archives said those documents could total several million pages. yesterday's threat is the latest attempt by democrats to obtain the documents before the start of kavanaugh's nomination hearing, set to begin september 4th. so fargt senate republicans allowed release of over 1,000 pages of kavanaugh's papers, including documents from his time in the bush white house and as an aide to special counsel kenneth starr. still to come, hearing from top republicans speaking out about president trump's proposed space force. plus, house minority leader nancy pelosi looking to step

aside as the democratic leader in the chamber some ask? the one congressman possibly eyeing that position.

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invented in boston, made and sold around the world. order now at gilletteondemand.com. gillette. the best a man can get. thanks for staying with us this morning. in the face of criticism on both generational ends of her party, house minority leader nancy pelosi is open to extending a helping hand to the future of the democratic leadership, while still leaving herself in the running for reelection in november. she says she is purposely eyeing change within reason. in an interview with "the new york times", she goes on to explain that if people want to be the bridge that i'm building toward, they have to show what's on the other side of the bridge. waiting on the other end could be veteran south carolina congressman jim clyburn. clyburn confirmed his intent to run if pelosi were to fall short of the threshold, saying he would absolutely do it. clyburn also told the times that

the ascension of a black speaker would put to bed forever the notion that the democratic caucus is taking black voters for granted. when approached about clyburn's intention, she is untroubled, calling him a beautiful member of congress she views as a brother. president trump's space force is proving to be a harder sell when it comes to support from his own party. according to the associated press, key senate republicans are offering a cool reception to the proposal. mitch mcconnell has yet to comment. senator john cornyn tells the ap, traditionally this has been a role played by the air force, and i have not yet heard a compelling case why we need a separate force. cornyn says he has not yet heard from the trump administration and officials about the idea, adding, i'd like to hear their rationale for creating a separate force. meanwhile, richard shelby, chairman of the appropriations

committee that over sees government spending, my view on it this time, and it's early, is i think we ought to be careful. he added, we'll see what happens. let's see what they're proposing. however, the president is finding some support in the house. kevin mccartney says the proposal is a smart way to approach the investment by china and others in space. republican whip steve scalise also says he backs the pan. >> let's get a check on the weather with bill karins. bill, you're not inspiring a lot of confidence for the weekend forecast here. >> yeah, it is not going to pour the entire weekend in any area, but, you know, it is just so humid, just the summertime showers and thunderstorms will plague a lot of the east coast. west coast is still very dry and smoky in some cases. new york city for the third day in a row under a heat advisory. it will feel like mid 90s later on this afternoon. and this will be dropped after the thunderstorms go by this evening. this weekend will be much cooler. the forecast for today, just

about everyone from chicago to st. louis to memphis to new orleans through the eastern seaboard has a chance for showers and thunderstorms. notice d.c. doesn't. it doesn't like the moisture will be there. you will be plain hot with a high of 95 today. probably one of the hottest temperatures you will have for the rest of the summer. texas still very warm. stray showers and storms around denver. getting into saturday, the cold front tries to push to the east. it stalls kind of like this. on that front is where we will see numerous showers and storms from southern new england during the afternoon, kind of cloudy, cooler and soggy during the afternoon and evening hours from appalachians all the way through the mid atlantic. florida, not too bad. showers and storms here. then another storm system kicking out of the rockies triggering showers and storms on sunday. this could cause heavy storms. you will notice the front lingering on the east coast.

it won't be as bad this saturday, but his and miss showers and storms. one area of heavy rain, especially sunday morning from philadelphia to new york city. we have to keep an eye on that for the weekend. warm, if not hot, conditions in many areas of the west. not too bad in seattle and portland, but the fires continue to burn in some of those cases and smoky skies continue to be an issue. bod only li bottom line, airport delays for the afternoon and evenings. it is not like let's go to the beach or lake. >> we have a few more weeks of the summer. we have to milk it. >> it was a great start to the summer, if i remember right. >> a minute outlook for the weekend. still ahead, the trump administration looking to take legal action against drug countries over the country's opioid crisis. plus, markets surge in the u.s. with hopes on the trade war with china. details on when that may come,

and other stories throughout your business day. 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 ♪

this wi-fi is fast. i know! i know! i know! i know! when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's.

welcome back. president trump has asked attorney general jeff sessions to bring a major lawsuit against drug companies to combat opioid-related deaths. he called on sessions to investigate the synthetic opioid fentanyl which he described as warfare coming from china and mexico. it is the president's latest call to fight the opioid

epidemic. earlier this year he pushed for a reduction in opioid prescriptions and asked for the death penalty in more cases against drug traffickers. u.s. deaths soared to over 72,000 in 2017, a record according to preliminary data released by the centers for disease control and prevention. the report also showed how much more deadly the opioids have become. there are more than 1,000 lawsuits filed by 25 states, municipalities and native american tribes. the justice department requested to join settlement talks in the lawsuit in april. let's to a business, a rally to a four-month high yesterday in hope of a detente between u.s. and china. larry kudlow just confirmed that the trade talks between the u.s. and china will resume later this month. obviously it is having a big impact, willem marx.

>> reporter: absolutely. the director of the economic council confirming. when they're be, not clear, but a lot of market participants saying this is one of the reasons we have seen the stock market a lot's market pamtmembers sayi this is why. an impact certain earnings had on those numbers. so positive numbers 0 ut from walmart yesterday. their stock jumped more than 9% on the back of their biggest sales growth in about ten years. the retail giant share price, one to watch ahead of time. they're trying to transition from not just being a physical retail giant but online. doing well. as is groceries. an indication this is the american consumer spending more money and walmart gaining in market share. >> also chipotle announcing it will retrain all workers, the cdc identified the cause of an

illness outbreak affecting nearly 7 million people in ohio. what does this mean for the company? >> don't want you put you off the breakfast. 640 odd people affected by this particular bacteria. it caused nausea, diarrhea, fever in some of these people. the cdc says it's responsible for this outbreak because of food left out at unsafe temperatures too long. the company promising to retrain employees on food safety as soon as next week. but it comes on the back of an e. coli outbreak in 2015. a huge impact on the company, just roving from that. not good news for them. >> have a great weekend. live from london. thanks so much. and you eat tex mex for breakfast. still to come, axios has a look with the "one big thing."

and ready to ramp up the war with intel officials. backlash wanting to strip john brennan of security clearances. the officials the president may target next and intel officials speaking out and coming to brennan's defense. "morning joe," moments away. , here's something you should know. there's a serious virus out there that 1 in 30 boomers has, yet most don't even know it. a virus that's been almost forgotten. it's hepatitis c. hep c can hide in the body for years without symptoms. left untreated it can lead to liver damage, even liver cancer. the only way to know if you have hep c is to ask your healthcare provider for the simple blood test. if you have hep c, it can be cured. for us, it's time to get tested. it's the only way to know for sure.

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run out your week with a look at axios a.m. the co-founder joining us mike allen. with us earlier in the week. good to see you back again. tell us, axios's "one big thing" for the morning? >> first, most importantly, happy summer friday. you guys had a great week and it was fun to be at the big, tall table. >> great to have you with us over here. let's talk about this. starting out with the fallout over president trump's decision here to pull brennan's security clearance and the west wing, the results of reports we have some of the president's aides who were hoping he would go through more, a more thorough process and hoping to drop it

altogether. what are you hearing about that? >> exactly right. axios's "one big thing" is trump's favorite powers. and trump's favorite powers are things that he can just do because he can. and that's what we're seeing with the revocation of the clearances. a number of sources talked to axios's jonathan swan compared this to the pardon power. a great quote, that the president gets a kick out of pardons, because he has absolute power, doesn't have to consult anybody and everybody can come to him and beg for help. seeing the same with clearances. he can just do it, and that is a big reason that it's been appealing to him. he thinks that's the way the presidency should work. can you do it because you want to. no one can stop you. you don't have to ask anyone. >> mike, what's the rumblings so far? we already understand based on headlines, not necessarily a great relationship with the intel community. not necessarily a good

relationship with traditional norm there's in the beltway? >> that's right. axios has a little news here. dr. robert gates, former cia director and had the unusual distinction of being the pentagon leader for both president george w. bush and president obama. bob gates is adding his name to that list of former intelligence officials who are criticizes the president for stripping these clearances, saying that it is unprecedented and ill advised. those leaders saying that in a letter, that those decisions should be made based on national security, and not on political views. >> and the timing, quickly, on that, before we move on. talk about that knowing that the president was just really considering this during the summer months? is it because we're hearing more from brennan after helsinki, because we heard him speaking out about omarosa. >> the funny thing, the

president isn't doing it to silence brennan, as the director suggested in his "new york times" op-ed yesterday. bloomberg points out that the president is actually trying to elevate brennan. that had president love as foil. the president loves to have an enemy and he loves making brennan the face of the deep state as the president would call it. so the president likes having someone who can -- he can be out there to talk about, just like he used to talk about a political opponent during mid-terms. when he doesn't have a direct opponent he'll talk about mueller, migration, ms-13 and talking about john brennan. >> and we are going to be talking about, of course, mid-terms you've watched carefully on axios. silicon valley, those activity sets that are quite, as you say, nefarious in your note. what are we seeing in terms of recent information coming out

about these cyber attacks, number one, on the election process itself? >> yes. there's a whole business now around fake news that this didn't, the industry didn't exist before the 2016 election. after that axios sarah fischer points out in the piece you see that popped up on axios, nonprofits. businesses trying to make money. you have journalists whose beat revolves around fake news. all examining the platforms, trying to watch out for what's happening. the companies are poring a lot of resources to avoid embarrassment from 2017. >> seeing you on "morning joe" and reading axios a.m. in a little while. read it, too? sign up to signup.axios.com.

>> that does it for us on "first look." "morning joe" starts right now. have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? have you left no sense of decency? >> that's 1954. a young lawyer named joseph welts standing up to joseph mccarthy and his anti-communist crusade. a parallel is seen between that moment and a blistering columniest from retired four-star admiral william mccraven who commanded the mission that killed osama bin laden directly challenged trump and his words, you've embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and worst of all divided us as a nation. good morning. it's "morning joe." it's friday, august 16th. i'm willie geist. and the hos