that's our broadcast on this monday night as we start a new week. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. >> would there be a growing concern about the economy amid the president's top aids. the president and allies are dismissing any thought of a possible recession. the case that made headlines. the nypd officer that arrested him has been fired for using a choke hold. we learned jeffery epstein signed a new will two days before his death. good morning, everybody.

it is tuesday, august 20. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. amid increasing concerns of a recession, according to the "washington post" several senior white house officials are starting talks about a payroll tax cut to put more money in pockets. discussions about the idea are still in early stages and could include other types of tax breaks. the new york times is adding that in addition to the payroll tax cut, the administration is muling possible tariffs. would need to be approved by congress. it isn't clear if he would support the cuts. the white house is disputing the

reports telling nbc news the cuts are not being considered. the white house continues to push back with concerns over the state of the economy. kellyanne conway saying the fundamentals of the economy are, quote, very strong. but there are history of that phrase. john mccain was accused of being out of touch when he made a similar claim hours before investment bank lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy that started a global financial crisis. >> president trump is laying any concerns of the economy on the shoulders of the federal reserve. the president took to twitter to knock the central bank's chairnl that was actually picked by trump and called to cut interest rates once again. quote, our economy is very

strong. but the democrats are trying to will the economy to be bad for the purpose of 2020 election. very selfish. our dollar is so strong, it is hurting other parts of the world. our fed rate should be reduced by 100 basis points. if that happened, our economy would be even better and the world economy would be greatly and quickly enhanced. good for everyone. as the wall street journal points out, such moves only occur when there is serious trouble. >> fears of an economic down turn, three quarters of economist believe the u.s. will tip into recession by the end of 2021. according to a poll, almost 40% predict a recession as early as next year. president trump withdrew the

united states from the landmark deal last year arguing it was the worst deal in history. speaking exclusively to nbc news, iran's top national security official who is also the military advisor says his country should never have signed the accord in the first place. >> i spoke to the powerful head of iran's national security council who said in hind sight, he regrets the deal. >> translator: there are people in my country that have that feeling at the moment. >> are you one of them? >> translator: i'm just following the view points of my own nation, the people of iran. yes. in the case of war, the u.s. will be in a very terrible situation. its regional allies as well. >> how far is iran willing to go to defend its interests? >> translator: iran has multiple instruments at hand including the proxy war.

>> is the next step iran? >> translator: we'll make that public and continue to follow this approach in all sectors. there is no doubt, there will be even more decisive steps to be taken. in a new report that says president trump is directly to blame for a new isis surge yens telling us troops stationed in alaska that isis was completely defeated. neither of those statements were true. the u.s. defense department report says president trump's responsibility anious partial troop withdraw which you may remember was part of the resignation has emboldened the terror group. and notes that the troop draw dawn has forced third-party

monitoring including a 70,000-person arefugee camp tha is turning into a huge breeding ground of terrorists. it is reported isis has 14,000 to 18,000 combatant and can tap into a $400 million war chest. >> going to emily larsson, let's turn back to the economy at the moment. the trump administration trying to ease fears of a recession. they've within in this mode since over the weekend. is the new strategy actually gaining any traction among americans and economists? >> as you mentioned earlier, that poll said that three out of four economists think there are signs of a recession coming. i'm not sure if he's convincing any economists differently.

the question is whether trump and his administration are convincing business leaders and the recession is not coming soon and particularly voters. i think the biggest sign of what will happen will be if the economy actually does go into recession before 2020 because that will be the biggest debtment of trump's reelection chances. another thing you mentioned, in his administration, people are creating plans about what to do in the case that the economy does go into recession. while they are trying to convince the american public everything is okay. they are still a little worried on the inside there. >> you recently highlighted democratic candidates who have injected faith and bible verses into their messaging. talk to us about how important faith-based voters are to these

candidates. >> sure. i attended the youth leadership conference and black church pack presidential candidate forum over the weekend. say anywhere else, they did inject bible verses and talked about what the bible means. they referenced jesus. they were certainly trying to reach that segment of voters, particularly a lot of african-american voters and show their values. this is a major argument for some candidates. some do talk about bible verses on the campaign trail notably cory booker, elizabeth warren and pete buttigieg. this is something they are trying to reach out to particularly african-american voters and help propel

themselves forward. >> did any of the resonate with anyone you spoke to? >> one -- people were a little unsure about pete buttigieg. one voter told me she felt he was a little unauthentic and she liked elizabeth warren a lot. >> the nypd reached a decision to fire the officer for using a choke hold during eric garner's death five years ago. >> the officer used a choke hold prohibited by nypd, seven seconds. 11 different times eric garner said he couldn't breath. yet he has not been brought to justice. he should be off the street. >> he should be fired. fired now.

>> the civil rights division of the united states department of justice said charges should have been filed but this united states department of justice usurped they overroad a decision by the civil rights decision of the department of justice. >> the video for selling loose untacked cigarettes and being placed in a deadly choke hold went viral. garner said i can't breath 11 times and sparked protests and become the rallying cry for the black lives movement. >> pantaleo held on to his job and the department declined to charge him with a crime. police commissioner james o'neil announced he'll enforce pantale o's termination based off a

judge's recommendation. >> carrying out the court's verdict in this case, i take no pleasure. i know many will disagree with this decision. that is their right. there are no victors here today. not the garner family, not the community at large and certainly not the men and women of the police department who put their own lives on the line every single day in service and to the people of this great city. today is a day of reckoning but can also be a day of reconciliation. we must move forward together as one city. >> garner's family is still calling on the other officers involved to be fired as well. still ahead, what we are learning about jeffery epstein's final days in jail. >> and more ahead what the palace is saying about linking

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welcome back, nbc news has obtained new documents showing jeffery epstein signed a new will days before he was found dead. they show an estate worth more than half a billion and the will states his fortunes will go into a trust. buckingham palace is trying to put distance between prince andrew and epstein showing the prince inside epstein's mansion

waving goodbye to a young woman. . >> stating this, the duke of york has been appalled by the recent reports of epstein's alleged crimes. his royal highness deplors the exploitation of any human lives. so the guardian reporting that the lawyer for one of epstein's accusers is urging the prince to support the investigation into epstein's alleged crimes and, quote, tell everything that he knows. what kind of legal peril does the prince find himself in here? >> maybe not as much as you think. there is something called sovereign immunity and recognizes that foreign visiting heads of state are immune from

the destination state's courts, and that means country. that would mean queen elizabeth would not be subject to jurisdiction of the courts in the united states. the question is, is prince andrew, quote, a head of state. is he high enough in the chain of command to be considered accorded diplomatic or foreign sovereign immunity. guess who makes that determination? not the courts. the executive branch. that would be president trump. it may be the case that whether or not prince andrew is subject to the jurisdiction of the united states courts subject to a determination by president trump himself. >> there is always that court of public opinion. let's take about jeffery epstein and the decision to sign and prepare a will and have it

executed in the u.s. virgin islands. what does that tell us about preparing his will two days before he committed suicide? >> to many, preparation of a will may signal you are going to commit suicide. he was also visiting with his lawyers up to ten-hours or so a day. when you have that much time with your lawyers, you probably go through things and getting affairs in order especially because he was expecting a flurry of lawsuits. so it is a good idea to do some estate planning. >> what do you think of the fact that he put it in a trust? >> it may be more difficult to attack the trust especially if the trust is formed for the proper charitable reasons. the trust may be difficult to

attack because it exists as a legalentity apart from the person sort of like a person. a person is recognized separate as the individuals who created it. these trusts could insulate themselves. >> do we know who manages the trust? >> it is interesting, i'm hearing in terms of who is managing it. i'm hearing as a lawyer in the virgin islands, the firm is a local virgin island firm down there. like any other exec tore, they act as lawyers and administer the estate but in the vast majority of cases, it is just a regular estate and not millions and millions. >> is this the island he owned there or for tax purposes. >> his official residency was the u.s. virgin islands. so it who make sense his estate

would be administered there. >> thank you. still ahead, former second lady jill biden makes the case for her husband's electability. we'll show you her new comments to voters in new hampshire next. vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals your body needs. all with guaranteed great taste. and now try new boost® peaches and creme natural flavor. with 27 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. boost®. be up for life™. spending time together, sometimes means doing nothing at all. holiday inn. we're there. so you can be too.

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support her husband because he's the one who can beat donald trump in 2020. >> your candidate might be better on health care than joe is but you've got to look at who is going to win this election and maybe you have to swallow a little bit and maybe say, i sort of like so and so better but your bottom line has to be that we have to beat trump. speaking at a native american forum, elizabeth warren apologized for past claims of native american history. >> i want to say this. i know that i have made mistakes. i am sorry for harm i have caused. i have listened and i have learned a lot. i am grateful for the many conversations that we've had together. it is a great honor to be able

to partner with indian country and that's what i've tried to do as a senator. and that's what i promise i will do as president of the united states of america. >> let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> you've never seen this one before. in colorado, we are looking at flying mattresses. that's a lot of air mattresses that are just flying there. >> is that a competition or something? >> this was going to be one of those movie nights out in the park type thing. >> i thought it was an annual mattress race they do there. >> let's not pretend that's far fetched. >> yes. air mattress racing. there are people there cheering

it on. >> i think they are trying to get their mattresses. this morning, we have some strong storms. an early wake-up call for about everyone in iowa. these storms have exploded in the last half hour and will continue all morning long. we call this an mts. once this gets its act together. it will be capable of dangerous type winds. a lot of lightening heading to the des moines area. early wake-up call for iowa as these storms roll through. that line of storms will eventually head to illinois, st. louis and central illinois. this whole area has the potential for 75-mile-an-hour winds. >> that will be err will i thea this morning. tomorrow, the chance of storms mostly north of new york city. today, the heat is on.

not going to break until at least tomorrow. 100s in the plains. d.c. not as humid and 88. >> ahead, a top ranking democrat joins the push to impeach trump. and trump sends the signal he's backing away with the background checks. that story and more coming up next. (vo) the hamsters, run hopelessly in their cage. content on their endless quest, to nowhere. but perhaps this year, a more exhilarating endeavor awaits. defy the laws of human nature,at the summer of audi sales event.

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>> welcome back.

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. let's start with the morning's top stories. the federal election commission is pushing back against the president's claims of voter fraud. trump tweeted this, wow, report just out google manipulated 2.6 million to 16 million votes for hillary clinton. this was put out by a clinton supporter, not a trump supporter. they should be sued. according to a washington post analysis, trump appears to be referencing a is study whose testimony before the committee last month was featured in a segment on fox business. the post points outs that not what he said in the testimony. he estimated a range of 2.6 to 10.4 million with 15 million being the possible shift in 2020. that 2.6 million estimate was

the rock bottom estimate. epstein identifies himself as a democrat who backed clinton. that is a convenient figure since clinton won by 2.9 million nationally. at a rally, trump told reporters that voter fraud cost him four state votes. it was said there is no evidence to support the claims. >> there is no evidence of rampent voter fraud in 2016 or any previous election. they've studied this, the lawyers, the government, democrats, republicans have studied this. no one can find any evidence of rampant voter fraud historically or in the 2016 elections. >> joining the conversation ahead with us on "morning joe." >> speaker lujan issued a

statement writing, quote, i support moving forward with an impeachment inquiry which will continue to uncover the facts for the american people. this is not a decision i've reached lightly. he sited the mueller report. the support comes despite nancy pelosi's suggestion to focus on ongoing legal batters. he becomes the 125th house democrat to call for impeachment. white house aids and advocates tell the "washington post" that president trump appears to be backing away from supporting background checks. aids say trump's conversation with key lawmakers has gone mostly cold in part because congress has left town for summer recess. some telling the post that

trump's campaign commissioned a poll on guns and his political advisors warned him there is little support for significant action among republican voters and even some democrats. since the shootings, nra officials have repeatedly told the president and others that universal background checks will not do much. white house aids and nra officials pointed out many of the states he needs to win have strong con contintingents of nr members. >> the assault weapons ban of 2019 was introduced in february by democratic congressman added republican. congressman king said, quote, they are of mass

slaughter. i think the assault weapons ban is timely now in light of the shootings in el paso and dayton. >> joining us now emily larsson, let's talk about any gun legislation that could get passed. you have the republicans and the president split but an overwhelming public in every poll wanting some form of change when it comes to background checks. what is next here for lawmakers facing pressure for meaningful legislation here? >> it is hard to know what's next but if the past is any indication, it is possible we won't see any movement. anything a lot of people are calling for like background checks and banning assault

weapons. the nra members which are a key voting block and a lot of republicans. the president and his aids should be worried that if they do anything major on gun control in support of gun control that could damage his reelection prospects. i don't think there is any appetite for that. he will only support gun control if the president is pushing if there is a widespread want for it among the republicans in the senate, which anything that the democrats are calling for right now is not widespread among republicans. >> emily, i know in your recent piece you write for the washington examiner. has the level of voter enthusiasm met both candidates expectations right now? >> i think that bernie sanders

obviously has a very wide donor base. he has over a million or two million donors to his campaign which is enormous. he certainly has the most donors out of any candidate. however, warren has been inching in on that support. they are both progressive candidates. polls suggest she is taking a lot of former sanders supporters. she's sort of a more palatable, newer visionary. in south carolina, the polls have been all over the place in august. they are neck in neck in the latest south carolina poll right now. there was more enthusiasm at warren's rally than bernie sanders. they both were bringing out hundreds of people, so. >> all right. we'll see how it plays out.

thank you, emily. so after 11 consecutive weeks of mass protest, hundreds of officers are staged across the water from hong kong. stating, quote, massive supports, the party is delivering a strong warning that the use of force remains an option. stating that the leader has governed with an iron fist. analysts say china is likely prepared for an intervention but is holding off as long as local authorities manage to keep protests contained. china's navigating trump's statement that protesters may risk affecting tariffs. meanwhile, congresswoman

tlaib requested and granted permission to visit her grandmother in the west bank and why she did not go. >> i spoke to my family. my grandmother said it when she called me her bird. she said i'm her dream manifested. her free bird. why would i come back when my election rose her head up high, gave her dignity for the first time. through tears and at 3:00 in the morning, we all decided as a family that i could not go until i was a free american united states congresswoman coming not only to see my grandmother but to talk to palestine and israeli organizations. still ahead, shedding like

on mike pompeo's relationship with trump and how he shifted from a strong critic to one of his strongest supporters. >> we are back in a moment. hav. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol®. for fast pain relief. they give us excellent customer otservice, every time.e. our 18 year old was in an accident. usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. all i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. if i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa

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yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! >> welcome back. there is one member of the trump administration that has been successful at staying in the president's good graces. that is secretary of state mike pompeo. the new yorker unearthed footage revealing pompeo previously held a drastically different view of the soon to be commander and chief. watch this. >> donald trump the other day said, if he tells a soldier to commit a war crime, the soldier will do it. he said, they'll do as i tell them to do. we've spent seven and a half years of an authoritarian president. we don't need four more years of that. >> wow.

the new yorker said pompeo continued adding that american voters, quote, don't swar and allegiance to any president. they take an oath to our constitution. it is time to turn the lights down on the circus. later said, trump is, quote, not a conservative believer. seven months after that, trump tapped po tapped pompeo as cia director. as stofrping hot temperatures grip most of the country, more guidance on how cold you should be keeping your house. the coolest you should keep the thermostat set when you are home is 78 degrees. i've already lost. recommending 85 when you are away and 82 while you are sleeping.

>> what in the world? >> they want you to sweat it out. this isn't hot yoga. after reports that air conditioner guidance to cut down energy usage. >> if they are making the case for energy consumption, they are making a point. if they are making a case for comfort, they are out of touch with most of us. >> 82 degrees. that's so uncomfortable. >> i'd like to hear from anyone who sleeps at 82. >> 82 is hot. >> what is the point of having air-conditioning if you are going to sleep at 82 degrees? >> that's a good point. air conditioners get rid of the humidity so it is a dry 82. >> i'm all for conservation but especially now when it is so humid. even when you want to put your house at 75 degrees. you can feel that moisture.

>> all right, yes. a lot of people are using the air conditioner probably a little cooler than that. actu tulsa has a heat warning. right now, the warmest spot in the country feels like 89. still warm in d.c. feels like 76 when you walk out this morning. this afternoon, about everybody on this map feels like 95 to 105. today and tomorrow. relief comes as we head towards thursday, friday, saturday only for the northern half of the country. this is what you'll love. friday, 79 in new york, 80 on saturday. low humidity too. our friends in the south have to wait a little longer. >> still ahead, one u.s. steel giant announces a wave of lay offs. the trump administration takes new actions against huawei. details driving your business

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>> welcome back. united states steel core is expected to layoff hundreds. the latest round of layoffs is due to, quote, latest market conditions. the halting of steel production at the plant is expected to hit all aspects of the company from

the idling of a blast furnace to operations. the recent layoffs call into question claims president trump has made about the resurgence of the domestic steel industrial and lasting impact of tariffs. worries some of earnings has sharply increased from $214 million from one year ago. adding more affiliates of huawei on to its black list. they are calling the move politically motivated and unjust. we go live to london. break this down for us. what does this mean to be on this so-called black list that huawei is accusing the government of putting its affiliates on? >> absolutely. as widely expected, the secretary did announce that temporary reprieve for huawei to deal with the company.

they added 46 affiliates to the black list which essentially means in the future, the u.s. companies would not be able to deal with huawei or those sayin actions are politically motivated and violated the basic principles of free market competition. they have also said that while they're not expecting relief from tariffs the company will be able to persevere. they have been working very hard on fixing their own internal operating system. they're about to launch harmony os which could be used as a substitute for androids in the situation where huawei would no longer be able to deal with google. they're trying to work away from dealing with the u.s. companies to become more self-sufficient there. >> let's get to the more important topic i think. >> one close to our hearts here. >> wendy's, chick-fil-a, popeyes, who has the better chicken sandwiches? they can't figure it out amongst the three of them, so talk about how this started and then he needs to weigh in on who he

thinks has the best chicken sandwich. >> it's a great business hit when you start with a trade war and then end with the chicken war. so popeyes rolled out the new chicken stand witch and then chick-fil-a they wanted to get involved and they had a tweet bun plus chicken plus pickles all the love for the original and they put out a picture of the sandwich. wendy's saw this going on, they didn't want the miss out. so they waded into the debate with -- you have to excuse my american accent, y'all fighting about which one of the fools has the second best chicken sandwich. it prompted another response from popeye's saying it sounds like someone ate one of our biscuits because you look thirsty. it went on and on. this is an amazing publicity stunt. >> exactly. >> they all benefit from it. let me say this. i'm going to say it is

chick-fil-a hands down. however, the newest chicken sandwich on the block that i recommend everyone try is shake shack. >> wow. look someone has been taste testing around town outside of work my friend. >> exactly. >> get back to me. >> chick-fil-a endorsement here as well. it's a chick-fil-a thing around here. thanks, joumanna. coming up, axios' mike allen has a look at "1 big thing." and the trump administration mulls new steps to shore up the u.s. economy. more on the report suggesting that the white house may put more money in americans' pockets as the president claims that the economy is strong. plus, ellen weintraub is on to talk about google manipulating votes and john delaney is joining the conversation with the very latest on his conversation. "morning joe" is just moments away.

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welcome back, everyone. join us from washington, d.c., the cofounder of axios, mr. mike allen himself. so what is axios' "1 big thing"? >> good morning. i'm hungry here for waffle fries after that segment. but the axios "1 big thing" is president trump's fragile policy legacy. so a lot of the president's record would need a second term to take root. so if he were to lose a lot of it could be easily reversed and that's because this president hasn't had a lot of big legislative wins. he has been taking executive action. regulations roll backs and of course what one executive can do, the next executive could undo. so when you look at the president's tax cuts, that is something that's likely to stick. that would take an act of congress to change. but on immigration, trade, health care, like all of these that could be easily undone by a democrat. >> so how will the short falls in terms of policy play into his

re-election prospects? >> you know, the president has really changed policy and something that's going to outlast him more than any other particular policy is the way he's changed the tone of politics, changed the temperature on immigration. but what republicans and people in the white house will tell you is that you'll get two supreme court justices. look at a quarter of the federal judiciary. many of them who will serve 30 years. that's the real trump legacy and a lifetime -- and those are lifetime appointments that can't be up done. >> let me ask you about the family of the late senator john mccain. they're underta they' they're undertaking a new legislation. >> this is news from the mccain campaign. so sunday is the anniversary of the death of senator mccain and

starting tomorrow, the mccain family and institute is asking people to perform acts of civility online and then share them. some examples they gave me, maybe call a competitor and talk to them. maybe talk to a colleague or friend who has a different perspective that you usually avoid engaging with on issues and this is the most surprising of all. maybe call a family member you know you'll disagree with and actually listen to them. could senator mccain make our politics even for a little while a little better a year after his amazing life? >> i think that's something a lot of us can get behind. >> yeah. >> we need a lot of that. hopefully we'll see some members on capitol hill reach across the aisle. mike, thank you. we'll be reading axios a.m. in a bit. you can sign up for the newsletter at signup.axios.com. >> that does it for us on a tuesday morning.

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. our economy i think still the fundamentals of our economy are strong. >> wow. okay. the fundamentals of our economy are strong. an infamous phrase used by then republican presidential nominee john mccain just hours before the u.s. financial system went into total meltdown. remember that? well, the trump white house obviously learned a thing or two from that, right? >> the fact is the fundamentals of our economy are very strong. and you know it. >> okay. wow. okay. good morning. welcome to "morning joe," everyone. i guess maybe they didn't learn. it is tuesday, august 20th. along with joe, willie and me, we have washington anchor for bbc world news america katty kay.

pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," eugene robinson. great to have you all this morning. >> mika -- >> willie, great to see you again. >> i wasn't here yesterday and i wanted to congratulate mika for summiting mt. kilimanjaro. i walked up 57th street and i was totally out of breath. i stopped and had myself a cold drink so i can't believe you did that that's so cool. >> well -- >> it was nutty. i'm going to post some pictures. it was hard. i'm not going to say, wow, i'm so cool. you really ought to -- no, i think that one must train before one does such things. and it was -- it was hard. but thank you so much. >> they don't train. willie, they just -- and in fact, she tells me they got to the base camp and they said oh, we want to do it in 5 1/2 days and they were like, well,