and with that, that is our broadcast for this wednesday night. thank you so very much for being here with us throughout and good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. what's really sad about it, i've prayed for the president all the time and i tell him that, i pray for his safety and i have to pray for his health because this was a serious meltdown on the part of the president. >> turmoil in washington, as house speaker nancy pelosi and president trump accuse each other of having a meltdown inside the white house cabinet room. we will have the story behind this instantly iconic photo. >> the latest political fallout for the president's decision to pull troops from syria, he appears to be losing republicans when he needs them most. >> more signs the impeachment inquiry with senate majority leader mitch mcconnell saying

the proceedings could be in their court by thanksgiving. good morning, everyone. it is thursday, october 17. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. another wild day in washington, d.c. that culminating with this instant iconic photo of house speaker nancy pelosi standing around a roomful of men with her finger pointed directly at the president, tweeted by the president believe it or not after a contentious meeting discussing the meeting in syria. we're told that talks broke down and ended with democratic leaders walking out of the meter. nancy pelosi needs help fast. there is either something wrong with her upstairs or she just plain doesn't like our great country. she a total meltdown in the white house today. it was very sad to watch. pray for her. she is a very sick person. >> things went south when pelosi explained to the president that

russia has always wanted a foothold in the middle east and now has one with trump withdrawal. all roads lead to putin. and i hate isis more than you do. >> and she said you don't know that. and is your plan to rely on the syrians and the turks, and the plan is to keep the american people safe. >> and she said that's not a plan, that's a goal. >> a third grade politician, and third rate, that they got up and left with the president telling them goodbye, we'll see you at the polls. >> here's what democrats and republicans had to say after the meeting. >> go ahead. >> what happened on the part of the president is a meltdown. sad to say. it was insulting, particularly to the speaker. she kept her cool completely but he called her a third rate

politician. this was not a dialogue. it was a diatribe. a nasty diatribe. >> what did the president say that got this meeting on the wrong foot. >> you said it was a third rate politician. >> a third grade. >> the pattern of behavior with speaker pelosi, she storms out of another meeting, trying to make it unproductive it. the other democrats stayed and had a productive meeting. the only thing that happened, was the democratic leadership got up and walked away. when is there is a time of crisis, leaders should stay, whether they like what is said or not and actually work to solve a problem. to me, that's a definition of leadership. not to run. >> multiple aides say at one point during the meeting trump called his former defense secretary james mattis the world's most overrated general saying according to one aide he wasn't tough enough. i captured isis. mattis said it would take two

years. i captured them in one month. the contentious meeting was the first time trump and pelosi had been in the same room since declaring a launch of the impeachment inquiry. that issue did not come up. >> an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 354-60, the house had a nonbinding resolution condemning president trump's with drawing from northern syria. some of the strongest voices speaking out of the president's actions actually came from within his own party. >> i want to express my gratitude to the kurds, they were growth fighters, and we had a terrific alliance, with them. i'm sorry that we're where we are. this is an extremely valuable alliance. i have concerns about this particular decision. i think it was a mistake. i hope it can be repaired. >> i think it's very hard to understand why it is the vice president and secretary of state and others are going to talk with erdogan in turkey. look, the troops have already been pulled out. if you will, it's like the

farmer who lost all his horses and goes now to shut the barn door. the troops have been pulled out. turkey is devastating our allies. the kurds. it's too late for this kind of conversation. >> listening to me is not listening to his commander, he's not listening to his advisers, he's not, he's making the biggest mistake of his presidency. by assuming the kurds are better off today than they were yesterday. that is just unbelievable. i can imagine if obama said that what republicans would be saying now. so i'm going to say it with trump. that is just unfair, dangerous, and quite frankly it's dishonorable for us to abandon the kurds. i would say that if obama did it. >> this is the most screwed up decision i've seen since i've been in congress. when the president said today, syria, the invasion of turkey, turkey's invasion of syria is really of no consequence us to, do you know why we sanctioned

turkey, if that's true? >> a new gallup poll shows over half of americans support president trump's impeachment and removal from office. 52% say they now back impeachment and removal. and up seven points since june. and 46% say they do not. down seven. support for trump's impeachment includes 6% of republicans, 55% of independents and 89% of democrats. the level of support for trump being impeached and removed is well above where it was for bill clinton during his presidency and also higher than all but the final poll for richard nixon before he resigned. support for clinton's impeachment and removal never got higher than 35%. richard nixon hit 58% in august of 1974. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has advised republicans to prepare for an impeachment trial of president trump as soon as thanksgiving. during a closed door meeting, mcconnell gave a power point presentation to explain the impeachment process. the senate would likely meet six

days a week during the trial. the post reports that the judiciary committee chairman lindsey graham fielded questions throughout the entire meeting and lobbied colleagues to consider a public declaration in a letter to house speaker nancy pelosi which would argue that trump's july 25th phone call with ukraine's president is quote unimpeachable. that idea was met by pushback by some republicans that said that trump would assume that those who did not sign the document would be persuadable on a vote to oust him. an exclusive "the wall street journal" interview with energy secretary rick perry reveals how intimately president trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani worked with the administration on ukraine policy. perry tells the journal that he called giuliani at trump's direction last spring, in an effort to ease a path to a meeting between trump and the president of ukraine. perry said giuliani described to him during their phone call several concerns about ukraine's alleged interference in the 2016 u.s. election. sources telling the journal that perry's call came after a may meeting at the white house following the inauguration of

ukrainian president vladimir zelensky. during his trump told officials there they need to work with giuliani to resolve his concerns before he would agree to meet zelensky. giuliani confirmed yesterday to nbc news his spring phone call with perry saying quote everything i said there i probably said on television 50 times. >> joining us now from walk, senior staff writer from the hill, scott wong is with us. go. >> good morning. >> let's circle back to the white house contentious meeting, with the aftermath unfolding yesterday. all hopes of bipartisan even on an issue that many democrats and republicans saw eye to eye, particularly lost amid the impeachment inquiry. is this kind of a foreseeing of what we are about to see what is happening in washington, any time that we try to get something done, impeachment will try to suck the energy out of the room >> i watched these events unfold yesterday just like you guys did and had a chance to catch up with the speaker later after her meeting. and what was clear to me is

these two individuals, nancy pelosi, and donald trump, can't each sit in a room together, they can't agree to what insults were leveled at each other, donald trump and the white house saying he was a third grade speaker, or politician, and you know, she says something else. and so, you know, what, it seems to me like even though there are these other legislative items moving, like lowering prescription drugs, and, you know, trade deals, usmca, these are two politicians that dislike each other very much, and impeachment has really put a damper on this relationship. >> let's talk about majority leader mitch mcconnell, for republicans, for a potential impeachment trial in the next few months. what do you make of it? >> well, mcconnell is a very shrewd calculated politician, and of course, he is going to be

prepared to, for whatever comes over from the house of representatives. and so he's essentially laying out his time line to his republican membership. saying he anticipates that the house will pass articles of impeachment and send them to the senate for consideration by thanksgiving. that will give his body, the upper chamber, a chance to vote and dispense with those articles before the end of the year. before we get fully into election season. before the iowa caucuses start. and so i think there is also coordination happening between house and senate republicans, you saw lindsey graham yesterday, the judiciary chairman, huddling in the basement of the capitol, with house republicans, sort of plotting out strategy on how they will deal with impeachment in the senate, how he as judiciary chairman, perhaps, could hold public hearings, in his committee, much different

than what we're seeing on the house side, which so far has been all happening behind closed doors. adam schiff, the intelligence chairman, in the house, a democrat from california, has said that this is the first stage of this investigation. next month will probably move to more public hearings, and he has confirmed that we will in fact have some public hearings next, before we move to the final stage, which would be a vet on these articles of impeachment. >> scott wong, thank you. we should mention that senate minority leader chuck schumer will be a guest on "morning joe" after the contentious meeting at the white house yesterday. still ahead, the president is accused of trying to pull the stunt of a family of a man killed by the wife of an american diplomat. that story straight ahead. ameri. that story straight ahead.

do your asthma symptoms ever hold you back? about 50% of people with severe asthma have too many cells called eosinophils in their lungs. eosinophils are a key cause of severe asthma.

fasenra is designed to target and remove these cells. fasenra is an add-on injection for people 12 and up with asthma driven by eosinophils. fasenra is not a rescue medicine or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra is proven to help prevent severe asthma attacks, improve breathing, and can lower oral steroid use. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. haven't you missed enough? ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

welcome back. the grieving family of a british teenager killed in a car crash involving the wife of an american diplomat was caught

offguard with president trump when he offered to have them meet with the person responsible for the crash. president trump suggested the family meet with ann sacoolas who was driving on the wrong side of the road near a british military base used by the u.s. when she hit dunn. trump told them she was in the same building but the family found the offer shocking and inappropriate. dunn's mother charlotte charles told reporters following the meeting, quote, the bombshell was dropped not soon after we walked in the room and sacoolas was in the building, and was willing to meet with us. we made it very clear as we said all along, would we still love to meet with her but it was to be on our terms and u.k. soil. dunn's parents say they had come to the white house searching for answers and want sacoolas to return to the united kingdom to face trial. a lawyer for the dunn family told sky news that the trump administration had set up the meeting to quote bring in the press corps to show it was all happy families yesterday. trump commented on the meeting with the families saying he thought they had wanted to meet her. >> it was very sad to be honest.

he lost, they lost, their son, i believe it was going down the wrong way, because that happens in europe, you go to europe and the roads are opposite. and it's very tough. if you're from the united states, you do make that decision to make a right turn, where you're supposed to make a left turn, the roads are opposite and she said that's what happened. that happens to a lot of people by the way but she said that's what happened. i offered to bring the person in question in, and they weren't ready for it. but i did offer. i spoke with boris, he asked me if i would do it, and i did, it unfortunately, they wanted to meet with her, and unfortunately when we had everybody together, they decided not to meet, perhaps they had lawyers involved by that time, i don't know exactly. i know that the people were lovely, they were very nice, and they were, you know, desperately sad. >> did you suggest that the family had indicated at one point that they were interested in meeting?

>> i thought they were, based on what i saw they wanted to meet but they only want to meet if they're in the u.k. is what they say and that will be up to them. >> joining us on the set, msnbc legal analyst danny sev. i think this was shocking across the board for many when they read what took place at the white house. >> and watching that and hearing the president trying to explain or justify what happened. >> and this family was caught offguard and missions on behalf of the wife sacoolas, essentially telling everyone what she told him, but it is interesting from a lowell point, that could certainly come fact to haunt you, it seems she drove down the wrong way, it happen, people do it. >> exactly. >> personally how this family lost their child and caught offguard seeking answers at the white house and how about you meet with the very person who ran your child down. what is the significance of the dunn family wanting to meet with sacoolas on u.k. soil? >> as they said, on their terms. >> it is going to be legally

significant. because, as a former diplomat, and the vienna convention on diplomatic relations extends to diplomats and their spouses, she is, while she is part of the diplomatic mission, entitled to complete immunity from criminal prosecution, and near complete civil immunity from being sued in court. however, that immunity ends when she leaves the diplomatic mission and she gets something lesser called residual immunity, which only applies if it applies at all to acts that were committed in furtherance of the diplomatic mission. that of course is key. so if she was driving a car and it was unrelated to being a diplomat, or if she was there, conducting zero diplomatic activities at all, then she may have no immunity at all from suits. so that is probably why, from a legal perspective, the family, or their lawyers, would want her to be on u.k. soil, so that she could be sued in a u.k. court. >> what if any legal implication here in the u.s. could she

possibly find herself under? the family obviously has come here to the u.s., they met with the president, they want her to come back, but is there any risk that if she does not return, that the u.s. could possibly extradite her and send her back? >> criminally, it is theoretically possible, she could be extradited. the united states and the u.k. have an extradition treaty. it's interesting, it is much more favorable to the u.s. than it is to the u.k. the u.k. has to show something akin to probable cause to get the u.s. to return this former diplomat's wife. but again, extradition always comes down to more of a political determination based on the current relationship of the countries than it really is about the actual terms and language of the treaty itself. >> danny cevallos, thank you, always appreciate it. still ahead the race in the democratic nomination as joe biden goes on the offensive against elizabeth warren.

the only fda-approved 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy. the power of 1-2-3. ♪ trelegy 1-2-3 trelegy. with trelegy and the power of 1 2 3, i'm breathing better. trelegy works 3 ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation for 24 hours of better breathing. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. think your copd medicine is doing enough? maybe you should think again. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy and the power of 1 2 3. ♪ trelegy 1-2-3 save at trelegy.com it's how we care for our patients-

like job. his team at ctca treated his cancer and side effects. so job can stay strong for his family. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now. ♪ work so hard reatment ♪ give it everything you got ♪ strength of a lioness ♪ tough as a knot ♪ rocking the stage ♪ and we never gonna stop ♪ all strength, no sweat. ♪ just in case you forgot ♪ all strength. ♪ no sweat secret. all strength. no sweat.

walk. breaking news, long time maryland congressman elijah cummings has passed away this morning at the age of 68. according to wbal-tv, cummings born and raised in baltimore maryland where he still lived up to his death represented the seventh congressional district since 1996. the son of former sharecroppers, he began his life of public service in maryland's house of delegates where he served as 14

years, becoming the state's first african-american speaker pro tem. cummings served as the chairman of the house oversight and reform committee. he is survived by his wife and three children. we want to bring in mike into the conversation here. this is stunning news this morning. to say the least. the loss of someone who is such a leader on the hill. especially the last couple of years. as we have seen the chair of the house oversight committee. the things that he has said, in leading this government forward, in spite of so much turmoil and division that we're seeing in washington right now. >> yes, elijah cummings, a tremendous loss, and politics would be the least loss. just the loss in terms of a wonderful human being, a compassionate human being, a man who is not from baltimore, as they say, congressman elijah cummings from baltimore, he is of baltimore. he lived there his entire life. went to local public schools, university of maryland, and fought every single day in the

house of representatives, to improve a struggling city. his city, baltimore, maryland, a tremendous loss, obviously, to his family, to his city, and you're absolutely right, to the congress of the united states. he played a vital role so far in the impeachment inquiry, chairman of the house oversight committee, a critical committee, in terms of the impeachment process going forward. a very sad day. >> he has had some of the most, in most recent months some of the most important testimonies in front of his committee including the first public testimony i believe of michael cohen which was a turning point if you will for a lot of americans in terms of how they view the current president. let's talk a little bit about the void that will be left behind, by chairman cummings, on this issue, the impeachment inquiry, he was one of three, as we mentioned, three chairmen who signed la that letter subpoenaing some of the documents that were sought after by congress. this is a big void. >> a huge void. because when you look at his career, and you look at how he

behaved, both as minority chair, and his ranking chair of that committee, what you saw was every day, an effort at fairness. despite the poll ryization in the house, you even saw it during the benghazi hearings when trey gowdy was his opposite on the oversite committee. elijah cummings struggled every day, fought every day to be fair, in an onslaught of pole ar eye diagnosis and hyper-partisanship, and i think that is the biggest loss. >> and you mentioned that moment earlier about his colleague mark meadows where he sat there and said mark meadows is not a racist and he defended him, you know, he sort of stepped outside the box and defended him, someone who was his exact opposite across the aisle but despite that he reached across the aisle and made sure everyone knew that mark meadows was not a racist. >> we play these clips each and every day. different members of the house of representatives. and not so much the senate, but especially in the house, but the

hyper partisanship is, it is a put-off, it turns people off, but not when you see elijah cummings. he always spoke in measured terms and tones about people on the opposite side of the aisle. i want to mention again fairness which will be badly missed. >> i want to talk about a quote, this fairness that elijah couplings had and the way in which he spoke, this inspiring way in which he spoke and here is a quote from him that i think many of us remember, i think it was over just the half couple of months, he said we must also stop the hate. incendiary comments. we got to do it. those in the highest level of governments must stop invoking fear using racist language and rep hencive behavior. it cause morse division among us and severely limbs our ability to 0 work together for the common good. as a country, we must say enough is enough, that we are done with the hateful rhetoric, we are done with the mass shootings, white supremacists, domestic terrorists who terrorize in our

country and fight against everything america stands for. that is the type of thing that we heard from elijah cummings over the last couple of years. >> and we don't hear those things enough from enough people. but you always heard them each and every day, again, i get back to even and every day, from elijah cummings. despite the blizzard of pole arization and partisanship that he was surrounded with, every day you would get that sense, that spirit from elij lie gentleman couplings. >> he took his role personally when the president of the united states attack the the city of baltimore, and came back and gave that fierce defense of the people in the city of baltimore. and what did his hometown, what did baltimore mean to him? >> everything. everything. it was his entire life. he spent his entire life there. >> that's rare in washington to be born in the same district that you represent for your entire career. >> not only that, but more often

than that, he went home at night from washington, to baltimore, went back to his home, not his district, his home and baltimore, as everyone is aware has had its struggles and has had its troubles and elijah cummings was there each and every day fighting for baltimore and not just in appropriations committees trying to get money to improve and enhance baltimore and improve the school system and improve its public transportation, monitor its police department, which has had terrific struggles, they've had a series of mayors, they had a series of problems in baltimore. baltimore is one of the great cities of the united states of america that has fallen into disrepair. as some cities have. but baltimore seems to have been forgotten in a sense along the way. but not by elijah cummings. >> it is seen as a people in the commune, it seems as people in the community knew elijah cummings. it wasn't odd to see him grocery shopping at the local giant store. people knew him by name. >> accessible. >> very accessible as many people in washington are not necessarily so. >> yes, well, you know, in

washington, the congress, especially the house of representatives, they work tuesday through thursday, and they go home and they have fundraisers. and elijah cummings went home to talk to people, to see people, to live among the people, that he lived with his entire life. >> when we talk about what this means in terms of the democratic caucus, some of the personal issues that he championed, the civil rights movement, he championed also black lives matter, in fact, a quote where he said our party does not believe but understands that black lives matter, but we also recognize that our community and our law enforcement work best when they work together. that in itself is revealing about what he tried to do, how he tried to position himself at these polarizing times in our country. >> yes, and i think he received some small elements of criticism from the far left of his party, but again, i get back to his voice. his voice was always measured. always full, filled with fairness, and objectivity, he

had a view of life, he had a view of politics, that i think enhanced both him and the process that he was part of, the political system, and i wish we had more people like elijah cummings, more people like his voice, more people like his approach to politics. >> now, we certainly need it now more than ever. >> congressman elijah cummings dying at the age of 68, as we are learning this morning. and an incredible loss to washington, an incredible loss to this country and an incredible loss across the world. we appreciate you joining us on this program, mike. we will have much more coming up on "morning joe" on all of this. we'll be right back, everybody. great weather, great friends. you just saved a bunch of money by switching your boat insurance to geico. it was easy. folks, can it get any better than this? is that what i think it is? that is an armada of tiny sushi boats. awesome! i forgot to pack lunch. you had one job...

chopsticks wasabi and soy! comin' in a little hot. it only gets better when you switch and save with geico. - [woman] with my shark, i deep clean messes like this, it only gets better this, and even this. but i don't have to clean this, because the self-cleaning brush roll removes hair while i clean. - [announcer] shark, the vacuum that deep cleans now cleans itself.

why fingerstick when you can scan? with the freestyle libre 14 day system just scan the sensor with your reader, iphone or android and manage your diabetes. with the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose levels any time, without fingersticks. ask your doctor to write a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us

welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin, it is the bottom of the hour, let's start with the mork morning's top stories, to purky, where vice president mike pence and secretary of state mike pompeo are set to meet later today with president erdogan, to con since the turks to enter a cease fire on the former u.s. backed u.s. force, and erdogan has vowed to never declare a cease fire. >> and president erdogan was sent this letter, when trump withdrew troops from northern syria. here is what it reads in port. let's work out a good deal. you don't want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people and i don't want to be responsible for destroying the turkish economy. and i will. i have worked hard to solve some

of your problems don't. let the world down. you can make a great deal. history will look upon you favorably, if you get this done the right and humane way. it will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen. don't be a tough guy. don't be a fool. i'll call you later. yesterday, president trump also spoke at length about his thought process, his views of the kurds, who did most of the on the ground fighting against isis and russia's role, saying everything is quote under control. >> so i view the situation on the turkish border with syria to be for the united states strategically brilliant. our soldiers are out of there. so i think we're in a very strategically good news. i know that the fake news doesn't make it look that way but we have removed, as we have said, 50 soldiers, but much less than 50 soldiers. they're now in a very safe

location. heading into an even safer location. and we will help negotiate. >> every player hates isis. everybody we're talking about. syria more than us. russia, more than us. they've done a big number on russia. and we're over there fighting isis, but they're over there fighting isis, too. they can handle it. and they should handle it. we can fight our own battles on our own territories. we have them captured. the united states captured them. some were released just for effect. to make us look a little bit like oh, gee we got to get right back in there. >> syria may have some help with russia, and that's fine. it's a lot of sand. they've got a lot of sand over there. so there's a lot of sand that they can play with. syria will probably have a partner of russia. whoever they may have. i wish them all a lot of luck. you know, russia was involved in afghanistan, used to be called the soviet union, and now it's called russia for a reason. because they lost so much money

in afghanistan, that they had to down size, a very big down sizing. so if russia wants to get involved with the, with syria, that's really up to them. >> and the kurds are much safer right now, but the kurds know how to fight, and as i said, they're not angels, they're not angels, take a look, you have to go back and take a look, but they fought with us, we paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's okay. they did well when they fought with us. they didn't do so well when they didn't fight with us. >> and i say why are we protecting syria's land? assad's not a friend of ours. why are we protecting their land? and syria also has a relationship with the kurds. who by the way are no angels. if russia is going to help in protecting the kurds, that's a good thing, not the bad thing. the pkk part of the kurds as you know is probably worse at terror and more of a terrorist threat in many ways than isis. so it is a very

semi-complicated, not too complicated if you're smart, but it is a semi-complicated problem. and i think it's a problem that we have very nicely under control. >> it was quite a day of developments yesterday. >> there was so much to unpack in all of the statements that the president said. even reading the letter, i spent the better part of yesterday afternoon actually just trying to confirm if that letter was genuine. i sent it to some turkish officials to get some comments on it. >> did you actually get the letter. is this an official letter that you sent from the white house because it sounds a little comical, talk to you later. >> call you later. >> and as you said, quite a day yesterday in washington, d.c. >> it is interesting to hear some of what the president was saying that assad is not a friend of ours and literally handing syria back to assad right now and going out -- >> and what that mean force iran and its empowerment in that country. >> and basically saying the kurds are terrorists when in fact the kurds fought alongside

the united states for so long. >> and we paid them a lot of money. and the "washington post" reports that mckinley told investigators he quit his job last week because of quote what appears to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas to instance the domestic political objectives and the failure to quote offer support to foreign service employees caught up in the impeachment inquiry on ukraine. according to portions of his testimony obtained by the post, mckinley said quote, i was disturbed by the implication that foreign governments were being approached to procure negative information on political opponents. he added, kwoet, i was convinced this that this would woo have a serious impact on foreign service morale and the integrity of our work overseas. sources tell the koeflt that mckinley say his concerns culminated with the recall of the u.s. ambassador to ukraine, mario van niche and wholly

unjustified. and gordon sondland answers to lawmakers today as part of the impeachment inquiry, expected to be questioned about a private discussion he had with top ukrainian officials at the white house in which he explicitly mentioned the ukraine gas company linked to hunter biden. nbc news has learned sondland's meeting with ukrainians just steps away from the white house situation room came minutes after a larger west wing meeting that included then national security john bolton, who was noncommittal about scheduling a meeting between trump and zelensky. sources tell nbc, that he contradicted bolton by saying that trump was committed to meeting with zelensky on the grounds that he open an investigation, and ended sondland with stopping the conversation. and a private room in the white house basement, where sondland was overheard discussing the gas

firm b. r. ima holdings. >> and acting ukrainian ambassador, left his post for kiev yesterday after house democrats requested that he appear for an impeachment inquiry next tuesday. in a pact of text messages earlier this month, taylor, on september 9, remarked it would be crazy to withhold ukraine military assistance for help with trump's political campaign. joining us now from washington, senior staff righter for the hill, scott wong, once again. scott, thanks for joining us once again. >> good to be here. >> want to discuss the president's letter to turkey's leader erdogan. is this an effort to cover up his decision to pull troops from syria? >> well, a lot of russ scratching our heads here in washington, as you guys are, in new york, i mean there was a lot of speculation, and questioning among the media and even on lawmakers on capitol hill, whether this was an actual

legitimate letter. but you know, what i would say is, is that clearly, that letter which went out on october 9 has not deterred turkey from launching military strikes against the kurds in northern syria. and so you know, to that effect, it has not had any effect. the house of representatives yesterday voted overwhelmingly to condemn president trump's withdrawal of u.s. troops from northern syria. you know, leaving the kurds very vulnerable. and so they are scrambling to try to appease some of the gop critics in their own party, who have been extremely outspoken about president trump's decision, and in fact, i mean this is sort of how that blowup between nancy pelosi and president trump happened in the first place. she was really pointing out to the president at that moment in the white house that 130 members of her own party voted against

his syria policy, including leaders for the republicans in the room, kevin mccarthy, steven scalise and cheney and that seemed to get under the president's skin yesterday. they are scrambling to come up with some sort of strategy. but right now the overwhelming sentiment on capitol hill is against the president's policy in syria. >> let's talk about gordon sondland for a moment. he is an interesting character in the impeachment inquiry, because he is not obviously a diplomat but he is at the center of this diplomatic crisis that is unfolding with a lot of the diplomatic civil servants who are coming back to testify against the president and that policy, or that shadow policy. what can we expect to hear from ambassador sondland's testimony on the hill today? >> well, sondland is seen as really a trump ally. he was a big donor for president trump back in 2016. however, he will, i believe, be able to confirm a lot of the narrative that has been sort of

already unfolding and confirm a lot of these points. he was one of these top diplomats on these dechtext mes ex chains in which diplomat bill taylor raised questions of this sort of quid pro quo, and sondland pushed back saying it is no quid pro quo but it appea appears sondland was in touch with the president himself during the entire text message exchange so i know democrats will certainly want to hear exactly what was discussed between him and the president. there also seems to be question, according to your reports, that sondland was meeting with ukrainians in the white house itself, sort of dangling the possibility of a meeting with the president, you know, i'm sure democrats will be asking about these meets with the ukrainians in the white house and any discussion of the ukrainian oil company that hunter biden was working for. >> and the white house basement

no less. >> yes. >> in the white house basement. >> thank you. >> scott wong, thank you. still ahead, following developing news overnight from chicago where a teacher in the nation's third largest school district are set to begin a strike this morning. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. oment. ♪upbeat musieverything was so fresh in the beginning. [sniff] ♪ dramatic music♪ but that plug quickly faded. ♪upbeat music luckily there's febreze plug. it cleans away odors and freshens for 1200 hours. [deep inhale] breathe happy with febreze plug.

johnsbut we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. ♪

♪ no matter when you retire, ensure you still have income every month of your retirement, guaranteed. see how lincoln can help. the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the pressure cooker that crisps.

welcome back, everyone. public schoolteachers in chicago are on strike after failing to reach a new contract deal with the city, forcing classes for roughly 300,000 students to be canceled for today. the decision to strike was finalized last night by chicago, by the chicago teachers union, after it turned down the city's latest offer, following months of negotiations. the strike is the latest in more than a dozen major walkouts by teachers across the country. since early last year. according to "the new york times," the city says it has offered teachers pay raises, totaling 16% over a five-year contract. while union leaders have called for increases of 15% over a shorter three-year term. other issues including affordable housing provisions

and protections for immigrant students, have also been raised. the strike is the first for the city in seven years, and only the second in more than three decks. let's get a check of the weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. hey, bill. >> good morning. the northeast took it on the chin last night, and especially eastern massachusetts. over 300,000 people without power. a 70 mile-an-hour wind gust at logan airport. and it hit 90 miles an hour in provincetown, so some very strong winds. there is a lot of tree damage. that's why we have the power outages. and currently the stomp is located right over the top of southern new hampshire and northern massachusetts. the heaviest rain in northern new england, as we go throughout the day, the rain won't be the issue but the winds with the strong storm, cranking all day long, even far to the south so rainfall, maybe some minor flooding concerns, northern adirondacks and some areas there in vermont and maybe in maine but the bigger issue, as far as travel goes today, especially at the airports is going to be the windy day ahead, we have high wind warnings in effect for new york city, southern connecticut, and high wind warnings for the

coast of maine and the coastal areas of new jersey, and easily see gusts 30 to 50 miles an hour and some people have 60 mile-an-hour gusts. so just because the rain is over doesn't mean the storm is completely over. with leaves on the trees in leaves on the trees in areas of new jersey, pennsylvania, and also through the midatlantic we could see additional power outages throughout the day, even with the sunshine. the current winds are anywhere in the 30 to 40 miles per hour range at the coast. inland is not but now but it will get higher. the coast of maine, 60 miles per hour. that's like a strong tropical storm. peak winds will be in the 50-mile-per-hour ranges. travel delays likely from high winds in the northeast. the rest of the country is okay. the other thing people need to know as we head to the weekend forecast, heavy rain is headed for the coast. this is going to be our next tropical system if the doesn't look like a big hurricane, but we do i hava tropical storm that

could be making landfall on friday or saturday. if we get it it would be the "n" named storm and that would be nester. we'll wait and see how that plays out but we are going to see some heavy rain possibly from the storm in florida and georgia. >> i don't know if you wanted a reaction from us on that or not. >> i don't come up with these names. >> barnicle's weighing in from the corner. >> it depends which way the wind is going to be blowing from left to right field, so the short force could be interesting. >> i think bill doesn't like that name. coming up next, news on brexit. apparently a deal has been reached. we're back in a moment with that. reached. we're back in a moment wh it that. they're america's biopharmaceutical researchers.

pursuing life-changing cures in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... because it's not just about the next breakthrough... it's all the ones after that.

welcome back, everyone. we have breaking now's get to across the pond. british prime minister boris johnson and eu commissioner yonker have announced a brexit deal. it still needs to pass the eu parliament as well as the british parliament which have many times rejected theresa may's multiple deals. we will have a lot more on this story on "morning joe." and up next, michael allen of axios has the one big thing. and long time elijah cummings passed away just a few hours ago

at a hospital in baltimore. plus, the top democrat in the senate will be a guest. his thoughts on that, syria, and the push to impeach the president. "morning joe" is just moments away. e president. "morning joe" is just moments away. to remind you to go in for your annual check-up, and be open with your doctor about anything you feel - physically and emotionally. but now cigna has a plan that can help everyone see stress differently. just find a period of time to unwind. a location to de-stress. an activity to enjoy. or the name of someone to talk to. to create a plan that works for you, visit cigna.com/mystressplan. cigna. together, all the way. visit cigna.com/mystressplan. and with their pick washington selects, montez sweat sweat? in the nfl? not on our watch. old spice's superior defense against sweat that's my last name. in the nfl.

it's how we bring real hope to our cancer patients- like viola. when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her team at ctca created a personalized care plan that treated her cancer and strengthened her spirit. so viola could focus on her future. their future. this is how we inspire hope. this is how we heal. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now.

>> announcer: axios one big thing is sponsored by bp. joining us now from washington, d.c., the cofounder of axios, mr. mike allen. good to have you with us on this busy morning, sad morning as well. let's talk about what is axios's one big thing. >> the axios one big thing is trump unbound and unfiltered. so let's do why it matters of those clips we've been seeing this morning of the president and all that action at the capitol. amazing that this was exactly day 1,000 of the trump presidency as if it were a sign of the millennium or as if it were end times. and look at what's happened just in the last ten days since the sunday night when the president

announced that change in turkey. we've had further destabilization in the middle east. we have now a humanitarian catastrophe there. we have the president picking out from under him the scaffolding of republican congressional support just as he needs it. those clips we've been seeing of "the new york times" we've headlined today says the house in revolt over syria policy. and why does this matter? this shows that the guardrails of t that the president has long had around him, that letter sounds exactly like a president the letter would dictate. i was told he was cleaned up a little bit, but that was the president unchanneled. in the modern history of america, we've never seen a president completely unchanneled in a formal white house letter on white house stationery to a

foreign leader. we have the president saying what's really on his mind. what he's really thinking. what really no leader of any organization would say, there it is on twitter. >> all right. mike allen live for us in washington. >> thanks, mike. >> call you later. >> yeah, we'll be reading axios a.m. in just a little bit. go out there and sign up for that newsletter as well as signup.axios.com. >> that does it for us. "morning joe" starts right now. my experience with the president is that he makes decisions and then absorbs date and facts, evaluates situations. if we need to adjust our policy to achieve our goals. >> president trump makes decisions and then absorbs data and facts. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, october 17th. along with