it was about the hunt. that's all that mattered. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm natalie morales. thank you for watching. it could be as by ebusy week in the impeachment probe. nearly a dozen people are scheduled to testify on capitol hill and all of this as new polling shows half of america supports president trump's impeachment and removal from office. plus a growing number of republican senators are ready to acknowledge president trump used millary aid as leverage to investigate joe biden and his family. the president is calling it big news. and new reporting that smuggling gangs in mexico are sawing through new sections of president trump's border wall using commercially available power tools.

good morning, everyone. we begin with new reporting on white house efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry. it comes as we nfr what's expected to be the final week of closed door testimony before open hearings begin. according to "the washington post" the head of the office of management and budget russell and two of his subordinants. "the post" citing two white house official reports that he's sought to build a relationship with the president for some time and he's standing firm against the impeachment inquiry is a way to bolster president trump "the times" reports questioning the loyalty of acting chief of staff mick mulvaney's aids. the news comes after several current former and current white

house officials defy previous efforts to stonewall and the inquiry and testify anyway telling the president froze military aid to ukraine. >> meanwhile "the washington post" is also reporting that a growing number of senate republicans are ready to acknowledge that the president used military aid as leverage to pressure ukraine to investigate former vice president joe biden and his family. according to "the post" in this shift in strategy to defend trump these republicans are insisting that the president's action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. however, the pivot could conflict with the message coming from trump who addressed the report in a tweet last night, writing, quote, this. false stories where being reported that a few republican senators are saying that president trump may have done a quid pro quo. but it doesn't matter. there's nothing wrong with that. it is not an impeachable event. perhaps so, but read the transcript. there is no quid pro quo.

>> and in three new polls out over the weekend nearly half of americans say they support impeaching and removing president trump from office. according to an nbc news wall street journal poll 53% of americans say they iprove of the house impeachment inquiry into president trump. 44% said they disapprove of the probe. and almost half, about 49% said trump should be impeached and ultimately removed from office. that is up 6 points from early october. 46% opposed, that is down 3 points. in the latest fox news poll 49% also agreed trump should be impeached and removed from office. 45% disagreed, up 2 points. and over half of those polled, 52% called the inquiry a lusq t legitimate investigation. 47% opposed the impeachment.

now broken down by party lines it includes the support of 18% of republicans, 40% of independents, 82% of democrats. >> and president trump dismissed the new polling on impeachment when pressed by reporters at the white house yesterday afternoon. >> mr. president, according to several recent polls more americans want you to be impeached and removed from office -- >> you're reading the wrong polls. let me just tell you, i have the real polls. i have the real polls. the cnn polls are fake. the fox polls have always been lousy. i tell them they ought to get themselves a new pollster, but the real polls -- you look at the polls that came out this morning, people don't want anything to do with impeachment. it's a phony scam, it's a hoax. >> during the whip around the sunday talk shows white house counselor kellyanne conway says she does not whether or not president trump held up aid to ukraine in order to investigate former vice president joe biden.

>> was there a time when military aid was held up because the president wanted ukraine to look into the bidens? >> i don't know, but i know they've got their aid. >> so it's possible that happened. >> here is what's absolutely unimpeachably true, ukraine has that aid. they had more aid -- >> but it is possible it was held up at that time. >> the ukrainian president said he had no idea aid was held up. he felt no such pressure. >> so conally was pressed further. >> top foreign policy officials for this president have all testified about repeated instances where they saw that support for ukraine was dependent on ukraine investigating the bidens. isn't that the definition of a quid pro quo? >> the fact is that ukraine has that aid. they're using that aid as we sit here.

under president obama they got pillows and blankets. we've given them aid -- no, that's important. >> the way the aid was withheld until -- >> the ukrainian president says he has no idea the aid was withheld. >> let's just say that president trump did condition giving the military aid, withheld it and said it will be given out only if you investigate joe biden -- is that an impeachable offense? >> you're giving me -- is it a high crime or misdemeanor, i wouldn't think so. but you're giving me a hypothetical. >> joining us now from washington, d.c., washington reporter for the hill, olivia, great to haveiowi you with us. aid was in fact held from ukraine as leverage. how do you think this new approach will play out when you look at how they have evolved from questioning the process to attacking the individuals behind it, whether it's vindman or the whistle-blower or others or now

saying you know what, there was a quid pro quo, but that's not a criminal offense? >> certainly you're seeing sort of this transformation how republicans are going about in their argument admitting there is a quid pro quo goes against what the white house has had to walk back. you saw mick mulvaney earlier this month come out and say there was no quid pro quo after saying, yes, that happens in foreign policy all the time. trump had even tweeted there was no quid pro quo. so if these republicans are going to come out after multiple witnesses or career officials said we believe there was quid pro quo, then this is their strategy they think might bust kind of say, yes it happened, but is it impeachable, no. and as we mentioned on the other side, republicans seem to be trying to go after the whistle-blower or the individuals who are testifying. one thing we saw last week was republicans were trying to figure out who the whistle-blower might have talked to. the whistle-blower came forward and said they talked to about

eight people in the administration that were concerned about the president's phone call with zelensky. and so now they're trying to figure out who were those eight people and did they speak out of the order to people that they really shouldn't? and can they go after them? so republicans are really kind of getting off of the process argument and finding what they can do next as democrats are nearing their next phase of impeachment. >> olivia, let's talk about some of these polls that we were ticking through. and we've got the nbc news wall street journal poll, 53% of americans saying they approve the house impeachment inquiry. you have a fox news poll, 49% also agreeing trump should be impeached and removed from office. and then you also have a "the washington post" abc news poll, 49% of americans saying the president should be impeached and removed from office. pretty astounding numbers there to say the least, but of course you heard the president there saying yesterday he doesn't believe any of these polls and he's got the right polls, not

necessarily knowing which polls he's talking about. what do you make of it? especially the president's quick defense of it and dismissal of it all? >> this sort of follows the president's tact of pretending that bad news is not accurate news when the stories are actually correct. what you have seen, aides do deliver selected pieces of news and polls to the president and make it appear that he's getting good coverage. so we know sometimes they might be delivering polls that are less credible or accurate to the president's desk which is something he might be referring to. but what you're seeing is fox news, abc, nbc, all these polls are coming out that shows there's a growing support for impeachment which is what house speaker pelosi wanted before she launched into this. and this is before democrats have even started the next phase, the public phase of their investigation. so the question now is can they

keep that polling when they start having these career officials come testify about the ukraine phone call. but as of now it really seems like the public is pretty taken aback what they're learning about the president's july 25th phone call with president w zelensky. >> who knows, we'll have to wait to see. >> to that point, what do you think happens once these impeachment hearings go public and you start seeing a lot of these, a, testimony and transcripts are publiclished but hearings start taking place in a public space? >> you might be seeing more and more context. republicans are claiming democrats are selectively leaking anything that is damaging to the president.

and democrats are saying well we're going to release it so you can see it for yourselves. when they start moving to public phase of the impeachment inquiry, they're going to be very careful who who they select, what questions they ask. it's going to be a lot of sort of staged planning to make sure they are able to pull some of the most damaging information about the president. >> we're going to talk to you again in just a little bit. and hundreds of pages of documents from robert mueller's special counsel investigation were released over the weekend suggesting that former trump campaign chairman paul manafort in fact pushed the idea ukraine was behind the hacking of the dnc servers during the 2016 presidential election. the newly released documents come after buzzfeed news and cnn sued the justice department for access to mueller's witness interview notes which included summaries of conversations from several prominent figures in the probe. deputy cam chain chairman rick gates told investigators

manafort, quote -- the unsupported theory was advanced by president trump even after he took office and has served as a catalyst for ongoing impeachment inquiry. according to buzzfeed the justice department will continue to release monthly installments of mueller's investigative notes for at least the next eight years. all right, still ahead, 2020 candidate and south bend mayor pete buttigieg tries to walk back comments he made about for the fight for the democratic nomination saying it's shaping up to be a two way race. plus another democratic hopeful drops out of the 2020 race. those stories and of course a check on your weather when we come back. course a check on your weather when we come back. - choosing to foster a child

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welcome back. 2020 candidate pete buttigieg is walking back his claim he's in a

two person race with senator elizabeth warren. in a clip from the circus show time released on friday he suggested he sees himself and warren as the front runners. >> i think this is getting to be a two way. it's early to say. i'm not saying it is a two way. >> but you see that coming to focus. >> and certainly that world is we're in that world where it's coming down to the two of us. obviously it's a lot of candidates, but i think as that happens the contrasts become clear. they're substantive comments but they're real. >> buttigieg tried to clarify his comments saying he's excited about strong competition within the democratic field. >> i don't remember the exact context. i think i was getting pulled into the scenario but, look, the bottom line is this a really strong competition among really strong campaigns. and i don't think there's ever been a primary an election year

that has had this much at stake in my lifetime. and we're putting forward both who we are, what we care about, our different styles and differences in our policies. and i think the policy differences are becoming more clear as we go, and that's part of what's sharpening the conversation. that's a healthy thing. >> so buttigieg has been climbing in the polls following a strong performance at the october debate. but still sits around fourth place in the most recent polls behind joe biden, warren and bernie sanders. and mayor pete joins "morning joe" later this morning. >> beto o'rourke has ended his 2020 presidential campaign after announcing he doesn't have the man power or finances to move forward. he said though it is difficult to accept it is clear to me now that this campaign does not have the means to move forward successfully. my service to the country will not be as a candidate nor as the nominee. acknowledging this now is in the best interests of those in the campaign. it is in the best interests of this party as we seek to unify

around the nominee, and it is in the best interests of the country. o'rourke had a strong start to his presidential race claiming he was born to be in it and often polled among the top candidates. but he had difficulty maintaining that momentum, only raising $4.5 million in the last quarter. he had not qualified for the november debate. president trump commented on the news at a rally in mississippi on friday. >> oh, did you hear? beto, did you hear? beto. oh, that poor bastard, well, poor pathetic guy. he was pathetic. remember the arms flailing -- remember that -- i noticed he was flailing with his arms and standing on tabletops. but he's waving his arms and going crazy and i said what the

hell is he doing, what is he on? and you remember he made the statement that he was born for this? anybody that says he was born for this, they're in trouble. he was a nasty guy, but he had a couple of policies that don't work well in the state of texas, right? he was against religion. he was against you having a gun. and he was against oil. so you come from texas, you don't like religion, you don't like oil and you don't have guns. i don't know that's a good combination in the state of texas. >> i think the president's comments give you a glimpse into where we are as a country when he's talking about a nominee that dropped out of the race, essentially pulling out, and the president not demonstrating any kind of humility or at least respect for the candidate he tried to run and push the

events. it's the political courtesy we've always had. >> also interesting he'd spend so much time at his rally talking about beto o'rourke when he's no longer a competitor to him in the upcoming race. >> can you imagine what he's going to say about the candidates who stay in the race? >> i cannot. but i feel this is really just the beginning. let's get a check on your weather now with nbc meteorologist junessa webb. >> hey, good morning. have you two enjoyed fall? >> it was a nice weekend, cool but sunny. >> well, we're waving good-bye now. yeah, let's transition to winter-like temperatures and we're seeing that across the board from the northern plains to the east. most of us starting off this morning in the 30s and 40s. and unfortunately, throughout the week that's going to drop continuously into the 20s for overnight lows. so right now we're waking up to freeze warnings, frost advisories from new york city to

the carolinas. and the frost concerns really will last until 8:00 a.m. before temperatures start to spark up by the noon hours. right now new york city at 43 degrees. raleigh, durham, 35. so we're going to see these searsies of fronts make their way through, and these are the strongest fronts of the season so far, and that's going to cause temperatures to drop throughout the week. this is that first front for today. for green bay temperatures about 5 to 10 degrees below average. by tomorrow afternoon, great lakes, detroit, ohio, 44. and that is going to cause that lake enhancement to rev up across cleveland and pennsylvania where they'll see significant accumulation. so that front making its way to the northeast. if you don't have boots ready -- >> that came at us pretty fast. i have to admit. and we want to give a quick shout out of course to bill

cairns. he has a good reason for being off today. he ran the new york city marathon today. >> look at bill. >> he finished the race in a pretty impressive i would say by my standards 4 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. you could kind of say that's pretty good, right? >> yeah, i've run the marathon before. that's a really strong showing for sure. he was training hard for it. >> he said it was a great day, the conditions were perfect for it. and he said there were a lot of really funny signs out there. one of his favorites which he saw a few times was you can run better than the government. >> that's pretty funny. it was one of the best running days i have to say weather wise. it was just an incredible day. and to see all the runners out there and cheering and seeing them accomplished -- >> and i'm sure you had a few people complaining about the grid oc. it wouldn't be if it wasn't new york. president trump has pushed for a big beautiful wall along the southern border but now he's

down-playing that smugglers are cutting through sections. that story and much more coming up. g through sections that story and much more coming up

welcome back. according to "the washington post" mexican smuggling gangs have repeatedly sawed through sections by using power tools to get people and drugs through the other side. u.s. agents and official with knowledge of the damage say smugglers are using a sawing tool that sells at hardware stores for as little as $100,

believe it or not. when fitted with specialized blades the saw can slice through the steel or concrete barriers within minutes. when asked if he say concerned people were able to cut through the border wall, this was the president's response. >> i haven't heard that. we have a very powerful wall. but no matter how powerful, you can cut through anything, in all fairness. but we have a lot of people watching. cutting is one thing, but it's easily fixed. one of the reasons we did it the way we did it, it's very easily fixed. you put the chunk back in. but we have a very powerful wall. but you can cut through any wall as you know. to iraq where a major anti-government protest continued. yesterday protesters blocked major roadways in baghdad after an overnight cuff few was enforced. at least one person died and more than 90 others were injured during demonstrations on saturday on top of the scores that have reportedly been killed since the movement began. protesters began taking to the

streets last month demanding change to the political system which was established after the 2003 u.s.-led invasion. still ahead, president trump is continuing to push for the identity of the ukraine whistle-blower to be released. this as the whistle-blower's legal team offers to answer written questions from gop lawmakers. plus the president renews his attacks on a decorated veteran, lieutenant colonel alexander vindman claiming there will soon be more information released about him. we're back in a moment with more. released about him we're back in a moment with more here, it all starts with a simple...

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welcome back, everybody's. let's start with the morning's top stories. president trump is threatening to expose information about army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman that would support unfounded claims he's a, quote, never-trumper. trump labeled vindman as such after the purple heart recipient testified to impeachment investigators last week at the white house omitted crucial language from the reconstructed transcript of his call with the president of ukraine that's at the heart of the inquiry. trump repeated the accusation while speaking to reporters yesterday. >> what evidence do you have that colonel vindman is never-trumper? >> we'll be showing that to you real soon, okay? >> meanwhile sources tell "the washington post," quote, the president has asked for copies of witness statements so he can decide how to criticize them, complaining his lawyers are not doing enough to stop people from talking and even encouraged members of congress to question

the credibility of people working in his own administration. >> the president is also once again calling for the identity of the ukraine whistle-blower to be made public. speaking to reporters yesterday trump tried to discredit the whistle-blower by linking he or she to former president barack obama and trump also repeatedly urged the media to eare veal the whistle-blower's identity. >> the whistle-blower should be revealed, because the whistle-blower gave false stories. some people would call it a fraud. i won't go that far, but when i read it closely i probably would. but the whistle-blower should be reveal. >> the president also tweeted yesterday that the whistle-blower got it so wrong that he must come forward, that fake news media knows who he is, but don't want to reveal him because there would be hell to

pay. reveal the whistle-blower and end the impeachment hoax. >> so an attorney for the whistle-blower tweeted over the weekend that the whistle-blower has offered to answer any unwritten questions that intelligence lawmakers may have. he reached out to the committee's ranking member congressman devin nunes on saturday to say that his client to willing to answer questions under oath and penalty of perjury if gop lawmakers submit written questions to the whistle-blower's attorneys. he has not yet received a, quote substantive response from the committee's minority leadership regarding this offer, but house minority leader kevin mccarthy suggested in an interview yesterday that written testimony would not be enough to satisfy republicans. >> when you're talking about the removal of the president of the united states, undoing democracy, undoing what the american public had voted for, i think that individual should come before the committee. >> and president trump is also refusing to rule out the possibility of shutting down the

government in the midst of the impeachment investigation. here's what he said yesterday. >> what about a government shutdown? there's a genuine concern. democrats believe you will hold off the funding for the government if you're upset about impeachment. what do you say to the american people? >> i don't think they believe that at all, but we'll see what happens. the democrats only -- i call them the do-nothing democrats. they're doing nothing. they're not getting anything done. even guns, they don't talk about guns. all they can do is talk about one phone call made to the president of ukraine that was perfect. it was perfect. it was a perfect phone call, and they're hanging their hat on this one phone call. and you know what? the republican party has never been so unified. >> sir, will you mount a

defense? will you mount a defense, sir? >> can you commit to no government shutdown? >> i wouldn't commit on anything. it depends on the negotiation. >> so the gump's temporary funding mesher funding measure expires november 21st. another government shutdown would mark the third such shutdown under trump's presidency. joining us now from washington, d.c. congressional reporter for the hill, once again olivia. great to have you back with us. would the impeachment investigation grind to a halt if the president shuts down the government? would it technically be affected by that or are there other means for that inquiry to continue? >> they'll still be paid but staff might be furloughed until the government is back up and running. if this is the possible plan by the president, it's something likely to backfire.

democrats would weaponize nice as another sign he's obstructing justice by trying to delay impeachment hearings. and it would also impact one thing that republicans and democrats agree on in this town is they both hate government shutdowns. it creates a huge mess. it adds to the government debt, and it's not something that makes congress look competent. so if this is something he's planning on it will possibly delay but it won't tleed to a stop. >> i also feel like the optics of another government shutdown ehead of an election year would not bode well for the president either especially if it's at the hands of the president either or republicans. let's talk about the president here and his attacks with regards to lieutenant colonel vindman along with the whistle-blower as well. what do you make of his continued attacks here in trying to discredit both of these individuals and reveal of course the identity of whistle-blower

and urging others to do so? >> one thing the president has shown is he's willing to fight no matter who he is anyone he views as going up against him. right now attacking colonel vindman he's attacking a purple heart recipient, someone who has decades of experience serving this country. and it's not the right approach and congressman liz cheney came out and said i'm sorry for these attacks and called colonel vindman as sources say. so these are attacks are probably just the president work on his own, he's angry, fuming, he's responding to a damaging testimony. but you're also hearing other republicans saying, hey, you're going too far. him claiming he's a never. trumper i've talked to other servicemen and they say it doesn't matter, as far as you put on the uniform you're serving the policy at the direction of the president. it doesn't matter which way.

>> olivia, thank you as always. appreciate it. still ahead, a slew of new numbers in the race for the democratic presidential nomination. more on that and how the leading contenders match up against the president. plus elizabeth warren's medicare for all plan gets panned pby her rivals described as mathematical gymnastics by one and the wrong answer by another. gymnastics by one and the wrong answer by another. chevy's the only brand... to earn j.d. power dependability awards... across cars... trucks... and suvs. four years in a row. since more than 32,000 real people... just like me. and me. and me. took the survey that decided these awards. it was only right that you hear the good news from real people... like us. i'm daniel. i'm casey. i'm julio. only chevy has earned j.d. power dependability awards across cars, trucks and suvs. four years in a row.

and third, okay, banks. i'm going to tax the banks, duh. what did you think i was going to do? hold up a gas station inthey're going to pay for it and not one penny from the middle class and all we've got to do is convince jp morgan to operate like a non-profit. next question. >> sorry, i have a follow-up because i'm annoying.

you said your plan would cost $20.5 trillion, but other economists have said it could cost $34 trillion. >> let me stop row right there. we're talking trillions. you know, when the numbers are this big, they're just pretend. there ain't no vault. you ready to get red pilled? money doesn't exist. it's just a promise from a computer. you might as well say it costs -- same difference. all right, next. >> sorry, senator, i'm going to need the see the math on that. >> oh, yeah. you want to see the math? okay, i'll show you. look at this here. yeah. do you understand this? i do. i could explain it to you but you'd die. >> "saturday night live." >> really nailed it from

elizabeth to rudy giuliani. >> senator warren has revealed her details -- didn't she do jeff segs at one point? >> i believe she did. >> she says the plan which essentially eliminates all insurance is fully funded and would eleminate deductibles and there would not be, quote, one penny in middle class tax increases. it would keep the estimated public and private health spending at just under $52 trillion over the next decade and would require the federal government to absorb $20.5 trillion in new spending. much of the revenue burden to pay for that would be placed on business and the wealthy by implicating significant new taxes on the rich, corporations and high earning investors. this includes raising her wealth tax to 6% on fortunes over $1 billion, treating capital gains with the top 1% as earned income and requiring taxes to be paid annually and posing

$2.9 trillion in new taxes on corporations and foreign earnings and creating a new 0.1% tax on financial transactions. $400 billion by overhauling the immigration system, and roughly $800 billion from ending the overseas contingency operations fund. warren also set the ambitious goal of cutting medicare drug prices by 70% for brand name drugs and 30% for generics and would also cut medicare administrative overhead. while warren promises no middle class tax increases her plan does assume a reversal of the trump tax cut, which by default would raise taxes on some middle class families. >> and some of senator warren's fellow democratic candidates for congress responded to her medicare for all plan. the biden campaign said, quote, by putting forward an unrealistic plan she'll be left with two choices.

either further increase taxes on the middle class or break her commitment to these benefits. the mathematical gymnastics is designed to hide the simple truth from voters. to accomplish this a slight of hand, her proposal dramatically understates its cost, over states its savings and inflates the revenue and pretends an employers personal payroll tax increase is something else. here was some of the reaction from the trail. >> i think the biggest issue i'm hearing from voters, though, even above and beyond having to pay for this is am i going to lose my private plan. and that's something that i just haven't heard -- well, we have heard an answer but i think it's the wrong answer. so even as the economists over the numbers and math, i think other core concerns have not been answered. >> what is just not true is that

hers is the only solution. this my way or the highway idea, either you're for kicking everybody off their private plans in four years or you're for business as usual. it's just not true. i'm proposing medicare for all who want it. the way you do it, you get to keep your private plan if you want to. i'm thinking about union members who fought and negotiated for good plans they have today. they don't want to have to abandon those plans because washington tells them. >> meanwhile joe biden and elizabeth warren continue to fight it out for the lead of the 2020 democratic field. according to three new polls, biden at 27%, warren at 23% statistically tied in the latest wall street journal poll. senator bernie sanders is up 5 points in september and now sits at 19%. meanwhile biden and warren are also statistically tied. in the newest "the washington

post" nbc poll biden has 28%, warren up 23%. both sit in that polls almost 6 point margin of error. sanders falls in third place with just 17%. in the latest fox news poll biden at 31% leading by 10 points. elizabeth warren at 21%, and bernie sanders at 19%. another statistical tie. in hypothetical matchups against the president according the latest nbc news wall street journal poll, trump would fair one point better than warren. and in the fox news head to head biden would have a 12-point advantage over the president, 51% to 39%. sanders leads by 9 points, and warren by 5, 46 to 41. >> and we should mention that two candidates mayor pete buttigieg and senator cory booker will both be in the big

line up of guests today on "morning joe." let's switch gears to the weather. the weather kind of a shock to the system this weekend with losing daylight in the frigid cold really coming in. this is canadian air, and we have a series of clipper systems really going to impact us throughout the week. daytime highs are going to fall about 10 to 15 degrees below average. as the front makesets way through we'll have some lake enhancement for the ohio valley to pittsburgh, going to see light accumulation. but by tomorrow afternoon half the temperatures drop only back into the mid-40s for some locations. let's take a look at our future cast here. as a front makes its way through for the northeast tomorrow we're going to see substantial amount of rain on the backside of that front. some snow accumulation from that lake enhancement. so around that 5:00, 6:00 hour for new york city, washington to boston it will impact your early

morning commute into your evening commute as well. so taking a look at our week ahead, lots of high pressure around that's causing that abundance of sunshine from the pacific northwest to the central plains. the front will make its way through causing temperatures to really clash into wednesday afternoon. that's front number one. front number two is really going to dominate for your late week. and it really starts to clash with this system coming from the deep south, and that will cause our first big snowfall for the northeast and portions of of the midatlantic where daytime highs by friday, we are back near the freezing mark to 40 degrees. so you know i always like to look at the weekend ahead. on mondays, this weekend is really important for the northeast and the midatlantic as we're going to see our first snowfall. >> first snow, here we go. still ahead a major shake-up at the world's most recognizable

food chain. the ceo of mcdonald's saying he agreewise the board that it's time for him to move on. we're going to explain why coming up. tmoo ve on. we're going to explain why coming up.

welcome back, everyone. there's been a swift change at the tom of mcdonald's. the ceo is out. nbc's blain alexander has more. >> reporter: a major shake-up at

mcdonald's with the company announcing it has fired ceo steve easterbrook because of a relationship with an employee. in a letter to all mcdonald's staff easterbrook says the relationship was consensual but he violated company policy, writing this was a mistake. given the values of the company i agree with the board that it is time for me to move on. mcdonald's announce the change writing ena statement the board determined easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment. >> mcdonald's is clearly trying to nip this in the bud before it becomes a huge story. >> reporter: he's been at the helm since 2015 and overseen major moves in the company. he talked about the shift in an interview with cnbc last year. >> we tried to evolve the business in a really meaningful way the last twoe or three years. >> losing a person really behind the reputation push pushed to update mcdonald's reputation is going to be very, very

interesting. >> reporter: mcdonald's has already named his replacement, had head of mcdonald's usa serving up a new start for the fast food giant. still ahead, new reporting on the white house effort to nuwort the impeachment push. >> plus we're learning more about the strategy senate republicans plan to take to push back against the inquiry. we're back in a moment. inquiry we're back in a moment office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again!

it could be a busy week in the impeachment probe. nearly a dozen people are scheduled to testify on capitol hill and all of this as new polling shows nearly half of americans support president trump's impeachment and removal from office. plus a growing number of republican senators are reportedly ready to acknowledge president trump used military aid as leverage to force ukraine to investigate joe biden and his family. the president is calling it fake news. and new reporting that smuggling gangs in mexico are sawing threw new sections of president trump's border wall using commercially available power tools. good morning, everyone.

it is monday, november 4th. we begin with new reporting on white house efforts to stonewall the impeachment inquiry. it comes as we enter what's expected to be the final week of closed door testimony before the hearings spill out into the open. according to "the washington post" the head of the office of management and budget and two of his subordinates will defy subpoenas in the probe. "the post" citing two white house officials that he's sought to build a relationship with the president for some time and sees standing against the impeachment inquiry as a way to bolster that. president trump as the "the post" reports has at times questioned the loyalty of acting chief of staff mick mulvaney's aides. but omb has assured the president they will not show up nor will they help the democrats with the probe.

the news comes after several current and former white house and state department officials defied previous white house efforts to stonewall the inquiry and testified anyway. telling lawmakers at the president froze military aid to ukraine to pressure its leaders to launch investigations that were sought by president trump. >> all right, "the washington post" is also reporting that a growing number of senate republicans are ready to acknowledge that the president used military aid as leverage to pressure ukraine to investigate former vice president joe biden and his family. according to "the post" in this shift in strategy to defend trump, these republicans are insisting that the president's action was not illegal and does not rise to the level of an impeachable offense. however, the pivot could conflict with the message coming from the president who addressed the report in a tweet last night writing, quote, this. false stories are being reported that a few republican senators are saying that president trump may have done a quid pro quo, but it doesn't matter.

there is nothing wrong with that. it is not an impeachable event. perhaps so, but read the transcript. there is no quid pro quo. >> in three new polls out over the weekend nearly half of americans say they support impeaching and removing president trump from office. according to a new nbc news wall street journal poll 53% of americans say they approve of the house's impeachment inquiry into president trump. 44%ads they disapprove of the probe. and almost 49% said trump should be impeached and ultimately removed from office. that is up 6 points since the beginning of october. down 3 in that same time period. in the latest fox news poll, 49% also agreed that trump should be impeached and removed from office. that is down two points from early last month. 45% disagreed. up two points. and over half polled, 52% called the inquiry legitimate investigation into an important issue. and 39% said it is a bogus attempt to undermine trump's presidency. in the newest washington poll, abc