kelly o'donnell and richard engel across the middle east. all as the white house eyes deeper cuts for the federal work force, including at the cia, an intelligence community. they clip wings in seattle. the investigation tonight. plus. [ inaudible ] >> the suspect in custody, after a 12- hour manhunt, after a workplace mass shooting near ohio state university. we're on the ground. and can those wildly popular weight loss drugs treat addiction? stephanie gosk on the cutting edge of research today. and how bad bunny's hits are inspiring so many to get up and dance. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news with lester holt." >> good evening. the question of whether the u.s. could really take ownership of the gaza strip was almost secondary today,a the world first tried to understand exactly what president trump has in mind. sounding more like the real estate mogul of his prior life, mr. trump stunned leaders inside and outside the middle east last night. with the u.s. to take ownership in gaza. imagine a rebuilt version of the territory as the r

kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> richard engel is standing by now.ichard, the white house says president trump floated this idea as a temporary solution. what are you hearing from people in the region? >> reporter: so he may have floated it, but it crashed in the middle east. i spoke to several senior arab leaders, and they all described it with horror and disgust. one official asking, why was it even necessary? why would you have to forcibly remove the palestinians simply to do reconstruction? they could stay in one part of gaza while building takes place in another area. one official said that this proposed plan is really tantamount to ethnic cleansing. jordan and egypt, who both have peace treaties with israel, have said they won't take part in it, they won't be party to depopulating the gaza strip. and at the end of the day, lester, it boils down to trust. palestinians don't believe that if they're forced out they will ever be allowed to return. >> richard engel, thank you. >>> let's turn to president trump's shake-up of the federal government wi

>> all right, kelly o'donnell at the white house for us. kelly, thank you. >>> still ahead tonight, a major case that could be the first supreme court of test of its kind. the big question, who can president trump fire as he reshapes the federal government, coming up. relief at 4 weeks. many people were in remission at 12 weeks, at 1 year, and even at 3 years. don't use if allergic. serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability fight them may occur. before treatment, get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flu-like symptoms or vaccines. liver problems leading to hospitalization may occur when treated for crohn's. ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ask your gastroenterologist about skyrizi. always dry scoop before you run. listen to me, the hot dog diet got me shredded. it's time we listen to science. one a day is formulated with key nutrients to support whole body health. one a day. science that matters. i've got to get marcus some new cleats i bet you can buy the whole team new cleats to support whol

kelly o'donnell has late details for us. >> reporter: the debate over doge. a flashpoint in president trump's overhaul of government. >> getting ready to be turned off. >> reporter: democrats held up for scrutiny elon musk. the billionaire head of the department of government efficiency. >> it's a demolition plan that will run through our government. >> reporter: the divide is clear. democrats call out an unaccountable overreach. >> donald trump and elon musk are recklessly and illegally dismantling the federal government. shuttering federal agencies, firing federal workers. >> reporter: republicans praise musk's methods to slash spending. >> now that doge is taking real action, democrats are choosing to defend the bureaucracy and status quo instead of standing up for the american people. >> reporter: at today's briefing, the press secretary showed what she called receipts for spending identified as terminated by doge. including diversity and inclusion programs. a $4 million training contract at job corps. a $2.3 million contract for diversity training at the

i you know, your. >> report. >> kelly o'donnell. >> and. even mike allen both characterized. >> it as. >> you know. >> perhaps it's provocative. >> it's certainly disruptive. >> i think it certainly. >> characterizes that. >> you know, it challenges. >> the region to. >> to begin to have a discussion as well. >> what's what's. >> their. >> plan. >> what's going to. >> happen as, you know, as. >> a result of the. >> tragedy of october. >> 7th, the. >> you know, we're currently in a. situation of a cease fire. >> the. palestinians are living in desperate situation in gaza. >> you know, certainly there's very. >> little that. >> the president. >> can do. >> unilaterally here. >> and i. think there. >> would be. >> very little support. in congress. for the. united states to take. >> over gaza. >> but but certainly the president. >> and. >> his style and his way, and i don't intend to be a. >> trump translator. >> but in. >> his style, in his way, certainly has has. >> caused a, a. >> a focus of the world. >> to turn to. >> okay, so what what is

kelly o'donnell directly asked president trump what gives him the authority to have the united states take over a sovereign territory? he did not answer the question. with that, let's get smarter. with the help of our leadoff panel, and i brought in the heavyweights, foreign policy expert hagar chemali. she was the syria and lebanon director at the white house and was with the national security council for the first two years of the syria crisis. jeff mason, white house correspondent for reuters. susan glasser, staff writer for the new yorker. and lee ann caldwell, chief washington correspondent for puck news. susan, this is a lot to take in. i mean, i especially like the president. everyone i have spoken to loves the idea of the u.s. owning this territory, though he didn't say who everyone was. i mean, for all we know, it was jared, ivanka and trump himself. put into perspective all of this. what do we need to know tonight? >> yeah, steph. >> well, first of all, to your point, i. >> also was struck. >> by. that jared. >> kushner actually did publicly speak. >> last year in. >> recent

. >> when asked by kelly o'donnell if the u.s. presents would be permanent -- >> i do see a long-term ownership position and i see it bringing great stability to that part of the middle east and maybe the entire middle east. >> later -- >> we have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal and i don't want to be cute, i don't want to be a wise guy but the riviera of the middle east, this could be something that could be so magnificent. >> most gazans don't want to leave and leaders in egypt and jordan have said they don't want to take them. >> the whole thing is a mess, and i think if we can resettle, and i believe we can do it in areas where the leaders currently say no. >> tonight the family of american israeli hostage siegel spoke to nbc news after he was released saturday following 484 days being held captive. >> there were no words, it was, wow, amazing, is this really happening? >> trump also signaling a new approach to iran saying he would meet with iran's president at signing an executive order sanctioning ira

>> kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> to the border now, and defense secretary pete hegseth meeting with troops today in new mexico as we learned some undocumented migrants arrested by the trump administration are being released back into the u.s. late details.mpson has >> reporter: leaving washington for the first time since his confirmation, defense secretary pete hegseth headed to the u.s. southern border in new mexico to shake hands with some of the 1500 troops deployed by president trump, who joined the 2500 already in place under former president biden. these troops aren't able to do enforcement. so what exactly are their day to day tasks? >> what they do is relieve border patrol opportunity to actually do the interdictions. so they're calling in observation to border patrol who then interdict. it's a process in the past tom was telling me might take 30 minutes. >> reporter: the show of force part of a larger immigration crackdown, including mass deportation flights and i.c.e. raids. yet exclusive nbc news reporting shows that i.c.e. has already released some migrants back into the

kelly o'donnell, nbc news washington. >>> let's turn to the trade war launched by president trump with china quickly retaliating after new tariffs on chinese products went into effect today. christine romans has details. >> reporter: at the stroke of midnight, china retaliated. just as president trump's new 10% tariffs on goods coming in from china went into effect, beijing announced its own tariffs on imports from the u.s. 15% on coal and liquefied natural gas, 10% on farm oil and certain cars and trucks. >> it's fine. >> reporter: china's response won't take effect until monday and targets an estimated $14 billion worth of u.s. goods. the delay in relatively symbolic dollar amount suggesting the potential for a deal. janis mackey frayer is in beijing. >> that china's allowing some time for negotiation and showing the multiple ways they can hit back suggests beijing is trying to make a point here, that china can dig in too, and won't back down from president trump. >> reporter: the white house says the new tariffs are because of the deadly drugs pouring into the u.s. >> that was the r

they are considered frontline safety workers. >> kelly o'donnell, thanks. >>> president trump's hiring freeze has stalled the onboarding process across federal firefighting agencies, raising concerns for next season and some warn that could have deadly consequences. jacob soboroff explains. >> reporter: the danger of wildfire couldn't have been any lower when we visited here in the middle of a winter storm last week. that's why this firefighting captain wanted to bring us to southwest washington, where he fought the tunnel 5 fire in the summer of 2023. this isn't national forest? why do you respond here? >> we're a part of our nation's promise to the public to respond to wildfire emergencies. >> reporter: that promise might be getting harder to keep. as president trump's hiring freeze has seasonal firefighters in limbo when onboarding for the next fire season should have started. by the time you made it here, this house was in flames? >> in the process of burning down. i have firefighters i should be bringing on. >> reporter: you can't hire even if you want to? >> i can't. >> reporter:

kelly o'donnell has late details tonight. >> reporter: tonight, a wave of new terminations for thousands of federal workers swept up in mass firings. from the oval office, the president said more job cuts are coming. beyond 75,000 workers the administration says volunteered to quit with his offer of a promised payout. >> a big tremendous savings. we want to downsize government but make it better. run it better. >> reporter: today, outside health and human services, valentine hearts left for federal workers to protest elon musk's department of government efficiency. >> the first convening of federal workers against doge. >> reporter: among those let go, first-year employees with probationary status, like 39-year-old elizabeth, fired from the consumer financial protection bureau. >> i never would have imagined that this is what would have happened and it would have happened so swiftly. anso inhumanely. >> reporter: at veterans affairs, more than 1,000 employees dismissed. u.s. forest service, 3400. energy's national nuclear security administration overseeing the nuclear stockpile, no speci

>> kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> the weather has been a mess for tens of millions across the country. 20 states socked in earlier today by a dangerous mix of snow, sleet, and rain. there were whiteout conditions in michigan and flash floods in hard-hit charleston, west virginia, where they got more than three inches of rain in just a few hours. al roker joins me now. al, this is the start of a pretty volatile week of storms. >> that's right. we've got a parade of storms, lester, this next one coming in out of the midwest for tomorrow with large storms. it's going to bring northeast ice, rain, and snow, possible power outages, and then continues off the coast on sunday, getting out of here with some snow left over in the great lakes. we're talking the heaviest amounts from buffalo to coastal new england with up to eight inches of snow and up to a tenth of an inch of ice from cleveland all the way down to richmond, and then a second more powerful storm possibly getting together monday evening, starts in the midsection of the country. by tuesday, heavy snow, wind, and rain likely in the

kelly o'donnell and harry litman. thank you. >> thanks. ump is teasing a big announcement happening in the next hour. reciprocal tariffs on u.s. trading partners. the details are scarce, but the idea is hiking tariffs on imports to match the rate that other countries charge for american products. the move comes ahead of the president's meeting today with the prime minister of india, which has a trade surplus with the united states. the president has also called india a tariff king and a big abuser of trade ties. but critics worry the cost of the tariffs will ultimately be passed down to american consumers, who are being hammered right now by rising inflation. joining me now to hopefully add some more details to this conversation, white house national economic council director kevin hassett. kevin, thank you for joining us. i'll start with the obvious question, which is what do you expect these reciprocal tariffs to look like? can you give us some examples. >> oh for sure. >> and our expectation. >> is that there's going to be a meeting in t

nbc's kelly o'donnell covering the white house. richard engel is joining me from lisbon. peter baker is the new york times chief white house correspondent. and elise jordan served in george w bush's white house and state department. both peter. and elise are msnbc political analyst. so, kelly, are you hearing anything from inside the white house that the president is rethinking any of this based on the reaction that's been coming in? >> not so far. he has already said today that, quote, everybody loves it, referring to his idea. i don't know who specifically he's referring to there when he calls it everybody. he did not want to go into greater detail and said he would likely talk about it more later today. we're also waiting on the white house press briefing with caroline leavitt. perhaps we'll have some more insight there. so often this president telegraphs ideas in advance, and the clues were present in what you just played in the oval office, which preceded the press conference, where then the president read his remarks that outlined this idea for the first time public

joining us now, msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin, nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell and staff writer at the new yorker, susan glasser. all right, kelly, there was just a big news conference, and donald trump hit on a bit of what he's allowing elon musk to do, the authority he's given elon musk. walk us through it, please. well, one of the striking things is that he is fully embracing elon musk and the team that musk has assembled, who have been described broadly as very young engineers and tech savvy individuals who are getting into the systems and looking for what the president likes to tout, or at least call out as waste, fraud and abuse. what is unclear is what specific subject knowledge musk or his team have about this. if they are able to access a dollar amount line items, however they're into the system, they are shutting things down or reviewing things and then advising the president on what what should go. we've already seen that with the usaid, the president very clearly today saying the department of education is a target for which musk has his full authori

. >> kelly o'donnell. >> nbc's yasmin vossoughian in tel aviv. aaron david miller. senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace and a former arab-israeli negotiator. so, kelly, i know you were at that press conference last night and you actually asked the president about. his idea. where did this proposal come from? >> well, part of what this is stemming from is the president's view, speaking in some ways, not as a statesman, but as a real estate developer. he looks at that land and sees the potential. he talked about taking it over and taking responsibility for the dangers there, like a developer would pay back taxes and clean up any hazardous materials on a site from a world point of view. this is a stunning and provocative assertion by the president, and he has been frustrated by arab nations in the region that have not been more helpful to trying to take displaced palestinians. he is trying to speak to the reality that there is so much destruction. and how do you preserve peace under these circumstances? it was a surprise and it is something th

. >> kelly o'donnell pressing the president. >> what do you say to voters who saand charged hundredsbillions of dollars of y tatheys want you t everyday cost? >> i had almost no inflation and yet i charged hundreds of millions of dollars in tariffs. tariffs don't cause inflflation, they cause success. >> this comes as agencies scramble to comply with ending dei policies. ordering all gender ideology references be removed today including pronouns and email signatures. another memo we've obtained from the defense intelligence agency ordering a pause on special observances includincdc scrubbing g pride i >> and you have some new reporting about a major shakeup at the fbi. >> the trump administration has forced out all six senior executives and the heads of senior field offices around the country. when we asked president trump about this earlier he said he was not involved in that but if people were fired it was "a good thing." >>> up next, the clash over the canal. andrea mitchell reports from panama where trump has threatened to take control of the passage. senator rubio will head ther

nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell.ocratic congresswoman, stephanie murphy of florida, and marc short, former trump director of legislative affairs. thanks to all of you forbeing here. boy, there are a lot of headlines to get to! kelly, let's start with the one that broke overnight. tariffs. the president officially moving to impose tariffs against america's three biggest trading partners. you had a very robust exchange with him on friday in the oval office about a range of issues, including this one. you pressed him repeatedly. will prices go up? >> we had a lot of back and forth on this. in part, i was acting as a pool reporter, so i was in the oval. and what was striking is, this is the president's first foreign policy move. and it is one that goes after our nearest neighbors and one of our biggest global adversaries and competitors in china. and i pressed him, looking for what does he want back? is it a negotiating ploy? is there a concession you're looking for? and he kept saying "no." and if you read the text of i

kelly o'donnell in a very beautiful white house setting today. kelly, thank you. and, jake, don't go anywhere. i'm going to i'm going to pick your brain a little bit more after this next break. still ahead, tulsi gabbard has officially been confirmed as the director of national intelligence. intelligence? excuse me? what? the sole republican to vote no said about her the warning that he gave. plus, what we know about today's quote, highly productive phone call between donald trump and vladimir putin. what did they discuss and who wasn't on that call? and later, what new lawsuit was just filed against the trump administration in response to its ongoing effort to dismantle the federal effort to dismantle the federal government? we are back in want a next level clean? swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean... ahhhhh with listerine. feel the whoa! this is where you are. but this...is where you want to go. (♪♪) we give you the rewards and you choose

let's dig into all of this with nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell, nbc news chief capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles, new york times chief white house correspondent peter baker, and former republican governor of ohio john kasich. kelly, first, what's happening exactly with the consumer financial protection bureau and fema? well. >> when you look at that agency in particular, it came into being after the financial crisis of 2008, and it was intended to be about rooting out schemes and fraud, not against the taxpayer, but against individual citizens. and since that time, it has done a lot of work in that area, claiming to have saved about $20 billion in fees and extra charges that financial institutions might have passed on to consumers. sort of the fine print part. and then, of course, fema, which manages natural disasters and so forth. both of these agencies have been targeted by the president's administration to be put either out of business or changed dramatically. and with respect to the consumer protection bureau, this is something where the president and h

nbc's kelly o'donnell is at the white house, where the press briefing wrapped up just a very short time ago. kelly, what did we learn? >> well, certainly the press secretary was pressed on a number of the lingering questions after the stunning announcement by the president that was echoed by the israeli prime minister last night about a u.s. takeover and redevelopment of gaza that would include the displacement of palestinians who call that piece of land as war torn and devastated as it is their home. so part of what we learned is the press secretary, caroline leavitt, was asked about how much of a plan exists, and she did say that in a written form, the president's remarks were the start of a plan, and now many of his advisers are working to flush that out. she was also asked about the knowledge of the prime minister, a guest of the president today. they had lots of time to speak in private and with their top leadership prior to this event. and leavitt said that in fact, netanyahu did have advance warning. here's part of that exchange with reporters. >> as for whether prime minister ne

nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us from the white house. our ken dilanian is at the d.o.j. and also with us, msnbc legal correspondent lisa robin. kelly, do we know any details about these tariffs and when they might be announced? >> well, the president has previewed his actions, but we don't have all the specifics yet. he's talked about tariffs today and then additional tariffs in the next few days dealing with aluminum and steel and putting a 25% tariff on those kinds of products. so an import tax on that. and then in the next couple of days, what he is calling reciprocal tariffs for countries that impose a tax on u.s. goods, that he would do the same in return. again, the tariff discussion is one where the president is vigorous in his discussion of these at times pulls back once confronted with questions or willingness to negotiate from other countries. but aluminum and steel, of course, come in great volume from canada in particular. so that, again, could cause tension in a relationship with one of our closest neighbors. >> kelly. meanwhile, the trump administration's ov

capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles and nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. frank figliuzzi is also still with us. so, ryan, a lot of plates spinning for the senate right now. are republicans concerned at all about any hurdles or hiccups today? >> no, ana. >> in fact, these. >> should all be. >> relatively perfunctory. >> each one of these nominees that donald trump has asked for. is likely to be confirmed today. >> and not today. but they're on. >> the path to confirmation. >> one will. >> be confirmed today. and robert f kennedy jr. that vote is scheduled. >> to start. here in the next 20 minutes or so. but what we're learning. throughout this process, ana, is that donald trump is going. >> to. >> get what donald trump wants from republicans in congress, even though there were a lot. of strong concerns about some of. >> these nominees, many. >> of them were. >> controversial at. >> each stage, even. if their confirmation hearings weren't necessarily. >> as smooth. >> as possible, republicans. >> have found. >> a way to get to yes. >> and. >> that's exactly

here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: with alarming real-world incidents, the crucial public safety faces a test as the federal workforce is under scrutiny and hit with job cuts. president trump's department of government efficiency and elon musk's doge team continue to make cuts, including at the federal aviation administration. close to 300 faa employees terminated this weekend, according to a union that represents workers there. 28-year-old jason king was at faa for eight months. when you were doing your job at faa, did you believe you were helping to make the public safer? >> i truly did. >> reporter: king, an army veteran with a service-related disability says he worries cuts could be too deep. >> even for the people that are still there, theheirorkload has drastically increased. and i think that's where a big part of my concerns of public safety comes in. >> reporter: other federal job cuts may also be linked to public safety. 400 layoffs at homeland security, including 200 positions at fema. the federal emergency management agency. hundreds fired from the centers for disease

here's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: the debate over doge, a flash point in president trump's overhaul of government. >> the spigot is getting ready to be turned off. >> reporter: democrats held up for scrutiny elon musk. the billionaire head of the department of government efficiency. >> it's a dedemolition plan thas going to run through our government. rorter: the divide is clear. democrats call out an unaccountable overreach. >> donald trump and elon musk are recklessly and illegally dismantling the federal government. shuttering federal agencies, firing federal workers. >> reporter: while republicans praise musk's methods to slash spending. >> now that doge is taking real action, democrats are choosing to defend the bureaucracy and status quo instead of standing up for the american people. >> reporter: press secretary karoline leavitt showed what she called receipts for spending identified and terminated by doge. including diversity and inclusion programs. a $4 million training contract at job corps. and a $2.3 million contract for diversity training at the air force officers schoo

kelly o'donnell reports from the white house and richard engel on the backlash across t middle east. >>> all as the white house eyes deeper cuts for the federal workforce including at the cia and intelligence community. >>> the new airport scare. one flight nearly slashing off the tail of another when they clip wings in seattle. the investigation tonight. >>> pl

nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: making his mar-a-lago club the ackdrop for official business, the president defended steep cuts to federal programs and spending and praised the billioire advisor elon musk who is dismantling parts of the government. >> elon is, to me, a patriot. so, you know, you could callll m an employee. you could call him a consultant. you could call him whatever you want, but he's a patriot. >> reporter: asked if he had any concerns about specific firing decisions, including a move to rehire fired employees who oversee the nuclear stockpile. >> no, not at all. i think we just have to do what we have to do. you know, you're going to, it's amazing what's been found. >> reporter: new details on the federal workforce shakeup from big resignations to thousands of civil servants fired, prompting a fierce defense from white house deputy chief of staff stephen miller. >> why are you not celebrating these cuts if you agree there is waste, if you agree there is corruption, why are you not celebrating the cuts? >> reporter: conflict leads to a top official

here's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: new fallout on president trump's abrupt aspiration for an american-ledovation of gaza. >> we're going to take over that piece, and we're going to develop it. >> reporter: while the president did discuss the middle east on camera today, he chose to use social media to outline his controversial plan, declaring, "the gaza strip would be turned over to the united states by israel at the conclusion of fighting" so that the u.s. and development teams from all over the world could build what he called spectacular developments. met with swift criticism from republicans for leaving open the door to sending u.s. troops. >> it would seem to me to be an inappropriate e of u.s. troops. >> reporter: today, the president, writing, "no soldiers by the u.s. would be needed." >> he will not be sending boots on the ground. he also has made it clear that american taxpayers will not be funding this effort. >> reporter: the suggestion of u.s. troops also rejected by visiting israeli prime minister netanyahu. >> mr. netanyahu, do you think u.s. troops are needed in gaza? to ma

kelly o'donnell reports from the white house and richard engel on the backlash across the middle eastall as the white house eyes deeper cuts for the federal workforce including at the cia and intelligence community. >>> the new airport scare. one flight nearly slashing off the tail of another when they clip wings in seattle. the investigation tonight. >>> plus -- >> i've been shot in my neck. >> you took the gun away? >> the suspect in custody after a 12-hour manhunt after a workplace mass shooting near ohio state university. we're on the ground. >>> and can those wildly popular weight loss drugs treat addiction? stephanie gosk on the cutting-edge research on the way. >>> and finally, from billboards to the ballroom, how bad bunny's hits are inspiring so many to get up and dance. ♪ >> announcer: this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening and welcome. the question of whether the u.s. could ever really take ownership of the gaza strip was almost secondary today as the world first tried to understand exactly what president trump has in mind. sounding more like the rere

nbc's kelly o'donnell pressing the president who pointed to his first term. what do you say to the voters who want to see you reduce everyday costs? i had almost no inflation, and yet i charged hundreds of billions of dollars of tariffs to countries. tariffs don't cause inflation. they cause success. it all comes as federal agencies scramble to comply with president trump's orders to end biden da policies. the office of personnel management ordering all, quote, gender ideology references be removed, including pronouns in email signatures, according to a memo obtained by nbc news. another memo we've obtained from the defense intelligence agency ordering a pause on, quote, special observances, including for black history month in february and pride in june, and the cdc scrubbing some hiv related content from its website. that was nbc's garrett haake reporting for us. now to developing news into that investigation into how that american airlines flight and an army black hawk helicopter collided is now intensifying. we just learned the ntsb will hold a briefing o

. >> nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. >> nbc news. >> business and data correspondent brian chung, cnbc. >> global supply chain. >> reporter lori. >> ann larocco. >> a favorite. >> around here. and council. >> on foreign relations senior vice president. >> shannon o'neill. >> all right, everybody. kelly, i'm. >> going to begin with you. >> can you help. >> make sense of the explanations here? because because there have been so many about what these. >> tariffs are supposed. >> to accomplish. >> well. >> the. >> confusion. >> if any of us. >> and our. >> viewers are. >> experiencing it is warranted. >> because there. >> have in fact. >> been many different. >> data points. >> many. >> different comments made that are. >> not all coming together. >> to make. >> this. easily understandable. the president, we know. >> has a. >> long time. >> support for the idea. >> of using tariffs. he has employed them before. >> and he is doing so now. and it. >> is in. >> rendering the. >> kind of response. from mexico and canada are two closest neighbors and allies. to have a flurry o

nbc's kelly o'donnell is covering the white house. also with me, sahil kapoor on capitol hill. sam stein is managing editor at the bulwark and an msnbc contributor. so, kelly, let's start out there. this memo about underperforming federal employees came out after a judge blocked the government's buyout offer. what more can you tell us, and how does this fit into the larger frame of trying to gut the overall workforce? >> well. >> there's clearly a message. >> from the trump. >> administration of deep frustration. >> and outright. >> criticism of federal workers. >> even though federal workers, of course. uphold so many. >> of the departments and agencies and. >> services that are provided. >> to the. >> american people all. across the country, not just here. >> in washington. >> and this administration is trying to reduce. >> the. >> size of the federal. >> workforce, saying it's about. >> the budget. >> but also. looking to align workers with president trump's. >> view of. >> how government should operate. and political points. >> of. >> view and so forth. he is relying on elon

i want to bring in nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell and former republican congressmanxecutive director of the aspen institute congressional program. also with us, msnbc legal analyst and former u.s. attorney joyce vance. kelly, first to you. what's the white house's plan to get these people back to work? >> well, part of it is outreach to simply say to those workers who have been fired that. >> those terminations. >> are being rescinded and for them to reach out to their former agencies. this is the kind of hurried approach. that creates a lot of unintended consequences. so the federal government did not maintain personal email or personal contact information for employees. so once they were severed from the federal systems, their government email, their government contact information cease to exist. and so pulling them back becomes much more difficult. so we're seeing in a real world experiment here how this is so very different than the kind of mass layoffs or upheaval that might take place in a private sector company. here we're finding there are so many elements ac

kelly o'donnell has a closer look. >> at what musk. >> and the doj's team are. >> actually up to. >> president trump's department of government efficiency and elon musk's doge team continue to make cuts, including at the federal aviation administration. close to 300 faa employees terminated this weekend, according to a union that represents workers there. 28 year old jason king was at faa for eight months. when you were doing your job at faa, did you believe you were helping to make the public safer? >> i truly did. >> king, an army veteran with a service related disability, says he worries cuts could be too deep. >> even for the people that are still there. their workload has drastically increased. >> and i think. >> that's where. >> a big part of my. >> concern for the public safety comes in. >> other federal job cuts may also be linked to public safety. 400 layoffs at homeland security, including 200 positions at fema, the federal emergency management agency. hundreds fired from the centers for disease control, including about two dozen who support outbreak response, according to