over the ongoing russia investigation. the president expressed his disappointment with sessions over his decision in march to recuse himself from the justice department probe into potential ties between the trump campaign and the russia government. >>> well, some of president trump's top 2016 campaign advisors will go to capitol hill next week to speak about their recently uncovered meeting with russians who had promised damaging information on hillary clinton. the president's son-in-law, senior advisor, jared kushner, will be interviewed by his staff. the senate intelligence committee in a closed session on monday. donald trump jr. and ex-campaign manager paul manafort are scheduled to speak at an open meeting at the senate judiciary hearing. that's on wednesday. both trump jr. and manafort have yet to confirm their appearances. this as the "new york times" published their financial records filed in seep russ, and they -- as much as $17 million. now, the records were certified as...

beltran's start in left field against the mariners yesterday, a 4-1 loss. >> i think, bill, that was an insult to mike barnacle giving the way the padres right back playing. >> you think barnacle can do better than 18 runs? he has a nasty knuckleball. >> so i hear. >>> all right. still ahead, why one top republican senator is staying far away from the white house. >>> plus, president trump's voter fraud commission kicks off. the vice chair of the panel is already raising doubts about the result of the 2016 elections. we'll be right back. [music playing] across the country, we walk. carrying flowers that signify why we want to end alzheimer's disease. but what if, one day, there was a white flower for alzheimer's first survivor? what if there were millions of them? join us for the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's. register today at alz.org/walk.

to vote on. >> there is a large majority in our conference that want to demonstrate to the american people that they intend to keep the commitment they made in four straight elections to repeal obama care. i think we all agree it's better to both repeal and replace, but we could have a vote on either.

now, responding to the report, a manafort spokesman did not address whether the debts might have existed at one time. he maintained that the cypress records were stale and do not pir port to reflect any financial arrangements. >>> joining me here is daniel lipman, co-author of political playbook. also with us capitol hill reporter for "the hill" molly cooper. daniel, good to you have with us. tough diagnosis for john mccain. obviously, this is going to be a personal setback. a difficult situation for the senator. we wish him well. what are the implications of this for legislation on capitol hill? particularly the health care debate. >> it deprives republicans to get health care through. mccain's departure from the scene right now, that only makes it harder. i think people are really pulling for mccain. he is widely respected on the

around the pool. are they covering the pool area? >> yes, everything. they're looking everything. >> synchronized swimming is always such a crowd pleaser as these home events. so are they excited -- >> yes, they're very popular in hungary. we're trying to get it top rar ton they are from a so a lot of judges comment yrks --

that he was talking to "the times," and they didn't think he was going to talk to them for a whole hour where he could expound on his views on the subject. there's only one trump aide in the interview yesterday. >> republicans consider she's -- >> she's not a legal advisor. she's smart, but she's not trump's lawyer on this investigation. >> he is going after some of the actual people in charge of the investigation, suggesting that rod rosenstein may be biassed because he is not -- is he from baltimore, and very few republicans are there. >> it's also for him to totally undermine his own attorney general is unprecedented. for him to also say that he wanted an attorney general who could basically direct the investigation. he didn't want someone who would have to recuse himself. he wanted to be able to tell the attorney general what to do on the mueller investigation. >> yeah. to that point, i have to ask you about the relationship between jeff sessions and president trump. they were...

soured, and i got to ask you, honestly, do you see jeff sessions lasting his term in office? >> well, jeff sessions is a very courtly man from alabama, sort of soft-spoken, mild-mannered. very thoughtful man. i can't see him -- the fact that he offered to resign essentially, you know, during this reported blow-up a few months ago or recently a few weeks ago, that says a lot about jeff sessions' character. frankly, it's kind of interesting when the timing of this interview because keep in mind, it happened right after donald trump had met with senate republicans on the whole health care matter, and so in this period between an event that he had for made in america with mike lindell, and the senate republicans, he goes and does this hour-long interview, and so if the senate republicans wanted to have some sort of, you know, distraction from their headlines on capitol hill, this is definitely a way to do it.

bill. >>> good morning. it's thursday, july 20th. vietnam war veteran, presidential candidate, and tough as nails senator john mccain has been diagnosed with brain cancer. the senator underwent a procedure last friday to remove a blood clot from above his left eye. it's revealed he has geoblastoma. the senator and his family are reviewing their treatment options, which could include chemotherapy and radiation. his doctors say the senator is recovering from surgery, and his underlying health is said to be excellent. cindy mccain posted their wedding photo saying her husband is doing well and adding one thing i do know, he is the toughest person i know. he is my hero, and i love him with all my heart. his daughter, megan, asked for prayers adding, it won't surprise you to learn that in all of this, the one of us who is the most confident and calm is my father. the cruellest enemy could not

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on that forecast. plus, president trump and a covert cia program to arm syrian rebels and the russians may be welcoming that news. we'll get a live report on that as well coming up next. stay with us. ♪ mom. ♪ ♪ where all the walls echo with laughter ♪ ♪ and every room has its own chapter ♪

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credibility of mueller because that hurts trump as well. >> again, we've heard repeatedly the president refer to it as a witch hunt. let me ask you quickly about the end of this week. some big testimony. jared kushner, donald trump jr. will be speaking to lawmakers on capitol hill next week about that june 2016 meeting. what do they expect to come out of it with those two testimonies? >> well, with kushner that's going to happen behind closed doors, and a lot of it will focus on why didn't he disclose these meetings until recently? it's those disclosures that we found out about this june 2016 meeting. donald trump jr. and paul manafort, keep in mind, paul manafort is also going to be at the senate judiciary committee hearing, which will be public, and that will be a blockbuster. you're going to have those players involved in that 2016 meeting. in fact, you know, it's interesting. they are on the second panel of the senate judiciary hearing. first of all, the committee will talk to...

legal help is here. >>> welcome back. in syria president trump has decided a covert program aimed at -- this according to reporting by the washington post. now, the program, which is separate from the one run by the u.s. military, which trains militants who are fighting isis, was initiated back in 2013 under president obama as a way to arm, fund, and train a moderate opposition force to syrian president bashar al assad. joining us now nbc news bureau chief ali arrouzi. if true, this will be -- appear to at least be a big win for both russia's vladimir putin and syria president bashar al assad

syria president bashar al assad to see one of the major players pull out of that fight. >> that's right, if the reports, as you said, from the washington post are correct, it will certainly tip the favors even further in favor of putin, assad, and the iranians who shared militias have been fighting the rebels on the ground there. as you mention, the cia began the covert operation in 2013 and trained some 10,000 fighters, but a u.s. intelligence official tells nbc news that the program wasn't particularly successful because numbers of fighters it diminished over the years and many of the arms supplied by america ended up in the hands of al qaeda and its affiliates. the rebels made some limited gains in 2015, but that's when russia got involved and started pounding them with air strikes. now, even though the program wasn't really effective, some u.s. officials both past and present see it as a concession to russia and where america will lose even more leverage in a region where their...

to work. take a listen. >> my message today is really simple. we have to stay here. we shouldn't leave town. we should hammer this out and get it done. the people of this country need more than a repeal. they need a repeal and a replace. we were very, very close, and then little things happened, but now we're very close again. we have to get it. we never -- if we're weak on anything, it's on letting people know how good it was. >> that statement appeared to be an about-face from what the president said on tuesday when his message was let obama care

i'm not going to be able to comment upon what he may or may not be investigating, but i can assure you if there were conflicts that arose because of director mueller or anybody employed by director mueller, we have a process within the department to take care of that. we have ethics experts who review any allegations of conflicts, so i'm confident we'll reach the right result. >> joining us here on set is politico's daniel lipman, and also from washington d.c. capitol hill reporter for "the hill" molly cooper. good to have you here on set for a change. let's talk about this interview. there's a lot to digest in it. one of the more interesting things is you got to wonder about president trump's advisors, legal advisors watching this interview or reading this interview, i should say. they got to be asking themselves is this going to be good for the strategy of their defense or not? especially on the russia investigation. what do you make of it? >> thief told him in the past to never...

region where their influence is already limited. now, officials said that the phasing out of the secret program reflects trump's interests in negotiating a sort of limited cease-fire with the russians on the ground and not much more beyond that. whatever the outcome of this new strategy is, it will unquestionably be welcome news to putin, as well as assad, and the regime in iran who both call for america to leave the region and stop backing sunni rebels. >> not to mention probably be a big disappointment to some of the arab countries who have been harming some of the exact rebels as well. ali, thank you. >>> let's switch now and take a look at what is being reported as a severe heat advisory across almost one-third of the country with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> as advertised, today is going to be the peak and then we cool off slightly over the weekend. it's one of those days you have to check on the elderly and watch those kids outside playing too. especially getting plenty...

pulling for mccain. he is widely respected on the hill. he is always helpful to reporters. he mentors young aides. this is a guy that, you know, is an american legend. when people meet him, they're amazed by the public service. >> i had a chance to bump into him oversea says on a few trips in egypt and ecrane, and it's amazing how much time he makes for the press, and he is well respected by his colleagues. molly, i want you to weigh in in a little bit on senator mccain as well. his reputation, his spirits. how important he is to capitol hill. not just to the public, but to the political process as well. >> well, you know, he is elected. he has been there for decades. he is one of the senators that new senators look to. he is a veteran. keep in mind, you know, when this happened, you know, sort of the current theme of these comments, the well wishes that people are sending towards him is, guess what, you know, you have -- if somebody can defeat this and beat this, it's john mccain.

that is not the reason the commission exists. it's not to justify to validate or invalidate what the president said in december or january about the 2016 election. >> so are the votes for donald trump that led him to win the election in doubt as well? >> absolutely. >> secretary of homeland security -- i should say homeland security general john kelly said the u.s. tested two prototype bombs to determine their effectiveness prior to establishing new restrictions on electronic devices in the inbound flights originating from several countries. secretary kelly says the test bombs were based on new technology supposedly being tried by terrorists. the tests were conducted on a real airplane on the ground that had been pressurized and that the bombs destroyed the plane. he adds that while the bombs can be hidden in laptops and other small electronic devices, they are unlikely to be remotely detonated wrrks hence, why the restrictions are limited to the cabins and not cargo holdings. still...

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>> the president said he has not done business in russia other than the miss universe pageant, but asked again if he would fire mueller if he went outside of what is had charge is. he said i can't answer that question because i don't think it's going to happen. in this interview president trump also spoke about depth attorney general rod rosenstein, who is overseeing the russia investigation in attorney general sessions's place. he said after sessions recused himself, he asked who is your deputy? his deputy, he hardly knew, and that's rosenstein. rod rosenstein, who is from baltimore. there are very few republicans in baltimore, if any. trump also said his special counsel should never have been appointed in this case, but in an interview conducted with before the president's comments were published last night, rosenstein stood by his appointment of mueller and defended his fairness. >> i made the decision to appoint director mueller based upon his reputation. he had an excellent...

price every time. visit booking.com. booking.yeah! explore your treatment options with specialists who treat only cancer. every stage... every day.... at cancer treatment centers of america. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts >>> a skiery scene for beach goers after nearby storms created a waterspout right near the shoreline. this was video captured yesterday in surf city. look at that. incredible. about 30 miles north of wilmington. the national weather service confirmed the waterspout came ashore as a tornado with winds up to 70 miles per hour. now, officials say it caused damage to some homes nearby, but thank. lyful -- thankfully no reports of any injuries. let's get a check on your weather with bill karins. about one-third of the country under severe heat advisory. >> this time of year, you're either too hot or getting

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legal help is here.

doj, and folks in charge of criminal investigation units, the fbi to figure out this foreign agent's, you know -- this foreign agent's act, whether or not the trump campaign violated that in meeting with or having any interaction with folks from a foreign government. >> all right, molly cooper live in d.c., daniel here for us. we'll speak to you later in the program. thanks for joining us. >>> let's turn to health care. a key group of senate republicans worked late into the night to try to revive their stalled health care bill. just over 20 senators, including both moderates and conservatives, were in attendance at the roughly three-hour-long meeting. the discussion followed a luncheon at the white house where president trump urged members of his own party to get to work. take a listen. >> my message today is really simple. we have to stay here. we shouldn't leave town. we should hammer this out and get it done. the people of this country need more than a repeal. they need a repeal...

is my father. the cruellest enemy could not break him. the aggressions of political life could not beg him, so he is meeting this challenge like every other. cancer may afflict him in many ways, but it will not make him surrender. nothing ever has. here's perhaps his closest senate colleague lindsey graham last night. >> so i got a call from rick davis saying, you know, it's tough news. it is tough. i talked to john and he said, yeah, i'm going to have to stay here a little bit longer. doing some treatments, and i'll be back. we talked about five minutes. you know, it's going to be a tough way forward, but he says i've been through worse. basically then we started talking about health care. literally it went five minutes before he turned away with what most i think would have a hard time absorbing and focused on what he loves the best. so pray. i don't know god knows how to

>> sessions gets the job. right after he gets the job, he recuses himself. >> was that a mistake? >> well, sessions should have never recused himself. and if he was going to recuse himself, he should have told me before he took the job, and i would have picked somebody else. >> now, president trump went on to say that it was "extremely unfair and that's a mild word to the president." sessions, of course, was one of the early supporters of his campaign and chief policy advisors, but there have been signs of fracture recently. "the times" reported in june that sessions at one point offered to resign if the president's confidence in him waivered. in this latest interview the president also had a warning for special counsel robert mueller saying there are areas that should be off limits to the former fbi director's ongoing investigation. >> mueller is looking at your finances or family's finances, unrelated to russia. is a red line? >> is that a breach? >> i would say yes. >> the...

we were very, very close, and then little things happened, but now we're very close again. we have to get it. we never -- if we're weak on anything, it's on letting people know how good it was. >> that statement appeared to be an about-face from what the president said on tuesday when his message was let obama care fail. in an interview with the "new york times", president trump said one of my ideas was repeal, but i certainly rather would get repeal and replace because the next last thing i want to do is start working tomorrow morning on replace. yesterday's luncheon, the president also singled out senator dean heller who was seated next to the president and has voiced his opposition to the senate's bill to repeal and replace obama care. heller is considered one of the gop's most endangered incumbents in 2018. >> this was the one we were worried about. you weren't there, but you're going to be. you're going to be. look, he wants to remain a senator, doesn't he? okay. i think the...