i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside jasmine and lieu burgdo burgdorf. president trump will meet with his cabinet before hosting lunch with mike pence and mitch mcconnell. relations haves been icy since august. president blasting mcconnell on twist. reports that president trump picked up the phone saturday and called mitch mcconnell ahead of a week when they have to work together on a budget or risk losing tax reform. this as steve bannon declared war on monl and his leadership team. are probably going to be it will be the end of mitch mcconnell as we know it. >> steve bannon has said the republicans should go to war against mcconnell. all you should get rid of him. mitch mcconnell is not our problem. our problem is repromised to repeal or replace obamacare and we failed. we promised to cut taxes and we've yet to do it. if we're successful, mitch mcconnell is fine. if we're not. we're all in trouble. >> now despite the outreach to mcconnell, two unnamed sources. bannon appeared on fox news. sitting republicans who don't actively support the president's a

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. president trump has now issued an emergency declaration. in a speech in the east room, president called the crisis a national shame and declared a public health emergency. >> this epidemic is a national health emergency. it is time to liberate our communities from this scorch of drug addiction, never been this way. we can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic. we can do it. effective today, my administration is officially declaring the opioid crisis a national public health emergency under federal law. >> yet, that announcement by the president is drawing concern from some public health advocates. visiti critics claim it fell short of what he claimed in august. >> the opioid crisis is an emergency and i'm saying officially right now sit an emergency. it's a national emergency. we're going to draw it up and make it a national emergency. >> so the president there called it a national emergency. yesterday he declared a public health emergency. a public health emergency provides

along with ayman mohyeldin and louis borrurgdorf.more detail about the fatal ambush in niger. . those village members are believed to held up the patrol. >> a disaster relief bill passed by the house has cleared a key senate. 79-16 setting the stage for a likely vote taking place later today. bill provide $36.5 million for relief if hurricanes. including money to assist puerto rico in the aftermath of hurricane maria. >>> president trump's personal lawyer michael cohen is set to appear before the committee today. as a former executive, he was involved in vladimir putin to build a trump tower in moscow. talks that ended as the white house came to seat. >> president trump will head to capitol hill today for republican senators weekly policy luncheon. majority seeks first legislative victory before the year is out. there is a new trepidation that the president is the undercutting would be allies like yesterday when the president issued a tweet that he would oppose a change to a lower cap on pretax income on 401(k) retirement accounts wh

it's wednesday, october 4th i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf.e begin with breaking news overnight, marilou danley, the companion and former roommate of steven paddock has returned to the united states. this footage obtained by nbc news show the 62-year-old danley at los angeles international airport being pushed in a wheelchair. multiple sources confirm she was escorted by fbi agents though it was not clear where she was going. this, as we learn more details about where she has been. again, nbc news can confirm that danley arrived in the philippines from japan more than two weeks before the assault took place. now, travel records indicate she arrived in hong kong from a four-day visit back on september 22nd. and last night, she arrived in the united states from manila. investigators revealed that paddock wired $100,000 to her last week. though not known whether for her or her family or another purpose. yesterday, paddock's brother said the deceased gunman might have been trying to help her. >> $100,000 for mary lou, i'll just try to say what i s

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. well, after a day of two of the top republicans in washington trading insults on social media, republican senator jeff flake shocked washington. deciding to announce his retirement and condemn the political discourse of the trump era as having a damaging and potentially and permanent impact on the country's ideals. >> i rise today with no small measure of regret. regret because of the state of our disunion. regret because of the disrepair and destructiveness of our politics. regret because of the indecency of our discourse. regret because of the coarseness of our leadership. we must never adjust to the present coorsness of our national dialogue with the tone set up to talk. the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms and institution. the fragrant disregard for truth and decency. the recs provocations, most often for the petiest and most personal reasons. reasons having nothing what so far to do with the fortunes of the people that we have been elected to serve. none

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf.ith a rising death toll, fire crews are struggling to contain more than a dozen wildfires burning across southern california right now. according to authorities at least 17 people have died as fast moving fires have pushed flames from neighborhood to neighborhood. the sonoma county sheriff's office said yesterday it had received over 200 reports of missing people. only 57 of which have been found. so far, more than 2,000 homes and buildings have been destroyed, state fire officials stay months of dry weather and winds clocking anywhere 30 to 50 miles per hour, are spreading the flames. >> the fires developed, and were promoted by these winds. with such speed, a lot of people had very -- not even a moment's notice to get out of its way. >> and in southern california fire and rescue officials there say the so-called canyon fire, too, continues to burn but is no longer threatening anaheim neighborhoods. several evacuation orders were lifted last night. meanwhile, president trump has signe

my colleague, ayman mohyeldin, will have much more on the constitutional showdown coming up at 5:00 eastern >>> all right, just ahead, does an undocumented, pregnant teen have the right to an abortion? the late yost a legal battle being waged by the trump administration. ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis,... ...isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... ...with reduced redness,... ...thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has... ...no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased... ...risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have... ...a history of depression... ...or suicidal thoughts,... ...or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla... ...reported weight los

i'm ayman mohyeldin.he chairman of the senate foreign relations committee unloaded on president trump in a nowhere holds bard interview sunday night. senator bob corker of tennessee telling "the new york times" that the president's reckless threats could set the nation "on the path to world war iii." a member of the senator's staff confirming to nbc news his comments. corker said he was alarmed about a president who acts "like he's doing the apprentice or something." and i know for a fact that every single day at the white house, it's a situation of trying to contain him." corker referenced tweets that trump made on twitter about secretary of state rex tillerson's diplomatic efforts with north korea, in which the president undercut tillerson, telling him to "save your energy, rex." corker said a lot of people think that there is some kind of good cop-bad cop act under way, but that's just not true. "i know he was hurt in several instanc instances. he's hurt us in regards to negotiations that were under wa

it's wednesday, october 4th i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin

i'm ayman mohyeldin.foreign relations committee unloaded on president trump in a nowhere holds bard interview sunday night. senator bob corker of tennessee telling "the new york times" that the president's reckless threats could set the nation "on the path to world war iii." a member of the senator's staff confirming to nbc news his comments. corker said he w

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. yesterday mueller ae vealreveal charges. first, former campaign chairman, paul manafort and long time deputy rick gates were charged in 12 count indictment alleging criminal conspiracy secretly acting with agents of propolitical party. laundering $75 million in payments and making false statements about activity, manafort and gates both pled not guilty and placed under house arrest on multimillion dollar bonds. spokesman for gates said this fight is just beginning. manafort's attorney spoke outside the courthouse. take a listen. >> i think you all saw it today that president trump donald trump was correct. there is no evidence that mr. manafort or the trump campaign colluded with the russian government. mr. manafort represented pro european union campaigns for the ukrainiaia ukrainian. in that he was seeking further democracy and help the ukraine come closer to the united states and eu. those@s ended in 2014. over two years before mr. manafort served in the trump campaign. the second

i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside jasmine this morning. investigators are industrial trying to figure out why. why did 64-year-old steven paddock open fire on a crowd killing 59 and injuring more than 500 others. >> this video came in overnight searching the hotel room before police recovered 23 guns from a room and another 19 in mesquite, nevada. most of

i'm ayman mohyeldin. along side yasmin vossoughian and lewis burgdorf. a stalled agenda in the cabinet room and then standing in the rose garden with senator majority leader mitch mcconnell claiming to be closer than ever before and promising big developments. >> despite what the press writes, i have great relationships with many senators, but in particular with most republican senators. we're not getting the job done. and i'm not going to blame myself. i'm going to be honest. they are not getting the job done. >> my relationship with this gentleman is outstanding. has been outstanding. we are working very hard to get the tax cuts. we will continue to work hard to get the health care completed. >> and amid the administration pileup of legislative priorities, tax reform, daca, fiscal deadlines, the president discussed adding something else to congress's plate. >> one thing we're looking at very strongly is welfare reform. that's becominge ining a very b subject. people are taking advantage of the system and other people aren't receiving what they need to

i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside jasmine this morning. investigators are industrial trying to figure out why. why did 64-year-old steven paddock open fire on a crowd killing 59 and injuring more than 500 others. >> this video came in overnight searching the hotel room before police recovered 23 guns from a room and another 19 in mesquite, nevada. most of what we know about the gunman came from his brother who spoke several times. >> he's definitely only himself. there's no affiliations. once again, that i know of. there's no affiliation. there's no church. there's no religion. there's no politics. there's no anything. >> have you had any issues with mental illness in the past. >> no. no mental illness. once again that i know of. >> from what i know, he was perfectly fine. he had substantial wealth. he was a multimillionaire. he had multiple million dollars. okay. >> i mean our condolences to everyone. we just don't understand. it's like an asteroid just fell out of the sky. we have no reason, rime, rational, excuse, there's just nothing.

. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin.hi, texas. so, all of us on this stage here tonight could not be prouder of the response of americans when they see their neighbors and they see their friends, they see strangers in need, americans step up. and i want to thank president george w. bush and, most of all, an outstanding american, somebody who has always shown grace and character and courage and served america nobly throughout the years, president george h.w. bush. we are so proud to be with him today. >> all five living former u.s. presidents with a rare appearance together over the weekend. on saturday night in college station, texas, they put aside

i'm ayman mohyeldin. alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. controversy continued over the president's handling of the soldiers killed overseas with accusations of insensitivity and white house calling critics disgusting. in the car when the president spoke to the widow of sergeant david johnson. told morning joe what she heard and the widows reaction. >> he was almost like joking. he said i guess he said something to the fact he knew what he was getting into when he signed up, but i guess it hurts anyway. you know, just matter of factually. that this is what happens. she was in tears and she said, he didn't even remember his name. >> moments later, president trump tweeted this, democratic congress woman totally fabricated what i said to the wife of the soldier who died in action and i have proof. sad. wilson stood by her story and raised sergeant johnson, also in the car and heard the president's call actually confirmed congress woman's wilson's account. jones johnson added he did disrespect my son and daughter and also me and my husband. spe

alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. bottom of the hour.e top story. 166 days since the justice department appointed former fbi director robert mueller to serve as special counsel. associated with the campaign of president trump. now we are potentially minutes away from mueller taking action and bringing a public indictment. two source s telling nub in ing that a federal grand jury has approved the charges. he figured in mureller's probe. later registered for foreign agent for work in turkey during the campaign. disclosed on financial disclosure report. >> former trump campaign strategist and paul manafort in june registered as foreign agent for his work. mueller's team raided his virginia home in the early morning hours last july. politico reports that mueller's prosecutors brought the realtor who helped manafort buy the apartment before a grand jury last week. in an interview before news of impending indictment said manafort and flynn, president has no concerns in terms of any impact as to what happens to them on his campaign or on the wh

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis be burgdorf. we begin on the fight against terror. u.s. coalition continues to gain ground in syria. could be escalation of the america counterterrorism operation. trump administration is moving towards using lethal force via armed drones in niger. planned armed drones in the region has been under consideration since before the deadly ambush this month. that incident ramped up the urgency within the administration to take more aggressive action. three u.s. officials tell nbc news pushing niger to allow for armed drones on bases. >>> meanwhile military officials tell nbc news ambush control was conducting a far more complex anti-terrorism mission than previously believed. may have been tracking a isis mission. working in the area. that second team has been using unarmed drone which was rushed to the ambush site after the patrol call for help and currently unclear why that team did not send soldiers as well. in any event, echo of the fatal mission of yemen back in january, the commander in chief is

i'm ayman mohyeldin. learning more about the girlfriend of the gunman of the las vegas shooting may have known about plans as they continue to piece together details of the events leading up to that massacre. officials say marly lieu danley spent most of yesterday answering questions from the fbi and las vegas police department after returning to the united states from the philippines late tuesday. a senior law enforcement tells nbc news she was cooperative and no sign that she had anything to do with steven paddock's plan for the mass shooting. her lawyer reiterated while reading a statement from danley yesterday. >> he never said anything to me or took any actions that i was aware of that i understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen. it never occurred to me in any way whatsoever he was planning violence against anyone. >> in the meantime offering a detailed timeline of the shooting yesterday. officials say the first shots were recorded at 10:05 p.m. by 10

ayman mohyeldin, you have a question for jim cavanaugh? >> yeah n terms of the position of where this gunman was, the fact that he's in an elevated position -- now that we're getting a scope of how big the death toll is, the injury toll, does that suggest that this individual had cased the building before and knew how to vantage point overlooking a strategic area where this crowd is going to be? it does not seem he would have randomly picked this location at this time. >> that's a great question. i would agree with you, in my estimation, he already had scoped out that area and knew where he wanted to be and where he wanted to shoot at. he could have been totally random. the fact also tell in other wo wanting to shoot at any pedestrians from any elevated position kind of like the texas tower in the 60s. but more likely than not he had a real design on this crowd, this purpose to go up there, bring in guns. i kind of think he knew where he wanted to be at this specific time. the concert was just ending. it's almost like he was laying there i

. >>> i'm yasmin vossoughian along with ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> health care, tax reform and nearly every other big ticket item remains in limbo. to get something done he's going to need mitch and little bob corker. the establishment that steve bannon is now vowing to destroy. secretary of state refuses to answer whether or not he called his boss a moron but insists he has not been castrated by the commander in chief. >> i checked. i'm fully intact. >> good morning. it's monday, october 16th. welcome to "morning joe." we've seen your political analysts for nbc news and msnbc mark halperin, "morning joe" economic analyst steve ratner, author of the book "a world in disarray" richard haas. columnist and associate editor for "the washington post," david ignatius. joe, i guess it's good he checked. i don't know. >> i'll tell you why. you start adding up all the people that the president has insulted, we start with the president wanting to get tax reform done, wanting to get something done on capitol hill. you talked