>> i'm ayman mohyeldin along hallie jackson and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> there any senator in the chamber wishing to vote or wishing to change their vote? if not, the yays are 98, the nays are 1, the motion is agreed to. >> i will soon sign into law, the largest legislative effort in history to address the opioid crisis. rob and so many others helped. very little democrat support. >> okay. earlier this month the senate passed a sweeping bipartisan bill to fight the opioid epidemic. it was opposed by just one member, a republican, yet according to donald trump the 98-1 vote translates to, quote,

that is absurd on its face. >> and ayman mohyeldin joining us by phone. your view of this new statement from the saudi government. >> yeah, this is obviously a story that is developing quite rapidly, ari. we're getting now information on a few different levels. officially from the saudi press agency which is the official spokes agency if you want to call it, the media agency of the government. here's what we're learning. they identified 18 people that are now being subject to investigation, according to the public prosecutor's statement, that is being broadcast. in addition to that, interestingly enough, we now have two individuals that have been named as part of this investigation who have been removed from pretty senior positions within the saudi government. first of all, the deputy head of general intelligence, that is a name that has been floating around in the media for some days now, but we know he's been removed from his position. that's a pretty powerful position, and pretty senior. he's in the intelligence structure of the saudi government. in ad

i'm hallie jackson alongside amid a ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf., the latest on the investigation into the murder of jamal kashoggi happened in the saudi consulate in istanbul back on october 2nd. right now turkey's president is delivering a speech to his parliament where he's revealing details of the investigation. just moments ago president erdogan said saudi officials planned the murder of kashoggi days before his death. his remarks come as korea director gina haspel is in turkey to try to find out more information about what happened. president trump latest saudi explanation on kashoggi's killing. >> i'm going to know very shortly, because i have a great group of people in turkey right now and a great group of people in saudi arabia. we will know very soon. we have tremendously talented people that do this stuff very well. they're coming back tonight and tomorrow and i will know very soon. i'm not satisfied with what i've heard. >> president trump later appeared to back up parts of the saudi explanation, saying kashoggi was killed in a, quote,

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside alex witt.begin this morning in the senate where the senate plans to hold a key vote at 10:30 a.m. which will move supreme court nominee brett kavanagh a step closer to confirmation. two critical republican votes, senator susan collins of maine and jeff flake of arizona, indicated yesterday that the fbi probe into kavanaugh was adequate. however, both caution they would continue to read the closely-held report. satisfying flake and collins as well as lisa murkowski of alaska would be enough to confirm kavanaugh to the supreme court. democrats are nearly unanimous in their opposition to kavanaugh's nomination. hi one senator announced she will oppose kavanaugh's nomination. that leaves senator joe manchin of west virginia. he has yet to announce his plans. yesterday manchin was seen reviewing the fbi report and said he would return today to study it more. after speculation that republican senator steve danes could miss the confirmation vote on saturday due to his daughter's wedding in montana, a

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside frances rivera.begin with the fbi which has finished its supplemental background check into brett kavanagh. >> this evening the senate will receive the results of the fbi supplemental background investigation of judge brett kavanagh. there will be plenty of time for members to review and be briefed on the supplemental material. >> the report was given to the white house and delivered to capitol hill where it will be reviewed today. the investigation centered around decades old allegations of sexual abuse will be kept secret. chuck grassley will be first to see the report at 8:00 a.m., followed by diane feinstein at 9:00 a.m. the gop members on the committee will get the report at 10:00 a.m. and democrats on the panel can view the report an hour later. other senators will have access afterwards. mcconnell arranged for a key vote for kavanaugh's nomination to be held on friday. if that vote passes, there will be up to 30 hours of debate setting up a final confirmation vote on kavanaugh as early as satu

i'm hallie jackson on this monday morning alongside ayman mohyeldin, louis burgdorf.p stories. president trump is still defending the saudi crown prince over the death of jamal kashoggi. a bunch of top republicans have been out this weekend saying they do believe mohammed bin salman was in fact behind the killing of the journalist. watch. >> i feel certain that the crown prince was involved and that he directed this. that's why i think we can not continue to have relations with him. i think he's going to have to be replaced, frankly. but i think that sanctions don't go far enough. i think we need to look at the arms sale. this is not just about this journalist being killed. it's about the war in yemen where tens of thousands of civilians are being killed. >> we have intercept from the past that point to involvement at a very high level. let's let this play out. but my guess is at the end of the day the united states and the rest of the world will believe fully that he did it. >> can you imagine us having a relationship with the saudi government that's positive if the

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside hallie jackson. the latest in the kavanaugh investigation in a moment, but first to some breaking news on trade. the u.s. and canada have reached a deal to replace nafta with what's called the united states mexico, canada agreement. break it down for us. >> it's been a fair amount of drama, many months. but minutes, hours really before this midnight deadline, everything kind of came together. 2016 on the campaign trail, then-candidate trump hated nafta. he talked about it at every rally. he said it was the worst deal the u.s. has ever come up with. now there's this deal to salvage nafta. the president says it's nafta no longer. this usmc. but it's basically nafta wrapped up in a different package with different provisions. one of the sticking points had been can cwith canada over the of milk. well, they managed to get an agreement where canada will ease up on some of the ways that u.s. farmers can get into the canadian dairy market. that was what let this whole thing move forward. this thing came dow

ayman mohyeldin picks up the coverage now. >> hello there, everyone, i'm ayman mohyeldin in for stephanie ruhle. maximum impact, new questions this morning about now supreme court justice brett kavanaugh's potential influence on the court and the midterms. does he help or hurt democrats chances of taking back the house as republicans unleash a fierce new attack against kavanaugh's critics. >> the mob descended on capitol hill. >> i'm glad those who tried to overturn the rule of law and replace it with mob rule lost. >> a horrific crash. the deadliest transportation accident in the united states in nearly a decade. >> you can't wrap your head around such a tragedy where you have four of your daughters die. >> international mystery. a veteran journalist and "washington post" columnist walks into the saudi consulate in turkey but never walks out and now growing fears he was murdered. >> saudi arabia is using state terror against its citizen. >> we begin with brett kavanaugh. the final chapter on his confirmation may not be written until voters head to the polls in november. let me explain wh

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside hallie jackson.sident trump rallied in tennessee last night and accused democrats of trying to sink brett kavanagh's nomination. >> this election is a choice between a republican party that is building our future and a democrat party that is trying to burn our future down. the democrats only know how to obstruct, demolish and destroy, as we've seen in recent weeks. democrats are willing to do anything and to hurt anyone to get their way, like they're doing with judge kavanagh. they've been trying to destroy him since the very first second he was announced, because they know that judge kavanagh will follow the constitution as written. and he's a good man, great student, great intellect, never had a problem. all of a sudden, oh, let's go back to high school. and then they want to take a lot longer with the fbi. no, the fbi they should take -- by the way, if we took ten years, they'd want more time. but they want to take a lot longer. but diane feinstein, she had this -- she had this letter for months a

i'm ayman mohyeldin here in washington, d.c.sident trump and gop senators gathered at the white house yesterday for a ceremonial swearing-in for supreme court justice brett kavanagh. trump began by apologizing to kavanaugh and his family for the contentious confirmation battle where kavanaugh faced decades-old allegations of sexual misconduct. take a listen. >> on behalf of our nation, i want to apologize to brett and the entire kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure. those who step forward to serve our country deserve a fair and dignified evaluation, not a campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception. you, sir, under historic scrutiny were proven innocent. >> meanwhile, at a gathering of law enforcement officials in orlando yesterday, trump slammed kavanaugh's accusers and their allegations. >> he's a great person and it was very, very unfair what happened to him. false charges, false accusations, horrible statements that were totally untrue that he knew

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside alex witt.begin this morning in the senate where the senate plans to hold a key vote

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside hallie jackson and louis burgdorf. >>> president trump is waking up hereshington this morning after a trip to texas where he continued to push unfounded claims about immigration and more ahead of the midterms. as the lead headline in this

i'm ayman mohyeldin.begin with the death toll from hurricane michael, which continues to rise as search and rescue teams comb through debris looking for survivors. six deaths are being blamed on the storm and officials are warning that number could rise. mexico city beach where the storm made landfall on wednesday has been left totally devastated. look at those images on your screen shot with a drone. wau once a tourist destination, that small beach front town is now littered with debris after 155 miles an hour wind gusts tore up homes and businesses there. >> i have nothing left except the clothes i'm in and my two dogs and that's it. my house right over here is gone. i don't know what to do. >> everything is just so devastated. i've lived here a long time and i've never seen it quite this bad. >> electrical crews are coming in from several states to try and restore power. governor rick scott said the damage left from hurricane michael is still yet to be fully understood. >>> to the latest in the disappe

. >>> that does it for me on this monday morning, i'm ayman mohyeldin. prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god. >> you have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. and you have certainly not lost america. >> and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

i'm ayman mohyeldin. let's start with the morning's top stories.ontinue the celebration over the confirmation of his second supreme court nominee with a prime time ceremony. it comes after the president hit the campaign trail over the weekend looking to use the political wind to fire up republicans ahead of next month's midterms. kelly o'donnell has more from the white house. >> reporter: good morning. the supreme court fight was longer than most people expected. it went a full three months. it was more bitter and brutal and partisan than many anticipated. it isn't quite over. for both parties it has the potential to drive voters to the polls next month. justice brett kavanagh's sworn oath was not an end point, but instead a political reboot. for energized and sometimes angry democrats. >> i've said to the women who are justifiably angry but determined and i said they should be just focused hikelike laser beam on the elections. >> reporter: and a recharge for republicans. >> i want to thank the other side for the tactics that have allowed us to ene

i'm ayman mohyeldin.begin with the latest on the nationwide manhunt into the pipe bomb investigation. senior law enforcement officials tell nbc news that investigators are now looking into whether some of the packages passed through the same mail facility in florida, possibly those addressed to president barack obama, hillary clinton, john brennan, eric holder and even maxine waters. officials are now dealing with ten separate packages that are all similar in nature. in fact, the latest was a second package addressed to former vice president joe biden, which was intercepted at a mail facility in delaware. early yesterday morning a similar package was discovered at robert de niro's production company in lower manhattan. all of the devices are being examined by the fbi in quantico, virginia. investigators say at least some of the devices were poorly made and had no possibility of exploding. we're also told that it is unclear if the flaws were intentional to make a convincing hoax or just bad design of const

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside frances rivera. in just one week voters will be going to the polls.n the closing days of the campaign president trump's approval rating is now dropping, down four points to 40%. his disapproval rating up to 54%. what was a six-point negative approval rating a week ago is now a 14-point gap. republicans are now pouring last-minute money into reliably red districts to hold off democratic challengers. the trump campaign announced it is spending $6 million to air a closing ad that does not feature a single image or mention of the president. the campaign tour has visits to west virginia, ohio, georgia, tennessee and montana. last night the president inflated the size of those rallies as the white house again tried to rewrite the history of the 2016 election. >> i'm getting 25 and 30,000 people to these rallies. this isn't bragging. there's never been anything like what's happening. i went to illinois. a boeing 747, this massive hanger packed and they had to use a second hanger for the over flow. >> he got elected by an overwhelming majority of 63 million a

. >> ayman mohyeldin, thank you for joining us. >>> and just north and west of where i am sitting rescuers are still surveying the damage from hurricane michael. the worst storm to ravage the florida panhandle in recorded history. we're just starting to get a glimpse of the damage and so far the images are everything that officials feared it would be. joining me now from mexico beach, florida, where michael first made landfall is marianna. there's not much of mexico beach left today, is there? >> reporter: no, katy. this is ground zero for hurricane michael. i actually rode the storm out about 15 minutes from here in port st. joe. it was terrifying, 155-mile-per-hour winds, and here on mexico beach i talked to many of the locals the day before the storm. many of them told me they were going to ride the storm out here, around 300 or so on our estimates, and they said they never thought that a category 4, just shy of a cat 5 storm, would hit here directly. i want to give you a 360 view of this street where i'm standing now. it is completely flattened. i don't know if you can make out there's

i'm ayman mohyeldin. we begin with a lot of news.nationwide investigation is underway after what amounts to assassination attempts against some of the president's most prominent critics, former president barack obama, hillary clinton, eric holder, john brennan at cnn, congresswoman maxine waters and george soros. the devices were sent in envel

i'm ayman mohyeldin. we begin with a lot of news.ht now a nationwide investigation is underway after what amounts to assassination attempts against some of the president's most prominent critics, former president barack obama, hillary clinton, eric holder, john brennan at cnn, congresswoman maxine waters and george soros. the devices were sent in envel hopes with debbie wasserman schultz listed as a bogus return address. a pipe bomb like the one found in the mailbox of george soros was found near the home of bill clinton and hillary clinton. it was scodiscovered by screene. then a routine screening of president obama's mail turnedup another explosive device. the package to eric holder was incorrectly addressed and wound up being sent back to wasserman schultz's address where it was intercepted by the secret service. >> the device addressed to brennan, an nbc analyst, was sent to cnn's time warner building in the heart of new york city. it was discovered in the mail room and the aftermath played out live on air. >> these are no longer

. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin is with me now.ng we have investigators in turkey but not saying much else. >> except defending the relationship between the u.s. and saudi arabia. >> which he has a good one. >> it certainly has been if you look at it from the transactional perspective that has benefited both countries. at this particular stage you have a bipartisan group of senators who have essentially triggered an investigation by sending a letter to the president to see if there are any violations of the mignitski act. something like this would fall under that category if it is, in fact, proven to be the saudi arabian government. there are still a lot of questions. my colleague at the investigative unit here has been trying to piece together the timeline of his disappearance. we certainly have narrowed down a window of when he was communicating with people in these what's app messages. you know the checkmarks when they're grayed, when they're unread. when there are two checkmarks it means they've been delivered and when they're

with me now, nbc's ayman mohyeldin following the story. you have spoken to him, been following the story. it is hard to make sense of. >> it is a complex story. you have the investigation into a person that's gone missing and the geopolitics of the region where everything is trying to spin things. evidence is there, but not entirely transparent. the turks say they have evidence, haven't made it public. >> what we have seen is video of him going in and the saudis say he left but the cameras weren't working. >> that's bizarre. i have spoken to somebody in the saudi government familiar with the security protocols and all kinds of security structures. >> that's not heard of. >> they said it is unheard of because of saudi arabia takes security very seriously at the consulates. istanbul is a complex landscape. it is highly unlikely they left that security vulnerability there without fixing the cameras. if they were being fixed, where are work orders, talk to people you reached out as they say, get these fixed. show us evidence to substantiate. o

ayman mohyeldin picks up the coverage now. >> hello there, everyone, i'm ayman mohyeldin in for stephanieavanaugh's potential influence on the court and the midterms. does he help or

. >> joining me is ayman mohyeldin and host as well as treata parsi president of the national iranian-americanncil as well as the former state department senior adviser in the obama administration. eamon, you first on this turkish newspaper reported that allegedly mr. khashoggi might have taped or might have taped the, what happened to him on his apple watch. d do we know -- who is this paper? what are their sort of leanings? is this a reliable account and could this be the recording that the turks are talking about and not let's say a bug inside the consulate? >> i think it's important to make the distinction on a few fronts. since the beginning of this story and since the tragic events have begun, the turkish government as a matter of policy is deliberately disseminating information through the media. not providing updates every day, the type we would normally see. press briefings. this is increasing the pressure to let the world know the kind of information they have by using pro--friefriendly media os like this turkish newspaper. ed miya landscape inside the country for the most part is su

ayman mohyeldin is with us, as well. oments ago, the turkish leaders revealed details during his speech to parliament. what did we learn from him? >> this was a significant speech. one, we now have an official turkish narrative as to what happened and it definitely contradicts what the saudis have been putting forward. the saudis have been trying to make all along that this was never meant to be a murder, that it was a spontaneous fight that led to the death of jamal khashoggi. what we now know, now we have the president of that country going on record and laying out a very detailed timeline, putting together a turkish picture of what happened. that includes two teams of high ranking saudi officials that arrived in country days before. he said that this was preplanned, that it was meticulously planned and that it went to the highest levels of the saudi government, including generals. he wants to see accountability. he said they want to be able to hold these individuals accountable, no matter how high their rank may be. so

i'm ayman mohyeldin in for stephanie ruhle. will gavel in with the very first vote on kavanaugh expected in about 90 minutes. all eyes turn to four still undecided votes, as anger and emotion grip the process. >> don't you wave your hand at me! i wave my hand at you! >> you grow up! >> when i grow up! >> hundreds of protesters arrested on capitol hill as judge kavanaugh pens an op-ed apologizing for his tone during the hearing and insisting that he would be a fair and impartial judge, but it's that tone which most concerns a former member of the supreme court. >> his performance during the hearing caused me to change my mind. >> and friends becoming enemies. a new pentagon report concludes that the u.s. is too reliant on foreign countries for defensive parts and equipment. and china is attempting to exploit that vulnerability. this, as the administration paints beijing in increasingly adversarial terms. >> beijing has

. >>> that does it for me on this monday morning, i'm ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> as they prepared for their journey and waved good-bye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of god. >> you have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. and you have certainly not lost america. >> and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon. ♪ amazing grace >> somebody just said your hair looks different today. i said, well, i was standing under the wing of air force one doing a news conference early this morning, a very unfortunate news conference, and the wind was blowing -- >> american presidents reacting to a space disaster, domestic and international terrorism, a massacre in a church and another at a synagogue. 11 people were murdered on saturday and hours later the commander in chief was cracking jokes about his hair. joe, before we go to the news, we have to ask where are we as a nation right now? what's going on? >> well, what's going on, it's a national reckoning. for two and a half, thr

ayman mohyeldin, thank you as well. >>> coming up, the nominees for florida governor clash in their firste candidate backed by donald trump got called out for side stepping a question on whether the president is a good role model. we will play that moment ahead. >>> we also have a couple very surprising polls. >> oh, yeah. >> just new, just out of florida. that's next on "morning joe." - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, corded and cord-free. you can do it. we can do this. at fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. -whoo! >>> listen, here is my recommendation, grab your family, grab your friends, grab your neighbors, get to the poll because if not you're going to have another two or another six years of this craziness. make sure you vote. >> president trump's former fixer m

ayman, you have a lot to talk about. >> i can't imagine what we could be talking about, richard. any ideas? any suggestions? all right. i'm moiayman mohyeldinin the wake of the bitter battle over justice brett kavanaugh? will the be democrats who may see their blue wave wash away. >>> the impact on the #metoo movement in history. will this further energize protesters or the narrative that men are the real victims of the movement actually take hold? >>> plus, an international mystery, a well known saudi journalist has vanished and one country is accusing the other of having killed him. we're going to delve into that story later this hour. >>> we begin with a nation divided after the confirmation of supreme court justice brett kavanaugh. kavanaugh will be on the job this week after the bruising battle that left a president and republicans basking in victory and democrats vowing this fight is far from over. >> -- can do, they've always said is supreme court justice. [ cheers and applause ] and some of had none. >> the mob desended on capitol hill and tried to intimidate our members into opposing this good man's nomination. we stood up to the m