i'm ayman mohyeldin along with louis burgdorf.h the morning's top stories. >>> this morning, former panamanian dictator manuel noriega died. he was flushed from power in 1989 after being an ally and informant to the cia for years. more on this story in a moment. >>> in texas, the final day of the state's legislative session turned ugly as a scuffle broke out between lawmakers. the incident was reportedly sparked after republican lawmaker said he called immigration authority on people who were at the capitol protesting senate bill 4, which bans sanctuary cities in texas. accusations flew of death threats between republicans and democrats. >>> the man charged in the fatal stabbing two of goo samaritans on the train in portland, friday. the city's mayor wheeler is calling on organizers of the two upcoming alt-right incidentso cancel them. wheeler asked the federal government t revoke or deny the permits for the events. >>> president trump and his advisers are gearing up for an allegations against russia. the planned established a war

i'm alex wi alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf.g joe" starts right now. >> was there classified information on former congressman weiner's computer? >> yes. >> who sent it to him? >> his then spouse, uma abidine appears to have a regular practice of forwarding e-mails to him for him to print out to her so she could deliver them to the secretary of state. >> look, this is terrible. it makes me mildly nauseous to think we might have had some impact on the election. but honestly, it wouldn't change the decision. everybody who disagrees with me has to come back to october 28th with me and stair at this and tell me what you would do. would you speak or would you conceal? i could be wrong, but we made a decision between those two choices that even in hindsight -- this has been one of the world's most painful experiences -- i would make the same decision. >> fbi director james comey said he would do it again despite the

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin and louis burgdorf. >>> president trump is trying to set the record straight about the expanding investigations into special counsel with not transitioning his investigation into a criminal approach. yesterday morning he tweeted, fighting back against, quote, the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in american history. later wrote, with all of the illegal acts that took place in the clinton campaign and obama administration, there was never a special counsel appointed. in a joint news conference with colombia's president, trump spoke about the appointment of robert mueller to lead that investigation. >> was this the right move or is this part of a witch hunt? >> well, i respect the move but the entire thing has been a witch hunt. there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself and the russians. zero. i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. so, i can tell you that we want to bring this great country of ours together. believe me

jasmine is in new york alongside louis burgdorf. a high-profile special counsel will take over the justice department's investigation of russian interference in the 2016 campaign. former fbi director robert mueller takes the helm immediately in charge of prosecutors and fbi agents in multiple field offices across the country. he was appointed by deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, who is overseeing doj's investigation after attorney general jeff sessions recused himself. a justice department spokesperson told nbc news the white house counsel's office was informed about the appointment of a special counsel after the order was signed. president trump reacted in a statement, as i have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know. there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity. i look forward to this matter concluding quickly. in the meantime,ly never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to our country. mueller's 12 years in the fbi is the longest at the fbi

i'm ayman mohyeldin along with louis burgdorf. alex witt is on assignment. >>> president trump is scheduled to speak with vladimir putin. it will be his third call with the russian president and first since air strikes in syria. this as trump comes under scrutiny by extending his hand. yesterday the president told bloomberg that he would be honored to be the first president of the united states to meet with the ruler of north korea. >> if it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, i would absolutely -- i would be honored to do it. most political people would never say that, but i'm telling you, under the right circumstances, i would meet with him. >> this weekend the president said kim jong-un is, quote, a smart cookie for hanging onto power. sean spicer expanded upon what the president meant by right circumstances. >> we've got to see their provocative behavior ratcheted down immediately. there are a lot of conditions with respect to its behavior and to show signs of good faith. clearly, conditions are not there right now,

i'm yasmin vossoughian, with ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. >>> during a dinner where comey wasconvince the president to keep him on as the fbi. over dinner, he says president trump demanded his loyalty and comey did not make. the ousted director believes that meeting was the beginning of his downfall. >> democrats are calling for an investigation into the firing, the letter to the committee chairman calls the decision abrupt and says it undermines the russian investigation. chuck schumer has invited deputy attorney general rod rosenstein to the hill to brief all 100 senators on the firing. of course, it was rosenstein's critical memo of comey that the white house first cited as the reason for the firing. >>> the white house scratched visiting the fbi headquarters. while many of them voted for the president, few are happy about the decision to sack comey and the way it was handled. >>> many are questioning the timing of the decision to p fire jim comey with the russian investigating heating up. here is the president addressing that concern with nbc's lester holt. take a listen.

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf.ht now. >>> we are not here to lecture. we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do. >> i have been very, very direct in saying nato members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. >> instead we are here to offer partnership based on shared interests and values. >> but 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they're supposed to be paying for their defense. >> i also promise that america will not seek to impose hour way of life on others. >> this is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the united states. >> i stand before you as a representative of the american people. >> the best of times, it was the worst of times. >> keynesian. >> good morning, y'all. how are you doing? it's friday. it's good to be here. >> it is. >> president trump, he kind of struck a

i'm vf alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf.>> welcome to "morning joe." i'm kind of confused -- i don't know where to begin, you know what i mean? this is like a veritable cornucopia. we can start with the story that happens every day, you never get tired of it. a guy is asked about congressional budget office scoring. so what he does is he punches a reporter and throws him to the ground. that happens all the time, especially on the last day -- actually it doesn't. all three papers overnight took their endorsements away from this republican guy. we'll talk about that. we can talk about the cbo score itself which i guess is causing havoc in the street. people going crazy over this thing. or recould talk about comey and answer the question whether comey is russian for dupe. that's not the end of it. "the new york times" headline

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf and ali y yassouvian. >>> nobody dies because they don'tlth care. >> oh, boy. that was republican congressman raul labrador during a weekend town hall. speaker of the house paul ryan says republicans have nothing to worry about in the midterms, but tell that to the two dozen members facing attacks over health care in their home districts. >>> meanwhile, the center holdes and dominates as voters in france reject the far-right candidate and elect the country's youngest leader since napoleon. >> this is more than a hold. wow, katy kay, the beast. if the beast was slouching toward bethlehem, the beast got chained to the radiator a little while longer. and also, merkel, her party, a surprise victory this weekend. >> yes. so i think the message from the french elections and the dutch elections back in march is if you can produce a viable candidate, somebody attractive and appealing to moderates, you can start the wave of

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf.now. >> this week he's met with muslim leaders, jewish politicians and now the head of the catholic church. president trump will soon wrap up his quick visit to the vatican where he and pope francis met for the first time after publicly sparring on a number of issues, but there is no salvation from washington where the former cia chief gave the most compelling testimony today on russia's potential influence on the trump campaign. all of it coming as the terrorist attack in england raises threat levels dwide. we'll go live to manchester. welcome to "morning joe" on this wednesday, may 24th. along with joe, willie and me, we have veteran

. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf.. >>> his tweets speak for themselves. the president was very dealer in his tweet. >> the president was very clear and i think there's continuing to be a literal interpretation of his tweet. >> the president's tweets stand for themselves. >> i think the tweets speak for itself. >> sometimes you don't have to read too much into it. he stated a fact. the tweet speaks for itself. i'm moving on. >> what i just said speaks for itself. >> white house press secretary tactic over the past few months when asked to defend a questionable trump tweet. so i'm wondering what his explanation is going to be this morning of the odd tweet that the president put out last night because apparently it speaks for itself. >>

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. now. >>> when you heard in the last 48 hours about the deal, did you think we could build this? i bet you didn't. nobody did. is it a replacement for existing wall? yeah, that's fine. is it new wall? no. this is what's out there right now, this is what's going to be put in as a result of this bill. that is better border security. you can call it new wall, you can call it replacement, maintenance, whatever you want to. this construction you see here, i don't know if it's this exact construction because i don't know where this is, this wall is being installed in the southern border today. >> i can't mime right now. pick a wall, any wall. it's a wall. that was amazing. the trump administration spent

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf and. >>> good morning and welcome to "morning joe," another morning, another damaging report for the trump white house, yet another. it's chaos. "the washington post" out yesterday with the screaming headline, trump revealed highly classified information to russian foreign minister and ambassador. with us to break it down this morning, we have the co-authority of the report, national security correspondent for "the washington post," greg miller lt columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. former treasury official steve rattner and msnbc political contributor rick tyler. a lot to break down. "the post" broke the story, later matched by buzzfeed and

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. >> the senators i've spoken to on both sides of the aisle have been shaken by this constant stream of revelations, each one of them in and of itself dramatic and historic. and i think most senators are shaking their heads saying, is this going to end soon? i think we could do with a little less drama from the white house on a lot of things so that we can focus on our agenda. >> are you getting tired of this level of chaos from the white house? >> it would be n

tuesday, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> there are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the communist world. let them come to berlin! >> freedom has many difficulties, and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to pre vent them from leaving us. >> all free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of berlin. >> the lateader of the free wor, john f. kennedy, speaking to the people of berlin in 1963 when the city was on the front line of the cold war. yesterday marked 100 years since kennedy's birth, he was the first of his generation to become president and upheld the bipartisan tradition of stand up for western ideals on the world's stage, a stark contrast to president trump who came home last week from his foreign trip with at least two key european allies wondering if the days of american leadership are over. who will offer america's strategic vision now

i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> when you heard in the last 48 hours about the deal, did you think we could build this? i bet you didn't. nobody did. is it a replacement for existing wall? yeah, that's fine. is it new wall? no. this is what's out there right now, this is what's going to be put in as a result of this bill. that is better border security. you can call it new wall, you can call it replacement, maintenance, whatever you want to. this construction you see here, i don't know if it's this exact construction because i don't know where this is, this wall is being installed in the southern border today. >> i can't mime right now. pick a wall, any wall. it's a wall. that was amazing. the trump administration spent yesterday on a last-minute pr push trying to reframe the narrative out of thin air that they got rolled by the democrats. good morning everyone. it's wednesday, may 3rd, willie's birthday. >> back-to-back birthdays, mika. >> yes, but there's a wall between us. >> yo

. >>> i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. >> have a great weekend. >> did you ever urge former fbi director james comey to close or back down the investigation into michael flynn? >> no, no. next question. >> that was quite a press conference, by the way. we're going to get like a four-minute chunk of him. i'm going to straighten my tie first and then we'll get a four-minute chunk of him contradicting himself. check mark on the tie. this white house, they can't keep up. is willie up in new york? >> yes. >> llie, how are you doing? >> it's like home alone 2, the one where he's left in new york alone. >> that's the one where he meets trump. >> it's very sad. jen is here, joe is here, a few of the guys, but just me and donald trump in the lobby of the plaza. >> go to the plaza, maybe you'll see the donald there. maybe michael jackson will wander around, all of your friends. anyway, the white house is so bad at what they're doing -- everybody is trying to think there's a grand conspiracy, there may be. just on the surface, they're so bad that donald trump

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> this week he's met with muslim leaders, jewish politicians and now the head of the catholic church. president trump will soon wrap up his quick visit to the vatican where he and pope francis met for the first time after publicly sparring on a number of issues, but there is no salvation from washington where the former cia chief gave the most compelling testimony today on russia's potential influence on the trump campaign. all of it coming as the terrorist attack in england raises threat levels dwide. we'll go live to manchester. welcome to "morning joe" on this wednesday, may 24th. along with joe, willie and me, we have veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. washington anchor for "bbc world news america," katty kay, and co-founder and ceo of axios, jim vandehei with us. we're going to begin with the testimony from the former director of the central intelligence agency john brennan. speaking yesterday before the house intelligence comm

alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts now. >>> his tweets speak for themselves. the president was very dealer in his tweet. >> the president was very clear and i think there's continuing to be a literal interpretation of his tweet. >> the president's tweets stand for themselves. >> i think the tweets speak for itself. >> sometimes you don't have to read too much into it. he stated a fact. the tweet speaks for itself. i'm moving on. >> what i just said speaks for itself. >> white house press secretary tactic over the past few months when asked to defend a questionable trump tweet. so i'm wondering what his explanation is going to be this morning of the odd tweet that the president put out last night because apparently it speaks for itself. >> covfefe, if you watch star wars. >> i thought it was a spanish soft drink company. >> it's down now, if you can believe it. it was up for a good six hours, five hours. >> he posted at midnight. i think he fell asleep in the middle of it. and they took it down. >>

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf and. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> good morning and welcome to "morning joe," another morning, another damaging report for the trump white house, yet another. it's chaos. "the washington post" out yesterday with the screaming headline, trump revealed highly classified information to russian foreign minister and ambassador. with us to break it down this morning, we have the co-authority of the report, national security correspondent for "the washington post," greg miller lt columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. former treasury official steve rattner and msnbc political contributor rick tyler. a lot to break down. "the post" broke the story, later matched by buzzfeed and reuters alleging president trump revealed highly classified information to the russian ambassador in a face-to-face meeting. according to the paper, the information considered so sensiti sensitive, details have been withheld from allies and tightly restricted even within the u.s. gove

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> the senators i've spoken to on both sides of the aisle have been shaken by this constant stream of revelations, each one of them in and of itself dramatic and historic. and i think most senators are shaking their heads saying, is this going to end soon? i think we could do with a little less drama from the white house on a lot of things so that we can focus on our agenda. >> are you getting tired of this level of chaos from the white house? >> it would be noise to have a drama-free weekend. >> no such luck. this morning, a major development in the controversy over president trump's firing of james comey. a memo from former fbi director claims the president asked him to drop an investigation into michael flynn the day after flynn was fired. the big question this morning, is this obstruction of justice among other things? the chaos continues. this feels like a defining moment. with us we have "new york times" reporter who broke this comey memo story, m