i'm frances rivera. on this friday, one day shy of his first 100 days, and president trump is making a startling admission. >> i loved my previous life. i had so many things going. i actually, this is more work than in my previous life. i thought it would be easier. i thought it was more of -- i'm a details oriented person, i think you would say that. but i do miss my old life. i like to work so that's not a problem but this is actually more work. >> the comments are part of a free ranging interview where the president discussed everything from the 2016 election and trade to health care and more. but it's comments on north korea raising eyebrows this morning. >> well, there's a chance that we could end up having a major major conflict with north korea. absolutely. >> and that was not all. here is what the president had to say about the country's leader, kim jong un. >> he's 27 years old, his father dies, took over a regime. so say what you want but that's not easy, especially at that age. >> the presiden

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian. u.s. military prepared to launch a preemptive strike against north korea. intelligence officials saying the u.s. would strike with conventional weapons if they become kochb vinced north korea is about to test a nuclear weapon. a possible nuclear test coming as early as this weekend, coinciding with the anniversary of the nation's founder 105th birthday, the grandfather of current leader kim jong-un. janice, what's the latest on this increasingly tense situation? >> good morning, yasmin. north korea blaming the united states for heightened tension on the korean peninsula with the dispatch of aircraft carrier strike group as well as threats of a pre 'em tuf u.s. strike if the u.s. believes north korea is preparing a sixth nuclear test. the speculation has been mounting for weeks and was rekindled again with commercial satellite imagery showing increased activity at the site where north korea has carried out the past five tests, seeing increased activity at the north portal as well as appeara

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian.nd a live look outside at san francisco--- as the rain lingers into your morning commute. be >>> live look outside at san francisco as the rain is lingering. be careful for the slick spots out there. we have more rain on tap throughout the morning. today in the bay starts right now. >>> good thursday morning. yes, it is thursday. >> i thought yesterday was thursday. >> we like thursday. >> exactly. welcome to thursday. this is a soggy start to our morning. heavier rain has cleared but there will be more moving through. some rain has shifted towards the east and you see more just offshore approaching marin county and will be

. >> i'm frances rivera. a horrifying ideal for so many families. kids will be returning to school with counselors after a gunman opened fire in a san bernardino classroom leaving three people dead. 53-year-old cedric anderson walked into north park elementary school telling the desk he was dropping something off for his estranged wife, 53-year-old teacher karen smith. he entered her special needs class and began firing, killing his wife and wounding two children who were behind her. police say he then turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide. one of the children, 8-year-old jonathan martinez, died at the hospital. the 9-year-old is in stable condition. nearly five hours after the shooting the evacuated children were allowed to reunite with their families who had been anxiously waiting outside. >> it's just like unimaginable. you would never think you would have to go through something like this. the fear of not knowing. >> last night a candlelight vigil was held for the victims and this isn't the first time san bernardino dealt with

. >> i'm frances rivera. a lot of news happening overnight. could a government shutdown have just been averted? word from the white house this morning that the president amid swelling backlash from democrat has walked back his decision to have a budget standoff over funding for his proposed border wall deciding against a possible government shutdown. it is a stunning reversal on what was then candidate trump's central campaign promise. >> we will build a great wall along the southern border. and mexico will pay for the wall. >> we're going to build the wall. we have no choice. >> for more we're joined by nbc's tracie potts live from washington. what's the latest on this reversal and what led up to it? >> what led up to it is democrats and republicans didn't want to deal with it this week while they were trying to prevent the shutdown. the wall was a big campaign promise. so far the president has fulfilled ten of his 38 campaign promises and that wall was not one of them. he wanted a billion dollars built in this week to prevent the shutdown an

i'm frances rivera. >> glad to have you back, frances. a lot to get to. the big question, will there be a shutdown. he calls it an art officials barrier and not very meaningful. a different kind of presidency he says. a looming government shutdown, it's just five days away. the administration's persistence to get the border wall funded could complicate matters. the president wants taxpayers to bang roll the wall insisting that at a later date mexico will be paying in some form. here is budget director mick mulvaney. >> we don't think there's any structural reason the house and nat cannot do both things in the week. if we can have an agreement keeping the government open, that can get done this week. if the house at least can get its ducks in a row to vote on health care, they will do that as well. >> as of this morning, white house chief of staff reince priebus seems to be back pedaling. >> i think as long as the president's priorities are adequately reflected in the cr and allows us to get moving with an increase in military spending and rebuilding of ou

good wednesday morning, i'm frances rivera. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian. let's get right to it this morning. president trump, the billionaire businessman who stormed his way into the white house, set to unveil his long-awaited plan to revamp the tax laws. zeroing in on a campaign promise ahead of his 100-day mark. enough to boost wall street sending the markets surging smashing records many there asking for the specifics behind the highly anticipated tax reform. nbc's peter alexander has those details. >> the nasdaq above 6,000 for the first time in history. >> with wall street booming the president's preparing to unveil his new tax reform plan slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 to 15%. >> a rate reduction that high is going to cost above $2 trillion. without a plan to pay for it, that's going to explode the debt. >> reporter: how to pay for the tax cut a major sticking point. house speaker paul ryan's proposal for a tax on imports getting poor reviews. also being floated, removing the popular tax break for contributions to 401(k) retirement plans. re

. >> i'm frances rivera. one day before friday. we've got to deal with news and drama around the white house after president trump gave revealing interviews with new york news papers, he down played steve bannon's role in the campaign and called him a guy who works for me leading to rumors of a possible departure. the president's former campaign manager may register as a foreign agent because of his past political work in ukraine. and now despite promising better relations with russia on the campaign, president trump is saying they, quote, may be at an all-time low. that wasn't the president's only surprising reversal. nbc's kristen welker brings us more. >> reporter: president trump making a number of stunning reversals as he faces foreign policy kree sis after calling nato obsolete on the campaign trail. >> that's okay. >> reporter: mr. trump changing his tone while standing next to nato's secretary general in the east room. >> i said it was obsolete. it's no longer obsolete. >> reporter: aimed at getting allies and also pressing

i'm yasmin vossoughian, i'm frances rivera. >> the president says atrocities carried out in syria are now his responsibility. the president declared the horrific attack as an affront to humanity, claiming the attack has changed his mind about syria and its leader bashar al assad. >> these heinous actions by the assad regime cannot be tolerated. when you kill innocent children, babies, little babies with a chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many line, beyond a red line, many, many lines. it's very, very possible, and i will tell you it's already happened that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> however the president will not say what, if any, action he'll take against assad while still pointing blame at the obama administration for not take action. despite cautioning against action himself in 2013 saying there was no upside. still mr. trump's new stance and the first real test on his america first doctrine comes as u.s. officials confirm it was a nerve agent used in syria, quite possibly sarin. that n

. >> and i'm frances rivera. in south carolina, heavy rain caused flash flooding, inundating colombia's me reside to safety during the storm. powerful bolts sparked dozens of fire throughout the tornado knocked down trees and peeled a roof right off t least nine tornadoes hit the region. over in augusta, the cancel the contest of the maim it was ever cancelled in the tournament's 63-year history. bill karins is tracking it all for us this morning. bill, where is the threat now? >> we're down in florida. later this morning we'll fire up a few newrichnd, norfolk. south of washington, d.c. isola damaging winds.floo watches, he saturate running high. we'll add another one to three n as we go throughout this afternoon and this evening, causing additional flooding tonight. >> all right. bill, thank you so much. we'll check in with you a little bit later. >>> all right.sh against fox news star bill o'reilly is now growing. sponsors have abandoned after the network and the star reportedlyd harassment against him. defense

i'm frances rivera, i'm yasmin vossoughi vossoughian. russian police search for a suspect or suspect in the saint peets burke attack. >> no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. nbc's keir simmons is following development from our london bureau. what's the latest we know on the manhunt? >> they say they have issued a picture of somebody that they want to find, but there are alternative reports suggesting that that person has gone to russian officials and said that they are that person in the picture and it was not them. so there is confusion over whether this was some kind of a suicide bombing. they have found two explosive devices, one at the site of the explosion and another that did not detonate, that they were able to defuse. the carriage itself, the car itself exploded in a time when it was able to get to a station. meanwhile, president trump spoke with president putin and offered support for russia at this difficult time. it happened in saent petersburg. perhaps the place and timing is not coincidental. that is presiden

. >> i'm frances rivera. it is five days dins is trump administration fired 59 missiles into syria after its deadly chemical attack. the president is taking a hard stance against vladamir putin for what he says is the backing of an evil regime that is quote bad for mankind. >> frankly, putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person. and i think it's very bad for russia. i think it's very bad for mankind. it's very bad for this world. but when you drop gas or barrel bombs, these massive barrels and they drop them in the middle of a group of people and in all fairness you see the same kids no arms, no legs, no face, this is an animal. >> the president's comments coming as officials provide evidence confirming the assad regime used sarin gas on its own people last week and claiming russia is helping assad perpetuate false claims. a report that read in part the syrian regime and its backer russia have sought to confuse the community about who is responsible for using chemical weapons against the syrian peo

. >> i'm frances rivera. it has been five days since the trump administration fired 59 tomahawk missiles into syria after its deadly chemical attack. the president is taking ard ha stance against russian president vladimir putin for what he says is the backing of an evil regime that is, quote, bad for mankind. >> frankly, putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person. and i think it's very bad for russia. i think it's very bad for mankind. it's very bad for this world. but when you drop gas or barrel bombs, massive barrels with dynamite and they drop them into a group of people, and in all fairness, you see the same kids with no arms, no legs, no face. this is an animal. >> the president's comments coming as officials provide evidence confirming the assad regime used sarin gas on its own people last week and claiming russia is currently helping assad perpetuate false claims of the nature of the attack, releasing a report that read part, the syrian regime and russia have sought to confuse the world com

i'm frances rivera. >> glad to have you, i'm yasmin vossoughian. europe state of emergency after terrorist bombers struck two coptic churches killing 42 people. the pope set to visit later this month, a trip the vatican says will go on despite the attacks. nbc's matt bradley has more on these deadly blasts. >> reporter: a day of devotion turned to horror. a crowded palm sunday mass at st. georges church north of cairo ripped apart by what police believe was a bomb placed under a pew. hours later a suicide bomber at st. marks church in alexandria, security camera footage shows a man blowing himself up just feet away from a playing child after police stopped him from entering the church. that officer now hailed as a hero. the twin bombings have left at least 43 dead, more than 100 injured and the middle east largest christian community in shock. many of the dead are children. the situation is painful, a relative of one of the victims said. why weren't proper measures taken to protect the people. isis quickly claimed responsibility for both attacks fu

i'm frances rivera. >> late night for those watching basketball that's for sure. welcome. i'm yasmin vossoughian. last night president trump phoned russia's vladamir putin for their first time phone call. the beginning of the new administration. mr. trump offering condolences over the subway bombing and offered full support as russian police search for suspects in the st. petersburg attack. at least 11 were killed and 40 wounded. a second bomb was found in another subway station. >>> there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. a russian news agency without specifying its sources reported that police now suspect the attack was the work of a suicide bomber. keir simmons joins us. what more do we know? >> reporter: you guys pretty much said it all. we know that they are claiming that a kyrgyzstan 23-year-old was behind this attack. it's not clear whether it is a suicide bomber. the news agency in russia did issue a picture of a man. it said russian authorities wanted to find, but then there were further reports that the man had gone to authorities to say th

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian. we're going to start now with the u.s. military on high alert and prepared to launch a preemptive strike against north korea. officials saying the strike would strike with conventional weapons if convinced north korea about to test a nuclear weapon. a possible test as early as this weekend with the anniversary of the nation's founder kim il-sung's birthday, the grandfather of the country's current leader. are what's the latest on this tense situation? >> reporter: good morning. north korea today is blaming the united states for heightened tension in the region, with that aircraft carrier strike group on the way as well as the threat to launch a preemptive strike. north korea's vice foreign minister says president trump's tweets were causing trouble and that if the u.s. were to launch a preemptive strike north korea would not quote keep its arms crossed. this at a time when there is a lot of speculation that kim jong-un may be preparing for a test. increased activity at the probable launch site, data from april 12th showing

i'm frances rivera. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian. buckle up today, 55 million americans in 13 states bracing for potentially strong tornados. in goodman, missouri a fire station took a hit from a tornado. buildings caving in on fire trucks along with trees in the area. and cars were forced to deal with blinding rain and hail in other parts of the state. the next two days are rough weather wise. meteorologist bill karins tracking the storms. what are you seeing? >> good morning. our goal today as forecasters is save lives, it's one of those dangerous days when not just tornados but strong tornados that could be on the ground for a long period of time. we're starting early, not with a tornado threat but hail down in southern portions. the atmosphere is primed in a hurry and this afternoon this area of red, moderate risk we could go under high risk if the situation gets worse. but for montgomery to birmingham, atlanta to augusta, macon and areas to the east of savannah at greatest risk of strong tornados. a lot of large hail and wind da

i'm frances rivera joined by ayman mohyeldin at msnbc headquarters in new york. here's a timeline for you. at approximately 8:40 p.m. eastern time, two u.s. warships in the mediterranean fired 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at a single target in syria. this video you see here are those exact missiles shared with us by the u.s. defense department. well, those department. the missiles rained down on the shayrat airfield in western syria where military officials tell nbc news the united states believes syrian president bashar al assad fired chemical weapons into the rebel-held syrian territory of idlib. >> the pinpoint missile strike ordered by president trump was targeting aircraft shelters, fuel, and ammunition supplies as well as air defense systems. now the strikes were a response to tuesday's horrific chemical weapons attack that killed and injured hundreds of people. this according to the white house. many of those women and children as seen in these disturbing images. images that moved the president to change his years-long stance against intervention in syria.

. >> i'm frances rivera. there were developments from the white house overnight, president trump called the leaders of mexico and canada explicitly telling them the united states would not be pulling out of the north american free trade agreement just hours after the administration said he was considering an executive order to do just that in a surprise announcement the white house said the president quote agreed not to terminate nafta at this time and the leaders agree to proceed swiftly. the reaction from mexico came swiftly with the peso surging on the overnight development. >> the news comes as the white house unveiled the massive tax cut proposal, the white house calling it the largest tax cut in history. claiming it could offer many relief. what does the plan do? it reduces the number of individual income tax brackets from seven to three. 10%, 25% and 35%. the plan doubles the standard deduction for individuals and married couples, that would leave more money in people's taxes and make filing taxes easi

i'm ayman mohyeldin joined by frances rivera. at approximately 8:40 p.m. eastern, tomahawk cruise missiles were fired at a single target inside syria. the video you see there are those exact missiles, shared with us by the department of defense. those thousand-pound missiles rained down on shayrat airfield in the homs province of western syria, where military officials tell nbc news the u.s. believe seer the syrian president fired chemical weapons into idlib. the pinpoint -- the strike, i should say, ordered by president trump was targeting aircraft shelters, fuel and ammunition supplies as well as air defense systems. the strikes were a response to tuesday's horrific chemical weapons attack that killed and injured hundreds of people. many of them women and children as seen in these disturbing images. images that moved the president to change his years-long stance against intervention in syria as he confirmed in his brief statement overnight at his mar-a-lago resort. >> tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the ch

. >> thanks so much for starting your work week with us, i'm frances rivera. >> starting in egypt, now under a state of emergency after terrorist bombers struck two coptic churches. one of the attacks captured in this disturbing video, the attack during packed palm sunday services. the blast killed more than 40 and wounded over 100 others. isis claiming responsibility for the violence though nbc has not been able to thunder date this claim. matt bradley joining us live from cairo, egypt. >> reporter: good morning. funerals are just starting for the more than 40 killed in this truly devastating attack. throughout egypt we're starting to see troops deploying in order to impose president el sisi's three-month state of emergency. that's what he announced yesterday. it's really hard to overstate the significance of this, and what this means for the national consciousness. this was definitely the most deadly blow, the most deadly attack targeting christians, the largest christian community in the middle east, in nearly half a century. and this is a country that has been racked by communal vi

. >> i'm frances rivera. certainly all eyes on syria this morning after the united states launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeting a syrian airfield. the strike was in response to syria's alleged use of banned chemical weapons. the missiles were nired from two u.s. warships in the mediterranean sea. they hit the airfield used to carry out the suspected chemical attack. matt, what can you tell us about the latest on the strikes and also about possible casualties? >> reporter: well, thanks, frances. the syrian government said there were casualties around the area that was struck. this was sort of a support base that rebels said that the syrian regime used in order to attack rebel positions throughout northern syria. of course the syrian government is saying this wasn't necessarily such a crucial base but the rebels who have spoken to nbc and some of the wire agencies said that this was indeed a major point of departure for armed weapons going and attacking rebel positions throughout northern syria. there

i'm frances rivera. >> good to see you. i'm yasmin vossoughian. buckle up today, 55 million americans in 13 states bracing for potentially strong tornados. in goodman, missouri a fire station took a hit from a tornado. buildings caving in on fire trucks along with trees in the area. in joplin cars were forced to deal with blinding rain and hail in other parts of the state. the next two days are rough weather wise. meteorologist bill karins tracking the storms. what are you seeing? >> this is one of those dangerous days, only a handful every spring. we're trying to save as many lives and prevent as many injuries as possible. the area of concern, the lower tennessee valley through the southeast. 55 million at risk. the area of red is the greatest chance for a tornado threat especially from montgomery, atlanta, augusta to macon, georgia. this area is most at risk late today. we'll take these storms all the way to the east coast as we go throughout the early morning hours tomorrow with a wind damage threat. once again, the threat is not just for torna

i'm ayman mohyeldin joined by frances rivera. at approximately 8:40 p.m.omahawk cruise missiles were fired at a single target inside syria. the video you see there are those exact missiles, shared with us by the department of defense. those thousand-pound missiles rained down on shayrat airfield in the homs province of western syria, where military

i'm frances rivera. >> glad

. >> i'm frances rivera. very busy to end your workweek. all eyes on syria this morning after the united states launched 59 tomahawk cruise missiles targeting a syrian airfield. "t special edition. it's a friday morning. we end the week with a lot of breaking news. >> yeah. incredibly momentous things going on in the last 24 hours. >> if you're just waking up to this, let us tell you what we know. two navy destroyers fired 59 tomahawk missiles at the shayrat airfield. that was where the planes take off in this week's >> reporter: what we're hearing this morning is these tomahawk missiles killed six to seven people depending on the sources. that's the number we've been hearing from various different groups and almost all of them, if not all of them, were military personnel at this base. now what we're also hearing, and this would be surprising if true, is the russian defense ministry is saying fewer than t richard engel. richard, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. this operation was limited. it was specific. and seems designed t

we're the rivera family, and we will be with usaa for life. >>> political shakeup rocking france.wo outsider candidates, macron and marine le pen finished at the top of the most consequen consequential election in history. le pen launched the first campaign attack before the actual election. cnn's hala gorani is live in paris. certainly will be blood sport over there. intensity on the table. how do you see it? >> reporter: well, these are two diametrically opposed candidates. marine le pen, and t anti-i amm and emmanuel macron is a eu flag behind him. emmanuel macron on all those fronts, the exact opposite. the results as you mentioned, very, very significant, chris. why? because marine le pen came in second in the first round. they face-off in the runoff. yesterday in the vote on sunday. it is emmanuel macron, an unknown centrist. a man who a year ago was largely essentially not known to the french public. he has come from nowhere. he is a 39-year-old. his supporters say he reminds us of barack obama. some of the same campaigning techniques were used in the campaign in france for

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