hans nichols h hans, good morning. >> good morning, willie. as the families continue to mourn, congress is preparing to ask them hard questions next week not only about this specific mission but about the overall strategy that's putting american troops lives at risk in africa. >> army sargeant la david johnson was laid to rest saturday near his home in florida. his pregnant widow kissing his casket as she held an american

hans nichols, nbc news. >>> alleged sonic attacks against american diplomats in cuba. first time the cubans investigating it are speaking out, denying their country had anything to do with it to andrea mitchell who went to the neighborhood at the center of the mystery. >> reporter: the u.s. embassy in havana virtually shut down, u.s./cuba relations in crisis. two dozen u.s. embassy staff reporting ailments. >> i believe cuba is responsible. >> reporter: first interview, top security officials and doctor pushing back. did you do it? >> translator: without hesitation, i'm telling you no. >> reporter: colonel says nearly 2,000 people looking into the charge that u.s. diplomats were targeted with sonic weapon, suffering headaches, nausea, hearing loss, mild traumatic brain injury. >> translator: cuba doesn't possess this technology, these weapons. >> reporter: this is the sound they reported to have heard. document from the cubans said it was not at acoustic levels damaging to health and u.s. officials saying no known technology displaying these symptoms. >> never been phy

hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> there is mixed news on the economy this evening. the u.s.t 33,000 jobs in september, the first decline in monthly jobs numbers going back six years. back-to-back hurricanes likely had a significant impact on the slow down in hiring, but the unemployment rate actually declined to 4.2%. that is the lowest since february of 2001 and a sign the job market remains strong. >>> still ahead as we continue here tonight, the scandal rocking hollywood. new fallout from a sexual harassment accusations against one of the movie industries biggest power players. >>> also caught on camera, the world's biggest passenger plane coming in for a terrifying landing. stay with us. ♪ >>> back now with new fallout from the firestorm gripping hollywood. movie mogul harvey weinstein taking a leave of absence from his own company after reports of multiple sexual harassment complaints against him. weinstein is just the latest power player accused of misconduct against women. more from nbc's anne thompson. >> reporter: during awards season harvey weinstein's power is on

lester. >> hans nichols at the pentagon. starting us off. thanks. in fallout from the ambush, fierce political battle intensified between the white house and florida congresswoman who says chief of staff, john kelly, lied about her when he defended president trump's phone call to the widow of one of the soldiers. the white house doubling down on kelly's remarks despite video evidence. nbc's peter alexander has more. >> president trump tonight ignoring questions about niger. >> mr. president, did you authorize a mission in niger? >> thank you. >> his top aide were sticking to a false claim chief of staff, john kelly made while condemning fredericka wilson who revealed details of the president's call with a widow of one of the slain u.s. soldiers. >> if you are able to make a sacred act like honoring american heroes about your self you are an empty barrel. if you don't understand. as we say in the south, all hat, no cattle. with the president taking heat to the call of johnson's family, kelly's comments intended to correct the record now appear at tim

>> hans nichols tonight, thank you. in washington this evening signs the door may be opening slightly from republicans in congress and possibly from the nra to new restrictions on bump stocks, the devices used by the las vegas killer to turn his semiautomatic weapons into automatic machine guns. nbc's halle jackson has details. >> reporter: after decades of republican resistance on gun control, tonight a new narrow opening on bump stocks which lets semiautomatic guns fire faster. >> apparently this allows you to take a semiautomatic turn into a full automatic. it is something we need to being look into. >> reporter: not just house speaker paul ryan, but one of the highest ranking senators john cornyn. >> i think it's worth serious consideration. >> reporter: and the president himself willing to consider new regulations. >> we are open to having that conversation. we think that we should have that conversation and we want to be part of it moving forward. >> reporter: the wild card through all this has been the nra, silen

our pentagon correspondent hans nichols has details. >> reporter: sergeant bo berg dha l acknowledged he put his comrades in danger. i left my platoon on a battle field, he said, a situation that could turn into a life or death situation. at least two american service members were seriously wounded as u.s. forces searched for berghdal. the taliban captured him almost immediately and would hold him the next five years until he was released in exchange for five taliban prisoners. today's guilty plea offered some comfort to one soldier in his platoon. >> the fact that he admitted he did dessert brought peace to me. >> reporter: the prisoner release was controversial. then candidate trump was highly critical. >> and 30 years ago he would have been shot. >> reporter: he said he left his post to report misconduct by his commanders, an army investigation said he may have been delusional. concluding his mental state substantially contributed to his unreasonable decision to dessert. >> the fact the taliban kept him penned up five years is the result of his walking into the hands of taliban. th

lester. >> hans nichols at the pentagon. thank you. >>> tonight power crews are working quickly to restore power after an intense storm rolled through the northeast leaving over a million homes and businesses in the dark. some districts forced to cancel school. wind gusts reached over 60 miles per hour along the new england coast. trees knocked down from new jersey to maine. >>> in a stunning turn of events, officials in puerto rico are scrambling to find a new company to rebuild their power grid after the governor decided to cancel a $300 million contract with whitefish energy. nearly 70% of the island remains without power amid growing questions over how that small company landed the deal to begin with. nbc's gabe gutierrez is there. >> reporter: 40 days after maria, this house outside san juan is still in shambles. the woman who lived here, marianne medina, gave birth after the hurricane. her son, jomar, has never seen his home or known a life with electricity. now governor ricardo rossello is choosing to scrap the island

>> hans nichols reporting from the pentagon tonight. thank you. >>> as president trump deals with that fallout, two of his predecessors were back in the spotlight today. barack obama back on the campaign trail for the first time since leaving office. and george w. bush who has largely stayed on the sidelines in a rare appearance delivering a powerful message. nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker has that story. [ applause ] >> thank you. >> reporter: tonight a pair of past presidents raising concerns about the direction of the country they once led. >> are you fired up! >> reporter: former president obama campaigning for new jersey's democratic candidate for governor. >> we are rejecting a politics of fear. that we are embracing a politics that says everybody counts. >> reporter: but the former republican president spoke with a sharper edge today. >> this is a unique moment. >> reporter: delivering clear condemnation of the current president without mentioning him by name. >> we've seen nationalism distorted into nativism.

hans nichols, nbc news, pentagon >>> mix news on the economy in evening. the u.s.ost 33,000 jobs in september, the first decline in monthly job numbers going back six years. back-to-back hurricanes likely had a significant slow down in hiring, but the employment rate declined to 4.2%, the lowest since february of 2001 and a sign the job market remains strong >>> still ahead as we continue tonight, the scanned will rocking hollywood. new fallout from sexual harassment accusations against one of the industry's leading power players. one of the industry's leading power players. people are fighting type 2 diabetes... with fitness... food... and the pill that starts with f. farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. lowering a1c by up to 1.2 points. do not take if allergic to farxiga. if you experience symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking and seek medical help right away. do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems, are on dialysis, o

nbc's hans nichols joins us now from the pentagon. umps out to you about the military's explanation for the attack? >> reporter: we think the key questions remains how much this reconnaissance mission changed during the operation. did they initially go out thinking they were not going to have any contact, that contact was going to be unlikely with the enemy? and if so, then how did it morph into something where they were tracking a potential isis recruiter who could be in the ability, position to do real danger and real damage. to what extent was there surprise, to what extent was there an ambush and jt united states military in west africa, all the continent, over 6,000 use us forces there. one final note, of these four dead soldiers, they all had very limited to little combat experience. that is just raising more question, guys, on just why they got themselves into such a risky mission. guys? >> that's hans nichols reporting from the pentagon. thank you, hans. still so many questions about this. we'll be watching for his full report

nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols has the latest. >> reporter: pentagon officials tell nbc news isis may have been behind the deadly ambush of u.s. special forces. tonight american troops are still on the ground. >> last night we did lose three service members, and it was a very dynamic situation, and we still have ongoing operations. >> reporter: it happened in the west african nation niger. the americans were on a training mission described as routine. less than a dozen u.s. and nigerien forces were on foot when they were ambushed by a larger group of islamic militants. according to military officials, the green berets and nigeriens were overwhelmed but began to return fire. french helicopters arriving to rescue them. in addition to the three americans killed two were injured. bases. the mission, to keep eyes on terrorist groups from isis to boko haram. are these force, u.s. forces looking to engage islamic militants? >> no. we're there on a security assistance advise mission. >> reporter: the brazen ambush could mark a new chapter in the battle against isis in africa as isis

nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols is in washington. good morning to you.ow so far about what happened? >> good morning, dara. as we continue to learn more, pentagon officials are cautioning that even investigators don't have all the facts. after being briefed by defense secretary jim mattis about the ambush that left four american soldiers dead in niger, congress is bracing for a new front in the fight against isis. >> we don't want the next 9/11 to come from niger. >> reporter: senator lindsey graham calling for more oversight. >> the war is headed to africa. it's beening it's beginning to morph. >> reporter: mattis summoned to capitol hill to explain how elite soldiers were taken by surprise. >> we can always improve on communication. >> reporter: public explanation coming as the internal investigation gathers steam. the fbi lending forensic support looking into how a team of well-trained special forces was ambushed, the pentagon says, by a group of 50 isis-linked fighters. military officials now say the special forces who were meeting with the tribal el

more what's going on in the actual investigation what happened in niger, joined by hans nichols at the pentagon and garrett haake on capitol hill. hans, next hour as hallie said, general dunford will hold a briefing. heard about it earlier, at the pentagon. now we know the topic is going to be niger. what is it that we're expecting to hear from general dunford? >> reporter: just speaking to officials here. we're going to get a sense of the timeline of how that ambush occurred in niger. also we're going to get a broader articulation why u.s. forces were in niger, and more broadly throughout west africa. these are some of the areas that the pentagon knows they need to clean up. the what and the why. and then on this issue of congress' notification, i expect we'll get a little more how they're pledging and trying to work closely with congress to make sure all the notifications are in place, they have the right authorization for u.s. troops there and also keep them in the loop and how they've been trying to keep them in the loop when incidents like this happen. so i think we'll get quite a

we begin with nbc news pentagon correspondent hans nichols.al" is reporting that the fbi has now joined the investigation. what can you tell us? >> well, nbc news has confirmed according to military official that is the fbi has joined the investigation. this is a formal investigation along with other investigations that are taking place. when the military looks into something that went this badly, they look at it from a variety of different angles. they need to know the result of the four deaths of the u.s. soldiers in

bill keneely is in london and hans nichols here in washington. first, bill, to you. the forces are combing through raqqah block by block for hidden isis fighters and bombs, et cetera. what you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, good morning. raqqah is essentially fallen is isis. the last two strongholds, the stadium and hospital, are now under the control of the u.s.-backed syrian forces. and they are now clearing things like bobby traps and mines, maybe sleeper cells, prisoners of war taken, most of them foreign fighters. but as you'll see from the aerial drone shots we are about to show you, the spoils of that victory are, well, a heap of rubble. it's a defeat for isis, but, of course, it is not a surprise. it was only a matter of not if but when, a matter of time. but look, it's a huge symbolic victory. the city itself as you can see, it means nothing, it is just rubble, but this was the isis capital in syria. the joint center along with mosul and iraq of the caliphate held by isis for three years. remember, they took control in june 2014. thousands of u.s. air strikes i

for more on all of this nbc's hans nichols joins me now from the pentagon. hans, put into context what this means taking back the city. i mean is isis essentially getting pushed out of sort of its odd nation state status back into an insurgency or what's going on? >> they are losing territory and men. the fall of raqqah is significant. strategically, it was a recruiting hub, and also psychologically and symbolically. it was their self-declared capital. now that it's close to falling. officials are telling us that there is about 10% left that isis still controls. yesterday they controlled 15%. it's falling concludely. it's going to hurt recruiting. the number of foreign fighters entering their caliphate all but stopped to a trickle. you are seeing in each of these cities that have fallen that isis did control is you are seeing fighters surrendering. in the last 96 hours some 350 isis fighters surrendered. you compare that to what happened in mosul. it was a fight to the death. mosul took place it started about a year ago, it fell over the summer. the battle fo

the latest on what we know about what happened in niger, let's go to nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols. hans, how much of a timeline of what exactly happened, where they were, and how they were killed have we been able to construct? >> chris, we've been piecing together bit by bit. we're doing this at the same time today there's a formal investigation that's taking place. what we know is that on the 4th around dusk you had eight to 12 u.s. forces, special forces, green berets, but also some drivers, some mechanics in there. they left their vehicles to go into a village. about eight of them went into this village what is we basically think. and that when they were coming out of that village, they may have been delayed in that village, coming out they were ambushed by a much larger force that was hiding in the brush there. rpgs they had, machine guns, small arms fire as well. they returned fire. now here's where things get a little fuzzy. about 30 minutes into it, we know that french mirages were overhead, that's a pretty fast time, 30 minutes in, they provide what's called close air sup

hans nichols h hans, good morning. >> good morning, willie. as the families continue to mourn, congress is preparing to ask them hard questions next week not only about this specific mission but about the overall strategy that's putting american troops lives at risk in africa. >> army sargeant la david johnson was laid to rest saturday near his home in florida. his pregnant widow kissing his casket as she held an american flag. johnson was killed in an ambush in niger earlier this month along with three of his comrades. his body found one mile from the ambush site 48 hours after the deadly attack and the initial chaotic hours there was hope he was still alive with his beacon emitting a signal until it grew faint. this morning new and conflicting accounts of what happened during the deadly mission. "the new york times" reports that some nigerian officials say the army convoy of nigerian and u.s. soldiers spotted and chased insurgents until they crossed into neighboring mali times" adds that the american soldiers did not mention giving chase and

we begin with nbc news pentagon correspondent hans nichols. and "the wall street journal" is reporting that the fbi has now joined the investigation. what can you tell us? >> well, nbc news has confirmed according to military official that is the fbi has joined the investigation. this is a formal investigation along with other investigations that are taking place. when the military looks into something that went this badly, they look at it from a variety of different angles. they need to know the result of the four deaths of the u.s. soldiers in niger. this happened around dusk. it was on tuesday, october 4th. you had several groups, but basically around a dozen u.s. soldiers. some of them were in their vehicles, others had been separated. they went to go to the village. when they are at the village coming back out of that village, that's when they were ambushed and came under heavy fire, rpgs, machine guns, you had this from this group that is likely linked with isis. a much larger group. 30 minutes into it, you have french fighters that appe

pentagon correspondent hans nichols has the latest. hans, with a good morning, what do we know? >> reporter: it seemed yesterday the story shifted to capitol hill where there were a lot of questions and potential warnings about a new war against isis. a brief by jim mattis about the ambush that left four american soldiers dead in niger. congress is bracing for a new front in the fight against isis. >> we don't want the next 9/11 to come from niger. >> reporter: senator lindsey graham calling for more congressional oversight, while warning americans about the changing battle field. >> the war is headed to africa. it's beginning to more morph. >> reporter: he sum is mondayed to capitol hill to tell how elite soldiers were taken by surprise. >> we can always improve on communication, and that's exactly what we'll do. >> reporter: the internal investigation gathers steam. the fbi lending forensic support looking into how a team of well-trained special forces was ambushed, the pentagon said, by a group of 50 isis-linked fighters. military officials say special forces who were meeting

to my colleague at the pentagon hans nichols covering the story for us.al kelly actually added to the intrigue today saying, look, i know more about this that i can't say. this is a, there is a heavy reluctance by the u.s. government not to say why we were there. >> well, it's complicated. it's very difficult to explain you're there for train, advice and assist, sort of getting local sources up to snuff on counterterrorism. that's across what they call here, the lake chad basin. another more sensitive region, though, and that is because they're building big drone bases there. that has sensitivities local. they need the drone bases to could isr. intelligence surveillance reconnaissance all across. the image mattis uses, when you crush a snowball, isis, in his imagery, more flakes out. they're seeing more of it crop up in central and western africa and that's why they're training counterterrorism forces there and had this engage ant, as they said, was not expected. >> how many troops are in harm's way on any given day in central africa? >> close to 1,000. w

hans nichols and john harwood and "forbes" magazine associate editor dan alexander. we have a full house. hans, start with you. what is atop -- i can't get my words straight. what's at the top of the agenda for this cabinet meeting? the reason i'm tongue tied is because i'm thinking back to that meeting months and months ago where they went around the table and they had it on air, where each one was basically bearing gifts and compliments to the president, offering him what is now known as the full mnuchin. >> reporter: we'll see to what extent the president asks for almost loyalty oaths from his cabinet. we'll also be closely watching the body language between president trump and his secretary of state. secretary of state has been out there not answering this, refusing to deny that he called the president a moron. cosmically though, think of this meeting as both foreign and domestic. the domestic side, taxes, budget, health care. what the strategy is going forward. on the international front, you have north korea. the president preparing to head to the region. he hea

troops serving in niger right now. >> hans nichols, our man at the pentagon with news behind the isishat left four americans dead. >>> entire neighborhoods engulfed by california's wildfires have been incinerated. take a look at the charred remains of one of these communities. this community stretched from napa county to santa rosa to anaheim. in northern california alone, two fires are zero and 3% contained. to the south in anaheim, fire there, 40% contained. so far, at least 17 people are dead. another 185 have been hurt. at least 2,000 homes or structures have been destroyed. again, this is in northern california alone. nbc's steve patterson remains on duty in napa, california. steve, what are you seeing on the ground there this afternoon -- this morning there for you? >> reporter: widespread devastation, craig. there's no way else to say it. you have to remember, besides the fire, there were winds of up to 50 miles an hour in neighborhoods like this. so, there are trees strewn into the roads, power lines hanging and dangling over sidewalks. then when you talk about that wind, thos

hans nichols.rious story and something that will probably come up at the white house press briefing which is just getting understa under way. sarah huckabee sanders is at the podium. >> -- that today we might call in one of our favorites general kelly. so i'll turn it over to the chief of staff and let him make opening comments and answer your questions today. and after he concludes of course our team will be around later this afternoon to answer any further questions. thanks. >> good afternoon. great to be here. a couple afternoon, great to be here. a couple comments and then open it up for q and a. coming in as chief of staff, i decided not to do too much with the press nil got my feet on the ground. prior to this when i was at dhs and certainly as a marine general officer interacted with the press a great deal. but coming into this job i needed to get to know the lay of the land. i have done i think three off the records, the first one, of course, was violated. but thank you for all of you that

>> hans nichols at the white house wearing his hat in addition to pentagon correspondent.k with me is michael allen, former majority staff director on the house intel committee as well as a special assistant to george w. bush. and we have zeke miller here, too. michael, you saw we were reading the statement together from the military that hans had, calling this a misunderstanding. clearly looking to downplay involvement. do you buy that? >> i don't buy it completely. i have heard reports that we are helping behind the scenes broker some sort of ideal way for them to get into kirkuk. it's the oil-rich region. >> 4% of the world's oil resources. >> isn't that amazing? >> yeah. >> the people in kirkur are the kurds coming down ornative arabs. and it sort of got an emotional feel like jerusalem is to different religions. everyone wants kirkuk and the iraqis want it to be an iraqi-israeli institution and we want it back. >> they are also trying to gain independence, essentially. so you have tensions on the middle. what role does the church have in this? >> we want a strong cent

pray for peace, prepare for war is what they said. >> hans nichols at the pentagon. thank you fp. >>> up next, we want to talk about what is happening in puerto rico with president trump seeming to put the island on notice saying he may pull back federal relief workers from the island. but there are mixed message from the white house. we'll show you what mike pence has been talking about. plus, we'll update you on those devastating wildfires in northern california. ♪ (cheering) a triangle solo? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money sam and yohanna saved by switching to geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. . >>> we need to tell you about new doechltd developments in c. gusty winds are now breathing more life into wildfires. at least 23 people have been killed with more evacuations ordered already. since sunday, the fires have scorched at least 265 square miles. that is an area bigger than chicago. an additional 1500 homes and businesses have been destroyed since yesterday. the total, at least 3500. check out this neighborhood in s

. >> let's bring in nbc's pentagon correspondent hans nichols and kevin barron. thank you for being with us. hans, let me read something that i -- john mccain said in "the washington post." there's a mind-set that there are unicameral government, accusing the trump administration of intentionally trying to keep congress in the dark about the military's foreign engagements and noting it was easier under obama. we're co-equal branches of government and should be informed at all timss. we're just not getting the information in a timely fashion. he had a better working relationship as far as information back and forth with ash carter than with his old friend of 20 years. can you talk about how that relationship broke down so completely? was it a bandwidth issue for mattis or a deliberate effort to cut congress out? >> it wasn't deliberate. the bandwidth issue here is real because they do not have their political appointees filled up. he's sometimes calling desk officers trying to get information, doing the job that normal under secretaries and assistant secretaries wo

africa, to what happened in this apparent ambush, and that is a conversation i want to have with hans nichols joining us from the pentagon. i'm juggling things here, hans, there are some questions about what we don't know related to this ambush, apparently. and what we do know. can you break it down for us here? >> well, we'll stick with what we do know. right now there are investigations into an hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute, into what went wrong that led these four soldiers in this group of about 12 u.s. forces training with nigerian counterparts to be totally ambushed. >> let me stop you there. that's normal, right? whenever an american service member is killed, there would be an investigation or a look into this minute-by-minute breakdown, right? >> reporter: yes. if there's a death in a combat situation or in a non-combat situation, they look into if it is training, they look into what happened. now, they will go deeper here, in part, because one of the faults here is about the intelligence that led them into this position. they thought they were in, quote, a quiet area. that's what the

for more, we're joined by hans nichols and elana schor, congressional reporter for politico. h. hans, you and courtney cube yeah has been doing a superb job this week. can you clarify for our viewers what was the mission and what have we so far learned about what went wrong? >> well, officially, the mission was something called a key leader engagement, which meant that a small patrol working of u.s. forces, they were green berets, working with nigerian partners were supposed to go out and meet with tribal elders. that's been the official line from the pentagon. what officials were saying is they were likely delayed when they were meeting with the tribal elders, and after that, they were ambushed. there's going to be a top to bottom, hour by hour, almost minute by minute formal investigation into what went wrong, what sort of intelligence planning there might have should have been. what sort of overhead support was there. there wasn't direct drone support. the close air support that came from the french came about 30 minutes into the battle. so there are a lot of questions, and

joining me now, nbc pentagon hance ni hans nichols. a communications problem with the pentagon. oh. ns? >> reporter: i am. lost you there. sorry, chris. >> what about the soldiers what new reporting do you have from the pentagon for us. >> reporter: we're learning about their actual experience, they didn't have a lot. this was a fresh team. relatively new to the country and they were going out on this reconnaissance mission and somewhere in there, the reconnaissance mission took a slightly different take and they were ambushed on their way leaving that village in the morning. one of the issues is how quickly that drone got up and did they have what's called isr, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance. the drone was up within minutes, but wasn't armed. just a reconnaissance drone. had a live video feed. chris, the feed on that, we heard from general dunford, provided a long video feed likely giving them a good sense doing all of these after-action reviews about just about whatted. remember it came into the battle an hour into the battle. at that point, they could have a very. >>

lot to get to this morning, but we want to start with the latest on the niger investigation with hans nichols doing double-duty at the white house along with garrett haake at the capitol. hans, there are a lot of questions and some are coming from the widow of ladavid johnson that she still wants to know after burying her husband this weekend. >> reporter: she wants to know where her husband died, why he died and how he died. she wasn't allowed to view the body to give her questions on what was inside the casket she kissed. she's giving her version of the telephone call she had with president donald trump. and it was, as she described it, a painful experience. >> the only way he remembered my husband's name is because he told me he had my husband reporting for him. that's when he actually said, ladavid. i heard him stumbling on trying to remember my husband's name. and that hurt me the most. because if my husband is out here fighting for our country and he risks his life for our country, why can't you remember his name? and that made me upset and cry even more. because my husband was an aweso

to the pentagon with nbc's hans nichols. the pentagon and white house talk about military options but from all of our reporting there just aren't many that don't involve putting seoul, the 10 million people who live there right in the cross-hairs. >> and the americans that live there and the american families that live there. >> and the american military members, sure. >> it's the o plan, which is the operations plan, one of the first things for any sort of kinetic operation is getting united states service members' families out of the country. you know, i would just kind of follow on richard's reporting there. this idea that it's been ten years since there have been three aircraft carriers in the region doing joint ops, a lot of times the pentagon wants to have it both ways on this story, hallie. let me explain what i mean by that. on one hand they're saying this is long planned, don't read anything into it, but at the same time they look at you starkly serious and say this is a capability as it is a demonstration of our ca

kasie hunt, and hans nichols and peter alexander at the white house. the white house is praising its recovery efforts in puerto rico. moments ago white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders reiterated the administration's pledge. let's hear what she said. >> the president met with the governor of puerto rico this morning to discuss the ongoing hurricane recovery efforts. the administration is working tirelessly to help our fellow citizens recover and rebuild. and we will stand with them throughout this process. >> while the president praises the federal efforts in puerto rico, the island remains in crisis mode. we'll take you live to puerto rico when we get back. had purpo. you never told me you were a hero. you are my hammer out there. don't let these young guys see you fold. ♪ i'm only human ♪ i make mistakes get down! ♪ i'm only human ♪ it's all it takes ♪ don't put the blame on me thank you for looking after my son. we're brothers. we look after each other. thank you for your service. rated r. ♪ don't put the blame on me praise its recovery

>> hans nichols following the story at the pentagon. we'll look for your reporting on "nightly news" later tonight. thank you. i'm joined by chris few sill, co-founder of the mccrystal group and author of the book "one mission: how leaders build a team of teams." and political reporter jonathan swan. and "washingtonso chris, we'll because we are going through the questions that we still don't know the answers to. and general dunford came out and was really blunt. he said, hey, we want to give you answers, we want to give you the families of the fallen answers, we are also wanting to do this investigation correctly. but let me start with one of them. what we learn is this unit waited an hour to call for air support initially. you have been on the ground, you have been on the ground in africa. why might that have happened? >> well, the pentagon will get the right answers to the families. and they want to make sure it is accurate when it goes out. the more gray area that forces are operating inside of, the harder it is to get up and into t

hans nichols at the pentagon. >>> coming up, a very candid conversation with a group of physicians on the role that doctors have played in perpetuating the growing opioid crisis. >> i'm sure everyone at the table heard i got my wisdom teeth removed put on opioids and now am using heroin. >> that's right. i think it's terrific. your kids go to college and you start trading. >>yeah, 5 years already. 5 years, hmm. you ever call your broker for help? >>once, when volatility spiked... and? >>by the time they got me an answer, it was too late. td ameritrade's elite service team can handle your toughest questions right away- with volatility, it's all about your risk distribution. good to know. >>thanks, mike. we got your back kate. >>does he do that all the time? oh yeah, sometimes he pops out of the couch. help from real traders. only with td ameritrade. >>> he cares about not only the american whose have not yet fallen victim to their epidemic and prying to prevent it, but those who already has, the president clearly said that moez tho those millions of people need to be cared for and trea

i want to start with hans nichols. officials told nbc they think this was likely a setup. what's leading them to that conclusion? >> facts on the ground. you know, a lot has changed in our understanding and what pentagon officials have told us. one thing that really hasn't changed is this idea that those villagers they were meeting in the early to midmorning delayed u.s. forces, these green berets, and kept them there a little bit longer. that's one thing that hasn't changed throughout all this. there's been a lot of back and forth on just when air support came in, how long it took. it's been consistent, there's this idea of a delay coming out of the village. they could have been tipped off and sprung the ambush then. we did get some more clarity yesterday from general dunnford. i think the biggest thing i learned was the speed with which an aerial drone was up in the air after u.s. support called for it. according to dunnford, that was within minutes. now, he didn't say whether or not that drone was armed. he wouldn't say. he was specifically asked that. he did say there