it's quite warm as hans nichols was saying. individual, groups of people now it appears migrants not running as we were showing a little bit earlier, but running to this point, a point where there was what we're hearing no more movement north, south, east, west. it's closed for the moment temporarily. victoria, let's build on what jane was saying and the reports are there. during these situations, getting close to humanitarian crises, it is the children that face great danger physically, that are assaulted, and in this case we do see large numbers of children in this group. >> absolutely. and we've already been getting reports from folks on the ground and the border that we've seen an increase in the rates of extortion by mexican officials toward these migrants. again, these are already vulnerable folks and they are placed in even more vulnerable situations. and if the rumors coming out of the trump white house and the new administration in mexico are correct, that there's going to be some sort of agreement where folks stay in

hans nichols, nbc news. >>> ahead of the holiday travel season, a warning from a family searching for answers after the murder of their son in mexico. the homicide rate there has skyrocketed, and the state department is urging tourists to be cautious. let's get more from gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, taylor meyer's family is devastated. >> this can't be happening! this can't be true. >> reporter: his mother in california reeling. her 27-year-old son was visiting playa del carmen to celebrate a friend's birthday when he was stabbed to death. >> three people attacked him, stabbed

. >> nbc's hans nichols joins the conversation from the white house. the white house for six years. i went to meetings on everything from the bird flu to hurricane katrina recovery to how to welcome a sports team. i never went to a meeting about an asylum seeker scandal abuse problem. is this real? >> it is real. i think what we just heard from the president of the united states is ftrying to change the points of entry on asylum speakers. i have to tell you, we appear to have an entirely new policy from the president of the united states. he appears to authorize the united states military, which he is dispatching to the southern border, to fire on that caravan. now, he couched his language, but what he said is that if they caravan is throwing stones or rocks, those will be considered firearms. high was later asked to follow up. he said he would consider that a rifle. now, just because the president is authorizing his military to fire on that caravan doesn't mean that they will. i have to tell you, there's been a lot of back and forth, and frankly confu

hans nichols is in tijuana tonight. >> reporter: thousands of central american migrants are stalled at the tijuana border. another possible road block. a new deal between mexico and the u.s. that would keep these migrants in mexico. a flausz process that could take months, even years. president trump tonight tweeting migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into the united states until their claims are individually approved in court. all will stay in mexico. meanwhile, conditions in tijuana are getting worse. the city's mayor saying his city is facing a humanitarian crisis. sanitation conditions, dire. childrens sleeping on the ground. families in crowded tents made of tarp and twigs, showering outdoors. daily life here, dense and difficult. inside this sports stadium, which was always meant to be a temporary makeshift shelter, these people may have to stay here indefinitely, just within eye shot of the u.s. border. but evelyn martinez, eight months pregnant and traveling with her 7-year-old son, said she would wait as long as it takes. not all migrants may be as patient wit

our pentagon correspondent hans nichols has details. >> reporter: the attack near the embattled city of ghazni. a massive roadside bomb killing three americans. the soldiers traveling in a heavily armored vehicle. taliban insurgents quickly claiming responsibility. the first lady offering condolences. >> today's tragic news out of afghanistan only drives home the need to support the men and women in our military and their families. >> reporter: the americans' death bringing the total killed in combat in afghanistan to 12 this year, the deadliest toll since 2015. this month alone, already two deaths, army sergeant leandro jasso and major brent taylor, a utah mayor. president donald trump has escalated the war he inherited, bringing the number of troops there to 14,000. >> a lot of progress has been made. >> reporter: but his own chairman of the joint chiefs of staff recently said the taliban is holding their ground. >> they are not losing right now. >> reporter: tonight, a deadly reminder that after 17 years of fighting, the u.s. is still at war in afghanistan. hans nichols, nbc news,

nbc's hans nichols is at the u.s./mexico border south of san diego. 's the situation like where you are? >> reporter: well, dara, good morning. as you know, president trump sent some 6,000 troops to the border. they've been laying razor wire. they're setting up base camps all for an initial cost of 72 million. now just behind me you see the border crossing. the mayor of that city, of tijuana, has called this a humanitarian crisis as thousands of migrants are sleeping outside. this morning competing calls for action on both sides of the border as 5,000 central american migrants are way layed in tijuana. president donald trump tweeting from mar-a-lago, fix the border for once and for all now. while the mayor of tijuana has declared a humanitarian crisis in the city and his appeal as migrants camp out in soccer stadiums with some getting to within 500 feet of the border. the mayor criticizing his own government and warning that they need to take donald trump's threat to shut the border seriously. >> we will close it for a period of time until we can get i

here's hans nichols. >> reporter: tonight, americans who fought in iraq and afghanistan asking why they are being short-changed by the va and if they will ever be paid back. >> we must get it fixed for our veterans. it's owed to them. it's in law, and that's what's going to happen. >> reporter: daniel gorman, an iraq veteran, counts on a housing stipend from his gi bill. >> my money is tight living in new york and it's not going to make the rent. >> it was a computer failure after a new law changed how housing aloxss were calculated. va officials privately told congressional aides yesterday the va would not reimburse those veterans who were underpaid. today in public, a different story. >> each and every veteran on the post-9/11 gi bill will be made 100% whole. >> reporter: but advocates say those who serve deserve better. >> the va is not a promise you can take to the bank, and that's what these veterans need right now is something they can take to the bank. >> reporter: hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> a program note here, savannah guthrie has an exclusive interview with tom

here is hans nichols. >> reporter: tonight, americans that fought in iraq and wafghanistan asking they are being shortchanged by the e .a. and if they will everid back? >> we must get it fixed for veterans. d it's owed to them an in law. >> reporter: an iraq veteran counts on e post 9/11 g.i. bill. >> my budget was tight living in new york city and without that money it won't make the rent. ay> reporter: the missedments were from a computer ur faafter a law changed how housing allowances were calculate. an nbc news exclusive, officials told congressional v.a. would not the reimburse those veterans underpaid. today inublic, a different story. >> each and every veteran on the post 9/11 g.i. bill will be made 100% whole. >> reporter: those who served deserve better. >> the v.a. is not a promise you can take to the bank and that's what theeterans teed now is something they ce to the bank. >> reporter: hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> savannah guthrie has exclusive interview with tom hanks joining forces with the elizabeth doll foundation and hidden heroes foundation to support tho

nbc's hans nichols has more. >> reporter: drastic measures. the u.s. shut down a major point of entry with mexico after hundreds of migrant for entry into america rushed the wall between tijuana and san diego. jorges says he is worried donald trump will make them stay in mexico while seeking a better life in the u.s. >> we don't want to be in cages, in prison. >> reporter: others are increasingly frustrated living in camps and makeshift shelters. these migrants are fed and file for asylum before it's too late. but many broke through the police line, crossing under the bridge, over a river filled with raw sewage. >> let them in! >> reporter: on the other side of the bored, san diego residents rallying in support of the migrants. >> they are not criminals. these are people who are seeking to protect their lives and to rebuild their livelihoods. >> reporter: others protesting the military might at the border. does it feel like a war zone to you? >> it absolutely does, and i think it's intimidation. >> reporter: the migrants out of options for now, having

hans nichols, nbc news. >>> we're back with more from california after this.ay and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried to quit smoking for years on my own. i couldn't do it. i needed help. for me, chantix worked. it did. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix, without a doubt, reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. i don't think about cigarettes anymore. talk to your doctor about chantix. i don't think about cigarettes anymo

hans nichols was there when it happened. >> reporter: drastic measures, the u.s. has shut down a maj point of entry with mexico after hundreds of migrants desperate for entrance rushed the wall between tijuana and san diego today. jorge said he and many others are worried president donald trump s will make ttay in mexico while they want et to the u.s. >> we don't want to the live in cages. >> reporter: others are from us trade by living in camps and makeshift shelters. >> the migrants a fed up andear toweding to the san ysidro point entry and pl sundayer in person and file for asylum before it's too laid. >> reporter: but many broke through the police line crossing under the bridge over a river filled with raw sewa. on the other side of the rder boll,ying i snome supf the migrants. >> they are not criminals. these are people who are seeking to protect their lives and to rebuild theirhoods. >> reporter: others protesting the military might at the border. does it feel like a war zone? >> it does and i feel like it's jus intimidation. >> reporter: tonight the migrant

hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >> a california millionaire took giving tuesday to new heights after he personally handed out $1,000 checks to hundreds of paradise residents. bob wilson arrived at paradise high school with two suitcases full of checks. he was able to help 980 students and 105 staff members. the 89-year-old says after reading the news of the camp fire's devastation, he wanted to do something to lift their spirits. the camp fire's death toll is 88, with 158 people still missing. legendary singer stevie wonder also plans to help. on december 9, he is throwing a benefit concert to raise money for the california fire victims. good to see you so many people helping out. >> like mr. rogers said, in times of crisis look for helpers. a lot of helpers there. good morning, bill. >> going to need help shoveling up 15 toinch of snow. it's still snowing in some areas. the storm is located over maine. laken hansoned snow all over the place on the map. still dangerous driving new york state through way, south of buffalo, winter storm warnings. everyone else has been downgraded

so we're waiting on nbc news correspondent hans nichols.s soon as he's available we'll jump and talk to him. for now, i want to welcome in the panel. joining me on set, jonathan swan. co-founder of the beat dc, tiffany cross, republican strategist, rick tyler and nbc news national security reporter julia ainsley. we were hoping to have this conversation with hans to get a better sense really of what is going on, on the ground. obviously, you've been covering it from here in washington. but what do we know about the situation that's going on at the border? how is it different from some of the other -- you've reported there have been other closings in recent weeks. >> last sunday there was a closing because they thought something like this might occur. around 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., it seemed like it was a posturing to show we can shut down this border. and what we're seeing today needs a lot of context around it. it's not that these migrants that we're seeing running, this is the first time they've and to the border. they've been waiting, mo

joining me is our pentagon correspondent hans nichols. trump just signed an order given troops per mission at the boarder. >> there's some caveats. that is if needed. our best understanding of what this entails is you can have troops here behind me. you've got about 500 mps. they're here mostly to harden the border. what the president is talking about is giving present text to border patrol agents. that might include a brief moment of detaining migrants, if they did attack and put agents in bodily arm. it's very hypothetical. i think at this point what we heard from the president is they're very happy they played. here in texas, more than 11,000 meters. the border's been hardened here. the question is, where do those troops go next? some may be heading to california. where some members of the caravan are tijuana. and how do they make sure what trump wants is taken care of when this mission is supposed to end? that deadline could slip and you could have folks not only spend thanksgiving but also more. >> the construct that the president ha

here's hans nichols. >> reporter: defense secretary jim mattis on the border getting progress reports and giving pep talks. >> one thing about the u.s. army, we give you a mission, you'll do it, right? >> reporter: preparing his troops to dig in for the holidays as they wait for the caravan of migrants and refugees still one week away from tijuana. >> we want legal immigration. that's part of what makes america good. but illegal, we're going to carry out the law. >> reporter: mattis touring with the embattled homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen, insisting the nearly 6,000 troops are mostly unarmed and won't apprehend migrants. the president has all but stopped talking about the caravan after daily warnings in the lead-up to the election. >> i think you can't call it anything but a stunt here. >> reporter: troops won't get combat pay, but some will receive an additional $250 a month for being away from their families. hans nichols, nbc news. >>> ahead of the holiday travel season, a warning from a family searching for answers after the murder of their son in mexico. the homici

i want to get to hans nichols here. hans, this new report coming a day after the special counsel's accusation that manafort lied repeatedly to investigators. what has been the reaction there from the white house? >> reporter: well, look, the president criticizing bob mueller's investigation is not new. what's new this morning is the sharpness and the focus of the president's attacks, a conflicted prosecutor gone rogue skbr , and it appears to be coordinated with what rouge is saying, the president's lawyer, where they seem to be establishing a predicate for a party. kristen welker caught up with rudy giuliani, here's what he told her when he was asked would paul manafort be pardoned. he said it is conceivable that he and jerome corsi are telling the truth and the special counsel in their zeal to get the president may be going too far. now, in the past obviously the president has been pressed on whether or not he would grant a pardon, and when he's asked he's been pretty coy about it. >> i don't want to talk about it now

. >> i want to go back to hans nichols. we don't have that tape yet but you have information about what the president has to say as he heads to marine one. >> that's right, chris. reporters are tweeting about what the president is saying. he is changing his story on russia, at least as it relates to any business dealings he has. when i'm running for president, that doesn't mean i'm not allowed to do business. that is a direct contradiction from what he said during the campaign, where he said he seems to be suggesting that he had no business dealings with russia. after this cohen testimony and plea, the president's changing, apparently, his story. he is also calling michael cohen, this is a weak person and not a very smart person. and he's suggesting that he's just trying to make a more advantageous deal with prosecutors. chris, we have the president. he's engaging. when we get more we'll come back to you. this is a president that clearly will diminish his former aide, someone who has with him through so many trials and trib

joining me, nbc news correspondent hans nichols at the white house. so hans, as they're briefing in the building behind you, what can you tell us? have there been any questions at all, or have you had a chance to talk to sarah huckabee or anybody else in the white house about this latest news on manafort today? >> reporter: so nothing on manafort. the news coming out of this briefing right now is that president trump will not be meeting with mohammed bin salman at that g20 meeting. and the national security adviser is being pressed on whether or not he listened to the tape the cia had that reportedly had the last moments of mr. khashoggi's life. he's firmly denied he's going to listen to it. he's having quite a testy exchange with reporters about what he could possibly learn out of it. so this is about a preview of this upcoming trip to argentina. after we hear from bolton, as well as the national economic adviser, then we may hear from sarah huckabee sanders on some more news of the day stuff. for now, it's focused on the president's schedule. >> and

hans nichols is there in san diego, california. hans, with a good day to you.t all is going on there at the border? >> reporter: well, look, right now we've got a solidarity protest here. these people are protesting the ability of those migrants to come into america. they're saying that refugees are welcome. just to give you a sense of it, there are 500, that's what they're expecting anyway. as you can hear now, we have some helicopters overhead. i don't know if they're military. they look like blauk hawckhawks. that's how close we are to a militarized border. the fact that it's been militarized doesn't change what president trump is trying to do. he wants to force asylum claims to be taken into mexico. not to cross the border. the people here are opposed to it. they want to see these people come in. we're going to talk to some folks here. to give you a sense, it is quite early here. they were expecting 500. we have a gentleman here, jerry condon, veterans for peace. thank you for joining us. tell us what you hope to accomplish here this morning. >> we want to

. >> so, let's start at the white house with nbc's hans nichols. so hans, so much to get to. "the washington post," not the only folks reporting on the president's recent fury. one administration official told the "l.a. times," and i'm going to quote here, the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity painted a picture of a brooding president, trying to decide who to blame for republican election losses, even as he publicly and implausibly continues to claim victory. so what are you hearing about how likely he is to take out his frustration by firing some senior staffers and how quickly could that happen? >> reporter: well, the latest from the white house is that mira ricardel, much of the attention was on her yesterday, the deputy national security adviser, she is still in her place as of a few hours ago. that doesn't mean that things haven't changed, as you've been hinting at. this is a very fast-moving situation. in general, chris, presidents use midterms to change the correction of their presidency. if they don't like the advice they're giving, the direction they'r

. >> so the very latest, let's go to nbc hans nichols in tijuana mexico. he's been there reporting live on what has developed. bring us up to speed of what you've seen over the last couple hours and what's happening now. >> okay. ayman, right behind me you see a bunch of migrants that attempted to cross the border. they are coming back. this group of migrants left that shelter earlier this morning. they crossed the tijuana river. they were deterred by riot police. they came to a different point of entry. right here is the old point of entry, the pedestrian bridge. that's been closed along with everything else. they busted through this fence, the migrants did. they tried to get up above this. up above there is a railroad bridge and they tried to find some soft spots. to really give you a sense of what we're seeing, at one point we saw a family carrying a ladder and a stroller. that captures what we're seeing. yes, there are a lot of young mon, but also a lot of families. this seems to be a moment of defeat, because when they busted out -- i don't want to sa

as you heard hans nichols say, the president helicopter has taken off.e'll bring you his comment his as soon as we have them. up next, truth is stranger than fix. hugh "house of cards," one of his show's stars joins me after the break. break. frank knowns northern soul, but how to set up a limited liability company... what's that mean? not so much. so he turned to his friends at legalzoom. yup! they hooked me up. we helped with his llc, contracts, and some other stuff that's part of running a business. so frank can focus on the beat. you hear that? this is frank's record shop. and this is where life meets legal. discover card. i justis this for real?match, yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, a

hans nichols is at the white house with us for more. hans, help me out. the president says he doesn't know matt whitaker. i'm going to pull up the times on september 26th -- overall office. and is said to have an easy chemistry with mr. trump. on monday morning, mr. trump himself called mr. whitaker not with an explicit job offer but a reassurance he has faith in him. do you know anything about that? >> well, we know that matt whitaker was in the oval frequently with sessions when they were meeting. but we don't have an exact readout of those meetings because it's tough to be inside the oval. what's clear is the president is trying to put some distance between himself and matt whitaker. it's also clear, stephanie that he wants to make it -- this is just an interim appointment. he's still looking at a permanent appointment. when he was asked about chris christie, he gave perhaps what we're going to call a trumpian tell. that is, he said christie endorsed him right after he got out of the presidential race. that could be an indication that chris christie is

. >> for more on the president's comments, we're joined by hans nichols at the pentagon. , good to see you. it was about a year ago when trump called out members of the media and he said in august, revoke my security clearance, too, and that came after the president had revoked john brennan's security clearance. talk a little bit about what kind of person bill mccraven is and how military leaders view him. do they see him as a political figure or is he revered as a military leader? >> he's revered. he's not seen as a political leader at all like many members of the armed services. a lot of generals we talked to, k kasie, don't even vote for president because they want to stay apolitical. general mattis did that when he was coming up. he was in charge of saidcom during that mcraven raid on that compound order that eventually took out osama bin laden. they are ducking for cover. they do not want to be involved in this back and forth. here's what came in rob manning earlier today. mcraven is a private citizen and is guaranteed freedom of speech and expression and free to shar

joining me now from tijuana, mexico, is hans nichols. you're there at the border.is new information coming in. what reaction, if any, has the new deal received since the story broke? >> reporter: well here at the actual migrant camp, they aren't processing yet, there needs to be more time for that. what we are hearing is they are determined to make it to the united states. now, if they are held in limbo here, some are willing to stay as long as they possibly can, as long as they're allowed to. we spoke to one eight month pregnant lady. she was traveling with her 7-year-old. inside this catch, it's clear it's crowded. what's also clear, it's getting more crowded. you have close to 5,000 people in this makeshift camp. you have a different manner of tents, tarps, twigs, using as poles in some places, you have some running waerlt. there's some showers off to the side. you have -- running water. there's some showers off to the side and porta-potties, and you get a sense why the mayor referred as a humanitarian crisis, asking for help from the united nations. the potenti

hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. >>> we're going to turn to that massive inattorneyo tearing through a condo complex in dallas. the firefight so intense, there was a mayday call to rescue firefighters who had and there was a daring effort to help them escape. here's nbc's katie beck. whole thing is gone. everything. >> reporter: this is all that's left standing after flames consumed this dallas condo building. >> everything just went up in smoke >> reporter: the fast-moving blaze outmatching even those trained to fight it. >> mayday has been transmitted. >> reporter: a mayday call to rescue three firefighters, trapped ofnside with no path out the thick black smoke. >> they were inside of a second floor uni possibly conducting a search when an upper floor collapsed. >> reporter: pulled from the flames to safety by fellow firefighters. the three were transported to hospitals, along with a resident who suffered smoke inhalation. thno known cause o fire is known yet. for victims, homes lost b lives saved. >> i thank god for life. >> reporter: katie becknbc news. >>> we're learning more a

nbc's pentagon correspondent hans nichols joins me now with that answer. >> we have the official marines service record and he did see combat in afghanistan. it looks like in 2010. from his service record we know what he did, what his mos was. he was a machine gunner. it looks like he was in active duty for about three years, dates of service from 2008, august 2008 to march 2013. now, he got out as a corporal. he did have several awards. he had a navy unit accommodat n accommodation, a navy meritorious unit accommodation. he served with the second battalion, third marine regiment, and he was deployed to afghanistan from november 16, 2010, to june 2011. it was at that time that you have president barack obama's surge in afghanistan, so it does look like he was with the marines in afghanistan. we'll get more as we know it, but the marines of course are offering their condolences to everyone. >> hans, we know that after his abouti active duty tour he also spent some time was it in the reserves or guardsman? >> we heard that from local law enforcement. this says his dates of service are augu

>> hans nichols there at the white house. see you in a minute. we thought it was important to take a welcome at what exactly the mueller investigation has done so far, the results essentially. you have as of this moment 32 people indicted. that includes six guilty pleas, one conviction, four people have gone to jail or prison with the former trump adviser george pop pop dop lus being the latest. i have betsy woot rough, politics from "the daily beast" and msnbc contributor. gang is all here. plenty to talk about. i will give you first crack of this because there are pieces in play to where this goes now. we know what happened and what the special counsel is saying about manafort not telling the truth, manafort's lawyers denying that. >> this is chockful of incidents we can draw from. neither party is seeking to withdraw from the plea agreement. they're both saying we are ready to proceed to sentencing. that tells me one thing, one, mueller has gotten everything he wanted out of manafort and two the defense is unwilling to try to fight the battle

before we do that let's start with nbc's hans nichols. he's at the white house.pentagon as well. let's talk about this report in just a moment, but his immigration speech this afternoon, this is the one that he reportedly delayed after the pittsburgh shooting. what do we know about this speech? >> reporter: we know very little. we know very little in terms of the kind of specifics he wants to give. we do know his intent, craig, and that intent was to give a big immigration speech on tuesday. that had to be canceled for the reasons of going up and paying respects to the victims in pittsburgh. if you look at the president's sum total of how he's trying to focus attention on the border, yesterday at the pentagon officials clearly taken by surprise when the president said that they could go up to 15,000 troops. that's more than we have serving in afghanistan. just to give you a sense of the surprise, craig, on tuesday the head general that's commanding this entire operation said that any discussion of 14,000 was not consistent with any planning they were doing. he fl

hans nichols is in tijuana tonight. housandsrter: tsf central american migranre stalled at the tijuana border. another possible a new deal between mexico and the u.s. that would keep these migrants in mexico.a process that could take months, even years. mexico's government denies any such ag ement. the trump administration is not confirming it either, a spokesperson said they're looking ar fo to working with the incoming mexican president on a wide range of issues. conditions are getting worse. the city's mayor saying the mayor is appealing a humanitarian crisis. sanitation conditions, dire. families in crowded tents made of tarp and twigs, showering outdoors. daily life here, dense anff ult. inside this sports stadium, these people may have to stay here indefinitely just within eye shot of the u.s. border. evelyn martinez eight t months pregnannd -oraveling with her 7-yeld son said she would wait as long as itke ta not all migrants may be as patient with reports that some may try to storm the border. these men rallying

hans nichols, thank you for being there along the border with your crew and producer. we really appreciate it. thanks, hans. >> yeah. >>> i want to shift to a little bit more news with kelly o'donnell now. kelly, the president made some news on saudi arabia. he continued to dig in and to defend his position there. of course, he broke with the cia. the cia said we assess that saudi arabia, the saudi crown prince ordered the killing of jamal khashoggi. president trump said earlier this week that the country wouldn't face serious punishment because he wasn't convinced that it was the saudi crown prince. i want to get your reaction to how president trump weighed in, on the other side. >> i don't think anyone will be able to conclude that the crown prince did it. i will say this -- >> do you think he did it? >> i don't know. i don't know. whether he did or whether he didn't, he denies it denies it . his father denies it, the king, vehemently. the cia doesn't say they did it. they do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things you can conclude that maybe he did

with me now from the white house, nbc news' hans nichols.et's start with the whole robert mueller thing. escalation today, for sure. four tweets as long as you can get, capital letters. what did he say? and what do we know about what's behind this latest tweet storm? >> well, he's saying that the mueller investigation is a total mess. he's accusing him of being angry. it's language we've seen over twitter from the president before. to answer your question, chris, what made the difference about this is that the president's legal team is reported to be reviewing the questions that robert mueller's team has submitted to the president. and that's an indication that at least the white house and the president knows where mueller is going. the direction of his inquiry, as they get potentially into the final stages. but, i have to say, aside from the twitter, it's been a fairly normal day here at the white house. we've had a pretty subdued president. he's had two public engagements, both on the military side. he went down and met with marines at the

hans nichols is there south of san diego. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, peter. president trump sent some 6,000 u.s. troops to the u.s./mexico border earlier this month. they erected a base camp, raising wire. all at a cost of 17 million. behind me in tijuana, the mayor calls it a humanitarian crisis as thousands of migrants are sleeping outside. this morning, competing calls for action on both sides of the border, 5,000 central american migrants are in tijuana. president trump tweeting from mar-a-lago, fix the border for once and for all now. wli the mayor declared a humanitarian crisis and appealed to united nations for help. some are getting within 500 feet of the border. the mayor criticizing his own government, warning they need to take donald trump's threat to shutter the entire border seriously. >> we will close entry to the country until we can get it under control. the whole border. i mean the whole border. >> reporter: calling on congress to come together on a major border security package after his thanksgiving attack on judiciary talking to troops ove

guys. >> hans nichols, thank you so much. more questions right now than answers. >> so many. coming up, nancy pelosi's path to reclaiming the speaker's gavel may have become more difficult thanks to members of her own party. we'll explain that ahead. >>> plus, a story that sam stein broke yesterday about president trump's acting attorney general. we'll be right back. ng attorney. we'll be right back. this is not a bed. it's a revolution in sleep. the new sleep number 360 smart beds are on sale now during ultimate sleep number week. it senses your movement, and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. it can even warm your feet to help you fall asleep faster. so you wake up ready to spin into the holiday season. it's time for ultimate sleep number week. this week only, save 50% on the new sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. ends cyber monday. sleep number. proven, quality sleep. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives fl

i want to bring in nbc's hans nichols at the white house. , walk us through, is this something the president, a, has the power to do, and b, yesterday, lots of net works televised it. the policy speech the president was set to give. >> well, the policy is they're going to be putting out this executive order that's going to try to change asylum applications. >> that's not a policy announcement. >> that is a tactical move to achieve a policy gold that this president wants and that is to seal the border and force migrants to come through the ports of entry. the issue of whether or not it's legal is a question of whether or not you believe in international law. it's clear from this administration they don't believe international law has weight. treaty obligations would require the united states to honor those international commitments and allow anyone who sets foot in the united states to claim asylum. sealing off the border isn't necessarily controversial and asking people to come through points of entry also isn't controversial. what's controve

. >> joining us, a national political reporter who has been on the story and hans nichols, pentagon correspondent department put out this report. >> look, they're preserving what they have to for the president to make a decision. they're just saying a full conclusion across the intelligence community has been made. here's what they're saying. the united states government is determined to hold all those responsible for the killing of jamal hash shogy accountable. there remains numerous unanswered questions with respect to the murder of plaintiff khashoggi. they made life difficult for the director because he's collating all the evidence in the intelligence community who will have to make an official conclusion. >> you did the reporting for nbc. how certain are they? >> they're splitting hairs by bringing up this thing about final conclusion. i don't know anyone who had used this phrase to describe it. they're trying to set up a straw man there they can knock down. it's true there's no indications like a huge smoking gun here, like a written -- >> there never is something like that though. >> you o

ainslie, geoff bennett, in west palm beach where the president is spending the holiday weekend and hans nichols joining us just south of san diego. julia, what's in this deal? >> reporter: we just confirmed this. i spoke to two administration officials who say the operational and legal details are still being worked out. obviously mexico wants something in return if they're going to be keeping what could be thousands of immigrants in mexico while they wait for asylum. this has been part of a strategy but the trump administration for some time. they don't want to bring these asylum seekers into the united states, particularly because they have to release many of them, especially families, while they wait for a judge to make that final decision on asylum. it's been troubling the trump administration for a long time. they call it catch and release. they want to watch and wait in mexico. it will put more pressure on them and suffer more while they wait in mexico without the resources, without the shelter, without the medical care they could get in the united states. so we are sure to probably see s

large groups of migrants running across this river bed somewhat dry, but smells of sewage says hans nicholshere earlier. this right near the border with the united states and mexico and san diego. there are reports that the pedestrian crossings there at the port of entry also suspended both going east and west of the facility there, north/south. it follows here president trump's con dpifirmation of his administration's latest efforts

>> hans nichols, thank you. >>> i want to bring in retired general wesley clark. thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you. nice to be here. >> i want to get to where hans was left off. reports now that some of them may be getting pulled off the border. in your view, are these signals that president trump is in a way politicizing the military? >> well, if you were going to send troops down to protect the customs and border patrol people, you would have started i think with the national guard, because you wouldn't be taking active duty troops off their training missing unless it was absolutely necessary. the fact is those troops are down there. you have to look at this inside the pentagon and ask, can't the national guard there be re-missioned? it's in everybody's interest to get the active-duty troops home as soon as possible so they can maintain their readiness. too early to say if this is more posturing, but we'll certainly keep an eye on that. >> you wrote broughtly today that in your view donald trump doesn't grasp the role. in your op-ed, you said the u.s

i want to bring hans nichols in at the white house. president is set to department for argentina for the g20 meeting any moment. no doubt he will be surrounded by you and other reporters. do we think he's going to say anything? i mean, he has to have some reaction to what's going on. >> reporter: the president before he gets on a long flight like this typically does talk to the cameras. i just heard marine one. it went quiet on the south lawn which means the president could be walking out and talking to reporters at any moment. really the challenge for him is how does he put distance between himself and the man that was his right-hand man for so often. we all remember that air force one comment when he was asked about one of those payments, i believe, to karen mcdougle and said you would have to check with michael about that. that was michael's deal and michael cohen later sharing the tapes in september of this year where trump was clearly aware of that payment. in the past, i believe in april, the president said cohen just did a tiny b

for more on this i'm joined by hans nichols. this is a back and forth, cia seems to think the crown prince did it. we heard different things from the secretary of state now secretary of defense has chimed in. >> reporter: from the secretary of state no direct reporting which is a bit of a hedge and much stronger language from secretary mattis which you said no smoking gun. i want to listen to it here. it's not just what secretary mattis said but how he said it. >> have you listened to the tape? >> no, i cannot understand that language, but i have spent more than enough time in service of our country. i know what grim circumstances can be. i needed to see what was said and i read the translations of what is alleged to be the tape. we do not have the tapes. we do not have the tapes. at least i'm not aware we do. but i have read the translation twice, the day they were given to me. excuse me. and i have also read them about two weeks ago, ten days eeg, i reviewed all the intel we had and i will just tell you there's no smoke, there

hans nichols wna in tijua when migrants stormed the border. >> there are houchundreds of migrants here who haveft their camp and are trying to make it towards the border, towards an officiaoint of entry. but stopping them, mexican police here, who are going to g their them from reach goal. >> reporter: this all comes after the president tweeted sunday, "would be very senatma mexico would stop the caravans long before they got to our southern bordru." the administration is in talks with mexico, according to administration officials, to allow migrants applying for asylum in the united states to n ren mexico while they wait for a decision. >> if we don't have borders, we don't have a country. >> reporter: over the weekend, the president indicated the new asylum policy is a done deal, tweeting, "migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into the united states until their claims are individuallypproved in court." but a top mexican official ntradicted the president, saying no agreement had been reached. also threatened to close the entire u.s. border if the situation worsens. >> th

. >> hans nichols, and speaking of those young men and women, and what are the u.s.roops doing to celebrate the holiday that they are of course spending away from their families? >> well, they have the day off. it is too wet and muddy as you can see for the turkey trot, and maybe some pickup games, and trying to turn the tent, and remember, this camp donna here, it did not exist here three weeks ago, and they have cleared tout grass and leveled the areas to put down the tents, and so it did not exist and they are trying to make it with a touch of home and hanging the decoration, and numbers up at 4:00 this morning and cooking for 2,000 here, and that is 800 pounds of the turkeys, and that is with what they are deep frying and 3,000 servings of roasted turkey, and 14,000 pounds of steak, and 720,000 pounds of shrimp, and 300 pounds of mashed poe tatoes and baked potatoes that you don't want to confuse there. and when it come downs the amount of cake they have, they have cheesecake and 500 pounds of cheesecake, and doing the math which is three slices per soldier, sold

i'm joined by hans nichols. the president tweeted about his trip.he once again complained about nato spending. this is a tried and true one for the president. >> reporter: look, ali, he bracketed his trips with what we thought were going to be sort of a firm approach from the president to challenge nato allies. yet, when he was there, as you mentioned, he was pretty subdued. when he went there he started off being critical because there was some misinterpretation of what macron wants to do with a standing eu army, which is a real issue, but the president conflated a little bit. then he went back to the tried and true practice of hitting the allies for not making their spending amounts. i can remember being up in canada with president trump. he said we need more nato in canada. they are not in canada right now, they pulled out. >> the delays for veterans and their expanded g.i. bill benefits. can you tell us what this is about? >> look, this appears to be an awful technical error at the i.t. department in the department of veterans affairs. remember,

the president's favorite wedge issue, two nbc reporters, geoff bennett, pentagon correspondent, hans nichols and for analysis we have kimberly atkins and matt welch editor at large for "reason" magazine. mr. bennett, this temporary restraining order, it's been out for a while now. any reaction from the white house so far? >> reporter: yeah, and remember the president earlier this month cracked down on asylum claims as part of a broader effort to crack down on illegal immigration at the border. that move was opposed by immigration activists and by sic civil rights groups. a federal judge effectively blocked the trump administration from denying asylum to people who enter the u.s. illegally. here's that statement from u.s. district judge john teagar. he says this, whatever the scope of the president's authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that congress has expressly forbidden. the department of homeland security hit back with a statement of their own. they say it is absurd this a set of advocacy groups can be found to have standing to sue to stop the entire f

now they want them to wait until there's more of an adjudication, which could, as hans nichols showed in his reporting yesterday, could keep them there indefinitely. it would grow to be the size of thousands of migrants, what would look like refugee camps just on the other side of the border. >> so my big question is, what does mexico get out of this? they become this sort of third state where tens, hundreds of thousands of individuals are going to be waiting. julia talking about the infrastructure that would be needed to house all of these men and women and children while this process takes place. why would they be doing this? we're talking about domestic policies here in the u.s., but there are domestic policies and change happening in mexico, as well. as we look forward to new leadership there. >> mexico has a new president coming in, there are a lot of things that mexico wants from the u.s. they might be interested in making some kind of deal. the problem is that the u.s. needs to stop treating mexico as if it's there to do work that americans don't want to do. we have to remember

my thanks to hans nichols for jumping on the air with us, aaron blake, karine jean-pierre, and rick stangal. >> i try to tell the truth when i can. i mean -- >> try to go to the gym, i try to eat salad. that's things you say about things you try and don't do. when my schedule permitted. >> dressing on the side, when i can. thank you, nicolle. if it's thursday, is the president's closing message opening the door for the democrats? >>> good evening. i'm chuck todd in washington. welcome to "mtp daily" and what you might call the chicken little presidency, which saw a fascinating and some democrats would argue, a fascinating split screen courtesy of oprah. was her message the antidote democrats have been looking for when it comes to this president's fear campaign. for his part, the president continues to amp up his rhetoric, much with violent undertones. he's telling the country the press is the enemy, democrats are a violent mob, and a caravan that's 900 miles is an imminent invasion. just moments ago at the white house, he reiterated that warning. >> some people call it an invasion. it's lik