i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside jeff bennett." starts now. >>> we have developed a strong relationship. we understand each other and i think i understand him. then yesterday i had the idea maybe i'll call chairman kim and see if he wants to say hello. so we didn't give him much notice, but we've become -- we respect each other. we respect each other. maybe even like each other. since our first meeting in singapore we get along. we got along. we had a great kind of feeling. i want to thank you, kim. you hear the power of the voice. nobody hears the voice before. he doesn't do news conferences in case you haven't heard. this was a special moment. >> president trump the first sitting united states president to step foot into north korea based on an invitation sent over twitter. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it's monday, july the 1st. i'm willie geist. joe and mika have the morning off. with us we have the president of the council on foreign relations, author of "the world in disarray" richard haass. elise jordan. former ch

jeff bennett has that story. >> reporter: tonight divisions over the migrant crisis. house democrats condemning how the trump administration split migrant families sometimes sending parents back to their home countries without their children >> you were doing deportation before the reunification without knowledge the parents are being reunified. >> yes >> in other words you're kidnapping the child >> not kidnapping the child. >> taking a parent without their child is kidnapping. >> reporter: the trump administration is under fire for the family separation policy and continues facing criticism over reports of deplorable conditions at facilities along the border one of the facilities in the el paso sector where disturbing allegations emerged about overcrowding and the mistreatment of children in clint. according to a document, the head of the sector is being reassigned to detroit. he recently spoke with gabe gutierrez. >> the children that were there were receiving hygiene >> reporter: aber in, a guatemalan migrant talked about conditions he experienced. he described ha

ensuring a financial safety net for those sickened by toxic exposure at the site our jeff bennett has late details. >> reporter: tonight a victory for the first responders who risked their lives on september 11th cheering from above the senate floor. >> expression of approval is not permitted in the gallery >> reporter: as a bill passes to permanently pay for the 9/11 victim compensation fund >> the yeas are 97, the nays are 2. the bill is passed >> reporter: the two senators voting no, republicans mike lee and rand paul. both introducing measures to cap pay outs, which failed >> this should never have been a fight. >> reporter: the compensation fund had been running short on money. recently gaining nationwide attention following passionate pleas for support from first responders and comedian jon stewart. >> your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity, time >> reporter: stewart back on capitol hill today >> we'll spend some time today thinking about the friends that we've lost they gave their last moments, really, coming down to washington and fighting for

i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside jeff bennett. >> this morning, following a facebook post propublica first reported the group. we have not confirmed the post. the group was created back in august 2016 and boasts about 9500 members with code i'm in 1015. able to link the participants to apparently legitimate facebook profiles belonging to border patrol agents including a supervisor based in el paso, texas. in one exchange, they responded with indifference and wisecracks after a news story of a 16-year-old migrant who died in border control. one member posted the gif with elmo with the quote, oh, well. and another with the quote, if he dies, he dies. the border patrol chief but out this statement saying this, these posts are completely inappropriate and contrary to the honor i see and expect from our agents day in and day out. any employees found to have violated our standard of conduct will be held accountable. >> the existence of that group was reported on the same day the house caucus and other democrats toured facilities in el p

choosing to live together later in life to ease financial pressures and fight loneliness nbc's jeff bennetts us inside this growg trend. >> reporter: roommates are the netiment plan. ilene hyatt and jean vogel werer strangers until a ago the two now live together and say they've become good friends, both seeking the same thing. >> i found myself to be in a situation after a long marriage and divorced, and i could afford my own place, but i was a little concerned about moving and isolating myself a being alone. >> i ave busy and i have lots of friends, but i wasfi nding that i was lonely at home >> reporter: ilene is 74 she rents a room in her home to jean who is 55 >> hey -- >> reporter: they're part of a owing trend of baby boomers choosing to live together in their later years for companionship and to cut costs the number of americans overve who li with a friend or unmarried partner jumped 75%n nearly a decade, for good reason home sharing can broaden social circles at ages when people might otherwise feel isolated and many older americans are looking for cheaper alternatives to living al

jeff bennett has that story. >> reporter: tonight divisions over the migrant crisis. house democrats condemning how the trump administration split migrant families sometimes sending parents back to their home countries without their children. >> you were doing deportation before the reunification without any knowledge of whether the parents are being reuninified? >> yes. >> in other words you're kidnapping the child. >> not kidnapping the child. >> taking a parent without their child is kidnapping. >> reporter: the trump administration is under fire for the family separatn ports of deplo nd along the border. and tonight nbc news has exclusively learned that active duty u.s. troops are stationed inside a border patrol holding facility in texas monitoring detainees despite past assurances that active duty troops would not be in direct contact with migrants. the u.s. military says the troops are not armed or acting as law enforcement. 17-year-old abner, a guatemalan migrant talks about conditions he encountered at a border. he described having nowhere to sleep for days g

>> all t, jeff bennett, thank you. >>> another major story tonight, we're just hours away from former special counsel robert mueller taking the hot seat in front of congress to answer questions about the russia probe for the first time. nbc's kristen welker now in the most anticipated testimony in years. >> reporter: tonight, house democrats huddling in a last-minute practice session, preparing to question robert mueller in ae mak or break moment for their case against the president. >> i think it's very important that these facts come to light. our committee is most concerned about the compromise of na.onal security >> reporter: nbc's kasie hunt is on capitol hill. >> when robert mueller sits down re tomorrow, it's going to be the 89th time he's testified before congres over a long career in public life. democrats know this might be their last chance to convince the american pubc on impeachment. so they tell us they plan to keep their questions sharp and targeted. >> reporter: overnight, after mueller's request forguidance, the justice department instructing he must remain within the

the skies have already opened up and thunderstorms are in the forecast.is krten. >> jeff bennett ghtromng to washington. as the debate over ismmigration rages, there new cost for some undocumented immigrants who ignore deportation orders. they're now receiving bills for hundreds of thousands of dollars. gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: today in texas, more outrage er the treatment of migrant children at the border. it comes as the trump administration tries something new to crack down on illegal immigration. this woman took sanctuary in this ohio church in 2017 disobeying deportation order. >> they know where i am. i know i'm here in the church. >> reporter: now immigration and customs enforcement has sent her this letter, a notice that c.e. intends to fine $500,000 y for failing to leave the country. no >> i don't kwhy they send me this letter. >> reporter: her attorney says the government is citing a little-used section ofe thimmigration and nationality act to justify the fine. according to a written statement, i.c.e. began issuing the tices in december, charging undocumented i

. >> and joining me now as we are await a briefing from jerry nadler is jeff bennett, jeff mason and margaret crossen, nan donna edwards, now a washington post opinion writer. jeff bennett, at the white house, you've covered the white house and the hill. the white house obviously watching this, the jerry nadler briefing. he's probably going to talk about don mcgahn and the legal steps to get mcgahn, a reluctant witness. >> reporter: house democrats are going to get access of the grand jury material. they also intend to go to the courts to reaffirm their oversight authority and responsibilities, really, to get don mcgahn the former white house counsel who was a key player in the mueller proceed to testify before that committee. this is part of the process that nancy pelosi says she wants to see play out before house democrats move or potentially move towards impeachment. again, today, we heard her reiterate she's not against starting impeachment proceedings against this president, she's just not for it right now. she wants democrats to be able to be in the best position to make the be

. >> good morning, i'm jeff bennett alongside alex witness. yasmin has the week off. we made it to friday. >> the first nbc news wall street journal poll is finally here. the front runners were the two at center stage of each debate. joe biden leads by 26% and warren trails at just 19%. harris and sanders tied for 13% as pete buttigieg each with 7%. no other candidate in the race cracks below 1% below the qualifier. if given the choiz between ideology and the ability to win, 51% of democrats said their candidate who shared their views and 45% says they want the person who has the best chance to beat donald trump. 47% chose harris. 32% picked senator warren. buttigieg and biden each impressed 15% of those polled. cory booker with just 6%. >> a fox news poll of south carolina shows the former vice president with with a big lead there. 35% say they would vote for biden, a 21% lead over sanders. harris in third with 12% with warren back at 5%. senator booker with 3% and buttigieg at 2%. biden's advantage shows a strong show of support from african-american voters among wh

i'm yasmin vossoughian along white house correspondent jeff bennett. president trumpt doubling down over wide-spread criticism of a series of tweets attacking four congress women. the president defended his remarksed in which he said the four democrats should, quote, go back to the crime infested places from which they came. >> it doesn't concern you that many people saw that tweet as racist and that white nationalists group are finding common cause with you on that point? >> it doesn't concern me because many peoplen agree with me. all i'm saying, if they want to leave, leave. it doesn't say leech forever. >> l as far as i'm concerned, i you hate our country. if you are not happy here you can leave. that's what i say all the time. that's what i said in a tweet, which some people say is controversial. >> i look at omar, i never met her. i hear the way she talks about al ki al kieda you can hold my chest out. these arest people, that in my opinion hate our country. all i'm saying that if they are not happy here, they can leave. i'm sure there will be ma

jeff bennett joins us now. jeff >> that's right, lester. house speaker nancy pelosi holding a high profile 30 minute sit down meeting with the freshman member of congress to try to smooth things over, pelosi even tweeting the photo with alexandria ocasio-cortez afterwards, both of them smiling. now, the meeting follows sharp disagreements she's had with ocasio-cortez and other progressives over strategy and key issues pelosi down played those disputes, comparing the situation to disagreements within a family. and the house speaker today also said she wants to continue taking a wait and see approach to pursuing impeachment proceedings as now nearly 100 house democrats are calling for impeachment. the president tonight dismissing it as nonsense lester >> all right jeff, thanks >>> now to the price you pay for your cell phone bill after the feds today gave approval for a mega merger, two of the biggest cell phone companies combining jolene kent takes a look at what that could mean for you. >> reporter: tonight the question many smartphone user

nbc white house correspondent jeff bennett in washington. welcome all. thanks so much. peter baker, you and i have seen a lot over the years. but i have never seen a president of the united states arousing a crowd with rants of send her back. >> yeah, no, that's a different level than we've seen before. obviously in the 2016 campaign, we saw a lot of lock her up chants about hillary clinton. that was a new type of campaigning we hadn't seen before. this takes it to a different level. it suggest physical you're an american citizen but don't agree with the president's policies you should leave the country. divided not -- democrats are very upset about this, but even republicans are uncomfortable about it. the head of the house republican campaign committee said that that kind of language has no place in american politics. he disavowed it. but he didn't disavow the president. he said the president doesn't have a racist bone in his body. he's making a distinction between what the crowd was saying last night and the president's actions. >> jeff bennett, tell me of a strategy

jeff bennett picks up the coverage right now. >> good morning. i'm jeff bennett in for stephanie ruhle, and we begin with breaking news. the uk envoy resigning this morning after he accused the president of being incompetent. what's the british ambassador saying about his decision to step down this morning? >> reporter: jeff, good morning to you. bottom line the ambassador is sending the signal that his position had become untenable because of those leaked cables. let me read a little bit of his resignation letter. he said the current situation is making it impossible for me to carry out my role as i would like. although my posting is not due to end until the end of this year, i believe in the current circumstances, the responsible course is to allow the appointment of a new ambassador. this is not entirely a surprise, of course, jeff, because you had the president lashing out at the ambassador, calling him wacky, calling him a very stupid guy, and so the sense was that the two just couldn't work together, and president trump, of course, had esse

i'm jeff bennett in for andrea mitchell. at this hour, president trump is refusing to take no for an answer in his fight to get a controversial citizenship question added to the u.s. census. with the courts stopping him, president trump is expected to announce he's taking executive action to get that question included in the national head count. his announcement alongside attorney general bill barr is likely to happen during what the president is billing on twitter as a news conference later today. if he takes questions, you can expect him to be pressed on the census, but also the nationwide i.c.e. raids on thousands of immigrant families set to begin sunday and the future of embattled labor secretary alex acosta. joining me now is nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, julia ainsley, jeff mason, and msnbc contributor barbara mcquaid. christen welker, let's talk about why we're expecting this news conference. the president pushing for a citizenship question on the census. and our first team led off this morning with a

"andrea mitchell reports" starts now but it's not andrea, it's jeff bennett. >>> thank you.orts," executive action, president trump is trying to make matters into his own hands to get the citizenship question added to the 2020 census after the supreme court ruled the administration did not provide enough of a reason for why it was even necessary. >> you see justice roberts throwing it back to the district courts and saying you better come up with a rationale that's

. >> it's a brilliant idea thanks to jeff bennett for that report still ahead here on "early today,"o behindhe t scenes on the most spectacular july 4th celebration of them all. hairs" "oh i love it. it's a great razor. it has that 'fence' in the middle. it gives a nice smooth shave. razor. just stopping that irritation.... that burn that i get. i wouldn't use anything else" ♪ this is not just a headache. this is not just a fever. this is not just the flu. it's meningitis b... and you're not there to help. while meningitis b is uncommon... once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly and can be fatal... sometimes within 24 hours.yo ten to college... make sure you help protect them. talk to your teen's doctor... about meningitis b vaccination. are confusing quilted northern for robes. they're both cushiony, comforting, and add elegance to your home. but quilted northern is not a robe. it's just really nice toilet paper. finally, an eggo thick and fluffy waffle all to myself, whoa. karen, karen you've got to try this. breakfast in bed? major. husband. points. would you l'eggo your e

i'm yasmin vossoughian along with jeff bennett.th the revolving door at the trump white house. another member could soon be on the outs. we have learned president trump has grown sour on commerce secretary wilber ross and is considering removing him. joining us from washington. hans, good morning. what more can you tell us about this? >> the president is making calls and asking questions on whether or not, how people think ross is doing and is considering replacing his commerce secretary. we've been down this road with wilber ross before and every time, he seems to survive. here is what is a little different this time. number one, the president doesn't need the will ber ross on the census. it happened. he reversed course but he no longer needs ross to defend that or sheppard it through. that may be what motivated some of this. the other part is that ross has this personal relationship with the president he's been able to draw upon. they go back 25 to 30 years. every time you think ross is on the outs, he's able to convince the pres

joining us now, white house correspondent jeff bennett, nbc news correspondent and nbc news nationalalyst ned price. ken, to you first. just how big are the differences between coats and ratcliff? >> they're both republicans but that appears to be where the similarities end. coats distinguished himself in the job by standing up to the president on behalf of the intelligence community. he testified before congress iran was complying with the nuclear deal, north korea was unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons, and russia was continuing to interfere in our politics. those are all things the opposite of what trump was saying at the time. so in short, coats appeared willing to speak truth to power. speaking to andrea mitchell last summer he made clear that he thought it was ridiculous that president trump was inviting vladimir putin to the white house, a meeting that never happened. ratcliffe by contrast is about as partisan a republican as we have in congress and he has been sort of hewing to the conspiracy theories about the origins of the russia investigation. he said yesterday he be

i'm jeff bennett live at msnbc news quarters in new york on a busy sunday night. uniformed ice targets go door to door to arrest individuals and families with deportation orders. more on that in a moment. but it is a twitter tirade from president trump that's getting most of the attention today. he attacks several progressive congresswomen who have been outspoken against his immigration policies. president trump tweeting why don't they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came and come back and show us how it's done. he added nancy pelosi would be happy to work out free travel arrangements. the house speaker responded with a tweeter of her own saying, i reject donald trump's comments. she adds he should quote top the raids. those raids have started. albeit slowly. a handful of arrests have already taken place. although the number and locations of the arrests are not yet clear. "the new york times" today reported that the administration changed its plans from a large sweeping operation to a set of smaller ones after news

so right now i want to bring in nbc news white house correspondent jeff bennett who was there on thealso nbc news correspondent hans nichols who is live for us in new jersey. hans, let's start with you. i heard a lot in that press conference. we heard about plastic straws. we heard about the congresswoman, we heard about china. but we also heard about iran. can you tell me what is the white house working on in terms of a response? >> well, the white house appears to have an inconsistent message at this point. you heard the president hipted that at one point he said iran is going to work out great, it's going to be fine. in another moment he said iran is in big trouble right now. it's hard to square those two things. now the president didn't necessarily amp up his rhetoric. he gave a tour of what he thinks is the situation inside of iran. that is an economy is cratered. that's bolstered by the facts. the president gave us a little something new there that iran is bringing some of its troops back home. that's an indication that the president thinks he has iran on the ropes. >> and we a

. >>> and that wraps up this hour of "msnbc live," i'm jeff bennett. " starts right now. i got all choked up. >> i'm choked up just thinking about it. jeff, thank you so much. >>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," second chance. tonight a critical test for joe biden after his weak performance in the first round of debates. who is going to take him on tonight? >> i was probably overly polite in the way i didn't respond to an attack. >> the response to having a substantive records shouldn't be to go on an attack. >> democrats divided. with elizabeth warren and bernie sanders under fire from the moderates on the stage, debate night reveals a battle for the heart and soul of the democratic party. >> why do we got to be the party of taking something away from people? >> we're the democrats. we are not about trying to take away healthcare from anyone. that's what the republicans are trying to do. >> it's true that if we embrace a far left agenda, they're going to say we're a bunch of crazy socialists. if we embrace a conservative agenda? they're going t

jeff bennett picks up the coverage right now. >> good morning. begin with breaking news. the uk envoy resigning this morning after he accused the president of being incompetent. what's the british ambassador saying about his decision to step down this morning? >> reporter: jeff, good morning to you. bottom line the ambassador is sending the signal that his position had become untenable because of those leaked cables. let me read a little

everybody, it is july 15th, i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside nbc white house correspondent jeff bgeoff bennett. >>> at this point, back in the 2012 cycle, the nbc "wall street journal" poll found the president's approval rating at 45% within the range of other polls this year. his disapproval rating stands at 22%. in july of 2011, president obama had a higher rating with a lower disapproval rating. trump loses handily to joe biden by 9 points, 51-42. senator bernie sanders bests trump by 7, 50% to 43 while senator kamala harris has a one point edge over the president. also in the july 2011 nbc "wall street journal" poll, president obama was leading republican mitt romney by 7 points, 48-41. >>> president trump's much discussed mass deportation raids were set to place yesterday. after garnered headlines, those large scale operations failed to materialize. "the new york times" report that a handful of arrests appeared to take place and reported in only a few cities, much different than the nationwide show of force that had been originally planned. the plans for the operation were changed at the

jeff bennett, i have to say, i predicted it my friend. >> you did. >> on wednesday that you were going to need a personal umbrella holder for your network coverage. the problem is i don't think you had one. >> part of the reason i'm in washington this morning is because i covered that speech at the lincoln memorial last night and all of us there to cover had to surrender our umbrellas so we all got a great drenching in service to the trapractice of journalism. >> rick tyler seems to think you should have had one of the hats on. >> the little hat. >> i'm not convinced that would be such a good look for me but i appreciate it. >> all right. a soggy 4th of july celebration in the nation's capitol. thousands of spectators turned out for the festivities which typically draws a large crowd but have not included a presidential address since 1951 when then harry truman parked the 175th independence day. tanks were before the lincoln memorial and a series of aircrafts each in tribute to a different branch of the armed forces flew over the crowd. behind rain streaked panels the president deliver

jeff bennett at the white house for us on this fourth. of a number of things,nthings, including the u.s. military. it could have an impact on how many people show up frutor the celebrations in washington, d.c. new york's east river will be the scene of the largest fireworks display in the country. summer heat could affect celebrations across the country. joining me now right now is our meteorologist bill karins. >> all eyes will be on d.c. they do have the chance of seeing some showers and thunderstorms. this morning, the worst of the weather has been in areas of northeast kansas. topeka and emporia have gotten it. let's focus in on washington, d.c. here's philadelphia, baltimore, d.c. at 1:00 p.m. showers and storms beginning to pop up. looks like it could be over the beltway 3:00 to 4:00. by 5:00 they're hit or miss. what you'll notice, it's typical of the summertime as we go throughout the evening everything dries up. for the fireworks show it looks great. as we go throughout the late afternoon we'll be dodgeliing storms. we showed you

that the jeff sessions department of justice was so intent on enforcing the voting rights act they had to ask this question. that was preposterous. it was cooked up by wilbur ross and steve bennett and all those folks. the president today came right out and said why he wants this information. i want to play for you and get your reaction to hearing him be explicit about what they're after. take a listen. >> not the one you needed for congress. you need it for congress, for districting. you need it for appropriations. where are the funds going? how many people are there? are they citizen? are they not citizens? you need it for many reasons. >> sorry, that was from friday. but he is being very clear here that they want worry and representation and everything around citizens. >> that's right. they want to change the rules. we've known from at least the 14th amendment that every person is to be counted and included in apportions house of representatives seats among the states. they appear to want to revisit that, and we have throughout our history counted the total population, recognizing that everyone is a constituent in drawing the districts that are represented by congress member,