is kelly o'donnell with me? i'm going to ask kelly what happens next. kelly? >> well, ali, there is also a plan for conversations to happen today with meetings where the president will have a chance to sort of reflect on what's happened here and also to try to carry some of the more diplomatic and foreign policy steps forward. this was the centerpiece. this was a really important point for the president, for the symbolism that we've seen, as well as for the hosts who were there to present him the history to set the moment, also for important members of the staff of the president who were also there for their own personal experience of it. we're waiting for the next steps for the president. his schedule has been running behind. we've encountered this through the trip. that's sort of the nature of things when you have this kind of significant movement. one of the things that i have been noticing while we've been watching these events unfold is the constant sound of helicopters overhead, we have also seen israeli law enforcement or perhaps army, i'm not certain b

. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell is joining us from jerusalem. kelly, give us a sense of what the expectations game is like there. because you have a president who obviously has had very warm things to say, the relationship with benjamin netanyahu couldn't be much more different than that with barack obama, having said that, we have seen things on changes like making jerusalem the capital. and then you have the whole intelligence flap, whether or not he gave intelligence to the russians. so give us a sense of what it is like there on the ground? >> reporter: good to be with you, chris. president trump can try to leverage a decades-long friendship with the man, benjamin netanyahu, now that they are president and prime minister. that friendship comes into this visit and clearly we have seen that the prime minister has acknowledged the impact and importance of the president choosing to make israel part of his first overseas trip, part of the itinerary never been done before. when we talked to senior advisers, in crafting the architect of this trip as

kate. >> kelly o'donnell overseas for us. kelly, thanks.or a closer look at the president's ambitious agenda this week, we are joined also by nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. the president is leaving saudi arabia a few hours from now. where is he headed next? next stop israel. it may be sensitive diplomatic territory. the president has long had a warn relationship with benjamin netanyahu, but he is heading there at a time that could be critical, trying to reassure this ally after sharing sensitive israeli intel with the russians in an oval office meeting. he also plans to be put them on a path to peace set to meet with mahmoud abbas in bethlehem, as well. after that off to rome for maybe a potentially awkward meeting with the pope. flashback to the campaign. remember then candidate trump blasted the pope after pope francis only building walls and not bridges too isn't christian. >> hallie, it is not just the home cities for the world's major religions, the president also headed to brussells to meet with nato leaders, an

kelly o'donnell , thank you.ou can see more of my interview with carly fiorina on our nightly facebook page and more tomorrow on msnbc. >>> president trump of course, has made keeping jobs from leaving the country and bringing them back to the country a centerpiece of his administration. but economists warn he will have a tough time reversing the trend despite claiming an early success at an indiana company owned by carrier corporation. at another factory down the road, the workers are not so lucky. >> reporter: in indianapolis the end of the line is coming for 300 workers at a rexnord, a global industrial company closing up shop here after 60 plus years. >> to relocate its indianapolis operations to an existing rexnord facility in mexico. >> reporter: american jobs headed to monterrey, mexico. this single mother just worked her final shift. >> i didn't think i would be leaving today, you know. i thought 20 years from now i would be retiring from this place. >> reporter: six months ago , president trump called th

>> kelly o'donnell at the white house tonight. president trump also getting a lot of attention today for extending an invitation to the controversial president of the philippines, rodrigo duterte. in a phone call last night, mr. trump invited him to visit the white house. since duterte took office last year, thousands have died after he encouraged police and others to kill drug dealers and users in his country. the timing of his visit to washington has not been announced. >>> while donald trump, the president, says he's focusing on his white house duties, trump the businessman recently suffered a legal loss. over the years, hundreds of contractors have accused mr. trump of failing to pay them, but now one business is being paid back to the tune of more than $300,000. nbc's kerry sanders has those details. >> reporter: paint store owner juan carlos enriquez says between unpaid bills and legal fees, he could have gone out of business. for three years, he a customer he says stiffed him for more than $32,000. that customer, the doral

kelly o'donnell has our report. >> reporter: though the president stayed out of public view at his new jersey estate for nearly three days his team was on television. pushing for more action on health care. >> we also believe that it's up to the senate, if there are improvements to be made, to make them. >> reporter: visible on twitter the president pressured his own party. republican senators will not let the american people down. obamacare the president declared was a lie and it is dead. a very different reaction at town hall meetings. where constituents vented and even booed, idaho republican congressman who made this claim. >> nobody dies because they don't have access to health care. >> reporter: but with concerns about coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, on "meet the press" secretary tom price said most americans would not see a >> if you have medicare, medicaid, insurance through the va or tricare or through your employer none of this affects you in the pre-existing illness or condition discussion we're having. >> reporter: democratic senator dianne feinstein says i

our kelly o'donnell has been traveling with the president and files tonight's report from sicily. >>eporter: in the air over sicily today the president capped his nine-day journey of nearly 30,000 miles with a visit to u.s. troops in italy. the most difficult miles ahead, maybe the trip back home, where he's returning to a growing controversy surrounding his son-in-law and top adviser's pre-inauguration contacts with the russian ambassador. the "washington post" reports that jared kushner asked for a secret communication channel to vladimir putin in early december. president trump steered clear of reporters' questions for the entire trip. while other presidents and prime ministers held news conferences, the white house tried to avoid any talk of the russia investigation. senior aides who briefed reporters off camera refused to discuss new scrutiny around son-in-law jared kushner. >> we're not going to comment on jared. we're just not going to comment. >> the only reason to go to the russian embassy and speak on secret russian phone lines is to prevent the u.s. intelligence community

richard. >> kelly o'donnell in italy with the president with the very latest. thank you so much for that, kelly. let's bring in nbc's ken dalanian. ken, nbc has not yet confirmed the reporting from "the washington post" as of yet. what are your sources saying about this latest intelligence on kislyak's reported comments about kushner that came out yesterday in reporting? >> richard, current and former intelligence officials are telling me that this "washington post" report if true amounts to a game-changer and how they understand the whole trump-russia saga. the behavior described is so deeply suspicious. as you know, we at nbc news were the first to report that jared kushner is under fbi scrutiny in the trump/russia investigation. now we appear to be seeing some of the reasons why he may be under scrutiny. you have to consider the context here. this meeting in december came months after the intelligence community had said with unanimity in an assessment that russia hacked, leaked and interfered in the election. russia was under pressure. the trump transition te

nbc's kelly o'donnell is live in italy. first of all, i'm very jealous of where you are right now, so i'm going to start with that. secondly, let's get to the more important matter and that is the news. there's obviously been some strain on the relationship between the u.s. and the u.k. right now regarding leaks, intelligence leaks about what happened in the manchester bombing that were leaked to the u.s. press before it came out in the u.k. talk to me about how they're trying to make sure that that does not harm the information sharing relationship that our two countries have. >> reporter: well, katy, it's something that certainly the united kingdom is concerned about with this close relationship and seeing, in the heat of the investigation for mancheer, some specific information about evidence being shared. that really set things off. and so as the prime minister theresa may explained, the u.s. relationship with the united kingdom remains strong, and she wanted assurances from president trump about a commitment to lockdow

. >>> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins us from riyadh. is the white house happy with how the first day went? >> reporter: the first day is a win asefined by the white house. that's something they've been sorely needing. the president's experience on the first day is positive, well received here in saudi arabia. the coverage from this part of the world has been favorable. all the lights behind me is because the president's hotel is behind me. there have been many motorcades and lots of security. the president is able to claim this is historic and there are big successes here. day one gives them an opportunity to define the visit on those terms. now, among the things they were able to accomplish, knowing it going in as well. they were able to formalize it today, a chance for the u.s. and saudi arabia to come together on some new efforts to slow or prevent terror financing, also to work on the information part of the internet where there is recruitment online, trying to reach loan wolvne wolves around world. they're going to have a setup her

but let me bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell. she's traveling with president trump. she is just a stone's throw, if you will, in jerusalem. kelly, bring us up to speed on what president trump has done so far today. and also on what we can expect to hear from him and mr. netanyahu any moment from now. >> reporter: craig, this has been the second stop on the president's five-stop, nine-day trip and it's been framed in history with threads oh of what is new and different with the trump administration by the president and his team. of course, we saw for the first time an airliner went from an arab country, riyadh, saudi arabia, landing directly in tel aviv. there was a lot of attention drawn to that, because that is not what is typically done. and then there was the opportunity for the first time to see a sitting u.s. president visit the western wall. and president trump and his family were there. we saw the solemn ceremony, the sort of exchange and explanation of history. and seeing donald trump making an observance of prayer, the kind of thing we have not seen from him

kelly o'donnell, let's start with you. a lot of ground covered from sean spicer today. a lot of it on health care. it didn't sound like most of the reporters were getting clarity that they were seeking. >> reporter: well, the white house has something to answer for. the president has publicly said over the last weeks that coverage for those with pre-existing medical conditions would be available and would be affordable. and yet this late term where we have some members of the house republican conference coming to the white house, speaking to the president, was dealing with that very issue. through the conversations the president has had, he apparently now agrees that there needed to be additional resources devoted to that topic. some members of his own party, they are senior members with a lot of knowledge on that topic. one was on the committee that handle ts health care, concerned about what would happen to his own constituents. so this additional money to beef up the pool system for those in the high risk category is something appears will be an agreed upon part of b

joining me live is kelly o'donnell from jerusalem and bill neely. bill, let's start with you. this is a pretty historic moment for the president to make jerusalem one of the first places he goes to on his foreign trip. in your estimation, having covered this city and state for as long as you have, how did it go? >> well, i think it's gone pretty well so far. there's certainly a very warm welcome here. he's got very ambitious plans, of course, for that ultimate deal. but everything has been highly scripted until, katy, that moment. no one knows why he decided to do that, but if everything is all right, why did he feel it necessary to make that comment, and why did benjamin netanyahu, the prime minister, feel it necessary to back him up if, indeed, everything is fine with israeli intelligence relationship with the united states? if you listen to his remarks closely, katy, he really wanted to say that. he said four times "just so you understand, i never mentioned -- i never mentioned the word or the name israel during that conversation." nobody claims that he didn't mention the w

but first let's get to kelly o'donnell. a good saturday to you. let's talk about what new we have leshd from the president this morning. >> reporter: to give you the scene this is a case where the president is on a smaller version of air force one to make the short trip to lynchburg, virginia, and he wandered back to the press area of the cabin and had a conversation with the journalists and the traveling pool, the rotating news organizations that share that duty, and talked with them. there were questions asked, of course. one of the big topics is where do things stand with choosing an fbi director to succeed james comey. and the president talked about some of the qualities and the time line for his decision. do you think you might make a decision or announcement before you leave? >> people that are very well known, the highest level, so we can make a decision. >> reporter: next week before the trip possibly? >> that is possible. almost all are well known. they've been vetted over their lifetime essentially. but very well known. highly respected,

kelly o'donnell, mike, greg, and admiral james, thank you very much, guys. coming up, terror investigation, the latest in the attack in manchester, england, that left 22 people dead and 59 others injured. many of them children. a live look right now at a vigil currently being held. hundreds are gathered there to remember the victims. we'll head to the uk for the latest. security is getting beefed up in cities across this country in the wake of last night's terror attack. why authorities are paying extra attention to so-called soft targets. and what is being done to protect them. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day donald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our comtment to being america's best first job. ♪ that airline credit card yout? have... it could be better. it's time to shake things up. with the capital

. >> for more on this, kelly o'donnell is in brussels. i don't know what you thought we'd talk about, kelly, but i was listening to that speech with a little surprise, after the warm reception in saudi arabia. the warm reception in israel. i thought we were seeing nice president trump. he got to nato, and the chiding and the scolding came back. >> well, this is donald trump trying to put pressure on the members of the nato alliance. 23 out of 28 countries that do not keep to the pledge of 2% of their gross domestic product for e shared defense. soe definitely saw a tough tone from president trump. those who had expected he'd make a much more explicit endorsement of article 5, you laid out what that is, attack on one is an attack on all, he did not do that. senior white house officials tell us team here that his mere presence is an endorsement of article 5. to say something more would have been redundant. i think others might interpret that differently, that there were other leaders looking for that kind of exples sicit suppo for nato. inst

. >> since i saw this briefing, i have been dying to ask my friend, kelly o'donnell, who joins us from that white house briefing room, the following question. kelly, this was the first time i have heard the white house say that since election day, donald trump who has in the interim air kissed the fbi director, he's praised him, he has tweeted that what he did was the best thing to ever happen to democrats. were they keeping it a secret? or do you think that the white house made up this explanation today that he has been thinking about replacing jim comey since election day? >> well, also the vice president mike pence said today on capitol hill when asked about this, the president was decisive. well, if he's been thinking about it since election day, that's six months, a very long time. >> not very decisive, right? >> exactly. it's hard to understand what the thinking behind that is. certainly comey had been criticized. the president was aware of that. he might have considered making a change upon taking office, but didn't do that. as you point out, he praised him, certainly on the cam

kelly o'donnell of nbc news.erfecti perfectionists at the national park service, making sure every blade of grass in the patch behind us is fully mowed. thank you for joining us. i'll turn it over to my colleague in new york, chris jansing. >>> right now on msnbc, trump on defense. this morning, the president tweets that the new department of justice investigation marks, quote, the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in american history. we'll have reaction from both sides. >> i've been worst treated than president trump has. let's make sure we know about that. >> common ground. republicans and democrats backing the man who will lead the doj probe. former fbi director bob mueller. we'll descri his role and why he is admired on the hill. >> i think it was a good choice when i first heard it. i think we can move forward. >>> breaking news. former fox news chief roger ailes has died. we'll look at the legacy of a man who changed news in america for years to come. >>> good morning, everyone. i'm chris jansing

>> kelly o'donnell, thanks.d, sharp-eyed viewers will notice we're triple covered at the white house this hour with kelly, peter alexander in the east room, and watching hallie jackson read something off her device. still a lot of hubbub in the east room. a long way before we are ready to get under way. colle wallace, again, because of your association with joe lieberman, i wted to get you on the record with the possibility that he might become the nominee for fbi. >> yeah, listen, there are a lot of people that would be comforted by a decision like that. certainly, the republicans in the congress that worry this white house the most, john mccain, lindsey graham, who have been the loudest critics of all of these sort of ties in the dark clouds and the swirl between mike flynn and the trump orbit and russia, would be very comforted by having their longtime friend, joe lieberman, running an agency. he is a man with sort of the same kind of code of ethics and code of honor that we speak about when we talk about bob

kelly o'donnell has more. good morning, kelly. >> reporter: good morning.icion related to russia, the trump organization and what happened with the former national security adviser comes back in a big way today. as sally yates who was the acting attorney general appears on capitol hill to tell her story for the very first time. she says she warned the trump white house michael flynn was not telling the truth about his contacts with the russian ambassador. some of the big questions today will be is this being to politicized? did her warning somehow get ignored by the trump white house? what happened behind the scenes? those are big questions dogging the white house. they say it's okay by them that sally yates tell her story and say the investigations, multiple investigations, should proceed. but they want to keep some distance as well. all this unfolding on capitol hill today as president trump also tries to start to focus on the senate and the health care bill, using some of his political capital there. >> thank you to kelly o'donnell for that report. >>> m

. >> a top priority and another packed week for the president, nbc news kelly o'donnell is at the whitegood morning. >> good morning, lewis. as the president begins the new workweek he delivers a succinct message to north korea. if kim jong-un has a nuclear weapon, the president said i will not be happy leaving open what that would mean in terms of a counter-response as the world watches that volatile regime. turning to the middle east, this week the president will invite to the white house the leader of the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas. later this week the president will make his first visit back to new york city since he took office. he'll be there to visit the uss intrepid, a former aircraft carrier for a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of a world war ii battle. he will also visit with the australian prime minister. they have had a tense relationship over issues related to pacific trade and refugees. lewis. >> busy week ahead. thanks to kelly o'donnell for that report. >> also tonight the met gala getsnder way. in a couple hours space ex will try to launch that u.s. slig

nbc's kelly o'donnell is live at the white house with more on that. eporter: good morning, craig. we will hear from president trump today as he tries to inspire the graduates of liberty university at their commencement. and we may soon hear publicly from the fired fbi director james comey who was invited to testify at the senate intelligence committee. and "the new york times" reports he's willing to do so, but only if that hearing can be in public. the committee tells us they are working to schedule something with comey. has been targeted by a presidential tweet to tell the truth. and what president trump will not explain is getting lots of attention. one tweeted word from the president set off a new controversy, tapes. >> the president has nothing further to add on that. >> reporter: but the president already implied a threat, james comey better hope there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. and the president ducked the question himself in a fox news interview. >> what about the idea that in a tweet you said that

kelly o'donnell has more from the white house. last week wasn't newsy and busy enough, this week the president has a lot on his plate leading up to his first official trip as president. today he'll speak to national peace officers memorial. that comes at a time wen one of the top law enforcement officials in the united states, there's a big vacancy at the fbi. the president says he'd like to make a addition quickly, perhaps as early as this week, though he hasn't put a specific time limit on it. also this week the president will deliver his second kmepsment address, this time at the coast guard academy. he'll welcome the president of turkey at the white house. friday off to saudi arabia, the first of several stops. he will visit saudi arabia, israel, italy, belgium, then back to the united states. he'll be out of the country for more than a week. officials here say it is a very high-tax trip. so a lot on the agenda for president trump this week. >>> our thanks to kelly o'donnell for that report. >> president trump's revised travel

joining us now, nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. and let's start with you, kelly, is it possible that the president could find a new fbi director in a week? >> well, that is an accelerated time line, keir, and the president gave us some window into his thinking when he answered questions with reporters on air force one earlier today on the way to his commencement address. he did talk about some of the qualities that he's looking for. wanting to resolve this quickly but how quickly, he said, it is possible in the coming weeks, but he would not nail that down. now, what we can report now, there are as many as seven individuals interviewed for a job as fbi director today. the list of those that is being considered goes probably to about a dozen. for today's national wave of interviews, a smaller group, we know that's been happening today at the department of justice. those interviews being conducted by the attorney general jeff sessions and his dispute rod rosenstein. and, so, these are people who have had background in criminal justice

joining me here is kelly o'donnell joining us here in jerusalem. has been covering the entire trip as we cover president trump's first foreign trip, there has been ups and downs. the speeches very well received here and frankly in bethlehem because his warmth with abbas, he did not embrace his positions at all on a solution -- >> they seem to be much more about relationship than content. the speeches were well drafted and the president stuck to the script very carefully there. i think he understood the importance oaf delivering that message in a more formal way and the most troublesome moments is when he was more spontaneous, and the stakes are high her as the president is about to deplain air force one in rome because this is the third stop honoring the great faiths of the world. he will acknowledge catholicism and christianity, but they have a history as you know well, andrea. >> it was during the campaign that we were both covering when the pope criticized the president's wall, his migration policy, the counter immigration policy, his rhetoric a

. >>> i want to start our coverage on capitol hill, kelly o'donnell at the white house, pete williams in washington and jeremy bash. on the set, congressional reporter kelsey snell and chief washington correspondent for politico edward isaac do vary. kelly, we have seen reaction from the president this morning. we'll see him -- well not him but his press secretary later on today. what are we hearing from the white house? >> it's interesting. we have not seen the president in any official capacity since thursday night. this is a long stretch where he's had no official events or interactions with those of us who cover him or official times where we could see him on camera. so this lavrov meeting that russian foreign minister notably closed press, no opportunity to gauge his body language or shout a question. the president uses his twitter feed as a way to communicate and he did so this morning saying that the democrats have said some of the worst things about james comey, including the fact that they thought she should be fired. now they play so sad. james comey will be replaced by some

kelly o'donnell is in italy. she's traveling with the president. lly, i understand we have some breaking news, if you will, on sanctions in russia. what can you the tell us? >> reporter: a couple of developments here. the top advisers to the president's top economic adviser spoke with reporters giving an update. with respect to russia, the president's economic adviser saying he wants there to be in confusion that the u.s. wants to keep the russia sanctions or make them tougher. that's an important message they want understood with other leaders, and there's more information where they'll telling us that the president's views are evolving on climate change as he's having a working meal with the other g7 leaders. listening, they say, learning from some of the experiences and information of other leaders. one of the big questions here in sicily is the fate of the paris agreement. the climate change agreement that president obama signed the u.s. onto, and president trump has been cig nalging that he would like to withdraw from it, but there's no decisio

kelly o'donnell is with the president in branchburg, new jersey with more on tomorrow's testimony up on the hill. kelly, good morning. >> good morning. tomorrow the public will hear for the first time from a former government official that went to the white house with a warning about russia and michael flynn and lost her own position days later when she refused to enforce the president's travel ban. the white house has been trying to distance itself from the russia question but that will be hard to do tomorrow. >> fired by president trump, former top justice department official sally yates has a story to tell monday about national security adviser michael flynn. the white house said in march it was okay for yates to go public. >> if they choose to move forward, great. we have no problem with her testifying. >> yates that was briefly acting attorney general. >> i believe that we can work together. >> warned the trump white house in january that flynn had mislead officials about his contacts with the russian ambassador. former obama director of national intelligence james clapper is exp

we saw there kelly o'donnell taking part in the questioning. kelly is available to us from her seat in the audience. kelly, quite a turnaround to learn now that the president started losing confidence in comey pretty much on day one. >> well, one of the things that in washington the phrase "having confidence in a particular figure," whether it's uttered by the president himself or a top spokesperson has always been an important sign in washington of how strong that person is held in the president's regard. more than a casual nature of what those words might mean. it's a very strong line that has often been used in washington. so we know president trump doesn't always follow those sorts of conventions, but for him to have said in interviews that he had nfidce, for his top spokespeople to say that from this podium. now we're being led to believe that the president's words were not trustworthy because he had been considering for a long time dismissing james comey, even though that's only happened once before in the history of the fbi in nearly 90 y

. >> kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president in jerusalem. the defense and foreign policy reporter at the "washington post." had nick ackerman, a former federal prosecutor who was an assistant federal ferld attorney in new york. so thank you all for being here. let me start with you, ken. what is this letter about in. >> this talks about michael flynn's trip to moscow in 2015. then what happened afterward when he was reapplying in 2016. investigators asked him about that trip and other business transactions and he claimed it was funded by u.s. companies. we know now it was funded by russian state media. r. tshs. he was paid $45,000 of which he received personally $35,000. so to house democrats, it is pretty clear he lied. this isn't the only misstatement. there was a security clearance form whenner you're asked to list your foreign business transactions and relationships. he left that blank. >> so he wasn't really paid by the russians. he was paid by the speaker's bureau even though they got money from the russians. the pushback in this lette

we are the only western country, kelly o'donnell reported this earlier.dia pools are getting access to the leaders they are traveling with. the united states has a traveling press pool that can only get off-camera briefings, and all they want, hallie jackson and others to do is say their accomplishments and show the pictures that are coming either from foreign press or submitted to them by the white house of him holding the oar or doing the sword dance. this does not feel like a western, open democratic press to me. this is not what the united states does. >> joy, it's not extraordinary. it's outrageous. it's outrageous because donald trump works for the american people. he works for you, me, all of us. and the purpose of what he is doing is he is doing something or supposed to be doing something for the benefit of all of us collectively. we're not seeing that right now. and that's the outrage. >> last word to you malcolm nantz. this is orchestrating and micromanaging it in a way that does not feel like western democracy to me. >> i jokingly have said tha

nbc's kelly o'donnell has more from the white house. ood morning. >> reporter: good morning, luis. today president trump will mark a national day of prayer holding an event at the white house. advisers say he's expected to sign an executive order that would change some of the restrictions on religious organizations that now exist in the tax code that bar them from being actively involved in politics, endorsing candidates or issues. that's expected today before he makes his first trip back to new york city. he'll be part of a commemoration event on the "u.s.s. intrepid" to mark the 75th anniversary of the battle of the coral seas. he will also meet with the australian prime minister, a relationship has that has been tense based on some of the things the president has said in conversations with prime minister turn bull, over things like trade in the pacific and refugees. >> thanks to kelly o'donnell for that report. >> a big day today. may the fourth be with you, international star wars day, the first since the death of carrie sher who pla

. >> kelly o'donnell reporting for us. kelly, real quickly, the president there at his golf resort.lic events today or golf? do we know? >> reporter: we don't know. one of the differences when we were in florida covering the president there, his mar-a-lago home is separate from the golf resort he has in florida. there would be a motorcade that would drive to that. here it's 500 acres and they have family homes on the site in addition to the golf. i think it's 36 holes -- it's a professional -- they hold professional golf matches there. he can do a lot of things on the grounds we won't see. we've had no sighting of him since we arrived. we do know he signed the bill into law, the spending package and talked to the president of peru last night. that's all we know so far until he is expected to depart early this evening tonight. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you, appreciate it. joining us now is democratic congressman member of the armed services committee. it's great to have you with me. you are quoted as saying i'm very, very scared our next president has a clue about russia is really up

nbc's kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president joining us from riyadh. kelly, explain what we witnessed so far. we saw the trumps getting a tour and looking at artwork over the last couple minutes. >> reporter: next we expect will be a signing ceremony of a joint communique between the united states and saudi arabia. these are typical parts of a diplomatic visit where there is a formalizing of some of the ideas that have predated the trip, where the work of staff between the two nations come together. part of this includes all the areas of cooperation and the intentions for the relationship. that's more formal piece that will be coming up sooner. the use of tea in the middle east is often a big part of hospitality. but it is coffee here part of the ceremony earlier today. it was a special sharing of coffee among not only the trump family and the delegation, but, of course, then the royal family. we also expect that later today the president will receive the crown prince and deputy crown prince at his hotel later in the day as he gets a bit of time for som

let's go to kelly o'donnell, she has been following this. weekends have been very busy here, kelly. when we look at the names even merrick garland being added to the list, although we don't know i think whether he's actually been interviewed. >> he has not been interviewed and that was the suggestion of mike lee as an olive branch. he had led the oklahoma city bombing investigation so he has a legit background to be considered. he's not part of the search based on our sources. you had the eight faces on the screen, they draw from a legal law enforcement intelligence and some political experience. and that political piece elective office is a question mark now because of the environment that we're in broadly. and the sort of abrupt nature of the firing of james comey. there are those who believe that given the ongoing russian investigation and the circumstances they're advising the president not to choose someone from an elective office background. a specific partisan. that advice coming from the outside is actually coming from a prominent democrat and prominent republican among othe

nbc's kelly o'donnell is waiting for him, too. she joins us on the phone there from the white house. kelly, the president is signing this so-called religious liberty executive order, marking the national day of prayer. set the scene for us. >> well, chris, the reason i'm on the phone is there is a group of us waiting to be escorted into the rose garden. we're out of camera range. pardon the lack of a tv image. but the preponderasident is expo sign this three-part executive order. and we expect he will talk about some of his high profile travel that will have a definite religious and faith-based connection, with trips to the vatican and israel upcoming. this three-part executive order is described by the administration about being about religious freedom. one of the things it'll deal with is what is known as the johnson amendment, named after the former president when he was in the senate, which restricted tax-exempt organizations that are faith based, churches and non-profits, from actively promoting a candidate or a cause. we've a

kelly o'donnell has the latest from the white house. kelly, what is the president saying about the fbi search today? >> well, he is saying that he wants to have it resolved quickly. we don't have an exact time line on the president's mind, but he said that it could happen as early as this week, although it may take more time than that, and today is round one of interviews, and six perhaps seven by the the end of today, and we are told that there is a list of roughly a dozen names consider considered by the white house, and today's first round of interviews is being conduct ed by the attorney general and deputy attorney general, and pulling people from law enforcement, backgrounds with legal and political careers, and people whose professional lives are sort of suited for consideration to be fbi director. the fbi agents association which represents 13,000 current and former agents have offer ed ther own endorsement today and they are naming mike rogers the former house intelligence chairman, the michigan congressman until he left congress

i'm joined by kelly o'donnell, pete williams, and ari. pete, i start with you. the fbi officials are disputing what the president asked of comeyful are they disputing it because they can't believe comey would say that? or do they know for sure because comey has assured that he didn't? >> this is not coming from fbi officials. we don't think mr. comey told many officials that he was going to or that he went to this dinner. the information we have about what mr. comey said are from people outside the fbi comey talked on around the time of the dinner. that's the people we're talking to. we've heard nothing from mr. comey. they say number one, he did not and for the dinner. one of they will said, people don't call up the white house and say can i come to dinner? so secondly, that he didn't ask, he didn't want to know whether his job would be extended. he had a ten-year term. and then they say during dinner, the president asked, will you say that you're loyal, and what comey said is i can't say that but i can say that i was honest. so in many ways, they say that his

of the best reporters on white house beat joining us with, starting with peter baker and nbc's kelly o'donnell on the north lawn. peter, you have news for us. >> sean spicer might be moving on but other people aren't. you have john conyers and ee elijah cummings on the house judiciary and house government oversight government reform committees sent a letter to the white house just now asking for copies of any tapes if in fact there are recordings and they point out very notedly in the letter, they say it's a crime to try to intimidate a witness, that's what they are saying the president might have been trying to do with his tweet this morning. the point is the president raised that himself and it certainly we did not hear a firm answer from sean spicer today. >> and kelly, i watched the briefing and follow you on twitter and you were struck by the fact there was no denial of the existence or practice of recording meetings in the oval office. >> i think it's very important given the sweep of american history where tapes were an substantial element of what brought down a presidency. times and ci

>> kelly o'donnell at the white house for us this morning. kelly, great to see you. thank you so much. we do have new details on that new missile launch by north korea. a missile fired off last night from north korea's kasong region, and it's believed to have traveled 400 miles before dropping into the sea of japan, which drew immediately negative condemnations from america and south korea. janice, what more do we know about this launch? >> reporter: well, we know that it happened near the northwestern see of kusong. this is the site of a launch in february. and it dropped in the sea of japan closer to russia than to japan. now, japan's government took note of the altitude, saying it reached 1250 miles. so likely not the intercontinental ballistic missile that north korea has been threatening to test, but most likely an intermediate range missile that's still capable of reaching u.s. military targets in the pacific, including guam. looking at the timing of this launch, obviously a challenge to the new president of south korea who was sworn in just last week. he said

let's check in with nbc's kelly o'donnell who joins us now from riyadh. lly, the administration wants a win for this leg of the trip. are they getting it? >> reporter: well, good to be with you, sheinelle. they are identifying areas where they can claim victory. in part you heard both the secretary of state and the president talk about the economic arrangements, the defense arrangements here and the saudis in particular welcome a trump administration after more difficult ties with the obama administration. so there are things for president trump and his team to say are in fact wins at this early stage. the biggest test comes tomorrow when the president addresses the muslim world and the representatives of close to 50 countries. we expect that that will be a real challenge for the president to undo some of the rhetoric of his campaign self when he talked in harsher tones toward the islamic world and using phrases like radical islamic terrorism. a few of us after we saw secretary tillerson sort of followed him out the door here. we were asking him if the pre

>> kelly o'donnell at the white house for us. thanks so much. chuck todd is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. good to see you. >> good morning, willie. >> it wasn't long ago this was supposed to be the week of sally yates. her testimony was on monday, now feels like a lifetime ago, testifying before the senate subcommittee. a day later president trump fires his fbi director and all that follow frld there with the mixed explanations of how it hammed and why it happened. now he says he wants this week to nominate a new director. what kind of a choice do you expect him to make? >> if you look at the list of folks, he could go down two different paths here. one path is an elected official path which i think in this environmentitis a little shaky. you have cornyn on there, senator cornyn, mike rogers, a former member of congress. there's never been an elected official as a director of the fbi and with charges of politicizing this investigation i don't know somebody who's sort of made their career in public service with a political party i.

start with nbc kelly o'donnell not far from the president's weekend get away up here close to us in new jersey. the president has been quiet on twitter today. are you hearing any reaction to this new report about michael flynn? >> no's action from the white house and that is sort of fitting a pattern of late. since michael flynn submitted his resignation, was pushed out of the white house back in february. the trump administration has wanted to have some separation. this is a controversy that has been a real cloud over the early presidency of donald trump. and they are frustrated by that. at this point it is largely out of their hands because there are different investigations going on from the fbi to different committees in congress. and so the spokes person for the president sean spicer has said trump said he does believe it is the right decision he made that flynn had to be out. but no specific reaction to those new developments you talked about. going back inside the transition there were questions about michael flynn who as a retired three-star general had a reputation for being so

kelly o'donnell is following the latest. and mike, hello. >> donald trump tweeted was a big win earlier. they had victory celebration in the rose garden yesterday. what are we hearing from the white house this afternoon? >> well, i think the president's branding is leading the way here. a big, big win from president trump on what happened with the house. but there is an acknowledgement from the white house that there are more steps, critical steps and there will likely be changes to the bill that was so hard for republicans to finally settle on when they were able to push it thugh house. today at the wte house briefing, one of the things has remained a question, and there are some uncertainties about how it would have a real world impact, the issue of those dealing with existing conditions. they have a medical condition that can make it more difficult and expensive to acquire health insurance, and by virtue of being older americans, those over 50 but not yet qualifying for medicare at age 65, the provisions that would allow

. >> we begin with nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house.ng, luis. after days of head snapping news developments, today something different, he and the first lady will get their passports out and begin the first foreign trip of the trump presidency, heading to saudi arabia, israel, italy and belgium. before the president takes off, there could still be more developments. he said he's getting close to choosing a new fbi director. one name we've been hearing is joe lieberman, former senator of connecticut, who was a democrat and ultimately became an independent. some consider him a front-runner and is a popular choice among senior advisers because they think he would be appealing to democrats, having been the democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000. democratic sources i'm talking to say they shouldn't assume that because many democrats what someone with a law enforcement background for the fbi, not a politician. yet again, no easy choice for president trump trying to fill a high profile vacancy, one of his own creating by firing james com