thank you to kristen welker and jonathan swann. kelsey and suze reason sticking around. president trump called coverage of his additional chitchat with vladimir putin sick. but is the white house simply reaping what they have sown by allowing so much smoke around the russia question? and what do atomic blondes have to do with anything? well, they just might hold the key to saving us from ourselves. we promise to explain. >> i have always been a running mate. you didn't want to see it. >> as my vice president -- >> iput a lot of thought into. >> you couldn't -- >> no children, no nepotism, i have run through them all. you can't win without me. there's nothing more important to me than my vacation. so when i need to book a hotel, i want someone who makes it easy. booking.com gets it. and with their price match, i know i'm getting the best price every time. visit booking.com. booking.yeah! let's take a look at some numbers: 4 out of 5 people who have a stroke, their first symptom... is a stroke. 80 percent of all strokes and heart disease? preventable. and 149 dollars is al

kristen welker is back with us from the white house. the white house has obviously pushed this made in america theme a couple of times before, but often the family's own businesses get in the way. tell us about it. >> reporter: well, that's right. obviously the trump organization, ivanka trump's business outsourced a lot of the products that they made, so this made in america week is getting some scrutiny. but this is the white house's attempt, chris, as you say to try to put the focus back on the president's agenda and to try to turn the page from the russia controversy. so today the president will be featuring made in america product showcase. there are going to be crafts and other items that were made in america from all 50 states. now, the president's going to use this to talk about tax reform and also his broader agenda to try to scale back regulations. based on my conversations with white house officials, they're actually making some significant progress behind the scenes on a broader tax reform package. of course we haven't seen

nbc's kristen welker starts us off with details. >> reporter: usually under the radar, jared kushner now under a harsh spotlight. >> i have been fully transparent in providing all requested information. >> reporter: tried to put to rest any question about possible crucial with russian officials during the election. >> let me be very clear. i did not collude with russia, nor do i know of anyone else in the campaign who did so. i had no improper contacts. i have not relied on russian funds for my businesses. >> reporter: the brief scripted statement, an attempt to stay on message after a nearly two-hour closed door session on capitol hill with senate intelligence committee investigators. >> did you answer all the questions, sir? >> reporter: kushner denied trying to set up a secret back channel with the kremlin and detailed four meetings with russian, including that one with donald trump jr. and a kremlin-linked lawyer with promises of dirt against hillary clinton. he said he didn't know the focus of the meeting, despite receiving an e-mail with the subject line, clinton, russia, confi

>> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> the house today overwhelmingly passing a bipartisan bill to slap new sanctions on russia in retaliation for its meddling in the 2016 election. along with other sanctions on iran and north korea. the bill would also limit president trump's power to ease any sanctions on moscow. it now moves to the senate. it's unclear if the president would sign it. but the bill did pass the house with a veto-proof majority. as that plays out at home, overseas warning shots from u.s. to iran after an iranian vessel made a provocative move on the high seas. it was a tense encounter in international waters. we get the latest on all of it tonight from our pentagon correspondent hans nichols. >> reporter: for the iranian ship, an unmistakable warning. the revolutionary guard vessel coming within 150 yards of the uss thunder bolt. navy footage from a mile away documenting the close call. >> we are operating in a northern arabian gulf. >> reporter: the thunderbolt, one of four american ships, a missile cruiser, conducting routine patrols in international wate

our kristen welker is at the white house with late details on the shake-up. >> reporter: tonight, a major staff shake-up in the embattled west wing. chief of staff reince priebus is out. president trump announcing his new pick in a tweet. i am pleased to inform you that i have just named general secretary john f. kelly as white house chief of staff. kelly had served as mr. trump's secretary of homeland security. the president spoke about the big changes moments after returning to washington after a trip to new york. >> reince is a good man. john kelly will do a fantastic job. general kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. a great, great american. >> reporter: a source close to priebus says he privately offered his resignation yesterday after the new communications director, anthony scaramucci, launched a profanity-laced tirade against him in "the new yorker." what led to the ouster? sources inside the white house says the president has been frustrated with priebus' perceived lack of leadership for months and having put him in charge of healthcare,

>> kristen welker at the white house. thank you. across the country as families and friends gather for tonight's firework festivities, authorities are taking no chances. stepping up security on the streets and in the skies with a major show of force. nbc's ron allen has more for us. >> with the nation's birthday bash well under way, the constant threat of lone wolf attacks. on hard-to-protect public gatherings. in new york, 100 trucks filled with sand, 32 tons each wall off streets for the first time where crowds gathered for the macy's fireworks. police warning vehicle rental companies to watch out for suspicion transactions that could signal a ramming attack like in nice last july. thousands of cops now on normal part of the festivities. >> we have to pay attention to what's going on in the nation and world. we saw what happened in nice. >> in boston, new drones keeping watch. first used over the boston marathon. able to zoom in on an object nearly a quarter-mile away. while america celebrates, a reminder of the risks officers tak

our kristen welker is traveling with the president and has details. >> reporter: president trump dining at the eiffel tower in paris tonight, but unable to shake the russia crisis consuming his white house. >> my son is a wonderful young man. >> reporter: steadfastly defending his son, donald trump jr., after those revelations he met with a russian lawyer. >> he took a meeting with a russian lawyer. not a government lawyer, but a russian lawyer. zero happened from the meeting. and honestly, i think the press made a very big deal over something that really a lot of people would do. >> reporter: it is highly unusual for u.s. campaign officials to meet with people claiming to represent foreign governments offering opposition research. it comes as the senate intelligence committee has called on trump jr. to testify. president trump telling reporters aboard air force one, "he should, if he wants to." saying "it was a short meeting and he only heard about it two or three days ago." >> i've had many people call up, oh, gee, we have information on this factor or this person or, frankly, hillary

john kelly is one of our great stars. >> that was nbc's kristen welker reporting. joining me now, chief washington correspondent for bloomberg news and congressional reporter for "the washington post." great to have you here. >> kevin, let's start with you. did the anthony scaramucci interview where he skewered reince priebus push him to re-sign or did the president straight-up fire priebus? >> i think it was a combination of both. i don't think there is anyone in the west wing department thought that that interview with "the new yorker" was something that was an assess to the white house and team in accomplishing their mission. when you take a broader step back at the departures from chief of staff, reince priebus, to communications director, sean spicer, this is the president looking at a new direction. he had brought on these folks during the transition period from the republican party. they were essentially the republican party in terms of leadership because of their connections with congress and house speaker, paul ryan, and their ability to pass a legislative

and so is kristen welker.should also note, chris jansing, the president flanked by two senators there, senator tim scott from south carolina on his left, and on his right, dean heller, from nevada. they seem to be enjoying each other's company. dean heller held that news conference a few weeks ago explaining precisely why it was that he could not vote for the senate bill as it stood. 15 minutes ago, chris, we're having this conversation, and i think we both got the sense that there was not a great deal that could be done to salvage this thing. do you get the sense now that something has changed, chris? >> reporter: there is nothing in what he said that would indicate that he has made -- there are substantial agreements within this bill that would address what has split the republican party itself, let alone bring those democrats on board. if he was serious about saying, hey, we have a breakthrough here, something that's different from when this all fell apart, he would have come out and said, here's what the c

white house correspondent kristen welker has details. >> reporter: tonight, a profanity-laced tirade from the new white house communications director, anthony scaramucci, targeting two of the president's top advisers. scaramucci telling "the new yorker" chief of staff reince priebus is an expletive paranoid schizophrenic and attacking chief strategist steve bannon in such vulgar terms they cannot be repeated on television, also calling him a media-hungry self-promoter. sources inside and outside the white house say both priebus and bannon tried to block scaramucci from joining the administration. it comes as scaramucci is publicly feuding with priebus, too. this morning scaramucci referring to priebus in stark terms. >> some brothers are like cain and abel. >> reporter: the biblical reference of brotherly murder bolstering speculation of a deep divide which started overnight when scaramucci claimed his financial disclosure form was leaked out even though it's public record and seemed to point the finger at priebus in a tweet which was later deleted. this morning scaramucci backed off

>> kristen welker at the white house, thanks. >>> election officials in several states pushed back hard today against a request by president trump's voter fraud commission for detailed personal information about voters in every state. nbc's peter alexander has more on this controversy. >> reporter: tonight growing backlash against a sweeping request from president trump's commission investigating alleged voter fraud. >> this is an outrageous attempt by this administration to suppress voters, to disenfranchise voters. >> reporter: that outrage following this letter asking all 50 states to provide their voter data, names, addresses, dates of birth, party affiliations and even in some cases the last four digits of social security numbers. >> will rhode island comply with this request? >> no. first of all, i think this is an alarming request. i don't know where it's coming from. >> reporter: from mississippi's republican secretary of state, my reply would be they can go jump in the gulf of mexico and mississippi is a great state to launch from. the request comes from the commission's vice c

>> kristen welker, thank you. >>> now to new changes coming to the airport security line. after stepping up screening for some international flights, today the tsa announced tighter security measures for domestic travel. more electronics, basically anything larger than a cell phone, will be individually scrutinized at tsa checkpoints, and that could mean some longer wait times. nbc's gabe gutierrez explains. >> reporter: with more and more travelers cramming more and more into their bags, tonight the tsa says it will be taking a closer look at your electronics. >> if it's all for security, that's all good. you know, you can't be too careful. >> reporter: while passengers have been required to remove laptop computers from their carry-ons for years, the new procedures mean any device larger than a cell phone, including e-readers and tablets, must also go into a separate bin. the rules are already in place at ten u.s. airports including boston, detroit and los angeles. >> i think passengers can expect longer wait times. there's really just no way that you can start dumping mo

>> kristen welker from the white house, thank you. >>> now to the critical situation unfolding in the west tonight. extreme fire destroying homes and forcing thousands to get away. it is all playing out near yosemite national park where crews from around the state have arrived to try and beat back the flames. with temperatures soaring, that blaze nearly doubled in size overnight. nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer shows us what those crews are up against. >> reporter: it's now the most destructive, most dangerous wildfire in the nation, exploding from home to home. more than 100 structures have been destroyed. the so-called detwiler fire near yosemite a state of emergency. crews call the inferno aggressive, extreme and dynamic, exploding across some 75,000 acres, leaping roads and rivers. the historic gold mining town of mariposa is threatened. brian bullets has seen fires before, but not like this. >> scary situation. pray for the residents of mariposa. >> reporter: with flames leaping a hundred feet into the air, an army of firefighters are in the battle. but they are losing

our thanks to kristen welker for her reporting there. >> that does it for us.orf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> we won and won. so when they said there is no way to victory, there is no way to 270. you know, i went to maine four times because it one vote and we won. it was will the prpand we worked hard there pup know, my opponent didn't work hard there. the polls, that's also fake news. they're fake polls. but the polls will say but we won wisconsin. >> what was going on there? today could be the most consequential moment yet for the trump presidency and donald trump is still talking about hillary clinton. speak being last night to the national boy scott jamboree. today he'll find out whether republican go and if the health care vote wasn't enough, joe, today his son-in-law meets with house investigators over questions about russia

white house correspondent kristen welker has details. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump jr. has hired a lawyer becoming the fourth person in the president's inner investigators probe possible connections with russia. this after trump jr. met with a lawyer with ties to the kremlin in june at trump tower, just days after his father secured the nomination. at first trump jr. said the encounter with natalia veselnitskaya was to discuss russian adoptions, then acknowledging he was promised information about hillary clinton that might be helpful to his father's campaign. now the senate intelligence committee says it wants answers. >> donald trump jr. will be somebody that we want to talk to. >> reporter: trump jr. has said he's happy to meet with the committee, tweeting, no inconsistency in statements. meeting ended up being primarily about adoptions. in response to further qs, i simply provided more details. also in attendance, jared kushner and then-campaign chair paul manafort. the white house said the president learned about the meeting just days ago. can you say definitively

nbc's kristen welker has details tonight on what's looking like jeff sessions' death by a thousand cuts at the hands of a president scorned. >> reporter: president trump in the rose garden today, once again attacking his own attorney general for recusing himself from the russia investigation. >> i am disappointed in the attorney general. he should not have recused himself. >> reporter: sessions made the decision because he served on the trump campaign and has gotten bipartisan praise for the move. still today, the president called on sessions to focus his attention else general to be much tougher on the leaks from intelligence agencies, which are leaking like rarely have they ever leaked before, at a very important level. >> reporter: but mr. trump stopped short of firing him. >> we will see what happens. time will tell. time will tell. >> reporter: in recent days, the president has been scathing, calling sessions beleaguered and weak. but the attorney general is showing no signs he's going to step down. sessions was the first senator to endorse candidate trump, and tonight those close

i want to start with kristen welker. kristen, kelly takes over after the shortist stint of any chief of staff ever. why does he think he's a good fit? >> reporter: general kelly is broadly seen as a stabilizing force, someone who is a 45-year marine veteran. as dhs secretary, he is seep as someone who is effective licariing out the president's agenda, tough on crime, tough on illegal immigration. the question is, though, is the president going to embolden him to be a strong chief of staff. that has a lot to do with the chain of command because under reince priebus one of the challenges was people were still reporting to the president effectively. is that going to change. will the general demand it changes. that's a key question. he becomes one of about ten high-level departures, pre s p pre reince priebus since the president took office. katie walsh, sean spicer, james comey, sally yates. one of the things that makes this so interesting and one of the points i'll highlight is with the ouster of reince priebus it's really

my colleague from here at the white house, kristen welker, is in paris preparing for that news conference get an opportunity to ask the questions we're asking of the president. tee up this day and what you're experiencing there and what you're hearing from white house officials on their arrival. >> reporter: look, the white house incredibly optimistic about this visit, the optics that we're witnessing, of the president arriving at the official residence of the president since the 1800s will help him turn the page on the russia controversy, which has only been deepening at home as you've been talking about throughout the hour. we've seen him arrive here. we're expecting him to get -- there he is, shaking the hand of the french president. you'll remember that initial handshake that they had at the nato summit in brussels, which got so much attention, that white knuckled, extended handshake. we saw a very different handshake today, a lot of smiles t seemed much friendlier. that is part of the goal, to reaffirm the goal of the commitment between the united states and france. france, of course

so far it hasn't worked. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> and president trump as we showed you was cheered by a friendly crowd, corralled by poland's conservative government in warsaw. >> joining me now is ambassador christopher hill, former ambassador to poland and the dean of the joseph korble school of international studies at the university of denver and msnbc diplomacy expert. good to see you. thank you very much. just to touch on poland, a country you know so well, the significance of that event today, that reception, especially compared to what he's now going to get in hamburg. >> obviously he'll get a different reception in hamburg. he may have had a different reception in warsaw, except the ruling party there took time to bus in crowds outside of warsaw to make sure it was a positive greeting. the poles love americans. it is a very positive relationship. and it was quite striking that president trump was not known as being a historian, spent so much time on polish history. i wish he stressed another narrative, which is the history of a country that has do

kristen welker live at the white house. kristen, president trump doesn't want to fire him but just wants to shame him over and over. where do we go from here? those who are saying i can't believe jeff sessions can continue to go to work every day. i don't know, standing strong and silent against a bully, that's a pretty strong move. >> reporter: jeff sessions is digging in, he continues to roll out new policies, steph. president trump yesterday pressed on why he was allowing his attorney general to twist in the wind, why he effectively continues these attacks against him on a daily basis. the president disputed that characterization. he said i'm not letting him twist in the wind, i'm just disappointed in him and i'm expressing that. the root of his disappointment, he says, because jeff sessions recused himself from the russia investigation. just to put that into a broader context, he did that because he served on the trump campaign. and so you have bipartisan support for that move. you have legal experts who say that was ab

kristen welker at the white house and eli stokols and politico susan glasser. kasie hunt, first to you at capitol hill. what is mcconnell's sort of last-ditch effort to salvage any sort of -- i can't even use the word "win" but to salvage anything out of this bust? >> salvage something, yeah. it looks -- there was a very contentious lunch here this afternoon where there was a lot of disagreement and argument about whether or not they should have a vote on this repeal-only plan. mcconnell came out to the microphones. first he said, yes, we're going to vote, then he said it was likely we're going to vote, then he said this is where i think the majority of my members are. it seems like there was a lot of disagreement about whether they should all be forced to go on the record about whether obamacare should be straight-up repealed. it seems like there are still developments ongoing here. they are scrambling to try to figure out what the plan would be, could be, are there other options. lamar alexander, the chairman of the health committee, the health committee esse

and then today kristen welker, on twitter the president reversing the obama administration's transgender decision on active duty military. doing it on twitter. and now criticized by john mckean, the chairman of the armed services committee, who's commenting, putting out a statement against what president trump did on this. the pentagon is saying that they will defer all comment to the white house. but it is a big switch, and it is the first real sense of this president getting into the social issues that have been so controversial. >> reporter: that's right. this is yet another major shift, reversal of an obama-era policy. andrea, president trump announcing, as you say, on twitter this morning that effectively transgender service members can no longer serve in the military. that's going to impact those who are currently serving as well as potential recruits in terms of the numbers, the amount of people it could impact. there's a range we've seen everywhere from several to as many as 11,000. you mentioned senator john mccain. let me read you a little bit of what he had to say, andrea, in

let's go back to kristen welker, who was there for that statement. kristen, what's your headline on that? >> reporter: it was succinct, chris, but to the point. it was the message he wanted to get out. you heard him say it, "i did not collude with russia." and i think that was the entire purpose, to let people hear him say that, to state it definitively and very firmly. it was a brief statement. we were hoping that he would get into a few more of the details that he shared in that 11-page written statement that he released earlier today. and, of course, you heard all of us try to shout questions. he decided not to answer any questions. again, he said he looks forward tomorrow to answering the questions of the house intelligence committee. i think this was aimed at being very direct and at the same time concise. that was part of the strategy. clearly he wanted to stay on message, wanted to be very firm. and yet not get into the nitty-gritty, which presumably he was pressed on earlier today, when he met with staff members of the senate intelligence comm

and kristen welker. we'll be continuing to follow this all day. >>> meanwhile on the subject of national security, tom bossert is president trump's top white house official on homeland security and counterterrorism. he joins me live here in aspen. i know you did not know about the spicer resignation, i don't know how this affects anything that you do. because this has just been happening while we're sitting here. >> i'm learning it with you and watching it on your program. sean is a valued member of the team and i'll miss him. i'm certain it will be a good replacement. for me, i don't like to be in the news as a white house staffer. i think the president likes to be there and that's the right thing for him and to have his cabinet there as the right focus. as soon as white house staff problems get out of the news and substance gets into it i'm a happy guy. >> that's what you've been working on. that's your career, which is to protect the homeland, to worry about cyber threats, to worry about counterterror

and if they don't do it now, nbc's kristen welker reports it's only going to get tougher. >> reporter: the stakes couldn't be higher this morning as congress returns with one goal, repeal and replace obamacare, this as the public faced growing outrage from constituents. with protests and town halls during the recess, descendants' current plans scaled back many of obamacare's tax credits and ended medicaid expansion. the budget office estimates as many as 22 million people could lose coverage with some openly saying it's going nowhere. >> my view is it's probably going to be dead. >> reporter: majority leader mitch mcconnell pushed back a vote with changes being made to the current bill with a reality check to his party. pass the bill or work with democrats. >> if my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action with regard to the private health insurance market must occur. >> reporter: but he's now facing pressure from the right and president trump tweeted for years, even as a civilian, i listen add republicans wanted to repeal and replace obamacare. now

. >> so kristen welker, as we digest the idea of the attorney general going to the job of homeland security, the bells that it would set off. and scaramucci, it is roundly contended that the kind of barnyard language he would use that would make a longshoreman blush, would make an instant dismissal by any other president. he won, he is still there. >> not only is he still there, brian, but there is a sense behind the scenes that the president is okay with what happened. that perhaps he was in some ways expressing part of what the president feels at least as it relates to reince priebus. steve bannon's job, it seems, at this point is still safe. but what has already divided an already fractured west wing, what i mean is you have some people behind scenes who are brushing off what happened, others laughing about what happened but other people who are deeply upset and bothered by it who say frankly, someone who uses that type of language, someone who attacks his fellow colleagues should not be allowed to continue to serve in the west wing at the pleasure of the president. and so i think it's c

. >> kristen welker is live at the white house. we have a national reporter for "the washington post." and kacie, let's start with you, the trump administration has repeatedly denied any sort of ties to russia, take a listen. >> are there any ties between mr. trump, you or your campaign and putin and his regime? >> no, there are not, it's absurd. >> it's disgusting and so phoney. >> did anyone involved in the trump campaign have any contact with russians trying to meddle with the election. >> absolutely not. >> i'm not aware of any of those activities? >> was there any contact in any way between trump, his associates, and the contacts they had. >> all of the contact with with the american people. >> i have nothing to do with russia, no person that i did well does to the best of my knowledge. >> anyone involved with trump and russia in the 2016 campaign. >> donald jr. did meet with a russian offering dirt on clinton. why was it not disclosed? >> that is a big question. one of the big problems is why wasn't the meeting initially disc

scaramucci has blasted inside staff at the white house, including reince priebus and steve bannon kristen welker has more. >> reporter: tonight, a profanity-laced tirade from the new white house communications director, anthony scaramucci, targeting two of the president's top advisers scaramucci telling "the new yorker" chief of staff reince priebus is an expletive paranoid schizophrenic and attacking chief strategist steve bannon in such vulgar terms they cannot be repeated on television, also calling him a media-hungry self-promoter. sources inside and outside the white house say both priebus and bannon tried to block scaramucci from joining the administration. it comes as scaramucci is publicly feuding with priebus, too. this morning scaramucci referring to priebus in stark terms. >> some brothers are like cain and abel. >> reporter: the biblical reference of brotherly murder bolstering speculation of a deep divide which started overnight when scaramucci claimed his financial disclosure form was leaked out even though it's public record and seemed to point the finger at priebus in a tweet whi

i expect him to make that a key focus, ali. >> kristen welker at the white house. kind of hoping this week is not as busy for kristen as last week. one never knows. john kelly's first day on the job at the white house comes as tensions with russia escalate a lot. vladimir putin has ordered the expulsion of 755 u.s. diplomats and staff members from russia. a direct response to new sanctions being imposed by the united states. vice president pence talking tough on russia during his visit this morning tost estonia. >> no threat looms larger in baltic states than the specter of aggression from your neighbor. to be clear, we hope for better days, better relations with russia. recent diplomatic action taken by moscow will not deter the commitment of the united states of america to our security, the security of our allies, and the security of freedom loving nations around the world. >> joining me dan freed served for the obama administration and in the earliest days of the trump administration. ambassador, good to see you. we should just be clear. some of these people, the

joining me now is the nbc news white house kristen welker, and also washington post white house bureau chief phillip rucker. kristen, let's start with kushner. what was the most important things he had to say today? >> there was a couple of take aways. you heard him say i did not collude with russians and he is not aware of collusion by any other trump campaign officials. as you pointed out at the top of the show, this is someone that we have not seen or heard from a lot. it was remarkable to hear him making those comments. not the 11 page statement he offered behind closed doors to members of the senate intelligence committee. the staff members that posed tough questions to him today. i think his written take aways -- he talked about four meetings he had with russians including two that have gotten a lot of attention. he said this was such a short meeting, he didn't even remember the name of the ambassador after the fact, then of course that meeting that we spent so much time talking about with donald trump junior and the russian attorney, there were other russian officials there. he

. >> joining me now nbc's kristen welker at the white house, and msnbc political analyst, chief of staff of course to president george w. bush joining us as well. kristen, day one, a cabinet meeting, only the second full cabinet meeting according to white house records and the first day for general kelly on staff as chief of staff. >> reporter: and he faces an uphill battle, andrea, you just laid out the charge for secretary kelly as he comes in, as the new chief of staff. his goal is to basic stabilize the ship here at the white house, to stem some of that discord that's really overshadowed this administration, and to bring some order, and the big question mark is whether the president will empower him and embolden him to be able to do that. we know the president thinks he's his own best messenger, it's unlikely that secretary kelly will be able to stop him in tweeting, for example, but will he convince the president -- report directly to him instead of going to the president. that remains an open question, but this is someone who's seen broadly as a stabilizing force, he's a 45-year ma

tphonet was kristen welker reporting. no word on what republicans will try to take up next. ti> laura, a new report now that 016. smartphone robberies in san francisco are now down 50%. the sf gate reporting the numbers this morning, spanning from 2013 to 2016. it req013 start date is very incortant, and here's why. the d.a. is crediting the e incehone theft prevention act which was signed that year requiring phone makers to honeude a kill switch, and that eliminates the incentive and theory for someone to be able to steal a phone because owners can s indiately shut the smartphone down if it's taken. did it work? according to police data, there were nearly 2400 smartphone t 11:ries in 2013, the year the law was enacted, and recently in 2016 data, the number dropped to 1200. so thmmer almost over, sad to say. school will be back in session. but there are not enough teachers. tcueway local schools are ive== ing -- what they're nighrting to to make sure there's someone in the classroom. >>> plus the first tesla 3 goes )ll beustomer tonight. we'll tell you all about it coming up

as kristen welker reports, the president is going to try to shift the focus back to his "made in america" theme this week. >> reporter: this morning a striking new revelation. a white house official telling nbc news president trump had a previously undisclosed conversation with russian president vladimir putin at this dinner held for world leaders at the g20 summit in hamburg, germany. according to the "washington post," citing a senior official, mr. trump left his seat and sat next to mr. putin. it was unusual with no american aides to witness it. the only russian english interpreter available provided by putin as each couple at the dinner was allowed just one translator. the american translator accompanied the president spoke japanese because mr. trump was seated next to the prime minister of japan. >> a basic breach of national protocol is there is only one person who knows what was said and it's the russian translator. >> the president circulated freely and spoke to many leaders, adding, the insinuation that the white house is saying i hid another meeting is absurd. the president twe