nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker starts us off. >> reporter: tonight, shockwaves at the white house after one of the president's most trusted advisers, rob porter, resigned. amid allegations by two ex-wives of verbal and physical abuse. porter sits outside the oval office and controls all the documents that land on the president's desk. in a statement, porter called the claims outrageous and simply false, and a coordinated smear campaign. >> the president, chief of staff, have had full confidence and trust in his abilities and his performance. >> reporter: overnight, chief of staff john kelly called porter a man of integrity. even as the reports of abuse by porter first appeared in the "daily mail" including this picture of porter's first ex-wive, colbie holderness, who told the paper he punched her giving her this black eye soon after their 2003 marriage. holderness also alleges porter choked her and emotionally abused her. porter firing back, "i took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being describe

kristen welker, how -- you heard marc short express, say the president has confidence. okay. when a sports team owner says they have confidence in a coach, it doesn't mean they don't get fired the next day. >> it doesn't. we know the president has been disappointed with his chief of staff not only with the handling of the rob porter situation, but because he's had a numb of missteps. he referred to the dreamers as lazy in recent days. that created a firestorm. the president openly musing about replacing him with mick mulvaney, for example. i'm told one thing that might hold the president back, he doesn't want more drama in his white house right now. >> i want to tee up something you wrote, peggy. first of all, they thought the atlantic captured something that makes this one different. both porter and kelly in the cross hairs this year. a scandal that exposes the white house, quote. you write this. you can't really blackmail donald trump on personal conduct because nothing said about him would surprise or shock. mr. porter, however, was blackmailable. why did they let him stay

we get more from nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: tonight, president trump facing mounting questions about whether his top aides are handling classified information without the proper security clearance. mr. president, do you have a vetting problem? >> reporter: the issue, front and center, after staff secretary rob porter resigned amid allegations of spousal abuse, which prevented him from gaining permanent security clearance. tonight, a u.s. official tells nbc news, dozens of white house officials are still operating without per nent securimanent s clearances. while it can take up to a year or longer to gain full clearance, former white house officials from both parties say it's remarkable that a close aide like jared kushner who has action to the nation's top secrets still lacks permanent clearance. kushner's attorney tells nbc news the clearance will take longer due to korbner's business holdings travels and lengthy submissions and there was no concern about the process of mr. kushner's ainbility to do his j. >> highly unusual for senior white house offi

for more we go to nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: shock waifwaves at white house after one of the president's most trusted advisers rob porter resigned, amid allegations by two ex-wives of verbal and physical abuse. porter sits outside the oval office and controls all the documents that land on the president's desk. in a statement porter called the claims "outrageous and simply false" and "a coordinated smear campaign." >> the president and chief of staff have had full confidence and trust in his abilities and his performance. >> reporter: chief of staff john kelly called porter a man of integrity even as the reports of abuse by porter first appeared in "the daily mail" including this picture of porter's first ex-wife, colby holderness, who told the paper porter punched her, giving her this black eye soon after their 2003 marriage. holderness also alleges porter choked her and emotionally abused her. porter firing back, "i took the photos given to the media nearly 15 years ago and the reality behind them is nowhere close to what is being described." porter's

>> kristen welker, thank you. just as we saw during the election, it appears russian bots are at it again, moving quickly to stir up chaos and anger over the gun debate in the u.s. and using social media. nbc's jo ling kent explains how you can spot russians meddling in your feed. >> reporter: within minutes of the school shooting, russian bots went to work, seizing the opportunity to spread inflammatory messages on social media. jonathan morgan tracks russia automated accounts. >> they're interested in sowing discord amongst americans. therefore peer weir not focused on putting a unified front out to adversaries. >> reporter: morgan says these tweets are an example of russian-backed posts. >> they're saying in response to the tragic attacks like the one we saw in florida, teachers should carry concealed handguns on campus. >> reporter: they also coopted th the #parklandshooting, the use by russian-linked bots is currently up 1900%. and they're latching on to topics like gun control, mental health and false flag,

nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker has the story. >> reporter: tonight, the white house calling the allegations of abuse against top aide rob porter serious, disturbing and upsetting and now the focus here defending the embattled chief of staff, john kelly. >> the president has confidence in his chief of staff. >> reporter: despite a former white house official telling nbc news kelly was alerted months ago about some of the allegations of domestic abuse by porter's two ex-wives, the white house insisting kelly only learned the whole truth yesterday after this picture surfaced of porter's first wife, colby holderness, with a black eye. >> i think it's fair to say that we all could have done better over the last few hours or the last few days. >> reporter: and pressed on why porter only had an interim security clearance despite the fact that he worked at the president's side with access to some of the most sensitive materials to cross the president's desk. >> the background investigation was not completelied. there was no determination made about rob porter's security clea

>> kristen welker at the white house. thank you, kristen. >>> a scare in the nation's capitol when a suspicious powdery substance was sent to the building that houses the office of former president barack obama. the secret service says police secured the area and determined the substance was harmless. this come just a day after another powder scare at a new york the apartment belonging to president trump's daughter-in-law. she was taken to the hospital as a precaution but was unharmed. >>> here in pyeongchang, it was another day of high winds, and skiers just can't seem to catch a break. weather has forced a delay in mikaela shiffrin's first event tonight in slalom. she won gold in that event in sochi. but there was a scary scene in luge as american emily sweeney lost control on a challenging curve of the track. she was thrown from her sled but appeared to be okay as she walked to an ambulance. the crowd cheered her on in support. >>> in the medal count, team usa is in sixth place with six medals, half of them gold. and o

kristen welker, thank you. we'll see you in the white house in a little bit and we may see you in half an hour when the president leaves for west virginia. >> indeed. >> clint watts and here on set our panel for the next 57 minutes, political reporter for real clear politics, kaitlyn huey burns. clint, let's start with you. where the gop is having their retreat at greenbrier. if this thing is going to be released the senate intelligence committee should have also had a chance to see it. the democratic counter memo should be released as well. this memo fight is laying their divisions not just inside the republican party, it seems, but also, of course, between the president and the guy he picked to lead the fbi. >> it is one of the craziest scenarios ever. brand new fbi director that's been there a few months who is going to the president saying don't do this. you have rod rosenstein, who was essentially set up as the fall guy in the comey firing, now trying to defend these intelligence collection tools, the fisa

i want to go to nbc's kristen welker. two days ago, i saw the note card. the families were at the white house and the president said i hear you. when we hear what he's actually looking to do, sounds like he's looking to do what the nra wants. >> on the one hand, he is, stef. you're absolutely right. one of the big proposals that the president put forth yesterday and doubled down on it, he talked about it on the campaign trail, is exactly what you and kerry were just talking about this idea of arming some students. incredibly controversial. the president even going so far though yesterday, stef, as to say that those teachers should be given bonuses who are armed and trained. he made it very clear he wasn't talking about all teachers but, again, some trained teachers to actually carry concealed weapons. that is a point on which he agrees with the nra. now, he also is breaking with the nra it appears on certain points as well. one of those points would be increasing the age limit for those allowed to carry ar-15 weapons. that's the type of weapon that was use

kristen welker is at the white house. kristen, here is where we are. the house passed a short-term deal the senate doesn't like. the senate is proposing this longer term deal and president trump is saying, hey, shut it down. what's going on? >> it's pretty remarkable. it seems like no one on other side of pennsylvania avenue has the appetite for a shutdown with the exception of the president. he made these comments during a meeting of immigration cracking down on the gang ms-13. the president making the case that some of those in that gang are undocumented immigrants and calling on congress to essentially deal with the issue of immigration, tougher security at the border as a part of this spending deal. and he threatened to shut down the government over it. take a listen to what he had to say yesterday. >> i would love to see a shutdown if we don't get this stuff taken care of. if we have to shut it down because the democrats don't want safety and unrelated but still related they don't want to take care of our military, then shut it down. we'll go with

as we noted just now, kristen welker was in the room. he went around the room, went to the governors, went to the mayors, let everybody talk, but when kristen asked questions about the recent controversies, he didn't answer. we're expecting that tape at any moment, peter. actually, within 15 seconds. i don't want to cut anybody off here. this is another case where they are hoping that they can emphasize infrastructure and of course the unveiling of the new budget proposals today rather than controversy. here's the president. >> thank you, everybody. sit. it's a great honor to have everybody with us, and we have some very exciting things to be talking about, things you've been waiting for, for a long time, for many, many years. now let's see how badly you want it. because if you want it badly, you're going to get it. if you don't want it, that's okay with me too. but we have to rebuild our infrastructure. you know, i said this morning as of a couple of months ago, we have spent $7 trillion in the middle east, $7 trillion. what a mistake. b

kristen welker, how -- you heard mark short express/say the president has confidence. when a sports team owner says he has confidence, that doesn't mean he doesn't get fired the next day. >> he doesn't. we know the president is as frustrated as he has ever been with his chief of staff, not only because of the mishandling of the rob porter situation but because he's had several missteps. he referred to dreamers as lazy. that created a firestorm. the president is openly musing about replacing him with mick mulvaney. on the other hand, the one thing that might hold the president back, he doesn't want more drama in his white house right now. >> i want to tee up something you wrote, peggy. they thought the atlantic captured something, both porter and kelly being in the cross hairs in a scandal that exposes the white house, quote, adults. then you write this. you can't really black mail donald trump on personal conduct because nothing said about him would surprise or shock. mr. porter, however, was black mailable. why did they let him stay on? maybe because they were despera

kristen welker joins us now at the white house. you have this memo?et but i do have the breaking news. the deputy press secretary confirming just moments ago that the president has declassified the memo in full, and now essentially, this gets kicked to the house intelligence committee for next steps, to release the memo. we anticipate that will happen in short order because of course, everyone was anticipating the release of this memo. another key point, he says there are no redactions in the memo so now we have to wait and see what the final text shows but again, based on all of our reporting, the implication is that the memo will show some type of misconduct within the fbi. of course, this potentially could be used to show, by republicans, that the russia probe has in some ways been ineffective or tainted. democrats stress, they say this is a cherry-picked document. they say it is solely for the purpose of brainwashing people to get them over to the president's side in terms of the russia probe but again, very significant news here out of the white

kristen welker, thank you so much. and of course again to jeffrey smith. >>> and coming up, picking up the pieces. i'll talk to a history teacher there stoneman douglas high school about how the school's community moves forward. ways to lose stubborn belly fat. the roasted core wrap. 3, 2, 1... not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool! coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some rare side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort and swelling. ask your doctor if coolsculpting is right for you and visit coolsculpting.com today... for your chance to win a free treatment. >>> and we have this breaking news from the fbi. i want to read this carefully because it is quite astonishing. it is an fbi statement on the parkland shooting. that on january 5, 2018, a person close to nikolas cruz charactered the fbi's public access line. a tip line to report concerns about him. the caller provided informa

it's going to be remarkable, kristen welker, to hear donald trump.o ignore the question, try and blow over it, say there was no collusion. but this rick gates plea has got to be sending some folks in the white house behind closed doors wondering what it means for them and what manafort could potentially say about donald trump, right? >> absolutely. that is what we have been discussing. the fact that this potential development today could have significant implications for paul manafort. will he ultimately plead guilty himself? will he start cooperating with the special counsel robert mueller, and could there be a money trail that leads back to the trump campaign that leads back to the president? s you a rightfully point out, the white house special counsel ty cobb said this has nothing to do with the president or with the white house. and so really the president's legal team has declined to comment on these developments. but obviously they're watching them closely, katy. >> no doubt about that. kristen welker, that you gave. it's 11:00 a.m. out west a

kristen welker and an admirable team at the white house who continue to ask questions. lawmakers on capitol hill are reacting to the rob porter controversy. garrett haake is live on capitol hill. and you just spoke with republican senator lindsey graham. >> that's right. and graham became the second. >> referee: republican lawmaker i've heard there today to address the issue in part by saying that the president needs to speak out more forcefully on the issues of domestic violence. it has become a recurrent problem and something of a distraction in -- here is the vice president coming up behind me right now. mr. pence, do you believe the women who made these accusations against rob porter, sir some do you still have confidence in john kelly in the vice president clearly -- >> it was pretty clear not answering that. >> reporter: and that is his prerogative. so let me return to the sound boit bite in question. lindsey graham responding to the change in thenarrative and heres graham's response about what the white house needs to do differently. >> what kind of system do the

kristen welker, i have to start with you. i watched the president give a signature move there, the thumbs up. i heard your shouted questions and i wonder if anyone was surprised that today wasn't the day that he walked up and offered any comments. >> well, we thought we had a shot today, nicolle. there's no doubt about that. in part because of the statement that you saw coming out of the white house and that tweet that he sent out, they are now making the case that this proof that there was no collusion. of course, the investigation is ongoing. but we thought perhaps he would say something on camera. it's worth noting, nicolle, this white house hasn't answered our questions since tuesday. that's the last time we had a briefing here. and so we are very anxious to be able to talk not only to the president, but to some of his top officials here to get their broader response to what we learned today. now, in terms of the reaction that we're getting from his legal team, john dowd, the president's outside attorney saying that the p

we have complete coverage starting with nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. kristen, good morning. >> reporter: hoda and savannah good morning to you. he is one of the president's most trusted advisers and this morning rob porter is vehemently denying the accusations by two ex-wives that he was physically and verbally abusive. today the white house is reeling from yet another staffer leaving the administration. now the question is who knew what and when? this morning another shake-up at the white house. staff secretary rob porter resigning wednesday, after his two ex-wives first told "the daily mail" that he physically and verbally abused them. >> i knew that it wasn't healthy. >> reporter: jennifer willoughby shortly after she married porter in 2009 detailing the first physical incident to "the washington post." >> he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. >> reporter: willoughby describing porter as someone with two different personalities. >> professionally he is intelligent and he is measured and he is certainl

kristen welker is standing by in the briefing room. kristen, any response yet from the president or from anybody at the white house about this market? >> reporter: not from the president directly, but deputy press secretary raj shah traveling aboard air force one with the president and the press pool told reporters that look, the markets fluctuate and that fundamentally the white house believes the economy is strong, that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. we know that this president has weighed in on the stock market before. in fact, just back in january saying we did in fact break 25,000, very substantially break it, and then he indicated and projected that it would go all the way up to 30,000. so some people are saying live by the sword die by the sword, once you attach yourself to the stock market these are the types of fluctuations you then could potentially begin to own. i can tell you, ali, that in past administrations they've really shied away from weighing in on the stock market. i covered former president obama, and h

joining me, mac mcclarty former chief of staff to president clinton kristen welker and jonathan lemire. john kelly was brought in which was perceived to be a white house out of control. he closed the door to the oval office to outsiders and installed some discipline but big questions about what he knew, when he knew it and whether he chose to overlook these allegations against rob porter. he knew the fbi had to acknowledge these problems. >> that's right, andrea. based on my sources the chief of staff john kelly was made aware of the allegations against rob porter several months ago. now raj shah was asked about that by peter alexander about what kelly knew. raj shah made the case that while he may have been a ware of some of the allegations, it wasn't until we saw the picture of porter's first ex-wife with a black eye that the entire picture came into view. that's the case the white house is making. according to a number of sources with this matter, the president is very frustrated by kelly's handling of the situation. the fact that he had the effusive phrase of rob porter after the i

. >>> i want to start with kristen welker. hope hicks talking with congress behind closed doors. it's important to have the context here, hick's inner sicker when it comes to the president. >> that's right. she is communications director, but she's also the former director of strategic communication. she served as then candidate trump's press secretaryism she worked for the trump organization, she's close with ivanka trump and worked with her as well. this is something u someone who is not only a close aid by a confidante to president trump and to his family. she is someone who is in the inner inner circle. now in terms of what we're expecting on capitol hill today it is going to be behind closed doors but the big question centers around how much information hope hicks can give to lawmakers one she's on capitol hill. there's been a real back and forth over the scope of those of these encounters. she's cancelled some appearances because there's been disagreement over how much information she can di individual. you've seen a similar back and forth, for example, with former aid stev

kristen welker and shaun henry, a former fbi executive. tammy, first to you. they're still trying to figure out how this happened. how he got in. this is a very large school, 3,000 plus students. they had exercised, they had planned. there's no way to rehearse for this kind of massacre. tammy, i'm not sure if you can hear me. we're bringing you in to tell us how they are reacting today in the aftermath. >> reporter: there was a lot of new information and one of the biggest things we learned was that the fbi learned about nickolas cruz last year. they became aware of him because he posted something on a youtube channel saying i'm going to be a professional school shooter. he posted this under his name. he said they did investigate. they're going to be going back and looking at the digital footprint. we're learning more about the people who died in the shooting. we know there were two faculty members as well as a football coach. the coach was aaron feis. we know what happened. aaron feis was an assistant football coach at the school. when the shots rang out, he

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker and nbc intelligence reporter ken delanian. kristen, this contradicts what the white house was saying, it was an ongoing investigation that had not been completed. >> reporter: that was the talking point here at the white house that the background check was ongoing when it came to rob porter. and they continued to insist that they only became fully aware, fully aware of the full picture and the allegations of spousal abuse when that was reported in the news. so what we are learning today from the fbi director is that this is a stark contradiction to what we have been told here at the white house. now, we have reached out to a number of white house officials for comment, for clarification as well as the white house counsel's office. andrea, remember, the white house counsel's office was made aware of the issues when this background check first initiated and they determined there were some problems. the white house continues to struggle with this timeline to explain who know what and when. andrea? >> let's look back at what has

i'm kristen welker in for craig melvin.ht now we're keeping an eye on a court in broward county, florida, where alleged shooter nikolas cruz is set for a hearing, facing 17 counts of premeditated murder. he's been held without bond in a broward county jail on suicide watch. one of the things that should be resolved today is whether documents can remained sealed. i am joined to help break this all down. what are you looking for, danny, what's at stake here and talk about those documents. >> anytime a young defendant like this is involved, you have to prepare for the possibility that there is a juvenile jacket, there's a juvenile record that is in almost every state sealed automatically when the juvenile reaches majority

i'm kristen welker in for craig melvin. right now we're keeping an eye on a court in broward county, florida, where alleged shooter nikolas cruz is set for a hearing, facing 17 counts of premeditated murder. he's been held without bond in a broward county jail on suicide watch. one of the things that should be resolved today is whether documents can remained sealed. i am joined to help break this all down. what are you looking for, danny, what's at stake here and talk about those documents. >> anytime a young defendant like this is involved, you have to prepare for the possibility that there is a juvenile jacket, there's a juvenile record that is in almost every state sealed automatically when the juvenile reaches majority age. so what that will often tell us there may be juvenile records in florida that were sealed, and they can be very difficult to open up. there's usually a test depending -- it varies state to state but generally speaking the party seeking to open up the juvenile records or make them available has to sho

. >>> good afternoon, i'm kristen welker in for craig melvin. we start with a day of outrage and hope in florida's capital. as you were just witnessing, students demanding action on gun reform in the wake of last week's tragic shooting. you are looking at proit'sers inside and outside of the state capital in tallahassee. also students walking out of school in solidarity in oakland park, covering it all for us. what an incredible day it has been so far. the testimonials we have heard from the student there is incredibly passionate, outspoken saying never again saying they are not afraid of the nra. tell us what your take aways were. >> you have been hearing it from inside. we are here outside in the rally. people have been speaking at this podium for well over an hour now. you are right. they have been absolutely passionate about this issue. specifically gun control, mental health and school safety. basically the entire crowd here saying they don't want to see this happen ever again. we heard chance of books, not guns. we want change. they have h

with me now, nbc's kristen welker live from the briefing room, where it has not started yet, kristen. any idea what the delay's about? >> reporter: we don't know what the delay is about, ali. good question. it was supposed to start at 2:00, with then it was pushed to 3:00 and then back to 2:50. we're running a few minutes late. but we do have a number of different topics that will be at the forefront today once this briefing does get underway. russia will undoubtedly be front and center in the wake of those indictments handed down by special counsel robert mueller and the indictment today of that attorney linked to rick gates and paul manafort. so all of that will be questions that will undoubtedly get asked, specifically about how the president has responded. he's done a lot of finger pointing over the weekend. again, yesterday, and today, including at his predecessor, former president obama. president trump saying that he's actually been tougher on russia than former president obama. and yet a lot of critics say that that's not the case. and they point to the fact that congress over

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, and msnbc military analyst colonel jackobs, a medal of honor recipient. joining us, as well. first of all, i don't want to rain on the parade, kristen, but this is hardly the time given the fiscal problems, the budget deficit, the dysfunction in washington, to have this kind of celebratory parade and people are asking, i think with good measure, why spend the money? why not do other things for the troops? >> well, the legislative affairs director mark short was prepped on that very point by my colleague hallie jackson, and he pushed back and said look it is not a waste of money to honor the military. as you know there's other criticism, andrea. some way military parades are something that you see under dictatorships. mark short pushing back against that notion, as well. saying, look, this has nothing to do with a dictatorship. this is about the president wanting to honor the military. in terms of where we are in this planning process, it is very early stages. the pentagon saying that, quote, we are aware of the request and

kristen welker, thank you very much. matt, peetter, maria, thank you for your time. and we'll talk to the president of now who is causing on john kelly to resign and we'll also look at what this all says about the culture inside the white house. the "new york times" might be she would goldberg who penned a piece joins me right after a quick break. >>> does the trump administration take allegations of assault against women seriously? this week's news would suggest that the answer to that question is no, not at all. since we're learning at least two top white house staffers knew about allegations of domestic violence and did nothing about it. two ex-wives of rob porter say he an abused them verbally and physically, one spoke with savannah guthrie and described the moment she knew he crossed the line. >> what was the moment, was it what we read when you say -- what happened? >> we had baby figeen fighting followed me to the shower and pulled me out of the shower to continue the rage. and immediately saw how scared i was and recognized what he was doing and released it,

let's start with nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. i want to ask you what this says about the president's frame of mind, looking all of these tweets, what does it say about how he's thinking about the russian story and that indictment on friday in particular? >> hi, david, well, good morning to you. it is clear this issue is increasingly getting under the president's skin. it's clear his frustration is boiling over. we saw hi, as you just said, play the blame game throughout the weekend, tweeting, blaming everyone, with the exception of vladimir putin actually. he lashed out at former president obama, saying that he did nothing to thwart the threat from russia. he lashed out at the fbi, even accusing them of failing to see warning signs when it came to the florida shooter because they were too obsessed with russia meddling. he even undercut his own security adviser h.r. mcmaster who did speak out about those 13 indictments over the weekend. the president effectively accusing h.r. mcmaster of not being tough enough to defend the presid

and kristen welker has all the details. >> keep our students -- >> reporter: president trump vowing toafter the florida school massacre which white house sources say impacted him personally. >> we must do more to protect our children. we have to do more to protect our children. >> reporter: the president asking for regulations banning bump stocks, the devices allowing some guns to shoot hundreds of rounds per minute. the president had already called for a review of bump stocks after they were used by the las vegas shooter. >> i expect that these critical regulations will be finalized, jeff, very soon. >> reporter: under fire from victims to do more -- >> shame on you. >> reporter: -- the white house now considering legislation that would strengthen back glund che ground checks, but neither would have stopped the florida shooter. >> the president is trying to do everything he can. >> reporter: sarah sanders also facing questions about the president's tweet blaming the fbi for missing warning signs about the shooter because, quote, they are spending too much time trying to prove russian

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, a loyal philadelphian. and kara lee, also from philadelphia. and msnbc political analyst robert costa, national political reporter at "the washington post," moderator of "washington week," and a philadelphian. and i think, robert, you were there last night in philadelphia for the celebration. but i'll throw it to kristen first for the latest from the white house because the president just now leaving without, i guess, answering any questions. >> that's right, andrea. all of us philadelphians a little bleary eyed today after staying up late to watch that incredible game. but you're right. president trump just left moments ago. he didn't respond to shouted questions. he's heading to cincinnati. he's going to be otouting his bg tax reform victory. it comes as tensions are escalating over that republican memo released last week. republicans trying to make the case -- the president at least saying it vindicates him in the russia probe. of course, the facts don't bear that out. in fact, a democratic memo that wil

kristen welker is here, right next to me, on msnbc. hi, kristen. >> hi, good to see you in person. as we are monitoring that break news with the president meeting with state and local officials, that just wrapping up. we start with president trump who's taken ownership of the gun issue, moments ago, backing his supporters at a major conservative conference today who are demanding guns in schools for some teachers. over the last 24 hour, the president has held public listening sessions at the white house. just now, it was with state and local officials. wednesday, it was with students, parents and others touched by school shootings. next week, he meets with the nation's governors. the president today tweeted support for the expanded background checks and raising the legal age. he talked about providing federal money to train teachers to use guns as well as the need for, quote, offensive capability. i want to start with our team of reporters, kelly o'donnell is at the white house and kacie hunt is at the conservative political action conference or cpac, which is of course just outsid

joining me is kristen welker and mike memaly as the market looks at the turmoil in the midst of the continuing drama about the mueller investigation. kristen, first to you about what nbc news first reported january 8th, the negotiations understandably between the president's lawyers and the mueller team about when, how and if the president should, in fact, agree to be interviewed. how much choice does he have in what's the current state of play? >> reporter: well, "the new york times" came out with a story overnight, andrea, that his lawyers are advising him against having an in-person interview with special counsel robert mueller. that's consistent with what we have been reporting. we have been reporting all along the president's legal team has been looking for alternatives to a face-to-face interview with the special counsel. for example, the president submitting written answers to questions or potentially an affidavit. all this is consistent with what we have been reporting all along. based on my conversations overnight, i'm told these negotiations are still very much ongoing, they are very

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joining me now is nbc news' white house correspondent, kristen welker, intelligence and national securityeporter, kim dell lanian, and former official at the fbi, now a contributor for us at nbc news to help explain some of the legalese aspects of things. kristen, let me start with you. there is a lot that's in the president's statement. i'll tell you what's not in there. there doesn't seem to be an indictment against russia, against putin, or anything about what to do next about securing our system. does anybody in that white house care about the indictment beyond its impact on the trump campaign? >> well, in conversations that i've been having since this indictment, the 13 indictments pronounced, chuck, i can tell you that there's a lot of pivoting going on. i've said, are you not angry? are you not upset? will there not be next steps that are announced? and the pivoting is basically saying, well, why don't you ask the obama administration? why they didn't do more to prevent in the first place. and, of course, the response to that is, well, president trump is the president now. so you'r

nbc's kristen welker joins me now. we know this white house loves their listening tours. president trump listened. he heard the students and families from parkland a week ago and then not 24 hours later, he's at cpac and basically reciting talking points from the nra, so what do we expect today? >> it's a great point, and i think you can expect some discord here. one of the proposals that president trump has put forward is highly controversial, arming some students -- he says those who have been trained -- >> -- firearms -- >> i'm sorry, teachers, yes, an important correction, some highly trained teachers to carry conceal weapons. that's an opinion some of the governors disagree with. including florida's governor rick scott who has been very clear, he wants to see other changes, but not that one. he doesn't think that's the way to solve this crisis. another notable divide, stef, is between the president and the nra. that's on the issue of how old someone should be to buy a weapon like an ar-15. president trump has been advocating to increase the age from 15 to 21. the nra

kristen welker and julia ainsley. and i'll keep you posted on the markets. we're now 630 points lower on the dow. almost 2.5%. >>> i want to get to mike mem alley with reaction from capitol hill. this is where there is dissent at capitol hill. there are some republicans who didn't think this was i good idea, pretty much all democrats didn't think it was a good idea and it is noteworthy that the chairman of the house intel committee, devin nunes did not even share the information with his counterpart at senate. so congress is not speaking with one voice on this memo? >> no. absolutely not. for sure we're seeing democrats almost across the board decry not only the specifics in the memo, adam schiff we heard from him in a conference call in addition to the statement that kristin referred to earlier where he said those who were expecting this -- who had built it up as revealing crimes that were worse than watergate must be bitterly disappointed but we've heard from republicans on the senate side questioning if not the memo itself, what it represents in terms of

. >> kristen welker is at the white house. the president is flying down to florida. what do we know? >> we're hoping we're going to get to shout presidents at the president and get his actual reaction to these 13 indictments. what we know so far is he was briefed earlier today at the white house personally by the deputy attorney general rod rosenstein and by fbi director christopher wray. i spoke with one white house official that's an indication as they see him as part of the process, not the problem. that is subject to interpretation. we also know, brian, this is a president who has consistentlily referred to the russia probe as a hoax. he has said there's been no collusion. so the question becomes does he still see it that way? it becomes almost impossible. we've gotten a different message from his legal team, saying we want to cooperate with the special robert mueller. in fact, we know there are negotiations ongoing behind the scenes for a potential interview in some form with the president himself. now, that may take on a written form, there may be a robust back

nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. nbc's ken dilanian is an intelligence and national security reporter. phil rucker is a white house bureau chief for "the washington post" and an nbc political analyst. and jake sherman is a senior writer for politico. kristen, as always, i'm going to start with you. this looks like it's going to be a briefing for the record books. where do we even start? >> where do we even start, katy? and it was just delayed an hour. so that is why you may see a little bit of movement around me. some of my colleagues are getting up from their chairs and going back to their work spaces. but you're absolutely right. there are a range of topics that we are going to press sarah huckabee sanders on. russia will likely be at the top of that list. we have not gotten to ask her questions since robert mueller handed down 13 indictments at the end of last week, the latest developments today with the new indictment that we learned about. and, of course, the president's tweet storm. over the weekend, he pointed

. >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> on capitol hill tonight big tensions and big drama playing out with last-minute questions surrounding that bipartisan deal in the senate to avoid a shutdown by midnight. nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt has the latest for us. >> reporter: tonight congress racing to avoid a government shutdown scrambling to pass a major two-year bipartisan deal. republicans praising increased funding for thery. $1 years. many democrats won over with 131 billion more for domestic including 6 billion to fight the opioid epidemic and there's bipartisan support for the 90 billion in disaster relief for hurricane victims in the virgin islands, puerto rico texas and florida. u l >> aou get s you the other side things they like. that's what bipartisanse is all about. on the net, this is a very good solution. >> reporter: but late into the day tension as the clock ticked toward ht. senato in the senate arguing the much. >> we're going to have a trillion deficit this year a >> reporter: and in theg votes. priorities are in the bill. i have an unea

g we'lt highlights from kristen welker of nbc peter baker of the new york times.ls and snell of n. >> this is "washington week." funding is provide by -- >> their leadership is insince the active -- instinctive. they research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans.al we them part of our team. >> on a cruisn with ameri cruise lines travelers experience the m and culture of new england. our fleet of small cruis ships explores american landscapes. seaside villages and historic harbors where you can experience local customsui andne. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "washington week." announcer: additional funding is provided by neumann's own foundation, donating all profits from neumann's own food products to charity and nourishing the common good. the ethics and excellence in journalism foundation, ku and patric ewing, committed to bridging c our communities, the corporation of public badcasts and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again from washington, derator robert costa. robert: good evening. president trump signed a bip