kristen welker is standing by. kristen, it looks like he took a few questions from the pool before he said "thank you, goodbye." he did take a few questions. let's recap what was said moments ago during this cabinet meeting. he was asked if russia is still targeting the united states. the president said no. he was then asked another question related to this topic, not exactly clear what that question is, but he used it as a chance to reiterate one of his talking points on russia. he said "no president has been as tough as i've been on russia, i think president putin knows that better than anyone, better than the media." i can tell you when i've spoken to republicans, chris, who are very disappointed in what they saw in helsinki from this president, they go back to that point, they say, look at the policies, this president has been tough on russia, he's enacted sanctions, he's expelled diplomats, and that's part of the justification for not breaking with him completely after he appeared to side with putin over his o

nbc's kristen welker is in london tonight. kristen, good evening. >> reporter: lets tester, good evening to you. president trump may be in britain but some key allies expressing concerns their tensions with mr. trump could be playing right into vladimir putin's hands. >>> in a hastily arranged news conference this morning, the president tried to claim victory, saying nato allies have agreed to his demand for a big increase in military spending. >> they have raised an additional $33 billion that's been put up by the various countries, not including the united states. >> reporter: but moments later, french psi denied mr. trump's claim and reaffirmed all allies are still committed to paying 2% over the next decade, targets that were previously agreed upon. amid the confusion and chaos, mr. trump reaffirming his commitment. >> i believe in nato. nato now is really a fine tuned machine. people are paying money that they never paid before. >> reporter: tough talk that may also be aimed at showing strength ahead of his one on one with

i want to bring in kristen welker here. i know that you just talked to rudy giuliani, what more did he tell you. >> reporter: a source that's close to him familiar of the entire matter and we are trying to get reaction from rudy giuliani himself. the source underscores the quote by rudy giuliani and confirms them in "the new york times," i will highlight the reporting in his team of the big scheme of thing of powerful evidence, that from rudy giuliani and that's what the talking point is going to be from the trump's team. what has hung over this issue with michael cohen, the entire time and what makes the white house and the president so nervous frankly is the idea that think about who michael cohen is. he was the president's long time fixer. he's not just his personal attorney, he's someone who knows all the details of thorny matters in trump's life. will michael cohen cooperate with investigatorinvestigators? he has been very clear when donald trump was about to become the next president that he'll take a bullet for the p

and to paraphrase jim comey, lordy, there are tapes. >> well,kristen welker, we know michael cohen has not been charged with anything right now, so this is all very preliminary information. but it is going to be a battle over these tapes, whether they represent either lawyer/client privilege or something that actually could be introduced, and whether it could be evidence if there were a charge of a campaign finance violation. >> reporter: and andrea, remember that the president had tried to make the case, his legal team, that whatever was seized in michael cohen's offices and residences, should be protected by attorney/client privilege. that's the argument that they had been making. look, this is an issue and a story line that has gotten under the president's skin, that has roiled the white house for many months now. there is grave concern about what michael cohen knows and whether or not he's going to share it with investigators. remember, there's this bigger issue of whether he's going to flip and actually start cooperating with investigators. you have the president tweeting, saying

here's nbc's kristen welker on the pomp and protest. >> reporter: while the streets of london swelled with tens of thousands of people protesting, president trump including an inflatable trump baby blimp. london organizers tightly choreographed the president's travel to keep him away from the crowds, inspecting the troops and tea with the queen and all smiles with the first lady. as the president himself spent the day in damage control. >> i have a lot of respect for the prime minister. >> the conciliatory comments come as mr. trump blasted may in a british newspaper taking aim at her handling of brexit. >> i actually told teresa may how to do it but she didn't agree -- she didn't me. en to >> reporter: even praising her arch rival boris johnson who resigned from her cabinet earlier this week. >> i'm just saying, i think it would be a great prime minister. >> reporter: despite the audio evidence of his own words, the president tried to deny the whole thing. >> i didn't criticize the prime minister. i have a lot of respect for the prime minister. it's called fake news. >> reporter: aft

i'm kristen welker. we begin with that deadly and devastating inferno in northern california blazing a path of destruction across some 80,000 acres and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes. the car fire in the area of -- the carr fire in the city of redding, a city of roughly 90,000 people, is spreading so fast it doubled in size overnight. in a tragic twist, late today, authorities confirm the victims include two children and their great grandmother. bringing the death toll to five with a dozen more missing. the blaze is barely contained. thousands of firefighters are battling the blaze, which is just barely contained. it's just one fire we are tracking as erratic winds fuel the western u.s. nbc's steve patterson has latest from redding, steve. >> reporter: kristen, this is one of those rare urban fires that has brought so much destruction to so many places. inoved, littered in ruins, and right now, there are thousands of more homes that are being threatened. tonight the fire-fight intensifies.

here is nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. >> reporter: after saying it was a waste of time to tackle immigration before the midterms, the president's new threat, to shut down the government over it. >> i would have no problem doing a shutdown. it's time we had proper border security. we're the laughing stock of the world. >> reporter: the president also saying he's open to negotiation, a new wrinkle for republicans fighting to hold on to congress. tonight, the senate's top republican vowing it won't happen. >> funding the government in a timely and orderly manner. >> reporter: and 99 days until the election, there is also the mueller investigation. for months, the president saying on twitter and in person, there was no collusion between the trump team and russia. >> i say it all the time, there was no collusion. >> reporter: but tonight, trump attorney rudy giuliani now questioning whether collusion is a crime at all. >> i've been sitting here looking at the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime. >> it's not. >> collusion is not a crime. which i don't know i

>> kristen welker at the white house, thanks. >>> to the mass shooting mystery in toronto. 15 people shot, two of them killed including a 10-year-old girl when a gunman dressed in black suddenly began shooting on a busy street. police identified that accused gunman late today. a city in shock, many people are asking why. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more on the search for answers. >> reporter: tonight, toronto's greektown, one of canada's most popular neighborhoods is shut down. >> apparently multiple shootings in the area. danforth. >> reporter: police swarming the scene after gunshots ripped through danforth avenue. >> i heard at least 20 shots. clip being spent. reloading. clip being spent. reloading. that's what i heard and then i saw the carnage as i ran down the street. >> reporter: the gunman dressed in all black seen on this chilling video posted on social media. >> one woman run and she fell and he went over her and shot her twice point blank. >> reporter: carrying a shoulder bag he suddenly stops, pulls out a handgun and opens fire shooting 15 people. >> so he had a calm about

let's go to nbc's kristen welker with more of what we can expect out of brussels. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. president trump kicks off his first official day here at the nato summit with a breakfast with the nato secretary-general. they will be chewing over not only breakfast but some diplomacy as well, and then he has a series of meet and greets, some meet wgz hings with his counterparts. but the heighten tensions after president trump yesterdaycritiz members for failing to pay their fair share on defense. now, the reality is five out of 29 nato members have met their commitments for 2024, but that still gives the rest of the countries a number of years to live up to their goals. but there are deep concerns here that president trump is becomin increasingly alienated from his allies and that he may take steps even to, for example, pull out u.s. troops from key bases in germany, for example. and, of course, all eyes are on that high stakes meeting with russian president vladimir putin. that will take place next week. a number of nato members concerned

nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. white house correspondent jeremy bash. and msnbc global affairs analyst john mclaughlin, acting cia director. kristen, the mixed messages from the president continuing. sarah sanders trying to say yesterday that the president wasn't saying that he believed russian intelligence, even though he said that, and another interview with cbs where he for the first time came down hard on vladimir putin. what are we to make of all of this and what is the intelligence community to make of all of it? >> reporter: i think first of all, in terms of what to make in terms of what's happening here at the white house, andrea, this is a white house in full damage control mode. the president clearly realizing it, trying to take a much tougher tone when it comes to vladimir putin during that interview with cbs news in which he finally says yes, he does agree with the intelligence community's assessment that russia meddled in the 2016 election. he caveated that by saying "because he's the head of the country." the mixed messaging is something th

let's get intoll this now with nbc's white house correspondent kristen welker. she jns me here in new york. good to have you here. in washington, nbc's politicald ctor and moderating of "meet the press," chuck todd. krist kristen, let's start here with you. you were shouting many of those that the president didn't answer this week. michael cohen clearly now with the hiring of lanny dav going offense. he's been aggressive this week, releasing the tape to cnn of that conversation, and now the report that he's rea to talk perhaps to special counsel robert mueller, without evidence at we've seen yet that president trump knew ahead of time about that 2016 so i just ask you basically, how concerned is the white house about michael cohe >> they're concerned. the president is infuriled. i can t you, i have been speaking to the president's allies, willie, and that's a real barometer i think for the way in which the president is viewing this. they are deeply concerned. they don't like what theyea h on that audiotape. the optics of it are bad. but it does suggest, they say

nbc's kristen welker is in brussels. also joining me, the undersecretary of defense for policy and now a senior fellow at the rand corporation. welcome, both. over there in brussels, kristen, what are they saying? they've got to be on edge, at least european allies, very off-put by what the president did in quebec, and even what he said today while leaving the white house about nato. >> absolutely right, andrea. they're bracing for another intense encounter with president trump, of course because of that backdrop you mentioned, that g-7 summit which ended in sharp disagreements, the president pulling out of a joint communique, even personally insulting france's prime minister and launching what is effectively a trade war with some of america's closest allies. that's the backdrop. president trump, today, in those comments you said, through tweets, and through his advisers, signaling he's going to push nato members to pay more in defense spending. the president of nato had sharp words of his own for president trump, effecti

. >> joining me, nbc's kristen welker, nbc's geoff bennett, robert costa, national political reportert "the patiewashingto post," and msnbc justice and security analyst matt miller, former chief spokesman for attorney general eric holder. first to you, geoff bennett, you're aware of the speaker's position on this. first of all, the freedom caucus, so-called, these very conservative members, pitched this but didn't pitch it as a privileged resolution to really jam it onto the floor. so were they just trying to make a point? what's going on up there? >> reporter: it certainly appears that way, andrea. and today we heard that house speaker paul ryan did not publicly condemn the effort but ticked through all the reasons he didn't support it. he said it wasn't smart to be cavalier with the term "impeachment." he said if it went to the senate it would jam up the republican agenda, including the effort to confirm supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. what we're left with isyes, this appears to be an effort to further politicize the mueller probe, and perhaps to lay the predicate, to give pr

joining me is nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. msnbc contributor joyce vance and former u.s. attorney and msnbc contributor charlie savage, washington correspondent for "the new york times" and nbc intelligence and national security reporter ken dilanian and pete williams at the white house. pete, what happened in the pretrial hearing? >> well, it's still going on, andrea. and it's going to be going on later this afternoon on some other issues that paul manafort wants to raise about how much evidence can be admitted about the work he did for ukraine. but today the argument has been for the last hour and a half or so about whether this trial should be delayed. it's scheduled to start on wednesday with jury selection and probably opening statements on friday. but manafort's defense lawyers told judge t.s. ellis just a short time ago that they've been basically overwhelmed, swamped with 120,000 new pages of documents that the government has produced just within the past weeks. much of it from a personal computer, and other storage de

>> that of course our own kristen welker. the president is scheduled this afternoon to lead his first national security meeting in the white house situation room on how to prevent russian meddling in the upcoming midterms, despite the president's frequent description of the mueller probe as a witch hunt, a phrase also picked up this week by his national security adviser john bolton. joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, msnbc national security contributor michael schmidt, and msnbc legal analyst mimi rocah, former federal prosecutor in the southern district of new york. kristen, the choreography today clearly reflecting bill shine, the new former fox executive, brought in from fox television previously, to be the deputy chief of staff and communications director. this was not a scrum or a gaggle, nothing like that crazy moment on the north lawn when you were all chasing him a good half hour a couple of weeks ago. >> reporter: in one sense, andrea, this was far more orderly, you're absolutely right. thi

kristen welker picks things up right now. kristen, look at us, we're primary colors. >> primary colors on another busy friday, katy. we never get a break. >> what happened to summer fridays? we should go into publishing and get half a day off. >> they don't exist in this business. good afternoon, i am kristen welker in for ali velshi. i did not know, that's what president trump is saying after new reports that long-time lawyer and fixer michael cohen is willing to inform special counsel robert mueller that trump knew about that infamous trump tower meeting before it took place. the president lashed out in a series of tweets dismissing not only the report but also cohen. last night the president's attorney, rudy giuliani, was on the attack, slamming cohen's credibility. >> i expected something like this from cohen. he's been lying all week, or for two weeks. there's no doubt in my mind he's just not credible. >> that's a pretty sizeable departure from how giuliani described cohen back in may. >> the man is an honest, honorable

kristen welker is also here standing by. kelly, first to you. the shock of seeing the american president standing next to vladimir putin and essentially taking his side against american intelligence was stunning. >> it really was. and i've been in putin's presence before with previous presidents and the feeling was different. this was a high stakes moment. trying to create a better pond with all the issues they talked about. everyone knew these pressing questioned would be raised and would they address them? shocking to say the least that president trump denigrated the work of the intelligence communities and law enforcement. certainly posed doubts about it. raised other conspiracy issues and things of that nature. and was so willing to accept the word of the russian president. no one here, no journalist, no one watching expected vladimir putin to stand up and say, yes, we did it. no one expected that. but the president certainly should have been briefed and prepared to address that issue, that even in the face of denials from putin that there i

he talked to kristen welker afterwards, our own nbc kristen welker, and he did a little more circumlocution. but let's start with this idea of a premeeting. he's saying that lanny davis or maybe a reporter that's calling for comments, it's unclear, is saying there was a meeting two days before the trump tower meeting. what do you know about that? >> he said both that lanny davis is saying this and michael cohen was saying this. i don't know if this meeting happened. i don't know if lan write davis had said this. i can tell you from my reporting today that michael cohen has no knowledge of a premeeting. so he is not going around saying that there was a premeeting because he did not know about that until rudy giuliani was on air today. >> i just want to be clear. if there was a premeeting two days before the meeting, which would be a big deal i think because it would blow up this idea of it's all casual, come by trump tower -- >> seat of the pants. >> seat of the pants, right? if there was such a thing, you're saying that did not originate with michael cohen >> from my reporting that's not wh

kristen welker, thank you. one wonders if this hastily called statement, the second this week, is an imprint of new deputy chief of staff for communications, bill shine, somebody with a lot of tv experience. maybe looking at optics. saying, hey, let's get you out here in a well-lit setting, in front of reporters, with this background of the east wing behind you, and talking about something that the white house wants to be talking about. here's the thing, ali, it wasn't just a victory lap looking forward. it was also jabs backward at his predecessor. i want you to fact check something the president had to say. play the sound bite, what the president said regarding his predecessors and the economy. >> if economic growth continues at this pace, the united states economy will double in size, more than ten years faster than it would have under either president bush or president obama. >> ali, what do you make of that? >> just math. if you grow at a percentage, your economy will grow in size. the problem with gdp is

kristen welker picks things up right now.'re primary colors. >> primary colors on another busy friday, katy. we never get a break. >> what happened to summer fridays? we should go into publishing and get half a day off. >> they don't exist in this business. good afternoon, i am kristen welker in for ali velshi. i did not know, that's what president trump is saying after new reports that long-time lawyer and fixer michael cohen is willing to inform special counsel robert mueller that trump knew about that infamous trump tower meeting before it took place. the president lashed out in a series of tweets dismissing not only the report but also cohen. last night the president's attorney, rudy giuliani, was on the attack, slamming cohen's credibility. >> i expected something like this from cohen. he's been lying all week, or for

>> kristen welker in helsinki. kristen, thanks. >> lester holt also in helsinki covering this summit for us. lester, good morning. obviously the presidents are now at that working lunch after spending more than two hours in a room together. we'll hear them at a press conference and i guess that's the first time we'll get some sense of what actually took place in the room between the two men. >> reporter: yeah, according to the two men. we noted they were in there alone except for the translators. the fact that it went past two hours, hard to read into it because there were translators, that conversation would not cover as much ground as if you and i were in the room together but it's worth noting they spent that kind of time. perhaps they were able to get in a number of topics the president had just came today they would talk about china, nuclear arms. beyond that we don't know what was on the agenda. >> set the bar for us. what is at stake when these two men walk out and face the cameras? >> reporter: well, as i sa

aaron and eun, back to you. >> kristen welker, live at the white house. thank you. we'll see you next on the "today" show. >>> we turn to breaking new out california, where we're following the latest concerning a tent collapse at a military base,t. hunter liggett. this is an army installation. 22 people were injured. a blackhawk helicopteras trying to land last night when the motor -- the power of its rotator blew over a structure, a tent there. fortunately, no fatalitiefatali. >>> we received some newto p in the newsroom from thailand. >> chris lawrence is at the live with that. >> they're touching. look at these photos, showing the coach and his family. he is the young coach who was trapped inhelooded cave with 12 members of his soccer team. this shows coand ek his family at the temple where he .ves in thaila it's been more than a month where they've been this close to each other. b that wasore the team was trapped. the team had to be quarantined. we're getting to see this special momt being shared with the entire world. >> chris, thank you. >>> it's 6:49. metro's

european tr i'm joined ipour coverage by kristen welker, our nbc news white house correspondent. also ambassador michael mcfaul, who was a u.s. ambassador to russia for a couple years under the obama administration. good to have you both here. kristen, lete start with you. set the scene for what we know is about to take place. >> well, this is remarkable. president trump, president putin are going to be alone in a room fo 90 minutes, only interpreters. what are they going to talk about? ethe president said will raise the issue of election meddling. he has new energy and fuel if h wants to do that. of course, the 12 russians who were indicted on friday, russian intelligence officis, as a part of the broader mueller investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 election. but the president, lester, dismissing the probe yet again mois ing. let me read you his tweet. quote, our relationship with russia hasn never b worse thanks to many years of foolishness and stupidity and now the rigged witch hunt. again referring to it as a witch hunt. the foreign ministry retweeted it and said we

. >> kristene welker is l from the white house this morning with the latest. kristen, good morning.morning to you. busy monday morning here. and it is looking like all-out warfare on michael hen. it's going to continue into this udw week. trump's lawyer,giuliani, taking to the air waves sunday, tolast the former personal attorney and fixer, michael cohen. giuliani calling cohen an instinctual liar, all of the signs that cohen could be ready to flip on the president. for hispart, trump took aim at a different target on sunday. robert mueller, in a trademark tweet stor trump ramping up attacks on the russian investigation, calling it an e legal scam. the president calling out mueller by name, sayg he has conflicts of interest and claiming he and mueller had a nasty and contentious business werelationships. l have all of that coming up on "today." >> kristen welker, liv from the white house. thanks so much. >>> today, robert wilke will be sworn in as the new veterans affair secretary. wilke has been serving as acting secretary since march. een expected to shake up the v.a. on his first

we'll have much more on all of thisater today. >> kristen welker live at the white house for us.s so much. we'll see kristen's full report on "today." >>> the group behind the white supremacist rally in charlottes will rally here in two weeks. they will protest inreafayette sq across from the white house. the officers are experienced at keeping the peace during high-tension rallies and protests. will keep say they the two sides apart. >>> designs for 3d printed guns with going online tomorrow. starting tomorrow, the trump administration is allowing one website to publish those plans. 21 attorneys general sen a letter to the administration asking for the move to be blocked. to make the gun, you would need an advanced 3d printer. >>> developing out of north korea, u.s.py satellites were a detect a facility that was known for making ballistic missiles. there's vehicles moving in and out o that facility but don't show how advance the north korea missiles may be. >>> if you're just joining us, we're staying on top of the breaking news out of iacalifo the carr fire is now the ninth-mos

kristen welker.be on a few minutes.how in thanks,kr ten. >>> celebrations in thailand for the first time in more than two weeks. the entirebo wild ars soccer team is waking up outside of that flooded cave. the last trapped person was safely rescued yesterday. am is now in a hospital recovering. the boys range in ages from 11 to 16. the prime minister there said the outpouring of support made th difficult and dangerous mission a success. what an iredible rescue effort it was. those thai navy s.e.a.l.s p themselves in harm's way to rescue those boys. >>> a small community in fairfax county is hoping three teenagers pull through after a terrible crash in clif in. >> two critical condition. justin finch is live at the teens' school with more on what may have caused this crash. justin? >> reporter: good morning. police have not given us anyme or ages of these teen victims. but we know that they are all students here at robinson secondary school. two are teen boys and one a teen girl all rushed to the hosp

kristen welker at the white house for us this morning.thank you. >>> a gop staffiv who in woodbridge says a "new york times" reporter broke into his apartment this week. >> "the times" says the reporter never took a step inside. brian landrum says a friend r caught torter inside his apartment on wednesday afternoon. according to the friend, he was leaving a note. ew york times" says in a statement, the reporter left e at note with the friend and never went inside apartment. the reporter was trying to contact landm for a story about virginia u.s. senate candidate cory stewart. >> if she is intent on contting me, i would prefer do it by phone and not by barging in when i'm not home. >> this reporter has been aggressively asking questions, everybody who i have ever known. >> landrum has worked for stewart in the past. prince william county police are investigating this incident. no charges have been filed. >>> now, to decision 2018, the recount in the race for montgomery county executive begins monday. david blair blocked the result . the bo

that was kristen welker reporting. >>> firefighters are making great progress fighting the burning in the hills. this fire of milpitas. almost fully contained now. fire broke out shortly after 1:00 yesterday afternoon and quickly grew to 300 acres. more than 100 firefighters battling the fire. one structure was destroyed and two ranches evacuated. >>> memorial services set for the firefighter that died battling the fire near yoet mice. brayden varney died. in the meantime, that fire is still burning out of control, burned more than 32,000 acres and 6% contained. >>> all right. turning attention to the weather. of course, those dry conditions and warm outside doesn't make it easier for them fighting the fires but take a look right here. live look from the emeryville camera and not looking foggy. >> we are going do see that shallow layer of fog across the bay an parts of the city. while most of the san francisco will be all clear. now, as we get a live look outside in san jose, not a cloud in the sky. and our temperatures are a little bit warmer here. we're already starting to feel some

our kristen welker is in helsinki. kristen, lawmakers across the board are weighing in.orter: steph, i have been compiling some of that reactions and holdup some of the papers that we gathered so far. steph, the reaction is still pouring into that remarkable press conference that the president declined to denounce and call out russia for interfering in the u.s. election. let me read you some of the strongest statements again. these are from republicans. senate erlor lindsey graham, ita missed opportunity to hold russia accountable and deliver a strong warning regarding future elections. it is imperative that congress holds hearing on the extent and scope of any cooperations with syria. if it were me, i would check the soccer ball and never allow it in the white house. this was senator flake who tweeted. i would never thought i see a day where the president of the united states standing on the stage with putin and blaming on the united states. ben sass, this is bizarre and flat out wrong. this is bizarre and flat out wrong. when i caveat these statements and remind our vi

kristen welker is over at the white house. kristen, you and i were racing out to the rose garden 24 hours ago, 20 hours ago this time yesterday for that impromptu joint statement in which president trump announced this deal with the eu, very big day he calls it. still some confusion about exactly what went down and what happens today. >> that confusion continues today, hallie as the president departs for the midwest and illinois and iowa. what happened yesterday, both stepped back from eu agreed to buy more soybeans and natural gas and both sides agreed to negotiate the broader terms of a trade deal and try to reverse some of those steel and aluminum tariffs president trump put in place ultimately. but they are still in place right now, hallie. peter and i were here with the treasury secretary a short time ago pressing him on what was actually agreed to yesterday. take a look at that exchange. >> we have an outline as we've talked about yesterday in agriculture and chemicals and medical devices and industrial lng, we'll make a

. >> joining me now, kristen welker, pete williams at the courthouse at alexandria, mimi rocah, former u.s. assistant attorney for the southern district of new york. kristen, the president on all fronts and you of course with kellyanne conway today, are trying to go on offense, trying to muddy up mueller as much as they can. >> reporter: they really are. rudy giuliani overnight was again calling mueller's credibility into question. and you're seeing the president and is his allies really take sharper aim at robert mueller, andrea, as they've changed the talking point, moved the goalposts, if you will, over this issue of collusion. it's really striking because remember, the president has said many, many times over the past several months, "there was no collusion." well, now the talking point seems to be that collusion isn't a crime. so you heard me pressing kellyanne conway about that. and they're saying, look, acquire just merely pointing out the law, collusion isn't a crime but there was no collusion as well, they add that second part. now, broadly speaking, there is agreement that co

has no government experience and that could count against her this time. >> and kristen welker, when we look at the white house, what is the mood there today? any hints as to what the president might be doing? and how do they explain this primetime decision, the announcement which is quite different from what prior presidents -- previous presidents have done. >> it is quite different, andrea, but we know this president likes to build the suspense. and the drama. and so it fits into that pattern that we've seen from this president. of course, he announced neil gorsuch in primetime as well. in terms of what the president is doing today, he's preparing for this announcement. and so is the white house. the war room getting ready to really roll out their campaign to push any one of these judges who the president does ultimately end up choosing. there's a political calculus to this. mitch mcconnell behind the scenes has been pushing the president to choose someone who can get through an easy confirmation process. and he has really pinpointed thomas hardiman and raymond kethledge as the two

. >> joining me now, nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker in brussels. maine independent senator angus king. msnbc political analyst andy card, former white house chief of staff for president george w. bush. and the senior director for political affairs under obama. welcome, all. first to you, kristen, because we have breaking news as we're going on the air. what seems like a confirmation from sarah sanders, she's going to have a statement shortly, that in his opening remarks today at nato, the president actually toldme the allies he wants them to come up to 4% of gdp, rather than 2% which is the goal. he's accusing them of not paying their fair share. now they seem to indicate there's going to be a white house statement that he now wants even more from them. >> reporter: it is incredibly significant, andrea. it also tracks with what we were expecting going into this summit. senior administration officials signaling the president was going to press allies to commit more to their common defense. what will the reaction be? that's the big question. we're al

let's bring in nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. rykoff, from veterans of america. and retired four star general barry mccaffrey. general mccaffrey, the president is facing the vfw. you might expect a foreign policy speech. something tells me it's going to be more political than that. >> well, that has traditionally been a speech in which he announces unexpected viewpoints. going to the va secretary, a massive agency in trouble, it's been the death of the careers of many fine public servants. this robert wilkie, pretty positive, he's a savvy washington political operative. i'm sure he's a good man. they'll give him the benefit of the doubt. but he's got his hands full. i have personally felt over the years that the va, if you get into it, it's incredibly good health care. but there's national guard reserve troops all over the country who aren't near va facilities. i've wanted an option for our veterans to either go to the va or to civilian medicine like i do as a military retiree. so i hope that's on the table and not discounted uni

kristen welker at the white house.hite house. >>> nato, uk, and a visit with vladimir putin. president trump says he doesn't need a lot of preparation for it. >> hours away from announcing his supreme court nominee. we'll look at the short list as trump finalizes one of the most important decisions of his presidency. alice is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become p

kristen welker, nbc news, the white house. >>> it's been a long time coming before the day has arrived for families of fallen american heroes for the forgotten war. today on the 65th anniversary of the korean armistice, the remains of dozen of american servicemen killed in the korean war are coming home. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the story. >> reporter: in a solemn ceremony in south korea, 55 small wooden boxes were unloaded wrapped in the blue u.n. flag, the flag u.s. troops fought under in the korean war. inside, what are believed to be the remains of american servicemen who died missing in action but not forgotten. around 5,300 are still classified as missing in north korea. for their relatives today like the son of lieutenant hal downs, closure may finally be coming. >> we've been waiting a long time for things like this to happen, and it's the beginning, not an ending. >> reporter: it's an achievement for president trump. at his summit in june, the north korean leader kim jong-un promised to send home american remains. president trump today. >> and i w

i'm joined in our coverage by kristen welker, our nbc news white house correspondent also ambassador michael mcfaul, who was u.s. ambassador for a couple of years under the obama administration. good to have you both here. kristen, let me start with you. set the scene for what we know is about to take place. >> this is remarkable, president trump, president putin, are going to be alone in a room for 90 minutes, only their interpreters. what are they going to talk about. that's what we want to know. the president has said he will raise the issue of election meddling. he has new energy and fuel if he wants to do that. of course those 12 russians indicted on friday, russian intelligence officials, as part of the broader russian meddling investigation into the 2016 election. the president dismissing the probe yet again this morning. let me read you tweets. our relationship with russia has never been worse thanks to many years of u.s. foolishness and stupid and now the witch hunt. the russian foreign ministry retweeted that and said we agree. one other tweet. president obama thought crooke

kristen welker, thank you very much. nick, elise and jonathan, stay with us. >>> ahead, the president's performance in helsinki is raising accusations of treason from some leading political voices. one of them, former cia director john brennan. he joins me next. [music playing] across the country, we walk. carrying flowers that signify why we want to end alzheimer's disease. but what if, one day, there was a white flower for alzheimer's first survivor? what if there were millions of them? join us for the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's. register today at alz.org/walk. and now for the rings. (♪) i'm a four-year-old ring bearer with a bad habit of swallowing stuff. still won't eat my broccoli, though. and if you don't have the right overage, you could be paying for that pricey love band yourself. so get an allstate agent, and be better protected from mayhem. like me. can a ring bearer get a snack around here? are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi.? a more powerful way to stay connected. it gi

. >> let's get the latest now from the white house and nbc's kristen welker. great to see you. let's talk about what's happening behind the scenes. it's my understanding, there is this war room operation happening in the west wing. they're planning for all contingencies, right? >> reporter: great to see you, hallie. that's right, the white house setting up a war room operation for every contender, which underscores what we know about the white souse. nothing is final until the president announces it himself. this morning, mr. trump tweeting about this. the drama, i have long heard the most important decision a u.s. president can make is the selection of a supreme court justice. will be announced tonight at 9:00 p.m. the former reality tv star really building up the anticipation, hallie, in the final hours. now, sources familiar with the selection tells peter alexander that none of the top four contenders, amy barrett, hardiman, kavanaugh and kethledge, have been eliminated at this point, but there seems to be a focus on two of the candidates. kava kavanaugh and hardiman. the pr

let's go live to the white house and nbc's kristen welker. what are you learning now about this administration's invitation to have putin come? i mean, it is stunning that dan coats sat there on stage with andrea mitchell having no idea this was being announced. >> it's absolutely stunning. i can tell you senior administration officials, stef, are downplaying the fact that he was clearly caught off-guard. but it underscores the fact there's this division between the president and his intelligence community that seems to be growing. dan coats, very firm, criticizing the president's first summit with putin indicating that he wouldn't have gone about it in the way that the president did. and also indicating that it shouldn't have been a one on one meeting with only interpreters in the room. so what's on the agenda for this second summit? i spoke with the senior administration official a short time ago, stef, who told me there are going to be a range of issues on the table, everything from north korea and syria, to putting an end to election medd

kristen welker has more from brussels. >> reporter: president trump coming out swinging, touching down in brussels late today after raising tensions with the very allies he's poised to meet here at the nato summit, calling them delinquent on twitter from air force one, before leaving accusing them of failing to pay their fair share on defense. >> we pay far too much and they pay far too little. >> reporter: while only 5 of 29 nato nations have met their spending commitment set for 2024 the rest still have years to meet the target. today, the president of the eu firing back. >> dear america, appreciate your allies. after all, you don't have that many. >> reporter: a bitter backdrop for the president's four- country trip all culminating in a face-to-face in helsinki with russia's president, vladimir putin. >> frankly, putin may be the easiest of all, who would think. >> reporter: that conciliatory tone to putin adding to concerns among some allies that president trump is failing to rein in russia, asking whether he sees russia as a foe. >> i can't say now. a competitor. >> reporter: seni

with me now, the correspondent kristen welker from the white house. kristen, the scoop on kelly? >> well, katy, you got the breaking news right, according to the senior administration official, kelly told staffers on monday that the president had asked him to stay through 2020, through the election, and that kelly has in fact accepted. but look no the backdrop of this, and it is a significant development, because by all accounts, the expectation is that kelly is the eye of the exits given that this is the one-year mark. and look at what he tweeted yesterday celebrating john kelly's first year anniversary, and congratulations to general john kelly and today we celebrate his first full year as at white house chief of staff. the conventional thinking was that kelly's influence here at the white house had wane and that he was effectively thinking of the next steps. look, kelly was brought on a year ago, katy to really bring more order to this white house, which is particularly in the first few months was wracked by cha chaos. and kelly did that to some extent and limited the number o

>> kristen welker, thank you. >>> a former top under fire facing an investigation over allegations that he created an atmosphere of wide spread sexual harassment. nbc's pete williams th ha story. >> reporte federal agency in charge of responding to natur disasters now has a crisis of its own. the personnel of fema is under investigation after employees accused him of sexual harassment, along nstheir allegatio he assigned females to officers so male friends he hir could try to have sexual relationships with them. wo corey resign weeks ago and has not been questioned. he was not available for comment. brock long calls thele tions deeply disturbing and says he is asking the department of homeland security's inspector neral to investigate. officials are looking at whether coleman hired college fraternity brothers and women he met at bars and through dating websites. fema administratlo says he's setting up a new office to handle employee misconduct and wi launch mandatory training to recognize and prevent sexual harassment. pe williams, nbc news, washington. >>> to a warng for every parent f

kristen welker joins us live from london. good morning. >> reporter: good morning.to allies, even according to administration and creating a dramatic backdrop to president trump's two-day visit to the uk and now under way, he touched down just moments ago. this morning, president trump claiming victory after clashing with allies at the nato summit. >> to see the level of spirit in that room is incredible. >> reporter: the president saying those allies have agreed to increase their spending on defense by $33 billion. >> yesterday, i let them know i was extremely unhappy with what was happening, and they have substantially upped their commitment. >> reporter: also previewing his upcoming meeting with russia's president vladimir putin, vowing vowing he will press putin on election meddling. >> i'm representing the united states. so in a sense, we're competitors. not a question of friend or enemies. he's not my enemy, and hopefully someday maybe he'll be a friend. >> reporter: it all comes on the heels of a contentious nato summit. the president accusing nato members of

kr kristen welker is a reporter. it is not as though he insults her, then she has the -- she is in the position where she can insult him back, or she can go at him, and the two of them have a scuffle. he's doing something, bullying somebody whose professionalism requires her to remain stable, calm and -- >> ultimately, it's insulting the press, which is the big thing. to say, yeah, they're invalid, fake news, they don't matter, and to silence the media is the problem. the fact that he loves and tries to align himself with are dictators who hold that view should make us constantly probe and look deep at what his values are, the kind of leader he is trying to be. it is certainly not a democratic one. >> let's look ahead, if we can, to a couple of things. we're going to get to the, obviously, huge meeting he has coming up with vladimir putin. in the meantime, he is going to be on his way to meeting with the queen. it is something he's indicated he is very proud to be able to take his wife and have that experience. that'

in the ininterim, a little developing news we just learned, kristen welker joining me here in london pal of donald trump's is now coming to his defense a name you probably know, steve bannon. apparently set up a war room of sorts here in london putting together talking points and working with surrogates. two sources close to the former chief white house strategist say he is here now trying to get pro-trump messaging out into the ether, on tv and radio and papers during donald trump's visit here. let's bring in chris dickey. >> name more familiar to folks in europe. >> becoming more and more familiar. he's trying to encourage right wing movements, far right wing movements, some of which have been very successful in italy and austria and elsewhere. i think now he wants to also reingrashiate himself with trump after the unfortunate things he said about the trump administration before leaving it in the fire and fury. >> do you think steve bannon will be successful. police are preparing for a massive protest as the president is here. >> this is the nation of brexit, which was the first br