nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker is in the briefing room. reporter for "the new york times" nick confosori. and natasha bertrand. kristin, these are a lot of controversies, a lot of dramas is not the right ride. the president is tweeting a don about omarosa and her book. he is tweeting about the witch hunt, as he calls it, the russia investigation. lindsey graham said the other day that he's talked about it, he mentioned it 20 times while they were on the golf course. is he able to keep his focus on running the country and all of this other stuff? is there worry in the west wing he is not -- his head isn't where it should be? >> he is, katy. i think that is the central question. you have a number of advisors who said, look, ignore this controversy. let it die out on its own accord, and that is not the tactic that we're seeing this president take. the president has been lashing out on twitter, referring to omarosa manigault newman, his former apprentice, as a dog, and then that sparked a second controversy in addition to these revelations we

joining mow now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, msnbc political analyst peter baker, and wnbc chief investigative reporter jonathan dienst who is breaking this story. jonathan, there's been silence for the last a couple of weeks from the michael cohen camp, from lanny davis, his lawyer, which certainly indicated that he might be in conversations with the prosecutors.

i believe we still have kristen welker with us. i want to ask you again, the reporting we just heard from jonathan that this plea agreement that will be announced apparently at 4:00 apparently will include a campaign finance -- admission to a campaign finance violation. that brings this beyond taxing medallions and into the realm of the presidential campaign. what has the white house been saying on that front? >> reporter: it's just a stunning development and of course as jonathan was just reporting, we will be listening very closely if the judge does, in fact, ask if anyone else was engaged in that. of course, the white house has pushed back vigorously against any notion that the president may have violated campaign finance laws, but the story has really changed when it comes to those payments, those potential hush money payments including the one with stormy daniels, initially for example sarah sanders saying the president wasn't aware at all, the president also touting that line but then of course revelations that that wasn't th

i'm kristen welker. we begin with breaking news, a deadly plane crash in california, terrifying scenes playing out as a cessna falls from the sky and into a parking lot of a crowded shopping center. the flight path shows the plane took off from the san francisco areas just two hours before the crash. authorities say all five people on board are dead but they don't know yet what caused the disaster. our miguel almaguer has the late breaking details. >> reporter: this is the moment the small twin engine plane came down, a may day call cessna fell from the sky some two hours after takeoff. >> copy on-scene. one aircraft down in a parking lot. >> reporter: witnesses couldn't believe believe what was unfolding. >> [ bleep ] plane crash in the middle right here. parking lot. missed the buildings. it hit that car here. >> reporter: slamming into a busy strip mall parking lot during the middle of the lunch hour, all five passengers aboard were killed in the accident. firefighters discovered the tattered plane on

kristen welker, let's start with you with the white house. the president's team is trying to say that donald trump knew all along that mcgahn was going to testify and they weren't worried about it. the president is tweeting about this. rudy giuliani tried to, you know, cool it down yesterday on "meet the press" on sunday. but "the new york times" say that trump's lawyers sudden realization, they don't know what don mcgahn told mr. mueller's team, they write mr. mcgahn and mr. burke feared that mr. trump was setting up mr. mcgahn to take the blame for any possible wrongdoing so they embraced the opening to cooperate fully with mr. mueller in an effort to demonstrate that mr. mcgahn had done nothing wrong. kristin, where does the white house stand today? >> well, i think you captured the key piece of this, katy, which is that the president's legal team, both in that interview with chuck todd and then according to the "new york times," is acknowledging that they don't know everything that mcgahn told the special counsel. i also think what you ar

also kristen welker.d senior fellow and govens studings at the brookings institution, ben whitis, an msnbc legal analyst and editor and chief of "lawfare." michael schmidt, let's start with you. i want to read a portion from your article. by making another counterproposal after months of promises they were weeks away from deciding about an interview, mr. trump's lawyers run the risk that mr. mueller could conclude they are negotiating in bad faith to prolong the investigation. in a meeting with mr. trump's lawyers this year, mr. mueller threatened to subpoena the president if he did not sit for a voluntary interview. could you argue, michael, that rudy giuliani and the president's lawyers are playing a game of chicken with mr. mueller's team? >> well, there is a calculation among some folks in trump's world that mueller will not want to subpoena the president, that he will be afraid of losing in court, and if he loses there then he hurts of credibility of the investigation. so they think that they can sor

>> kristen welker, thank you. you'll hear more from omarosa on her exclusive interview with chuck todd sunday on "meet the press." >>> troopers and national guard members are standing by as we approach a year since the brutal clash between white nationalist and counter protesters. the city is now under a state of emergency determined to prevent any new clashes as washington d.c. braces for potential violence of its own. gabe gutierrez is in charlottesville with for. >> reporter: tonight, charlottesville downtown malls under a high state of alert. >> we will not tolerate any form of violence in the community. >> reporter: sunday will mark one year since white supremacists violently clashed with counter protestors, this time the city is not issuing demonstration permits but officials expect crowds will gather to honor the life of the 32-year-old woman killed when a driver ran his car into a crowd. >> i just remember putting my head down and wailing. >> reporter: a year later, her mother has become a social justice a

our kristen welker explains what's behind it. >> reporter: unprecedented. president trump tonight revoking the security clearance of one of his harshest critics, former cia director john brennan who is also an nbc news analyst. so white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders reading a statement from the president in which she accused brennan of erratic behavior and abusing his access, without offering evidence. >> mr. brennan was a former high ranking official with access to top secret information, making outbursts on television about this administration. >> reporr: has called mr. trump everything from a traitor to a danger to the country. and he responded forcefully tonight. >> revoking my security clearances is his way of trying to get back at me. but i think i have tried to voice the concerns of millions of americans. and this is not going to deter me at all. >> reporter: the white house also announcing it's reviewing the security clearances of other intelligence and law enforcement officials, many of them trump critics or involved in the russiafor

he's planning to campaign in at least 15 states after labor day. >> kristen welker, thanks. >>> capitol hill still reeling. a number of republicans seeking to distance themselves from the president, from his former associates-turned-felons. while democrats are seizing the moment to throw up roadblocks for the president's supreme court nominee. nbc news congressional correspondent casey hunt has the fallout. >> slow news day, huh? >> reporter: mounting questions for president trump's allies on capitol hill today. >> there's no good news in what's happening, obviously. this is very, very unfortunate. it's very serious. i want to see this go through our judicial system. >> reporter: the handful of republicans who often speak out against the president not holding back. >> i don't think i've witnessed anything like i've witnessed over the last year and a half. >> reporter: many republicans defending the president, and insisting the cohen and manafort legal troubles aren't related to the overall russia probe. >> the whole mueller thing was started based on some concerns about the relationship

kristen welker, thanks. >>> let's turn to the major hurricane slamming hawaii. tonight millions from residential neighborhoods to all those resorts in paradise are hunkering down. reports of up to 20 inches of rain already and a flood disaster. nbc's steve patterson is there. >> reporter: tonight, a race against time. residents across hawaii bracing for the very worst. with rain already reeking havoc on the roads. >> hawaii is going to be impacted by hurricane lane. the question is how bad? >> reporter: the forecast, tropical force winds, torrential rainecate. offial keep two weeks worth of food and water at home. this is a rare event. lane, one of seven hurricanes that come within 300 miles of the state since 1992 when a hurricane devastated hawaii. >> reporter: today in honolulu some refusing to give up on paradise. >> it will rain hard and be a lot of wind but i'm not too worried at this point. >> reporter: it's too late for refunds. >> we decided to come. we've been planning for a year now so make the best of it. >> reporter: a tropical paradise in peril as

our white house correspondent kristen welker pressed the president today on that in the cabinet room.menting on his new crackdown, but overnight, a stunning admission, telling the "wall street journal" he stripped the security clearance of john brennan and threatened to revoke others because of the russia investigation. "i call it the rigged witch hunt. it is a sham, and these people let it, so i think it's something that had to be done." brennan ramped up his own counterattacks. brennan in a blistering op-ed in the "new york times" writing "mr. trump's claims of no collusion, are in a word, hogwash" after telling msnbc wednesday -- >> we're better than this. we have to be better than this. >> reporter: tonight a show of solidarity from the commander behind the bin laden raid, retired navy admiral william mccraven writing an open letter to the president in "the washington post" calling brennan a man of unparalleled integrity, honesty and character and goading the president, "i would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well." on capitol hill, fierce fallou

kristen welker joins us from the white house this evening. >> good evening. there is outrage and indignation here at the white house with the president and his top advisors trying to discredit omarosa manigault newman. but for a president who has long floated the idea of secretly taping his conversations, it seems he now finds himself caught on tape. tonight president trump lashing out at his former "apprentice" turned adversary in a tweet storm calling omarosa manigault newman a low life, wacky, and not smart after she ramped up her attacks. >> do you think he is mentally competent to do this job. >> no. >> reporter: this morning releasing part of a recording of a phone call with the president after she was fired by white house chief of staff john kelly. >> i saw on the news that you are thinking about leaving. what happened? >> general kelly came to me and said that you guys wanted me to leave. >> no, nobody told me about it. nobody -- they run a big operation, but i didn't know it. i didn't know that. damn it. i don't love you leaving at all. >> reporter:

kristen welker, nbc news the white house. >>> let's turn to the horrifying attack in south carolina.k a woman out g her dog in her neighborhood when she was grabbed and dragged under water and killed by an alligator. it's the second deadly accident involvi an tor in a matter of months, an unnerving attack b experts say they usually leave people alone. nbc's kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: tonight a deadly attack close to home when a hilton head woman was killed in her own neighborhood by an alligator. witnesses tell police 45-year-old cassandra kline was walking her dog this morning near this lagoon when she was pulled under water. >> alligator attempted to attack her dog and in an effort to save her dog, the alligator turned on her. >> reporter: the deadly attack occurred in a residentialne hborhood sea pines. the alligator said to be almost eight fe long was later captured and killed. this latest incident comes just two months after a near identical attack involving a woman in florida. witnesses say they saw a 47-year-old woman walking her dogs near the water in a park r

nbc's kristen welker has the latest as the gloves come off in this simmering feud. >> reporter: fighting back after president trump escalated his attacks against attorney general jeff sessions. >> i put an attorney general that never took control of the justice department, jeff sessions. never took control of the justice department. >> reporter: sessions lashed out just hours later. "i took control of the department of justice the day i was sworn in." sessions was at the white house for a preplanned meeting. after unleashing his strongest pushback yet, declaring defiantly, "while i am attorney general, the actions of the department of justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations." for months mr. trump has lambasted the entire agency as being overrun by democrats. >> i always put justice now with quotes. it's a very, very sad day. >> reporter: it's a remarkable inflection point. sessions was the first senator to endorse candidate trump. >> i am pleased to endorse donald trump. >> reporter: but once attorney general, things soured quickly. after sessions recused hi

kristen welker at the white house. thanks. n >>> oversea to the horrific bridge disaster in italy. at least 23 are killed and 15 more injured. it happened at a port bridge in genoa when a bridge collapsed during a storm sending dozens of cars plunging. let's get the news from lucy kafanov who made her way to italy. >> reporter: this video capturing the horror. >> oh, dear, god, no. >> reporter: the moment a massive bridge collapsesdu ng a powerful stsm, sending c plunging, witnesses stunned. >> i got out of the car and i saw people running away from the bridge and some people -- there was even a guy with hisce covered in blood. >> reporter: hundreds of first aid enesponders rushing to the digging through tons of concrete and steel. this firefhter carrying out one rescue, lowering a survivor down from the bridge. >> reporter: what is the biggest danger for potential survivors? >> well, now there are no gas leaks or anything. if there were any survivors, they are be trapped in mome confined space. >> reporter: the bridge seen her before theollapse, stretched over residential building

i'm kristen welker. we begin with a political split screen. president trump taking to twitter to wage battles with foes old and new. his most recent with nba superstar lebron james. after james aused him of being divisive. and as the president engages in that backd forth, his secretary of state is engaged in a diplomatic challenge with far-re h-reaching conseqnces. the administration's efforts to take the president's negotiations with north korea to the we begin with the president's two tracks tonight, first, north korea. here's white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: after that handshake made history, just eight ag weeks o, new arm twisting from secretary of state mike pompeo. feat a crence in singapore, saturday. over sh, under cutting sanctions on north korean's >> we have seen reports that russia is allowin ventures with north korea firms and granting new permits to guest workers. >> reporter: those kind of are a economic help for north korea, specifically banned by the international

andrea. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. thanks to ron clan.craig melvin's interview with omarosa manigault newman. she will be releasing a new audiotape with craig melvin, so stay with us right here. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. >>> thank you for being with us. thank you, aretha franklin. craig melvin, you've got a big guest. >> we do have a big guest. she is standing by. good afternoon to you, craig melvin here from msnbc news headquarters in new york city. we're following two big stories right now. a new secret recording. former white house aide omarosa manigault newman is in the studio. she has a new recording she wants us to hear. the first recording involving a member of the trump family. also this afternoon, honoring a legend. the life and legacy of aretha franklin. as the world pauses to

welker. first, to you, kristen. those moments are very tense. you don't often get followup questions. you and kevin corke, one of your colleagues there, giving you that deference, you took the opportunity, you put her on the spot. how surprised were you at her reaction? >> i was surprised, andrea, and thank you for your comments. i thought that she would likely try to dance around the question. i wasn't expecting her to say "i can't guarantee anything." but i do think it was a question that was not only about whether she was aware of a potential tape but whether she could actually know for certain that one doesn't exist. and what she essentially acknowledged yesterday is that she can't know that for certain. and so there was this very strong i think reaction to her comments yesterday in the briefing room, and this continues to be a political problem for this administration that continues to grow by the day, because you have omarosa manigault newman continuing to keep the headlines going, but also, andrea, the president himself continues to tweet about this, going to twitter, attacking

. >>> kristen welker is back with the latest on all this. good morning. > another busy day here aaron and eun. the bitter back and forth between president tru and omarosa manigault newman is showing no signs of slowing dowe after president early tuesday referred to his former apprentice as a quote, dog on twitter. the white house iisting th tweet had nothing to do with race and instead was meant to call out her lack of integrity. the backlash continues after manigault newman alleged she heard an out-take from the first season of the apprentice in which president trump used the n-word. ths my question when i asked press secretary sarah la sanders point if she could guarantee the american people would never hear that on -- she couldn't guarantee anything. there continues to be fallout from that today. manigault newman says she's been interviewed by the special counsel. we'll have the latest co on "today." back to you. >>> kristen welker live at the white house. we'll see her full report coming up next on "today." >>> now to a possible break in

. >> kristen welker is at the white house. >> reporter: good morning to trump is sending a new messagerobert mueller. the present, who slammed the investigation as a witch hunt, saying he could take charge and run it if he wanted to. but he's decided to stay out. he is i concerned tha could be a perjury trap. present trump telling reuters could pit his words against james comey. after the report that don mcgahn spoke to the special counsel for 30 hours, the trump legal people wanted to make sure he did not incriminate the president in the discussions. and microsoft is saying it uncovered fake sites set up to look like conservative sites. we'll have all of that to yy. >> see in a few minutes. kristen welker, thanks. >>> a little girl in the district is rekoving after being shot. >> she was one of three team shot. justin finch is live at police headquarters with more on a car that's the focus of the investigation for now. >> reporter: the car is dark in color.r an acuraxus, four-door sedan, with a wing or spoiler on the back. a license plate in the front window. distinctive details there

the word used in kristen welker's report, protect.hich is classified. any of these individuals we are unaware of any sort of situation where they have gone outside the classified space, right? taken stuff as classified and said it in the public, number one. flip side this fits in with the messaging to the base. >> it does. >> the intelligence community, not good. >> here's the thing, though, that's so interesting about the base. at the same time that the base is fired up and it speaks to the base, if you look at the numbers, more and more americans are saying that in this midterm election, they want whoever they pick to be a check on this president. so you do have this small, fervent base. but the numbers and the intensity in terms of the opposition are only growing larger. >> let's also talk about the timing of all of this statement where we had our reporting that the statement was dated sometime in july, late july. and that was a mistake, they scratched that later. look what's happening, this is the week of the omarosa trickle of re

kristen welker in for stephanie ruhle. this morning, intelligence report. a growing list of former top intel and military officials pen a letter blasting the president's decision to revoke john brennan's security clearance. many republicans on the hill backing the president's move. >> mr. brennan has gone way over the line in my view and i think restricting his clearance, pulling his clearance makes sense to me. >> the president taking full use of his executive time this morning, tweeting about the postponement of his proposed military parade, after a report said it could cost nearly $92 million. >> whoever told you that is probably smoking something that's legal in my state but not in most states. >> the six men and six women deciding the fate of paul manafort resume deliberations after asking the judge four questions about the case, including the definition of reasonable doubt. >>> and fit to print. news papers join together to condemn the president for the attacks on the press. the president raising eyebrows with this remark. >> if you like, you can stay

joining me from the white house is nbc's kristen welker, nbc national security reporter ken dilanian and nbc news investigations reporter tom winter, political reporter for "the washington post," philip bump, and former prosecutor for the southern district of new york and former senate counsel to the senate judiciary committee john flannery. welcome. let's start with allen weisselberger. tom, you confirmed that weisselberger has been granted immunity. what would he need to to do to that immunity? >> what he would need to say, they would approach and say, hey, we'd like to talk with you. we need you to walk through some certain things. whether that be for a grand jury or just a sit down and have a discussion with fbi agents and federal prosecutors. he might say i could talk to you but i might be going into an area where i'm incriminating myself. they would say we are going to imunize your testimony or anything that you tell us. the kpkt mechanics of this, because the press office for the southern district of new york is not commenting on this, we don't know the exact mechanics. did it

nbc white house correspondent kristen welker joins us with the very latest. s a stunning split screen for president trump. his former fixer pleading guilty to eight criminal counts. at almost the same exact time the jury finding campaign chair guilty on separate counts all raising stakes for a president under increasing pressure. >> this morning closing in, the president's former fixer michael cohen admitting in court that he broke the law because a candidate told him to. cohen only worked for one candidate, donald trump. cohen's attorney, lanny davis, earlier on "today." >> the president of the united states directed him to commit a crime, meaning the president committed the crime. there's no dispute on the word direction. his attorneys wrote the special counsel and said president trump directed michael cohen to do this. >> cohen facing 3 1/2 to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to eight charges on tax fraud, bank fraud and notably campaign finance violations, which include illegal payoffs to keep two women quiet about alleged affairs with donald trump,

with this to break it all down, our tom winter and ken dilanian and our nbc's kristen welker with us at the white house. kristen, i will start with you. what is the mood right there on this friday afternoon and when may we expect to hear from president trump on camera about any of this. >> first to the move, there is no doubt that the president troubles are mounting and that's weighing on the white house and officials here. they are pounded with questions about all of this from us and also trying to figure out what their strategies are going to be. strategies seem to be keeping their heads down and focusing on the policy. they say look, the president is fine, so farthest been watching these sort of extraordinary headlines mount. we are seeing him lash out on twitter. look, that does not reflect what's going on behind the scenes. but, craig he's lashing out on twitter and so it is notable. taking aim at everyone from michael cohen to of course the special counsel investigation broadly ramping up his attacks against both. then taking fresh aim at attorney general jeff sessions during a

jeff mason joins me as well as harry litman, and chuck rosenberg, along with nbc correspondent kristen welker. kristen, let's talk about the aftermath of two stunning decisions yesterday. >> i can tell you, andrea, it's tense here. a number of top officials have been huddled in meetings throughout the morning. that's not necessarily unusual, but clearly this is something that is consuming this administration. and the question is what happens next, how will they respond. we're getting a sense of how the president and his legal team plan to respond, and that is to essentially paint michael cohen as a liar. i've been talking to rudy giuliani as well as others who are familiar with the strategy, who say, look, the bottom line is cohen is on tape, including with some journalists in instances saying he made the payments, so-called hush money payments, on his own, not at the direction of the president. and now he's essentially changing his tune. that's what they're planning to argue, andrea. and so they're going to say, was he lying then or is he lying now? they're going to try to attack his credibi

back to you. >> see you there, kristen welker at the white house. jury deliberations will begin against forme campaign chairman paul manafort. during closing arguments yesterday, prosecutorsed descr manafort as a money-hungry liar. the defense rested without calling a single witnes and in its clong argument said manafort was targeted be sure to download the nbc washington app day.pdates throughout the >>> we have an update on that large fire at a recycling facility in clarksburg, maryland. we told you about this morning as it was breaking. that fire is so big it could actually be burni for ys. a limited water supply has made it tough forig firers to put out the flames but they have contained. get this montgomery county fire officials are still looking to see what caused it. nobody wast inside when starts. >>> developing this morning, three.c. families know what happened to theiroved one. detectives have identified human remainsnder an apartment building in april. all three women went missing inw 2006 ande murdered. >>> jewel king was 43 years old th

let's look at the first lady's push on be best with kristen welker. discussion. i understand the first lady sat in the front row as the panel discussion on cyberbullying happened. her office is now responding to some of the questions about the -- what critics might call hypocrisy, between the first lady's moves and the president's actions. >> reporter: that's right. the first lady's office pushing back against the criticism. just to remind our viewers, in addition to tweets you referenced over the past week, here are some of the president's tweets from just this morning. i hope john brennan, the worst c cia director in the nation's history would bring a lawsuit. it'd be easy to get over his records. he calls mueller's probe a rigged witch hunt, which he has used before. he then called mueller disgraced and discredited in another series of tweets. of course, as you pointed out, last week, raised eyebrows calling omarosa a dog. gri the first lady's office saying this won't deter her from doing what she thinks is right. i would hope people in the country

. >> kristen welker is asking the right question.r more, let's bring in ashley parker, white house reporter for "the washington post" and matt welch. matt and ashley, ashley is having some problems from hearing us. let's start here. >> one former trump adviser assumes that every conversation he had in the white house was being recorded in one fashion and he went so far to purchase a faraday box to block all recording. >> you will see a lot of people sort of handlely trying to tape one another or threaten each other with the existence of tapes more than we'll see necessarily, you know, john brennan or somebody in the closet getting all the secret tapes inside the white house. this is a b level of non stars -- people who are not ready of primetime poll titics until now. it is not a surprise that they act in ways defide the description. and it is not surprising they are freaked out right now. the fact that there is tapes of such good audio coming out of the white house. >> oh yeah. >> it is definitely raising some hackels. i think peopl

with me now from the white house is nbc news kristen welker. kristen, i know you've spoken to rudy giuliani, the president's attorney, about this. do we have any details on what the latest back-and-forth is? >> he's being incredibly tight-lipped, kasie, but i can tell you this is a counterproposal so it is a proposal to narrow the terms of the interview. we also know that robert mueller in his previous proposal said, look, some of the q & as can be in writing. that's what the president's team wanted. they want this entire interview to be in writing, by the way. they're concerned about him being subjected to follow-up questions and potentially getting tripped up either because he doesn't remember or he misstates something. they don't, we know this based on our conversations with rudy giuliani and other members of his legal team several days ago, they don't want him answering questions about obstruction, answering questions about his time in office essentially. they say, look, ask him anything you want about the campaign, but his time in office is

i'm kristen welker in for willie. todayuntry is in mourning after learning that senator john mccain died, losing his battle with brain cancer, and tributes are pouring in for the decorated war hero who served more than three decades in the senate. we'll have more ahead. we'll tal to tom brokaw, chuck todd andistorian john meacham about senator mccain's legacy. but first let's begin with kelly o'donnell who is near his ranch in sena, arizona this morning where he passed away. kelly, you have covered senator mccain for many of his im campaigns, his on capitol hill. few reporters knew him like you did. talk about theou reactionng in today, kelly. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. the nator's passing came at 4:28 p. local time, surrounded by loved ones in a place that meant so much to him, his ranch near sedona, somewhere tranquil and a sanctuary for him. he w k a mannown for his straight talk and hisservice. sedona at dusk. a slow procession and police escort carried senator john mccain away from home one last time. a

. >> now, nbc's kristen welker is at the white house for us, it is great to have you with us. let's talk about this mixed messaging that we got yesterday from the white house. you are hearing there is a real threat coming from russia and elections are being undermine. at the same time the president once again going back to his play book and calling it a hoax. is there a sense, is there a feeling that the president has really under cut the message sent bias his national security team? >> well, eamon, it is great to be with you. his top officials here at the white house are digging in and defending the messaging. it is striking. it was really unprecedented yesterday that you had those national security officials come to the podium and essentially say to reporters and the american public that we are on top of this crisis and taking it seriously and we are not going to let russia meddle in the 2018 election. as president trump as you pointed out referring to the russia investigation as a hoax and saying that he got along with putin and russia is not happy that he won. by the way,

kristen welker is standing by at the white house. kristen, the white house keeps buffeting away any allegations about insider this, insider that, corruption. but this is the first person to endorse the candidate donald trump. >> reporter: it's going to be very difficult, andrea, for president trump to distance himself from chris collins for that very reason. this is the first person to endorse president trump, someone who is sort of an unofficial liaison to the transition team. and so president trump is going to have to come out and say something. i can tell you, i've reached out to a whole host of white house officials. i asked mercy schlapp, the communications director, effectively, look, what is your reaction to this breaking news? she said, i refer you to doj. so she didn't have any immediate response to that. right now they're trying to brush aside questions. we're looking at our twitter feed to get the president's reaction, how has he typically responded? edition he digs in. tom price was under criticism and scrutiny for months

ayman. >> our thanks to kristen welker for that reporting. another one of the president's allies appears to have turned on him. nbc news has confirmed that david pecker, the publisher of the "national enquirer" and a long-time friend of donald trump, has been granted immunity in the federal investigation into michael cohen. according to court documents, the tabloid parent company, american media, sought to keep former playboy model karen mcdougal silent about his alleged affair with donald trump by paying her $150,000 for the rights to her story. always we report, the president's former fixer michael cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations connected to the payment and implicated donald trump saying that the then-candidate directed and coordinated what prosecutors say was an illegal campaign contribution aimed at keeping an embarrassing story under wraps before the election. according to the "wall street journal", pecker appears to have informed the charging documents connected to cohen's guilty plea that implicated the president.

i'm kristen welker in for andrea mitchell. president trump firing back at former white house insider omarosa manigault newman in a tweet storm targeting her media blitz writing, wacky omarosa who got fired three times on "the apprentice" now got fired for the last time. she never made it, never will. she begged me for a job, tears in her eyes. i said okay. people in the white house hated her. she was vicious but not smart. i would rarely see her but heard really bad things. nasty to people and would constantly miss meetings and work. when general kelly came on board, he told me she was a loser and nothing but problems. i told him to try to work it out if possible because she only said great things about me until she got fired. omarosa responding here on msnbc just the past hour. >> i think it's sad that with all the things going on in the country that he would take time out to insult me and to insult my intelligence. this is his pattern with african-americans. and he doesn't know how to control himself. he has no impulse contr

of course kristen welker and tom winter. great way to start us off on a very, very busy day. >>> coming up, the leak that was. the impact of the president's legal woes on his own party in the midterms. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." stay with us on msnbc. there's little rest for a single dad, and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. then i found aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am. so you have, your headphones, chair, new laptop, 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes. start them off right, with the school supplies they need at low prices all summer long. like these for only $2 or less at office depot officemax. mom: okay we need to get all your school supplies today. school... grade... done. done. hit the snooze button and get low prices on school supplies all summer long. like these for only $2 or less at office depot officemax. like these for only this wi-fi

kathy ruemler, the experience of a former white house counsel and our own great kristen welker. i can't think of a better way to start the show. thank you all so very much. >>> coming up -- bridge too far? hundreds of national security officials joining the bipartisan outcry over president trump's stripping of john brennan's security clearance. one of them, a former deputy cia director joining me next right here on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. r grids, ...aging everything. we also have the age-old problem of bias in the workplace. really... never heard of it. the question is... who's going to fix all of this? an actor? probably not. but you know who can solve it? business. because solving big problems is what business does best. so let's take on the wage gap, the opportunity gap, the achievement gap. whatever the problem, business can help. and i know who can help them do it. but he has plans today.ain. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just on

nbc's kristen welker is live at the white house. what did you learn? >>reporter: well i just spoke with the president's attorney by phone, and a couple key headlines to tell you about. they do plan to submit their counter proposal to the special counsel by the end of today. this is an offer for what an interview might look like with the president. giuliani telling me we're going to send it out today and it will be a legitimate offer to find a way to do an interview. it won't be a refusal. that's significant because giuliani essentially making the case we are keeping the negotiations open. i asked him why does he think the office of the special counsel is open to the possibility of a counter proposal. remember, they've been going back and forth since january. giuliani telling moo he they didn't say in the last letter this is the final offer and we haven't done that either. effectively saying the tone of these communications that are going back and forth between each side is one aimed at finding some way to negotiate a potential interview. we know presid

joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker, "new york times" columnist david brooks, former democratic congresswoman donna edwards, and former republican governor of north carolina, pat mccrory. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning. she was a reality tv star who wound up working in a reality tv star's white house. by her own admission, omarosa and donald trump used each other. in her new book, omarosa writes, "donald and i had a symbiotic relationship as i've said. i gave him ratings and he gave me, a woman of color, opportunities. that relationship started on the apren tis in 2004 and continued through a series of reality tv shows. >> i adore you. we've had tremendous success together. you helped make me a star. dennis, she helped make me a star. but omarosa, you're feared. >> in 2016, she joined the trump campaign as director of african-american outreach. on the trail and subsequently as the most senior african-american woman on the white house staff. and she became one of mr. trump's most vocal supporters.

kristen welker is at the white house. i understand you just spoke with the president's attorney, rudy giuliani. he has been on kind of a media blitz this last 24 hours or so, trying to clean up those "truth isn't truth" comments to chuck todd on "meet the press" sunday. he's also now, kristen, talking about this idea that the president may not end up sitting down with robert mueller, right? >> reporter: that's right, hallie. he's essentially putting pressure on robert mueller to wrap this up. this is something that you and i have reported on extensively. he's trying to essentially move this process along. rudy giuliani again this morning saying, look, we haven't heard from robert mueller in two weeks. we haven't gotten a response to the counter-proposal that the president's legal team submitted. remember, we talked about that several days ago, when they wanted to essentially limit the scope significantly of what types of questions could be asked and what types of follow-up questions could be on the table. giuliani saying

[applause] jennifer: and last but not least, kristen welker. kristen welker is an nbc news white house correspondent whose hard-hitting political reporting appears across all nbc news platforms and msnbc platforms. she has appeared on nbc nightly news with lester holt and anchored the nightly news last night in new york. today, meet the press, nbcnews.com. she began covering the white house for nbc news in december 2011, traveling domestically and internationally with president obama, the first lady, and joe biden. prior to the white house, she was a network correspondent in burbank, california. she joined nbc news in 2010. during her first year at the network, she was nominated for a national emmy award for her role in the midterm election coverage. she was previously at nbc-owned and operated stations in philadelphia, rhode island, and redding, california. she is really well known. she has kind of made a name for herself for her hard-hitting questions, dynamic questioning at the white house press briefing. and she was called by "glamour" maga

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>> kristen welker, thank you. >>> a jury in the paul manafort trial concluded a second day of deliberations with no verdict. they are weighing on 18-count indictment against the former trump campaign chairman including accusations of tax and bank fraud. the judge in the case says he received personal threats and today announced he would not release the names of jurors for safety rns olorado where we're learning about the husband and father who police say murdered his wife and children in a case that gripped the nation. a horrific turn of events outside denver left investigators searching for a motive. miguel almaguer has the latest. >> we're going to make sugar cookies. >> reporter: police believe they found the bodies of 3-year-old celeste and 4-year-old bella. their remains were discovered near their mother shanann watts. the girls were found inside oil and gas tanks on the property where their fa ctsed his familye world they were missing. >> i just want them home so bad. close family friends. >> we thought we knew him and obviously we didn't. >> reporter: while most knew the watts as a h

our white house correspondent kristen welker was at the first white house briefing in 12 days and asked the question about that alleged tape point-blank. the podium and guarantee the american people they'll never hear donald trump utter the "n" word on a recording in any context? >> i can't guarantee anything, but i can tell you that the president addressed this question directly. i can tell you that i have never heard it. >> reporter: just to be clear, you can't guarantee it? >> look, i haven't been in every single room. i can tell you the president has addressed this directly. >> a defiant president trump denies using the "n" word and overnight tweeted apprentice producer mark burnett told him there are no tapes. i don't have that word in my vocabulary and never have. but that's the looming question after ousted top adviser omarosa manigault newman said she heard an outtake from the first season of "the apprentice" with mr. trump allegedly using that slur. >> how many times did you hear him use the "n" word? >> multiple times. >> reporter: today, he called his former apprentice a craz