first, kristen welker, again another white house communications chief has designed, i believe this is the fifth communications chief in two yearsli to leave the white house. >> andrea, this is significant, you're absolutely right, the fifth communications director in two years. of course this is a critical role, the communications director.at and some of his predecessors included sean spicer, also hope hicks who served for a short time, and who can forget anthony scaramucci who had the job for a few days. this white house has already experienced so much upheaval. you've covered so many administrations, andrea, you how important this role is, to direct and guide all the communications coming out of the white house whether it be on foreign or dems poliomestic par. having said that, we know that president trump likes to be his own communications director. we saw that today when he was out on the south lawn answering questions before his departure. itis also comes at a notable moment after that explosive "new yorker" article came out a few days ago, essentially detailing the, close relati

. >> back with me is nbc's kristen welker. you just heard her asking questions of president there. also joining us, michael steel,

kristen welker is at the white house. kristen, what's the response there? >> reporter: lester, good evening. tonight the white house says it has not received or been briefed on the special counsel's report. the president's attorneys also weighing in saying they're relieved it's finished and now it's up to the attorney general nexsteps. tonight inside the white house, the urgent effort to manage the mueller fallout with the special counsel's report now turned in. the president's attorneys have been preparing their own counter report. all of this a nearly two-year cloud hanging over the president, who has consistently fired back at the central question mueller is investigating. was there any collusion between the trump campaign and russia? >> it's all a made-up fantasy, it's a witch hunt. no collusionno nothing. there was no collusion of any kind. there was no collusion, no obstruction, there was no nothing. >> reporter: after initial praise of mueller -- >> robert mueller is an honorable man -- >> reporter: the president made sustained attacks aimed at discr

kristen welker, this is dead on arrival and most budgets are and this one perhaps more than most with the first year of divided government, but now what we're seeing is $8.6 billion for that wall. what's the signal. >> democrats are being very clear, andrea that it is dead on arrival. as you point out, budgets are typically a list of the president's priorities, but this is a real shot across the bow. it's $8.6 billion is about $3 billion more than president trump's asked several months ago with the $1.7 billion figure and that's in the government shutdown for 35 days and the notion that somehow democrats would now agree to give him more than they rejected several months ago just isn't realistic and this was a priority for me as a candidate and it is still a key priority even though we haven't gotten it over the finish line yet and it comes after he declared that national emergency to try to secure funding for his border wall and he's about to get a pretty sharp rebuke from some members of his own party. the house passed a measure to block him. now it seems that's poised to pass the se

kristen welker, thank you as well. jake sherman and zerlina will both be back in a moment. in the meantime, attorneys general were in court today arguing that the president is violating the constitution. that's next. s violating the constitution that's next. [zara larsson - "wow"] ♪ ♪ baby i'm not even in a gown ♪ and the only thing u have to say is wow ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop drop say oh my drop drop drop ♪ ♪ make u say oh my god my drop drop ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop make u say oh my god ♪ ♪ and you never felt this type of emotion ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop drop say oh my drop drop drop ♪ ♪ make u say oh my god my drop drop ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop make u say oh my god ♪ but how do i know if i'm i'm getting a good deal? i tell truecar my zip and which car i want and truecar shows the range of prices people in my area actually paid for the same car so i know if i'm getting a great price. this is how car buying was always meant to be. this is truecar. carla is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also t

>> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> it was a terrifying scene today as a small plane crashed into an apartment building, then plunged to the ground in a busy ft. lauderdale neighborhood. nbc's kerry sanders is there. >> reporter: the single-engine plane -- >> that's the wing of the plane! >> reporter: -- had been pulling an advertising ban when the pilot apparently lost control. >> they advise a plane crashed into the building. >> reporter: the piper pa-25 flying into roger miller's 17th floor condo. >> boom. >> reporter: the plane slammed into his kitchen wall. >> tore a big hole in the room, threw my dishwasher across the room. >> reporter: al amaro watched it fall. >> i go over to where the cockpit is and i saw the fellow lying on the side. >> reporter: the plane dropped to the unoccupied pool deck below. the pilot, a new hire, just a month on the job, was the only fatality. first responders found the plane's banner blocks away. >> it's just a sad, sad, sad, sad event. >> reporter: tonight the ntsb and faa has a team of investigators at the crash site. it could hav

kristen welker explains. >> reporter: tonight paul manafort's sentence still shocking many. less than four years for bank fraud and cheating on his taxes, when guidelines called for anywhere from 19 to 24 years. >> it's very unusual for a defendant in paul manafort's sentencing guideline range to get a sentence this low. but it's ndefense attorneys argue it highlights sentencing inequalities between those who are wealthy and those who are not. >> the american system of mass incarceration is deeply racist, it is deeply unjust. >> reporter: scott heckinger is a public defender in new york. he says many of his clients are low-income people of color. one of them now facing serious time for stealing $100 worth of quarters from a laundromat. >> he's facing if he goes to trial a mandatory minimum of 3.5 years and a maximum of 15. >> reporter: reform advocates point to crystal mason, an ex-felon sent back to prison for five years for voting while on probation. it's now a major national issue. president trump signing a bipartisan bill to reduce mandatory minimum sentences. matthew ch

. >>> let's go to kristen welker at the white house. what reaction are you hearing from there? >> reporter: well, lester, tonight white house press secretary sarah sanders tells nbc news "we don't comment on intelligence." but north korea is still a growing challenge for the president after the second summit ended abruptly. john bolton said there would be more talks. it all comes as the white house is dealing with another hurdle. the new investigation by democrats who requested documents from 81 people in groups close to the president. president trump called it presidential harassment. saying democrats are in search of a crime. signaled he may not turn over the documents. lester? >> kristen welker, thank you, at the white house. >>> much more on the north korea breaking news at nbcnews.com. >>> breaking news from london. a city on alert after authorities say someone sent explosive devices through the mail, and the devices found at two major airports and a train station. nbc's matt bradley is there. >> reporter: tonight, london authorities are searching for whoever mailed this e

. >> kristen welker looks at what the pagesve al. >> coming up on wednesday. michael cohen was supposed to report to prison. he was behind closed doors testifying to congress. cohen giving lawmakers new up ments aimed atki b his explosive claim last week, that the president's lawyers made changes in hittestimony tower scrpeapd trump project in moscow. he has pleaded guilty of lying to congress. and the president'srn at, jay sekulow, firing back. saying testimony by michael cohen, that attorneys for the president edited orhaed his statement to congress, to alter the duration of the trump tower moscow negotiations is completely false. back to you. >> our thanks to kristen welker. >>> it's not only rert mueller's investigation. and today's manafort sentencing that trump busy. his administration continues to face questionsbout how it's handling migrants trying to enter the country. at a house hearing, tempers flared. kirstjen nielsen u ed congress to crack down on asylum seekers and support t border wall. democrats blasted her for the pain andse chaos cby family s

leer >> kristen welker also at the white house for us, thank you. >>> on the subject of north korea, there are new images of that rocket launch site we've been telling you about that experts now believe is fully operational. the state department is not drawing that conclusion, wanting answers from north korea just days after the hanoi summit fell apart. andrea mitchell is in our washington newsroom. andrea, what does this mean? >> lester, these two new satellite images taken just yesterday show even more construction at that rocket launch site. tonight a senior u.s. official saying, we do not know why they are taking these steps. they need to keep their commitments to the president. they want answers. this is a site kim jong-un promised to dismantle at their first summit. it was shut down last august. but these new photos now show how quickly kim can reverse steps to disarm. a state department official saying tonight there is still time to denuclearlize north korea before, as he puts it, the end of president trump's first term. but they have to start soon. and while he says they did

here's nbc's kristen welker. >> reporter: a stunning fall from grace. once president trump's campaign chair, paul manafort now a convicted felon sentenced to nearly four years in prison wearing a green jump suit and in a wheelchair due to complications of gout, manafort asking for compassion. the last two years have been the most difficult years for my family and i he said to the judge. to say i have been humiliated and shamed would be a gross understatement. his attorney speaking out overnight. >> what you saw today is the same thing that we had said from day one. there is absolutely no evidence that paul manafort was involved with any collusion, with any government official from russia. >> reporter: house intelligence committee chairman schiff calling that an asia peel for a pardon. manafort was facing up to 24 years in prison but the judge calling that excessive. >> that's an extraordinarily lenient sentence. >> i think i spent more days in detention in high school. >> i'm ticked off about this. a friend says that we have a criminal justice system th

nbc's kristen welker has details. >> reporter: tonight, president trump vowing to cooperate with theapidly growing investigation by house democrats. >> i cooperate all the time with everybody. and you know the beautiful thing? no collusion. it's all a hoax. >> reporter: today democrats issuing a request for documents from more than 81 people in groups associated with the president, including the president's eldest son, donald trump jr., son-in-law jared kushner, and trump organization cfo, alan weisselberg, looking into what they call allegations of corruption, obstruction, and abuses of power. but still insisting they're not yet building a case for impeachment. >> we have to do the investigations and get all this. evidence all sorted out and everything to do an impeachment. >> reporter: among the events democrats appear to be targeting, that 2016 meeting between trump family members, campaign officials, and a kremlin-linked attorney, and those hush money payments during the campaign. democrats pressing ahead with their investigation even before the report by special counsel robert m

kristen welker has details. >> reporter: today, michael cohen was supposed to report to prison. instead, with his sentence delayed, he was behind closed doors testifying again in front of congress. >> i'm here to cooperate and will continue to cooperate. thank you all very much. >> reporter: according that a source familiar with the matter, cohen giving lawyers new documents aimed at backing up his explosive claim last week that the president's lawyers made changes to his previous testimony about that scrapped trump tower project in moscow. >> there were changes made, additions. jay sekulow for one. there were several changes that were made, including how we were going to handle that message. the message, of course, being the length of time that the trump tower/moscow project stayed and remained alive. >> reporter: nbc news has not reviewed the alleged documents. cohen has pleaded guilty to tax and financial crimes and lying to congress, and republicans have attacked cohen's credibility. tonight, the president's attorney, jay sekulow, firing back, saying testimony by michael coh

nbc's kristen welker has the details. >> reporter: preside trump again taking aim at the late senator john mccain. >> i endorsed him at his request, and i gave him the kina of funeralhe wanted, which as president i had to approve. i don't care about this. i didn't get a thank you. that's okay. the press keeps what do you think of mccain? d whyou think? not my kind of guy, but some people like him, and i think that's great. >> reporter: the stunning new attack on mccain nearly seven ofnths after his death par five-minute rant, including about that unverified steele dossier on mr. trump and russia. >> john mccain got it. he got it. and what did he do? he didn't call me.r he turned it o the fbi hoping to put me in jeopardy. and that's not the nicest thing to do. >> reporter: the president's attacks sparking another rebuke from meghan mccain. >> he wod think it was hilarious that our president was so jealous of him. >> reporter: but now joined by a growing chorus of criticism from republicans, senator johnny isakson slamming the president comments as deplorable. and this from senator mcca

as kristen welker reports, biden dropped a pretty big hint. >> reporter: tonight is biden on the brink? >> run, joe, run! >> reporter: with the crowd urging him on, the former vice president dropping his strongest hints yet about a presidential run. >> i appreciate the energy you showed when i got up here. save it a little longer. i may need it in a few weeks. >> reporter: going after president trump at two events. >> the guardrails we put up to prevent the abuse of power, they're under enormous stress now. >> reporter: if the former vice president gets into the race, polls suggest he would instantly become a democratic front-runner in an already crowded field. and it could set up a trump/biden showdown already playing out. biden on candidate trump. >> i wish we were in high school. i could take him behind the gym. >> reporter: the president taking his own shots. >> i think he ran three times, and he never had more than 1%. so we call him 1% joe. >> reporter: biden recently calling himself the most qualified person to be president, but acknowledging, quote, i am a gaffe machine. biden

frances. >> kristen welker for us, thank you. >>> president trump's emergency declaration is about toit a wall in the senate. in a new op-ed, senator rand paul announced he will vote with democrats to overturn the emergency order to build a border wall, saying it would, quote, expand the powers of the presidency beyond their constitutional limits. he would likely be the deciding vote on the resolution, which has already made it through the house. if it passes, president trump has vowed to veto the measure. >>> part two of some incredible video we showed you yesterday. drivers captured this avalanche in florida, but check out this perspective. it happened sunday along i-70 between copper mountain and frisco. the driver's car was swept all the way into the median, but he was okay. thankfully, there were no injuries. wow, that's amazing when you're watching something like that and recording. let's check in now with meteorologist michelle grossman. today we've got millions, i think 220, waking up with frigid temperature. >> 226 million waking up to these freezing temperatur. it's going to

as nbc's kristen welker reports, pelosi and top democrats are now setting a deadline. >> reporter: thisorning the calls are growing louder to release the entire mueller report. in a letter to attorney general bill barr overnight, six house committee chairs demanding barr release the full findings to congress no later than april 2nd, next tuesday. earlier monday mr. trump saying he's okay with releasing it. >> it is up to the attorney general but it wouldn't bother me at all. >> reporter: when asked by a reporter if mr. mueller acted honorably, he responded yes, even while blasting the investigation itself. >> it was a false narrative. a terrible thing. we can never let it happen to another president again. >> reporter: the president and his team taking a collective victory lap. >> they know there was no collusion, they know there was no obstruction. >> reporter: blanketing the airwaves during the day and overnight on "fox news." >> this was the greatest farce ever perpetrated on our democracy. >> reporter: but the president striking a vindictive note, appearing to call for investigation

joining me with the very latest, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. nbc intelligence and national security reporter ken dilanian. and elliott abrams, who lobbies for lawworks, an organization advocating for the importance of the certainly counsel. kristen, just for the latest from there, clearly this is what the president has been focusing on, walking out of the white house yesterday to that spray that i know you were at, saying immediately, not "hello" or "greetings," but "no collusion, no collusion." it's remarkable that he's been so silent today. >> that's what's been so remarkable for us, cakasie, the fact that he was so vocal on twitter, at the ohio event, going on a ten-minute rant about the late senator john mccain. he does have an event here later this afternoon, so perhaps we'll hear something from him then. just to set the scene, it is the waiting game at the white house, kasie. it's really reached a fever pitch. you have officials here huddling, trying to determine next steps, meeting with officials, reporters trying to determine if they kno

joining me is kristen welker at the white house. rly atkins for wbur and msnbc contributor. kristen, the president still dismissing these concerns. he was briefed back in 2017 about this, and about the threat of white nationalism, and then, of course, we have the whole issue of charlottesville and the way he responded to that. >> absolutely right, andrea, and i pressed his senior adviser kellyanne conway on this very point earlier today. i said why is the president breaking with his own administration, the assessment of his own fbi? kellyanne conway essentially pivoted and said, look, the president has denounced this attack. he will continue to assist new zealand and then i followed up with will we hear from the president? they're getting a lot of questions about this, andrea. is this not the time for president trump to make some very strong denouncement of white nationalism given the assessment by his fbi? no indication that he's going to do that, but worth noting that mick mulvaney didn't take that option off of the table over the

was president trump on his way to ohio, answering questions from reporters including our own kristen welker lawn of the white house. kristen, we could hear him pointedly ignoring your question a day after you asked him in the oval office about john mccain. what did you take away from what we just heard? >> i keep trying to get this question to president trump. today he clearly heard it. he clearly ignored me three separate times. the question, kasie, are his twitter attacks beneath the office that he holds? you heard him there pause, listen to me, walk away. in another instance you heard him say, please, please, when i asked him the question again. so, a little bit of a headline there. not willing to engage on that point. but our peter alexander asked him what his message is to kids about these twitter attacks. he did engage on that point. not really answering directly, but instead pivoting to a defense of his use of twitter, saying it's his way to speak to his supporters, the american public in the face of what he called a corrupt media. no surprise, taking new aim at the media there. you

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, msnbc international affairs analyst michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia. msnbc justice and security analyst matt miller, and msnbc legal analyst mimi rocah, former assistant u.s. attorney in the southern district of new york. kristen, the president kept it short and sweet on the south lawn this morning, the "no collusion, witch hunt" remarks that we've all gotten used to. but take us behind the scenes, what's going on with the president and senior staffers as they're waiting for this report? >> well, the anticipation is mounting, chris. there's no doubt about that. the white house is ready with contingency plans, with statements. the president's legal team is ready. i spoke with the president's attorney rudy giuliani overnight, who told me that look, they are anticipating they are anticipating there will be some type of acknowledgement that the report has transmitted to the attorney general bill barr and once that does happen, they will answer with a short response, essentially saying we're aware that this has happ

nbc's kristen welker, thank you. we'll be right back with more on what our sources are saying. right back with more on what our sources are saying. limu's right. liberty mutual can save you money by customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh... yeah, i've been a customer for years. huh... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ itso chantix can help you quit "slow turkey." along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix. you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or life- threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had me

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, nbc national political reporter mike memoliron klain, former chief of staff to vice presidents joe biden and al gore, and ruth marcus, deputy editorial page editor at "the washington post," and the former chief of staff to dan quayle in the bush white house. barbara bush speaking out so clearly against donald trump, it was obvious in 2016 that they didn't get along, but this is the most specific revelation that we've had thanks to susan page's extraordinary interviews. >> it's remarkable, andrea, to hear her level of disdain for the now-current president. we have reached out to the white house. so far they're not commenting. but certainly this is just one more data point that i think underscores the divisions between president trump and what was known then as the establishment republican party. i think that on the campaign trail was when we really started to understand the ways in which then-candidate trump was going to break with traditional establishment republicans. and i think we were reminded of that recently, andrea, when

and come 2020, he will be even stronger. >> kristen welker at the white kuse. thank yosten. >> thanks. >>> meanwhile, there's a 180 on the plan to pull funds from special olympics. betsy dev faced criticism to remove funding for the organization. devos said earlier, her agency couldn't afford the caongress ad not the administration authorizes spending. >>> back to the crash that crippled traffic. this beltway just reopened. 12 hours earlier, a tanker filled with fuel crashed and flipped on to its de. >> justin finch on the massive cleanup this crash created. you take the fuel plus the crash, you see a lot of things are going on at once. and now, looking behind me you can see the area is beginning to clear. hi above yesterday, the crash and the impact, he on the inner loop brostht to a stand l.dr ers looked over on the scene from the other side. fire drews h crews had to worke togeo pump fuel from that tanker. you can see drivers had to have a lot of patience here. and firefighters had to focus, especially when crews find trouble spots on that tanker. >> we esti

. >> kristen welker joins us live from the white house.the reaction to manafort's sentencing? >> reporter: the reaction is still poringn after the stunning fall from grace. paul manafort, now, a convicted n, sentenced to nearly four years in prison. manafort asking the judge for compassion, saying he has been humiliated and shamed. he had been facin 24 years in prison, but the judge called that excessive. manafort, convicted of financial crimes, including tax and bank raud, while president trump is distancing himself from manafort. he flipping on him.or not that's in contrast to what president trump called michael cohen, calling him aiar and a rat, and cohen suing the trump foundation for legal fees, saying the organization broke its promise to pay legal bls when he started cooperating with the prosecutors. the democrats saying the sentence was too t light and white house is trying to turn the page. we'll have all of this on "today." >> kristen welker at the white house today.t her full rep coming up on "today." >>> we're learning details

kristen welker has brand-new details from the event. kristen, what do you got?ali, president trump's first veto as president has now been signed. it's official. president trump flanked by members of his cabinet as well as law enforcement officials and angel moms, those who lost loved ones from those who are they say here illegally. and the president after congress rebuked him, passing that measure that would block his ability to issue a national emergency, go around congress to fund his border wall. now congress had the ability to override his veto, of course, but the question is do they have the votes. i've been talking to lawmakers for days about this, and they don't think they do have the votes at this point in time. president trump said as much yesterday in the oval office. i was in there with him. he said look, i'm going to do a veto and i don't think they have the votes to override the veto. it's going to stand. president trump defiant on this issue. as you and i have been talking about throughout the hour, this is a campaign issue for president trump as w

kristen welker has a look at what's ahead. >> reporter: turning up the heat on president trump.he democratic chairman of the house judicia committee says is committee plans to request documents from over 60 people in mr. trump's orbit from his eldest son, donald trump jr., t trumpfo and even the former white house chief of staff, john kelly. >> it's very clear. >> reporter: but nadler stopping short of saying he's moving ward impeachment. on sunday, mr. trump lashed out at whahe called presidential harassment by crazed democrats and again, took aim atichael cohen, blaming democrats for holding the hearing which he said may have contruted to the failed summit with north korea. calling it perhaps a new low in american politics. >> he is a racist. he is a con man. and he is a cheat. >> reporter: it comes as the president defended his presidency over the weekend, delivering his longest speech yet. two hours and two minutes, before an adoring owd, the conservativeolitical action conferen conference. the president railing against robert mueller's russia investigatsin, even profanity.

it's been challenging for the past two weeks for president trump. >> our thanks to kristen welker for that report. i want to bring in our white house reporter for politico. gaby, as we get started with michael cohen and that lawsuit, where does it go as he prepares to head to prison and talk about the level of legitimacy he has? >> reporter: i suppose this is a legitimate case. the lawsuit alleges up until may of 2018 when cohen started to sort of distance himself from trump organization and signal that he would be willing to cooperate with the special counsel organization and with federal prosecutors in new york, that the trump organization just suddenly stopped paying his legal bills and they had agreed earlier on in july of 2017 to enter into this joint defense through which all of cohen's legal bills would have been paid by the trump organization which he spent more than a decade working for. if that isn't the case then, you know, he does have an opportunity here legally to get those funds not only covered but also the fine, the $1.9 million fine that's a part of his sentence also

joining me now, msnbc correspondent kristen welker, phil rucker, and harry litman, former deputy assistant attorney general. kristen, this is an angry president pushing back. we're hearing from sarah sanders as well. are they going to cooperate, are they going to stonewall? what do you think they're going to do? >> in terms of the strategy, andrea, they are on the same page now when it comes to maevenlg messaging. you read the tweet from president trump and sarah sanders echoed that, calling this disgraceful and a fishing expedition. there's that term again. president trump was asked yesterday by our hans nichols if he would in fact cooperate. he said, look, i always cooperate, at the same time this is a witch hunt. based on my conversations, what's going to happen now is the requests will be reviewed by the white house counsel. and by the way, there are of course requests for folks outside the white house, so their attorneys are reviewing those requests as well. the question becomes what may be protected by executive privilege, will they claim that. i anticipate, and i wouldn't be surpris

nbc's kristen welker is at the white house.illed trevor's grandparents will also be by his side all honoring a man trevor calls his personal role model and a hero for the country. >> reporter: for the family of army staff sergeant travis atkins, this cemetery in bozeman, montana, is where they come to be close to their son and father. >> he was the big man in my life. >> trevor oliver was just 10 years old when his father left to serve his second tour of duty in iraq. >> i never wanted him to leave, but he had to. that's what he wanted to do, and that's what made it easier for me to let him go because i knew that's what he wanted to do. >> his parents say he felt called to serve his country. his mom elena knew it from the start. >> when we went to the graduation ceremonies for completing basic training, he said it was the most fun he had ever had in his life. >> reporter: but his father jack atkins, a vietnam veteran himself, urged his son to ask for a less dangerous assignment this time. >> i said you paid your dues change you

nbc whitentouse correspon kristen welker has the very latest. good morning.r battle overeis promo build a border wall. he's unveiling his budget proposal for the next fiscal year asking congress for $8.6 billion in wall funding. now that's about $3 billion more than his original demand for .7 billion infunding. that led to a 35-day government shutdown earlier this year as you may recall. house speaker nancy pelosi and senate minority leader chuck schumer insist mr. trump's second attemptessned to fail, blasting him over the shutdown and vowing to block him ain. it comes weeks after the president declared a national emergency to free up mor a wall. the house passed a measure aimed at stopping him, and the senate is poilod to f suit this week, but the president has vowed to veto that leslation. hoda. >> kristen welker at the white house, thanks. >>> now to new trouble for embattle singer r. kelly. kelly left a chicago jail over the weekend following the payoff of more than $160,000 in back child support, but now a pennsylvania man has come forward claiming to h

kristen welker is at the white house, tam and jake are back with us, too., you can call irony here, the president is going off on this tweet storm even as his wife is holding an event of her be best campaign as we speak. >> reporter: she is speaking right now, halle, creating another contradiction as the first lady continues with her messaging, president trump lashes out as you say 50 tweets over the weekend, including re-tweets and still going strong today. it was those tweets about the late senator john mccain that got the most attention, of course, he was tweeting about the dossier, well, senator john mccain of course not here to defend himself. of course, his daughter megan mccain who has smart words from president trump, saying no one will love you like my father. why is the president tweeting? that's the question, in such a large volume? we are waiting for the mueller report to be turned over to the attorney general. now on a separate topic, the white house answering tough questions when it comes to that terrorist attack in new zealand, of course, he

nbc's kristen welker reports. >> reporte secreta of education betsy devos in the hot seat after getting grilled by lawmakers for proposing to cut funding for special olympics. i sti can't understand why you would go after disabled children in yourdg . you zero that out. it's appalling. >> reporter: it was the first time that devos, a wealthy former michigan republin party chairwoman had been called before a democratic led panel to go over the president's spending priorities. wisconsin congressman pushing devos asking if he knew how much children would be affected by the elimination of special olympics funding. >> we had to make some hard decisions this budget -- >> how many kids not about the budgno? >> i don't about the number of kids. >> 272,000 kids. i'll answer it f you. no problem. >> let me just say -- > 270,000 kids that are affected. >> it's an awesome organization, one that is well supported by thehinthropic sector as well. >> reporter: the conversation growing hore tense aft talked about his own family members. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is it that we have a probl

and kristen welker joins us. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> chuck, let's start with you. we got a summary from attorney general barr about the mueller report. that's not enough for some people, nor should it be. how much do you think we will see and when should we get the full version? >> i don't know that we ever will. i have half joked that it's the end scene of "raiders of the lost arc," if you look at the full report it might burn your eyes. it might melt you. bill barr made it clear during his confirmation hearing he was going to rigorously follow the statute and probably is going to have a maximum view of discretion of his own discretion on this. so i think this is going to be a heavily redacted version. i think we will have a fight over the contents of the mueller report for months, not days or weeks. >> the attorney general says it will be mid april before we see that. meanwhile, kristen, the headline out of that report was no collusion, which confirmed everything the president has been saying

. >> my colleague, kristen welker, our white house correspondent, was representing reporters in the oval office. kristen, the president just said it to the cameraste just moment ago, as we saw, when you were there. this will be an embarrassing rejection forbe the president, forcing him to use that first veto. >> that's right, peter. yet the president was defiant as ever. you heard him there issuing that veto threat, doing it quite proudly. he knows this is an issue that reallyws appeals to his base an he knows he's going into a tough reelection battle so this gives him the chance to say that, look, i'm still fighting for this issue, this signature campaign promise, even though i'm being rebuked by members of my own buparty. president also, i think for the first time you saw him say there, he doesn't think congress has enough votes to override his veto, i thought that was notable. of course based on my conversations, i know you've had similar conversations, peter, with folks on capitol hill, they grow, they don't think as of right now they have enough votes to override his veto. it's emba

we'll start with nbc white house correspondent kristen welker. good morning. >> good morning to you. president trump is start thg week by setting up a new showdown with democrats. he's unveiling his budget proposal for the next fiscal year asking congress for $8.6 billion in border wall funding. it includes more money for the military. dmr democrats are already digging in and calling it a nonstarter. >> reporter: the president's new request is almost $3 billion more than his original demand for $5.7 billion in wall funding that led to a 35-day government shutdown earlier this year. >> the shutdown in its second month and still neither side is waiving. >> if stretched into another week, the shutdown will cost the u.s. $7.1 billion. >> nancy pelosi and chuck schumer insist mr. trump's second attempt is destined to fail. congress refused to fund his wall, and he was forced defeat and reopen government. the same thing will repeat itself if he tries this again. we hope he learned his lesson. the president's latest move comes weeks after he declared a

. >> that was nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker asking that question. isten, i think you got to the heart of what a lot of people, including many republicans, find puzzling about this. john mccain died almost seven months ago, but the president can't stop going after him. so what else did he tell you about this? >> reporter: well, chris, i tried to follow up with the president there and i asked him if it is beneath the dignity of the office to be attacking a senator who passed away nearly seven months ago. he didn't answer that question. there was a lot of shouting as we were ushered out of the room. i tried to ask it several times, not entire lly clear he heard exactly what i was saying but that is the question we need answered from him. i can tell you that meghan mccain is defending her father yet again today. she spoke out moments ago making it very clear while her father is not here to defend himself, she will be doing that for him. >> thank you, all of you, for real. and the staff and everyone back. i think if i had told my dad seven months after yo

nbc's kristen welker is live just outside. stration says this meeting is a chance to create a, quote, north/south access of the western hemisphere as the two largest economies. do we know what exactly that means? and are there any details? >> reporter: well, steph, this is about strengthening ties between the united states and brazil. i was just in the oval office with president trump and the president of brazil. they both underscored that point. mr. trump making the case that these two leaders are very similar, they are both considered to be populists, outspoken. in fact, the president touting the fact that the president of brazil ran a very similar campaign to that of mr. trump. so what does that look like from a policy perspective? well, there are a number of items on the table here. they're going to talk about the crisis in venezuela, for example. they're going to talk about trade. that's going to be a big issue, because brazil's increasingly concerned about the expanding footprint that china has on its trading relationship

kristen welker at the house.it the mueller report expected to come at any point, the washington post makes an important point. the mueller report won't fix the problem underlying it all. >> david ignatius writes this. the united states will still be left with the underlying problem that triggered the probe in the first place, the threat of malicious cyber attacks against political parties, corporations and anybody who uses the internet. this is important because there are far more cyber attacks on election systems and other government agencies happening in every single state in america. it's massive. we talk about it all the time. >> washington post foreign columnist and associate editor david ignatius joins us now along with malcolm nantz, director of terrorist asymmetrics. you write there is better election system security. what, in your opinion, is the biggest problem facing the united states right now as it relates to interference in our elections? >> the elections security is better, but it's not ideal. ther

this changes everything. >>> kristen welker is bac to help me whip through the highs and lows of thest high to the pope's high level of concern for hygiene this ek. pope francis visited the italian pilgrimage site of lareto greeting worshipers as he always the pontiff drew some heat for pulling his hand away over and over as the faithful tried to kiss his ring. cat-like reflexes while doing so. in the past, popenc frais has washed the feet of the poor, but some critics were upset by this week's departure from tradition. theyer lat explained the pope wanted to stop the spread of germs of many people in line and in that gruoups he always allow people to kiss the ring. we're proud this morning to induct pope francis into our germ concern hall of fame, in a class this year with mitt romney, who blows out his birthday candles one by one so as not to spread bacteria on the entire cake. back to the pope, i understand what he's doing there, that visual of him yanking the hand away is too much. >> his speed is the funniest video we have seen with that pope or any pope ever. hem wins the g awa

. >>> kristen welker i understand we're hearing from the legal team? >> reporter: we are. they say this, we're pleased that the office of special counsel has delivered its report to the attorney general pursuant the regulations attorney general barr will determine the tpropriate next steps. now i canl you that this esponse has been planned for sometime, as they have been playing the waiting game right along with the o rest us. they were anticipating that the report would be reased imminently and so here again is the statement. what's going to happen now? again ty have to wait and see how much, if any, of this report they are able to we do know that they had a counter report prepared, lester, t they're not sure they're going to release that or they release it in their entirety. we'll have to wait and see. but again the statement right now from the president's legal team is that they are pleased this step has been taken. again no other issue has loomed larger over this president, no other iss hasoyaled him more special counsel investigation so now they wait to see how much o

joining me now, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, msnbc contributor and former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade, msnbc contributor emily jane fox, national correspondent for "vanity fair," and "atlantic" staff writer franklin mcfaul. where do we come down today on what michael cohen said yesterday, whether it does spark some legitimate questions among republicans? >> it certainly has, andrea. a lot of folks will remember that last week michael cohen testified that he has never asked for a pardon from president trump, nor would he accept one. overnight his attorney lanny davis telling nbc news that in reality, going back to those early days after his offices were raided, that in fact there was some discussion about a potential pardon, that he directed his attorney to have that discussion with rudy giuliani. here is the important thing to know about that time frame, andrea. there was a joint defense agreement between cohen and the president's legal team. so it allows them to have those sorts of conversations. now, according to lanny davis, those conversations ended, of co

nbc correspondent kristen welker just got out of the oval office. what did you hear, kristen? >> reporter: i asked president trump why he continues to attack senator john mccain now nearly seven months after his death. he answered the question very defiantly, he said because of his vote against repealing and replacing obamacare, he said that he had guaranteed the white house he would be voting in favor of it prior to that thumbs down vote. the president going on to say that it was a disgrace. i tried to follow up, i asked the president if it's beneath the dignity of the office to take aim at someone who has passed away. at that point we were being ushered out and the press handlers were essentially shouting over us so it's not clear that he heard me but i did ask that question a couple of times, kasie. this continues, clearly, to loom over what is a very serious day of policy here at the white house. president trump meeting with the president of brazil, someone who also, like mr. trump, is seen as being a populist, far right. mr. trump underscoring that the two have a close re

nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker has more. >> reporter: is biden on the brink? with a crowd urging him on, the former vice president dropping his strongest hints yet about a presidential run. >> i appreciate the energy you showed when i got up here e. save a little longer, i may need it in a few weeks. >> reporter: going after president trump at two events. >> the guardrails we put up to prevent the abuse of power, they're under enormous stress now. >> reporter: if the former vice president gets into the race, polls suggest he would instantly become a democratic front runner in an already crowded field. and it could set up a trump-biden showdown already playing out. biden on candidate trump. >> i wish we were in high school, i could take him behind the gym. >> reporter: the president taking his own shots. >> i think he ran three times and he never had more than 1%. so we call him 1% joe. >> reporter: biden recently calling himself the most qualified person to be president, but acknowledging, quote, i am a gaffe machine. biden would tout his working class appeal