peter alexander, let me start with you. so bob corker wasn't the only republican who came into the cross hairs of sarah huckabee sanders today. it sounded like a bit of brinksmanship from the president, a republican president against republican leaders over a few issues. namely funding for the wall. >> yeah, i think that's exactly right as we keep our eyes focused on texas right now and hurricane harvey i think you can rate this morning's tweet storm a category 2 as it were, kind of going back to familiar opponents in mitch mcconnell as well as paul ryan. senator corker obviously on that list today as well. i think what you would hear from this white house the bottom line is that they believe this sort of plays to the president's strengths, that he campaigned an an insur gent outsider that he's been attacking his critics the establishment. threatening to drain the swamp as it were. you might say these are chief crocodiles even though they're republicans and what it demonstrates is his fundamental lack of understanding about

our national correspondent peter alexander takes a closer look. >> reporter: locked in an escalating standoff in a regime and its erratic dictator. tonight president trump is facing the first foreign policy showdown of his young administration. >> i think the united states has to be very careful in describing its own objectives. the united states has military options on the korean peninsula, but none of them are risk-free. >> reporter: among the options, stay the course. emphasizing diplomacy, following strict new u.n. sanctions with the support of russia and china. a strategy that likely acre cements the reality north korea to secure the capability of hitting a u.s. city with a nuclear weapon. another option, military action with limited strikes aimed at north korean military targets. with american missiles firing from bombers, destroyers, submarines or even ground launched weapons. just last week national security adviser h.r. mcmaster not ruling out preventive war. >> if they had nuclear weapons threatening the united states, it's intolerable from the president's perspective. >> r

peter alexander.as our report. >> reporter: tonight from his bedminster golf club, the president taking a swing at a wide range of topics. insisting he has no plans to fire special counsel mueller. >> i'm not dismissing anything. i want them to get on with the task but i also want the senate and house to come out with their findings. i won i suppose because i was a much better candidate than her. >> reporter: in retaliation for the latest round of sanctions. >> i want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on pay roll. >> reporter: the fbi delivered a strong signal with the raid of his former chairman's suburban d.c. apartment. >> whether it was appropriate, you'd have to ask them. i've always found paul manafort to be a decent man. >> reporter: the opioid epidemic. >> i'm saying officially right now it is an emergency. it's a national emergency. we will spend a lot of time and effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis. >> reporter: mr. trump calling that crisis a serious and unprecedented

nbc's peter alexander picks up the story from there. >> reporter: before dawn in baltimore, crews taking down four confederate monuments to avoid violent protests like those in charlottesville. >> i said with the climate of this nation that i think it's very important we move quietly and quickly. >> reporter: here in leesburg, virginia, this confederate statue still fuels deep divisions. but in the wake of president trump's controversial comments -- >> you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: zack defends the president's words. >> when you have violence you need to call it on both sides. >> is the president getting a bad rap? >> i believe so, yeah. >> reporter: that outrage blaring from the newspaper headlines. in chicago, fake president. >> definitely makes himless creditable as a president to not speak as a leader and bring the country together. >> reporter: superstar lebron james chiming in. >> it's not about the guy that's the so-called president of the united states, it's about all of us looking in the mirror what can we do better? >> reporter: reli

news correspondent peter alexander. me peter i'll start with you, the vice president trying to clean up but also trying to be careful not to overtly criticize the president. what are you picking up from him and the traveling party about their reactions to the way the president has handled this? >> reporter: yeah, andrea, i just spoke to the vice president again for a second time within the last hour, and our conversation raised from the topic that he's here to focus on, which is the issue of venezuela to the issue that obviously the reigning back here in charlottesville. i think the vice president was particularly clear about his condemnation of all groups including white supremacists and neo-nazis, but the criticism is on the president's failure to use those words, although the vice president used them explic explicitly. i wanted the vice president to explain what the president is talking about the many sides of that. i think he's talking about those far right groups like neo-nazis and white supremacists, yesterday he

peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> we appreciate you spending part of your evening with us. that is "nightly news" for this monday night. i'm lester holt, and for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. >>> we are not a desperate police department anymore. >> returning to the force. >>> good evening and thanks for being with us on this monday i am raj mathai. >> and i am jessica aguirre. the san jose pd now says it has turned the corner. damian trujillo was the only tv reporter in the room when the chief swore in a new officer today. >> reporter: coming up from the palo alto police department. one of several veterans who are now saying they want to be a part of the force. he walked sinto a crowded conference room at the police headquarters. surrounded by family and friends, kyle burrshfield made the jump to the san jose police department from a series of years chief eddie garcia spent much of his time reading resignation letter out of resignation letter. now, he says they are starting to come back. >> we are not a

peter alexander has more. >> reporter: more white house whiplash in reno, a declaration of unity. >> it is time to heal the wounds that divide us. >> reporter: a presidential 180 from arizona. >> repeal and replace! >> reporter: repeatedly taking aim at the media. >> the very dishonest media. and they're bad people. they don't like our country. i really believe that. >> reporter: president trump abandoning the discipline displayed just 24 hours earlier, his scripted afghanistan speech. instead, accusing the press of misrepresenting his response to charlottesville. >> they don't want to report that i spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry, and violence. and strongly condemned the neo-nazis, the white supremacists, and the kkk. >> reporter: but mr. trump omitted his own most controversial words. >> phatred, bigotry on many sides. you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: former director of national intelligence james clapper, who briefed the president during his transition, now questioning his fitness for office. >> i worry about frankly, you know

peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >> still ahead tonight, the judge ambushed on the way to his courthouse. the surprising connection between the suspected shooter and an infamous case that made headlines across the country. >>> also, a new warning about the alarming rise in high blood pressure among a group you may not expect, american children. stay with us. >>> we're back now with a judge hospitalized after he was injured in an ambush shooting on his way to work today at a courthouse in steubenville, ohio. that same town, you may recall, made headlines in 2013 when two high school football players were convicted of raping a 16-year-old girl. late today police revealed a startling connection between that case and this morning's ambush. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> we've got gunfire. >> reporter: it was an ambush, police say, right outside this courthouse in steubenville, ohio. >> you have a judge shot in front of his courthouse. and that affected me. >> reporter: authorities say judge joseph bruzzese was walking from his car to work around 8:00 this morning when

peter alexander has his story. >> reporter: nearly 50 years later for jim mccloughan the memories of are still vivid. >> there's two vietnamese regular soldiers with ak-47s staring right at me. and i'm thinking i'm a dead man. >> reporter: the 23-year-old army medic defying danger over two days repeatedly running back in the kill zone to rescue comrades. his commander urging him to helicopter out. >> i had blood all over me. and i said no i'm not getting out. and he said, why not? and i looked at him, and i'll quote this, i said to him, you're going to need me. >> reporter: mccloughan braved enemy fire not once, but nine times. single-handedly saving the lives of ten members of the charlie company. >> i'd rather be there and dead than in a hospital some place and find out x number of men were killed in this battle. >> reporter: finally, that sacrifice was honored. >> private mccloughan carries one immortal title and that title is hero. >> reporter: this is not the jim mccloughan award. whose award is this? >> this award goes to the 89 men that went into that battle whether they came

>> peter alexander on the white house north lawn. an interesting question he raises and one we'll talk more about. >>> something the defense secretary touched on a few moments ago. hans mentioned and speaking to reporters we'll hear what he has to say. >> a number i'm authorized to go up to. i directed the chairman to put the plan together now. we've been discussing this option for some time. when he brings that to me, i'll determine how many more we need to send in. it may or may not be the number. i've got to get the plan from the chairman and you saw i directed him to get it to me here right away. >> with us now here on set, retired army major general robert scales and msnbc military analyst at the u.s. army war college. white house reporter for the associated press catherine lucy and politics reporter for "daily beast" betsy woodruff. i'll blow up your spot a little. you and i were talking during the commercial break. something that hasn't been talked about this morning at all or not much the heavy hand of the man we just saw. ma

nbc's peter alexander has more on the reaction around the country. >> reporter: before dawn in baltimorecrews taking down four confederate monuments to avoid violent protests like those in charlottesville. >> i said, with the climate of this nation, that i think it's very important that we move quickly and quietly. >> reporter: workers in birmingham on the mayor's orders overnight boarding up a confederate tower. here in leesburg, virginia, this confederate statue still fuels deep divisions. but in the wake of president trump's comments -- >> you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: zach richman defends the president's words. >> when you have violence, you need to call it on both sides. you can't just, you know, close one eye and cherry pick from the other side. >> reporter: is the president getting a bad rap? >> i believe so, yeah. >> reporter: that outrage blaring from newspaper headlines. in new york, "sympathy for the devils." in chicago, "fake president." >> definitely makes him less credible as a president to not speak as a leader and bring the cou

nbc's peter alexander has details. >> reporter: from the acting head of the drug enforcement agency, a stunning rebuke of the president's recent remarks, the roughing up of suspects by police. >> when you see these thugs thrown into the back of the paddy wagon, you see them thrown in rough, i say please don't be too nice. >> reporter: the nation's top narcotic officer chuck rosenberg in his memo obtained by nbc news telling us nearly 9,000 agents and staff worldwide to disregard the president's comments that condone police misconduct. instead, reminding agents they must always act honorably, by maintaining the very highest standards. why weigh in? because we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong, rosenberg writes. the white house unapologetic, dismissing the criticism. >> it wasn't a directive, it was a joke. there's a very big difference. >> reporter: but it's not a laughing matter in communities like baltimore where freddie gray died after a rough ride in the back of a police van. in atlanta today jeff sessions promised to prosecute officers who use excessive forc

>> peter alexander, thank you so much and we are joined by attorney general jeff sessions. sir, good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> let's talk about the president's words that we're focusing on at the moment and he said on saturday that this was an e greemgious display of hatred, bigotry and violence and he seemed to add on many sides. on many sides and he was asked and given an opportunity to specifically condemn white supremacists who are protesting. why didn't he call them out? >> he made a very strong statement that directly contradicted the ideology of hatred, hatred, bigotry, racism, white supremacy. those things must be condemned in this country. they're totally unacceptable, and you can be sure that this department of justice and his administration is going to take the most vigorous action to protect the right of people like heather heyer to protest against racism and bigotry. we're going to protect the right to assemble and march and we're going to prosecute anybody to the full extent of the law that violates their ability to do so. you can be sure o

nbc news national correspondent peter alexander has details. >> reporter: president trump tonight vowing to dramatically cut legal immigration by prioritizing english-speaking immigrants with skills that help grow the economy. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. >> reporter: the president's proposal going beyond the campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration. >> these illegal workers draw much more out from the system than they can ever possibly pay back. >> reporter: mr. trump's message tonight reinforced by one of his top aides. >> we're saying our compassion, first and foremost, is for struggling american families. >> reporter: senior policy adviser steven miller clashing with reporters. >> you're trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country. >> that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish things you've ever said. >> reporter: the new bill backed by two conservative

our national correspondent peter alexander has more. >> reporter: tonight more white house whiplash. at the american legion national convention in reno, a declaration of unity. >> it is time to heal the wounds that divide us. >> reporter: a presidential 180 from last night's unbridled offensive in arizona. >> repeal and replace! >> reporter: repeatedly taking aim at the media. >> the very dishonest media. and they're bad people. they don't like our country. i really believe that. >> reporter: president trump abandoning the discipline displayed just 24 hours earlier. his scripted afghanistan speech. instead accusing the press of misrepresenting his highly criticized response to charlottesville. >> they don't want to report that i spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry and violence and strongly condemned the neo-nazis, the white supremacists and the kkk. >> reporter: but mr. trump omitted his own most controversial words. >> hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> reporter: former director of nati

nbc's peter alexander has that report and some of the most revealing comments. >> reporter: the president's private calls unfiltered. one week after taking office. admitting to the mexican president he's politically cornered. i have to have mexico pay for the wall, i have to. i have been talking about it for a two-year period. >> who is going to pay for the wall? who? >> reporter: in transcripts of the call obtained by "the washington post," the president pressures him to stop saying mexico won't foot the bill. you can't say that to the press. trump concedes the money would come from elsewhere. it will come out in the wash and that's okay. on an epidemic of an illegal drug smug geld ingled into the won new hampshire because new hampshire is a drug-infested den. another contentious call the next day with australia's prime minister. the two leaders clashing over an agreement that the u.s. admit refugees now detained in australia. this is going to kill me as i'm the world's greatest person that does not want to let people into the country. before ending the call, trump clearly exasperated, i h

nbc's peter alexander explains. >> they are the first line of defense with no room for error. the secret s year's end, roughly 1100 agents putting in brutally long hours will not be getting paid for that extra work. they're being stretched thin by president trump and going to his properties in florida, virginia and -- their jet setting lifesty lifestyle, business and pleasure. tiffany trump on a yacht in italy. eric trump, uruguay trip for hotel rooms alone. the service director says it's an ongoing protection issue -- the president has a large family and our responsibilities required in law. i can't change that. i have no flexibility. >> you need to have fresh well-trained agents available for protection. >> it's going to take a toll in terms of >> by law the they can't make more than $160,000 in overtime salary. the agency is working with congress on a financial fit to better support the elite protective force. peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >>> thousands of children in the district will return for their second day of school this morning as school bells rang fel

nbc news national correspondent peter alexander has more from bedminster, new jersey. >>> locked in a regime, president trump is facing the first foreign polly showdown of his administration. >> i think the united states has to be very careful in describing its own objectives. the united states has many military options on the korean peninsula but none of them are risk free. >> among the options, stay the course. emphasizing diplomacy following strict new u.n. sanctions with the support of russia and china. a strategy that likely accepts the reality that north korea will secure the capability to hit a u.s. city with a nuclear weapon. another option, military action with limited strikes aimed at north korean military targets with american missiles firing from bombers, submarines or ground launched. mcmaster is now ruling out the me venn tiff war. >> it's intolerable from the president's perspective. >> in south korea, it could be catastroph catastrophic, 25 million civilians in seoul alone. >> i would lead to war in the korean peninsula and hundreds of thousands of deaths in south kore

>> peter alexander tonight. thank you. >>> the sentence has been handed down in an emotional and controversial case that hs captured national attention. in massachusetts a 20-year-old woman was ordered to serve prison time for urging her boyfriend to commit suicide over text messages. he, in fact, did take his own life. our morgan radford has more on today's sentencing. >> reporter: michelle carter wiping away tears, sentenced today after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter, accused of encouraging her boyfriend, conrad roy, to kill himself. >> now sentences you to 2 1/2 years in the bristol county house of correction. >> reporter: but tonight she's free until her appeal can be heard. her victim's family outraged. you wanted to see her walk out of here -- >> in cuffs! why not? this girl can go to the prom, disney world. >> reporter: the emotional reaction coming moments after roy's family took the stand. >> he gave me an amazing 13 years. >> reporter: his father pleading with the judge for a harsher sente

>> peter alexander tonight, thank you. >>> now we turn to another major story. president trump today vowing to win the battle against the deadly opioid epidemic in this country. though he stopped short of taking his commission's recommendation to declare a national emergency over it. tonight nbc's blake mccoy takes us inside a community in ohio where this crisis is truly hitting home. >> reporter: beneath cincinnati's scenic beauty lies an epidemic that is rotting away at this community. this past saturday, hamilton county saw 22 suspected overdoses in 24 hours, issuing a community wide alert. >> we're yelling as loudly as we can and nobody's listening. the ones that don't listen end up here. >> reporter: the coroner here said she's already seen 313 overdose deaths this year, the county easily on track to pass last year's record, 403 deaths. >> the epidemic is literally culling this community. >> absolutely. we do autopsies until about noon usually. now we're well into the afternoon doing autopsies. >> reporter: the powerful synthetic fentanyl, up to 100 times s

peter alexander, nbc news, the white house. >> still ahead tonight, the judge ambushed on the way to his courthouse. the surprising connection between the suspected shooter and an infamous case that made headlines across the country. >>> also, a new warning about the alarming rise in high pressure among a group alarming rise in high pressure among a group you maysteve was born to move. over the course of 9 days he walks 26.2 miles, that's a marathon. because he chooses to walk whenever he can. and he does it with support from dr. scholl's. only dr. scholl's has massaging gel insoles that provide all-day comfort to keep him feeling more energized. so he even has the energy to take the long way home. keep it up, steve! dr. scholl's. born to move. tand the alzheimer'sf association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. when you you act fast.er, boo. so do we. raid kills roaches seven times faster than the next leading ant and roach spray. seven times faster? (gasps) raid! get raid and get tough on roaches fast. sc johnson. advil

our peter alexander has the latest. >> reporter: tonight the u.s. retaliating against russia, ordering the closure of three diplomatic offices in san francisco, new york and washington within 48 hours. secretary of state rex tillerson informing russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in a phone call today. the decision coming from the president himself. >> we've taken a firm and measured action in response to russia's unfortunate decision earlier this year. >> reporter: that decision from vladimir putin last m sanctions for moscow's interfering in the election by expelling 755 american diplomats. president trump at the time expressing gratitude. >> i want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll. >> reporter: white house aides later dismissing that as a joke. today's action not kicking out russian diplomats but closing two trade mission annexes and the san francisco consulate general, the oldest russian consulate in the u.s. and a prominent russian lawmaker tonight insisting the u.s. is declaring the hot phase of diplomatic war. >> th

>> peter alexander at the white house this >>> in charlottesville today a statue of robert e. lee, which was at the center of the storm during the white nationalist rally, was covered up with a black shroud along with the statue of stonewall jackson. afterward, a man with a knife began cutting away at one of the shrouds, but it was later resecured. the city council voted to cover the statues in honor of heather heyer, the counterprotester killed when a driver rammed a crowd with his car. >>> meantime tonight, as president trump has continued to take aim at hillary clinton from time to time so long after the election, she's having her say about the man who she says made her skin crawl during an awkward debate moment. now, clinton also is acknowledging her own mistakes in her devastating defeat. here's nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: new reporting by nbc news reveals hillary clinton's lead over donald trump was a lot less certain than previously thought, especially in the last two weeks. as we hear the first excerpts from her upcoming book about that tense standof >> donald

nbc's peter alexander has more. >> reporter: president trump vowing to dramatically cut legal immigration by prioritizing english-speaking immigrants with skills that help grow the economy. >> this competitive application process will favor applicants who can speak english, financially support themselves and their families, and demonstrate skills that will contribute to our economy. >> reporter: the president's proposal going beyond a campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration. >> these illegal workers draw much more out from the system than they can ever possibly pay back. >> reporter: mr. trump's message reinforced by one of his top aides. >> we're saying our compassion first and foremost is for struggling american families. >> reporter: senior policy adviser stephen miller clashing with reporters. >> i just want to say -- >> almost like you're trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country. >> jim, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant and foolish things you've ever said. >> reporter: the new bill backed by two conservative republ

peter alexander on the phone. i gather you heard president trump at the top of the hour. your big take aways. >> i think we're in dangerous moment. separate the signal from the noise. there's a lot of noise with the back and forth. the talk of trump tower. it's all very interesting but the news is he's talking to president chi tonight and the north koreans are on notice if they threaten guam, there will be a retaliatory attack. venezuela, i believe the military action he's referring to based upon my conversation with general mcmaster is from perhaps neighbors, not america. i think the signal is american military power is poised to be used to defend americans and support our allies in south america if venezuela is unstable. people are dying there. i would go back to north korea. we're really on the edge here and as lindsey graham said, this isn't a trump issue. trump didn't create this situation. the president inherited a mess. he's using different language to effectively communicate that signal rather than more blah, blah noise. >> do you feel the president is effectively

he spoke with peter alexander and the president's controversial response.s. >> you said on many sides. name those sides. what are the sides? >> as i said today, we condemn in the strongest terms. the hate and violence advocated by white supremacists and neo-nazis -- >> what is the other side? he said on many sides. >> as you look throughout the course of many years. we've seen fringe groups use peaceful protests environment to bring violence, in some cases, against police officers. >> with respect with one group yesterday, mr. vice president, killed an american. >> and we're bringing the full weight of the federal government to bear on investigating and prosecuting that individual for that heinous act that took the life of that innocent woman. >> peter is traveling with the vice president in colombia. we'll have more from him later on. peter sykes and also joining us here, again, anna and betsy, as we keep an eye on air force one pulling into joint base andrews as the president gets ready to head over to the white house. charl charlie, it's not clear if we

peter alexander following this from the white house.om cotton dropped the reference to canada and australia, other countries that use skill-based immigration saying applicants need to speak english, be able to support themselves financially, and, you know, somehow not deny americans the opportunity to work in the same jobs that they're coming in on. >> the bottom line here is that the white house is trying to focus on something the president laid out, they say, during the course of the campaign, a speech he gave last summer. part of the immigration plan, they want to focus more on legal immigration that invested in merit-based immigration, the president today saying that these immigrants under this plan would be better assimilated, a better chance of success and would be better members of the u.s. economy. they would be better deliver -- to deliver those dollars needed in this economy. wouldn't take away from the jobs needed for other americans here. this is a point they wanted to bring up before the august recess, they sort of begin th

thank you to carol and phil rucker and peter alexander. talk to you later on in the show. let's bring in the panel. msnbc political analyst peggy noonan. and mark barnacle. and the great lawrence o'donnell. great to see you. i want to just take a first big swing at this. trump has had crises, some self-inflicted. some not so self-inflicted. this is a particular category of challenge that the president faces when lives are lost, or when the resources need to be marshalled. how do you think he's doing? >> it's early. this is a catastrophe that is going to be a rolling one that takes place over the next few weeks. it has been going on in the past few days. every level of government going to be challenged by it. everyone i think in politics right now is speaking of good coordination between the federal, the state, the city and the national guard, et cetera. so it looks okay. but i don't think that's the story. i think the story is what's happening to those poor people in houston. >> it is obviously a huge humanitarian climatological event. and being the devil's advocate does i

aaron, eun, back to you. >> peter alexander, thank you. ain, look for more from peter on the "today" show next. >>> 6:47 now. the statue of robter e lee, the focal point in charlottesville is coming down sooner than expected. >> blood on your hands. >> the decision follows a council meeting filled with tension. protesters stood on the tables holding signs. some had to be removed from that meeting. the protesters accused them of not intervening when there was a clash over the removal of the lee statue. one person killed, dozens injured in the violence there. >>> it's a scary scene just outside of philadelphia where two trains collided. >> one was filled with people and four people are in critical condition this morning. matt delucia from our sis ister station in philadelphia is on the scene in upper darby, pennsylvania. >> the transit agency that overseas. they're trying to find out what caused this crash early this morning. that is one of the damaged cars as it sits and the investigators are poring over the evidence. trying to figure out wh

let's bring in nbc peter alexander. what do we expect to hear from the president? >> president trump has long suggested that afghanistan war was obama's war. he takes ownership. tell us the number is likely to be as many as 4,000. among the items we will be watching tonight how does this president define success or winning. the u.s. is losing right now. what is the definition of the mission going forward for the president, president obama, was largely counterterrorism. what are his priorities. >> all right. thank you. and hail to the chief now playing. this is a president who tends to like to speak before friendly crowds and he will do here. here is the president. >> thank you, very much. please be seated. vice president pence, secretary of state tillerson, members of the cabinet, general dunford, deputy secretary shanna han and kernel dugan. most especially thank you to the men and women of fort myer and every member of the united states military at home and abroad. we send our thoughts and prayers to the families of the -- conditi conditi conducting the search. b

this that seem to be focused on exposing the president's behavior. >> back to you. >> thanks to peter alexander. >>> pretty incredible stuff. >> really incredible. >> this comes down to honesty, and the unpleasant call in regards to the australian prime minister. and then he said thank you to the prime minister of australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation. when that the conversation came out that we see does not -- it does not translate to what he's tweeting about, how can you believe what he's saying about russia? >> it's very confuse to the american people. in some relations, you see him having great relationships with the foreign leaders, and then you hear about these mixed conflicting reports about how he talks to other world leaders, like this australian official. it's confusing for the american people and it makes them hard for them to trust with anything he says about russia and the involvement with the campaign. >> you bring up macron and abe. if these things are released and it doesn't, you know, what is being translated, what accurately is not being said by the

that is just one of the things that nbc's peter alexander is keeping an eye on from the white house. >> reporter: president trump returning to the white house after whipping up a fierce political storm, granting his first presidential pardon to controversial former arizona sheriff joe arpaio. >> was sheriff joe convicted for doing his job? >> reporter: house speaker paul ryan's office writing, the speaker does not agree with this decision. leading democrats insisting pardoning racism. and the senators say the decision undermines the conviction of arpaio last month of contempt. this did he fefies a judge's or contempt. white house aides defend the president's decision that did not go through the usual review process at the department of justice. >> just about every president winds up with controversial pardons. i don't think it's fair to characterize him about not caring about the rule of law. >> reporter: critics denounce the timing just as hurricane harvey barrelled through texas. and the departure of another white house aide, nashville's sebastian gorka, a steve allen ally. when di

peter alexander is standing by for us on the north lawn. peter, president trump has gotten some praise from corners that are usually critical of him for his decision to continue the war. what's he facing today? >> reporter: even the republican side of the aisle among those critics on other issues, lindsey graham, john mccain specifically, the former p.o.w., former navy veteran, now the chairman of the senate armed services committee, saying the president's strategy was long overdue, especially given the fact that we've been in this war in afghanistan, america's longest running war, now for 16 years. and islamic terror groups in that region continue to flourish right now. he's calling for a hearing of his committee in september, when the august recess concludes. here is what we've heard now from some of those other leading republicans including the president's vice president on the remarks he delivered last night. take a listen. >> what president trump has made clear is conditions on the ground, the drive toward a stable and peaceful afghanis

i want to bring in nbc's peter alexander. he's near where president trump is continuing his working vacation. peter, the white house clearly happy with these sanctions, but what's next? do they think that more has to be done sooner rather than later. >> yeah. what's been interesting is you watch the way this administration has reacted to what's been taking place in north korea in recent weeks and it amend increasingly cheer that the president has had this sense that deterrence was failing giving up on effect in china, just recently reporting that we have reporting that within the west ring they're increasing discussions about the sengs that fl might be a need nor a preemptive military strike. right now of the priority is on getting these new sanctions enacted right away. you talked about how big they are. that's about a third of their foreign revenue right now. what is most important here obviously is the fact that russia and china both signed on as part much this unanimous vote from the united nations security council. so we

nbc national correspondent peter alexander is at the white house. peter, he issued a signing statement and then a second statement and in each case saying unconstitutional, in one case it encroached on his powers, other presidents have done this in the past. he had no real choice but to sign this, though. >> that's exactly right. the senate passed this bill by 97-2 margin. this was effectively veto proof. the president knew he had to sign it. they pushed to try to push back against the effort here and the ways -- the way that the white house view ed it to try to sort of infringe on his executive authority as the statement says the president was concerned that this would sort of disable his ability to negotiate on issues of foreign policy, saying that foreign policy fell almost exclusively into the hands of the president, saying in his words that this was seriously flawed. in effect, this is a defeat for this administration that did not want this to happen. it sort of rolls back or ends the immediate sense that there might be a reset of relations betw

let's go first to my colleague peter alexander at the white house. peter, a lot of talk about that hurricane, but what jumped out at me was that donald trump deliberately pardoned joe arpaio in the middle of it because he said people would be paying taxi. >> yeah. the bottom line is this is a guy that's famous for the art of the deal, but i think a lot of americans certainly the president's critics will certainly view this as the art of defiance if it were. he pulled out that list of names of the infamous as he described them come mutations in the past, pardons in the past by past presidents obama and bill clinton, really pushing back on that narrative. obviously the story line as it's been viewed by at lot of the president's critics is this was in effect a friday night news dump right in the middle of a massive hurricane barreling towards the texas coast when he made my announcement. but today was in effect sort of a speaking of the news football just in the eyes of all his critics right there saying i do it because i believe in it. i stand by it and

. >> joining me now is nbc national correspondent peter alexander at the justice department where he's just been covering the attorney general and of course dan coats. and nbc's kristen welker at the white house. peter, first to you. what they said has a lot of warnings. what's behind this? it seemed to me they were trying -- jeff sessions was trying to send a message to donald trump. that he's on the job. >> i mean, i think you could suggest they may as well have pointed the podium to the oval office, that this was for an audience of one. ten days ago the president expressed his frustration about the justice department, specifically the attorney general jeff sessions' handling of the leak investigations. saying he had a week position on these intelligence leakers. here they insist this is the result of what they say is just an extraordinary number of leaks that have been taking place. this is something they've been focused on. there's a tripling in the number of investigations they are focused on. what they focused on in the course of the last seven months matches the number of invest

nbc's peter alexander is live at the white house where the press briefing will kickoff. garrett hague, usually on capitol hill covering our legislators is here with me in the newsroom. and jeremy peters, reporter for "new york times" which broke the story about the escalating feud between trump and mcconnell, and josh dossy, reporter with politico. peter, let's start with you. we've seen a lot of versions of this president in the past 48 hours. how serious should we take him and which is the version of the president that the american people or that the white house at least would like the american people to trust? >> reporter: in terms of how serious we should take him on threat of government shutdown if the mexico border wall construction of it is not provided by congress, here at the white house, senior administration official says take it seriously. this is something he's sincere about, something that matters, something he campaigned on, and a point he will punctuate as members of congress get back, he will say it in person the same as he said on twitter. this official