richard engel, who is 150 miles away from where you're at, hans, let's go to you, richard. and that sensitivity to again not only nuclear short-range missiles but that which is traditional military ability that north korea has, that does enga endanger seoul, which is not too far away from where you'r standing. >> so i'm just going to pan the camera before i answer. we're look at chinook helicopters but quite a few of them. just from the naked eye you can see one, two, three, four, five, six. heading right into the dmz. that is not a usual occurrence. so we're seeing quite a bit of -- not all chinooks. appear to bel blackhawks as we. so as you can see, in preparation of the president's arrival more military equipment isva being set in there. it appears to be either part of an advance team or at this late hour probably more like a close protection team. the e dmz, although it is a demilitarized zone, is still -- it can be a very tense area. just abouten a year ago in late 2017 a north korean soldier who was stationed on the north koreanhe side decided to take t opportunity an

>> richard engel, in zell seoul for us tonight. richard, thank you president trump's trip to that global summit in japan offered a chance to reunite with world leaders, both friends and foes the president vowing to hold off slapping additional tariffs on china, at least for now, but also raising eyebrows by his warm interactions with several other controversial figures. nbc's hans nichols is also in seoul and has our report >> reporter: president trump departed from japan with a temporary ceasefire in the trade war with china >> at least for the time being we're not gondshe agreement with president xi jinping, mr. trump agreed not to slap 25% tariffs on some $300 billion of chinese imports. he will also allow u.s. firms to sell to the chinese tech giant huawei >> we're going to work with china on where we left off >> reporter: in return, china has agreed, according to trump, to buy american agricultural products. the president also met with russia's vladimir putin and saudi arabia's crown princ mohamed bin salman mr. trump seen play

final word to richard engel. our chief foreign correspondent here. he minute and a half, richard, how would you sum up what we went through today and by all means, if you want to comment on what victor cha was commenting upon, which is the way the president was trying to get iceye contact, not necessary the same with kim jong-un during this little sit-down here. >> reporter: what did we see here today? we saw a lot of political theater, we saw some history. i think we saw kim jong-un in a totally uncomfortable environment. he was welcomed absolutely into president trump's space. seemed to be a bit overwhelmed by it. this is not a leader used to being surrounded by a press scrum that is doing things improvisationally. sitting in a chair, having questions fired at him. this was president trump's show. president trump asked for this meeting. he asked for it in an unconventional way over twitter. kim jong-un showed up and went along with it. i think that does show a great deal about how the two leaders have a degree of trust. they brought their family mem

as we do it, for this, let's go to richard engel ro repoeportin us.going to happen right now, president trump is coming on out and let's listen in. >> good to see you again. i never expected to meet you at this place. you are the first u.s. president to cross it. >> i know, i know. -- this is a good moment. >> move, move, clear! >> get out of the way. >> all of you, clear. >> take a picture here? >> no. >> very good. >> hey! hey! hey! hey! >> come on! guys. move! >> it's a great moment. >> great progress, tremendous progress. >> okay. guys, come on. come on! come on! come on! let's go! let's go! go! go! go! move! guys move! go! guys! move! they are going straight! >> you said yes, and i -- >> how do you feel? >> feel great. it's a great honor to be here. >> stop! stop! stop! >> okay! okay! >> you can see! >> nobody has expected this moment. >> i cannot do anything. >> u.s. right here. >> chairman kim, how do you feel? >> president trump has just walked across the demarcation line, that made him the first u.s. president to visit our country. [ speaking

president is sacrificing american values to appease globalme strong we have two reports and begin with richard engel in seoul. richard? >> reporter: peter, president trump is scheduled to go to the dmz anyway. it was always part of t his trip tos country. the q stion everyone here is asking, will the north korean leader join him there? president trump arrived in south korea for what could be the signature moment of his asia tour. tweeting out a last-minuten invitat to north korean leader kim jong-un to meet him at the border where north andouth korea meet to say hi. >> we won't call it a summit. we'll call it a .handshake if it does happen i don't know that it will, but it could happen. he follows my twitter. >> h does. >> yeah. i guess so because we got a call quickly. >> in a statement, north korea calling the invitation a very interesting suggestion for further deepening the personal relation between the two leaders. >> they've contacted us. not something extended, just a quick hello. >> covered in barbed wire, guard towers and an estimated 1 million land mines the dmz straddles both sides of the

our foreign correspondent richard engel is in the region richard, do we have any idea what iran's goal is with the provocations, and are the risks growing? >> reporter: the risks are certainly growing. hard liners with iran are furious with president trump, mainly for tightening sanctions. so, they're trying to show their power. but they're also trying to calibrate it that's why they're attacking tankers but not sinking them, firing at aircraft that have no pilot. but the danger is they go too far or they don't know what too far is with this administration. lester >> richard engel in qatar tonight. >>> there's more breaking news tonight. in san diego, a shocking twist in the war crimes trial of a navy s.e.a.l a witness making a bombshell confession on the stand that may have just turned this trial on its head nbc steve patterson is covering the trial for us >> reporter: tonight a stunning turn in the trial of a highly decorated navy s.e.a.l. platoon leader accused of murder a bombshell admission from the key witness, navy medic corey scott testified he was the one who killed an unarmed

our chief foreign rr coespondent richard engel is in doha. chard. >> reporter: good evening, jose. siwith prent trump today promising to impose new sctions on iran, the risk of conflict may in fact be going up. but at least for now des seem to be trying to take another military ovocation. the u.s. and iran pulling back from the brink of war. at least for tonight. president trump even praising iran for, inike him, showing rest by only targeting an unmanned drone. not a manned u.s. military aircraft. >> they had it in their sights and they didn't shoot it down. i think they were very wise not to do that. >> "the new york times" reports all of t' the presid top advisers wanted a strike. including national security adviser and iran hawk john bolton. but not all t anchors on the president's favorite news channel did. >> the very people, in some cases literally the same people who lured us into the iraq quagmire6 years ago, are demgd a nanding a new war. >> everybody was saying i'm a warmonger d now they say i'm a dove. and i think i'm neither, if y

here is nbc's richard engel. >> reporter: tonight, russian television is producing its own show about chernobyl after this new hbo mini series became an instant hit, telling the story of the explosion at the number four reactor and the workers who battled to save it and now the real chernobyl site is seeing the tourist boom locals say since the mini series started airing, tourism is up 40%. place. that visiting is safe, even though no one has been allowed to live here for decades. >> the radiation is always in the back of your head but i wanted to see this all so badly that it was a risk i was willing to take. >> that soviet nuclear disaster is probably the worst in history. >> reporter: the nuclear plant exploded back in 1986 hundreds of thousands were relocated by the soviets. the u.n. says 20,000 cases of thyroid cancer can be traced to the radiation and while the hbo series highlights critical mistakes by plant operators and the government, it's come under fire from some in russia the new russian show will reportedly blame the disaster on cia sabotage richard engel, nbc news >>> j

richard engel, nbc news at dmz h >>> thestoric meeting at the dmz has brought up a host of issues that could work out in the favor of the united states and othernations. but as nbc's "meet the press" moderator chuck todd told news 4 this wmorning, thete house should be cautious. >> he enjoys having those ltle markers be associated with the trump name. but he got nothing out of the first one, got nothing out of . the second he's got to get something or these moments have diminishing return. look, i know what he's trying to recapt that first meeting, the highest job approval rating we recorded in our polling was after the meeting with kim jong-un. that was, look, whooesn't want talks instead of nukes? okay? that is -- there may be -- we may be polarized. we're not that polarized. >> right. >> it was a good moment for him. if you can get an agreement, it could be a great moment for him. but there is this sense of is kim jong-un playing him? it's almost sort of a visual exclamation point on his trip, right? and for him, that's what he likes.u the sign photo. >> mr. trump says today's meeti

lester >> all right richard engel tonight, thank you. >>> this evening hundreds of migrant children have been relocated after they were found to be living in squall conditions tailabout president trump's decision to delay deportation raids. here's hallie jackson. >> reporter: tonight a new more for nearly 300 migrant children detained in filthy, crowded conditions they've now been transferred to a tent camp after a national outcry when lawyers visited. >> there is no access to soap. there's no access to tooth brushes. there's also a lice infestation. and these are the most appalling conditions i have seen in my 12 years of representing children and families who are detained. >> reporter: that facility in texas is one of many packed past capacity as the government tries to find ways to accommodate 144,000 in may, the highest monthly total in 13 years. now the countdown is on. president trump, an abrupt about-face announced he's holding off for two weeks on deportation raids planned over the weekend. he's hoping to pressure democrats to cut a deal to change asylum laws unlikely, but a goal

photo evidence iran was behind the attack as iran threatens to break the nuclear deal here's nbc richard engel >> reporter: tonight the u.s. is building its case that iran attacked two commercial tankers in a critical persian gulf shipping route last week u.s. central command says these photographs are of iranian revolutionary guards removing an unexploded mine from the side of a japanese tanker. plus pieces of the mine that was attached by nails and magnets, even hand prints they left behind iran denies it attacked the ships. >> we have confidence that iran instigated this attack i can't share any more of the intelligence, but i wouldn't have said it if the intelligence community hasn't become convinced this was the case. >> the pentagon's new evidence came just hours after iranian officials threatened to increase stock piles of low enriched uranium and potentially produce a more highly concentrated form of uranium, bringing iran closer to a nuclear weapon. both moves would violate key term of a nuclear agreement which president trump pulled out of last year iran accuses the trump administrat

we have two reports beginning with richard engel in seoul. richard, good evening. >> reporter: well, it is morning now here in seoul and the government is saying that president trump's few steps into north korea were steps toward peace. president trump was first to arrive and walkedwl s toward north korea in the no man's land of the delitarized zone or dmz. fstill unclear i he was coming, kim fong-un then emerged walkinter to catch up. eathe twors shook hands. president trump on kim jong-un in the north. >> president trump asked and was invited to cross. >> i ask him would you like me to come aicross the line? he s i would be honored to do that. >> the first sitting american president to set foot on north korean soil. that president trump wanted to do this had been circulating for weeks, but the logistics clearly onl came together in the last minute. security and american and north korean television crews seemed cfused and got in each other's way. the president's new press secretary caught up in the scuffle and bruised according to the associa

sea and another in which the iranians tried to fire on a drone but so it shows the tension. >> richard engel tonight, thank you, richard. >>> an about face by president trump today after his explosive comments and what he would do if offered campaign information s from a foreignrce. let's get more from kristen welker. >> reporter: on his 73rd birthday president trump reversing course saying he would tell wa the fbi if h offered dirt on another candidate by a foreign entity. >> of course you have to look at it, if you don't look at it, you don't know if it's dead. of course you give it to the fbi or report it to the attorney general or somebody like that. >> reporter: t backtrack comes after the president got a e of criticism including from a few republicans for saying this. >> i think i'd take it if i thought there was somethinong i'd go maybe to the fbi. >> reporter: tonight outraged democrats arguing the damage has been done. >> it's just shocking. 's disrespect for our country and constitution. >> reporter: on thursday, senate republicans blocked legislation that would require gns to noti

ships were struck clo ap warns iran not te of the world's most critical seafaring passages our richard engel has the latest. >> reporter: tonight the u.s. and iran are trading accusations and escalating their rhetoric over who attacked two tankers in the persian gulf. the u.s. military released what could be damning evidence -- aerial reconnaissance video which u.s. officials say shows iranian sailors removing an unexploded mine from one of the attacked tankers, apparently to hide iran's involvement and this photo showing where the alleged mine was placed president trump called in to fox news to say the iranians were caught red handed. >> well, iran did do it, and you know they did it because you saw the boat i guess one of the mines didn't explode, and it's probably got, essentially, iran written all over it. >> reporter: but the japanese owner of one of the tankers insists his vessel was attacked not by a mine but some kind ofwhh is how res ships first reported the attacks. >> all stations, all stations, motor tanker front altair in fire, most probably attack. >> reporter: iran says it was

as nbc's richard engel reports, the u.s. says it was flying over international waters. >> reporter: a reprisal attack under underway overnight. planes in the air, warships in position to attack. iranian radar installations and missile batteries. >> they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it. here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after i said go ahead. i didn't like it. i didn't think it was proportionate. >> reporter: as late at 7:00 p.m., u.s. officials were expe t expecting a strike until it was called off with no shots fired. "the new york times" reported citing multiple senior officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations. president trump holding his cards close to his chest after first hearing iran shot down the drone. >> i think probably iran made a mistake. i would imagine it was a general or somebody that made a mistake in shooting that drone down. >> reporter: iran and the u.s. dispute where the drone was when it was sho

richard engel, nbc news. >>> just ahead, the rescue gone wrong. the husband of an oinjured hiker spun of control during an airlift speaks out about her frightening ordeal. >>> also, the price you pay, walmart wtaking on amazonh a way to deliver groceries in your fridge. >>> during the dog days of summer, what to be pla than the movies? stay with us. libe cy mutual customizes yo insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice! but uh, what's up with your partner? oh! we just spend all day telling everyone how we custoze car insurance because no two people are alike, so... limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird thattwo looks exactly like him. ya... he'll figure it out. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the cells in your body... ...work in harmony. like you, they get hungry. feed them... ...with new centrum® multigummies® specially crafted for men and women 50 and over. so you're ready for anything. centrum®. feed your cells today. i'm workin♪ to keep the fire going for another 150 years. for beauty

lester >> keir simmons, thanks i want to bring in chief foreign correspondent richard engel. you've spent a lot of time in that part of the world. you've covered the war in iraq. do you get the sense we may be creeping towards war here >> reporter: well, we may be inching toward war, and we are certainly on a very slippery slope the u.s. and iran are locked in this cycle where you had increased tension, followed by an attack, and then an e is pattern can take us in the middle east before one former senior u.s. military official told me, this is president trump's most difficult foreign policy crisiset. >> richard engel tonight, thank you >>> and now to president trump and growing backlash this evening from his explosive comments that he would be open to accepting damaging information about a political opponent from a foreign power with more on that, here's kristen welker. >> reporter: tonight, after the president's stunning statement, a scathing response from outraged democrats >> the president gave us once again evidence that he does not know right from wrong >> it's outrageo

our chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in the region tonight. >> reporter: new insults from iran tonight calling u.s. sanctions on the country's supreme leader stupid and outrageous iran's president saying they're a sign the white house is afflicted with mental illness. president trump responded with a new threat iran's very ignorant and insulting statement put out today only shows that they do not understand reality any attack by iran on anything american will be met with great and overwhelming force in some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. >>> the secretary of state also responding to iran's insults >> that's a bit immature and childlike, but know that the united states will remain steadfast in undertaking the actions that the president laid out in his strategy to create stability throughout the middle east >> reporter: the president's vow to strike on anything american is a significant switch, after calling off a military reprizal against iran for shooting down an american drone, which iran says was in its air space. the u.s. says the drone was in international

>> richard engel tonight, thanks. >>> on capitol hill,ry 9/11 recove workers met on capitol hill with mitch mcconnell. they say he promised to replenish the 9/11 victims fund following the scolding by comedian jon stewart. stephanie gosk has the story. >> reporter: the fight to secure funding for 9/11 first responders went straight to th senate majority leader's front door. >> today mitch mcconnell promised to work for us. >> reporter: mcconnell committing tot an augus senate vote on a bill that would extend funding for 70 years. the house vote set for july. >> this bill will offer that relief to thousands of men and women across our country because they came together on september 11th in the days and weeks after. >> reporter: each of the seven men who met with mcconnell suffer o some kind of illness injury, from breathing problems to cancer. >> we're going to leave here and louie alvarez is going to epdie. >>ter: louis alvarez testified weeks ago on capitol hill. >> you made me come down here. >> repbter: a bom squad technician at ground zero, his cancer has become untreatable. >> 10

nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest from the region >> reporter: new insults from iran calling u.s. sanctions on the country's supreme leader stupid and outrageous. iran's president saying they're a sign the white house is afflicted with mental illness. president trump responded with a new threat "iran's very ignorant and insulting statement put out today only shows that they do not understand reality any attack by iran on anything american will be met with great and overwhelming force, in some areas overwhelming will mean obliteration." the secretary of state also responding to iran's insults >> that's a bit immature and child-like but know that the united states will remain steadfast in undertaking the actions that the president laid out in his strategy to create stability throughout the middle east >> reporter: but the president's vow to respond to a strike on anything american is a significant switch after calling off a military reprisal against iran for shooting down an american drone, which iran says was in its airspace. the u.s. says the drone was in in

i want to bring in richard engel and so do you get the sense we may be creeping towards war here? >> reporter: well, we may be inching toward war and re certainly on a very slippery slope. the u.s. and iran are locked in this cycle where you had increased tension followed by an attack and then an escalation and we have seen where this pattern can take us in the ddle east before. one former senior u.s. military official told me this is president trump's most senior -- most difficult foreign policy crisis yet. >> richard engel thank you. >>> now to president trump and growing backlash from his explosivcomments he would be open to accepting damaging information about a political opponent from a feign power. with more on that here eps kristen welker. >> rorter: tonight, after the president's stunning statement, a scathing response from outraged democrats. >> president gave us once again evidence that he does not know right from wrong. >> that to me is outrageous. >> reportefter the president said this when asked whether he would accept information about his 2020 opponent from a foreig

and iran who want a war richard engel, nbc news, doha, qatar. >>> a bill for billions of dollars in aid for migrant children is heading to the senate 37 late last night the hoe approved a bill with $4.5 billion in spending for food, water, and medical service that dpite democratic infighting in the threat of a veto from the white house. it comes amid growing outrage aftedozens of detained migrant children who were relocated back to a controversial detention center in clint, texas nbc's gabe gutierrez has the latest fm the texas border good morning, gabe >> reporter: frances, about 100 migrant childr returned to this facility because federal authorities now say it is no longer too crowded. but many migrant advocates say the conditions here along the border are getting worse and we should warn you, one of the images in this story is especially disturbing. these images of detained migrants in the hot texas sun. for months customs andorder protection facilities have been overflowing. more and more immigrants making the grueling journey from central america. this heartbreaking photo highligh

>> richard engel with us here in london tonight. thanks, richar >>> president trump also warned fellow 'depublicans today theye foolish to follow through to block new tariffs he vowed to impose on mexico. as gabe gutierrez explains, those tariffs, along with the ongoing trade war with china and historic floods in the heartland d impact the price you pay at the supermarket. >> reporter: jamie price has been a rmer for 20 years. >> you're always at he the mercy of t weather. >> reporter: but he's never seen anything like this, 700 acres of his farm are under water. he's had to sell 300 cattle, and he is struggling to maintain his corn, soy bean, wheat and rice fields. what's been the toughest part of the last few months? >> i think the uncertainty. >> reporter: between historic floods and tariff disputes with china and meco, farmers like him are hurting. right now he and his workers are tending to these rice fields. but if the water were to breach that levee right over there, it could spinto these fields, and he could lose his entire

richard. >> richard engel, give us some of the context here about where that balance is with presidenti making a very clear, overt and public visit with kim jong-un, was he not saying i know we have a trade disagreement right now, mr. trump, but remember i do hold one card that you would like me to use, so let's not forget that. >> so there is a bit of a tug of war going on over north korea. north korea has long been a satellite of china. it was -- it is entirely dependent on china for its economic well being. the only way that north korea can survive is because of its relations with china. the more sanctions that the world has put on north korea the more dependent on china the country has become. so when president trump started making these very overt overtures to north korea china started to get nervous. it didn't want to lose its complete influence over its -- a country that sits right on its border so we've seen president xi step up his game. he's gone to north korea. he was there not long ago putting a little bit of more pressure on the u.s. to make a visit like the one we're abou

richard engel is in turkey with the latest. first, is the u.s. allegation against iran that they did it being taken seriously in the region and with western allies? >> reporter: i think it is being taken seriously. sources i have been speaking to are not doubting the american's accounting of events. they think that the iranians did it. they think they did it in such a way to show their displeasure, to show their anger that they have been boxed in by sanctions. they think that the iranians didn't want to attack u.s. interests in order not to provoke at least at this stage any kind of shooting war. but sources i'm speaking to are -- i'm not hearing other accounts of who was responsible. >> richard, there clearly is divides in iran on how aggressive to get. there's divides in our own country. i know there's concern of an accident happening. first walk us through the iranian divide. >> reporter: so the issue is not so much an accident. we talk about this like we're on a slippery slope toward war. we have been put in this position. there have been a s

let's see if it has to come to that. >> richard engel in istanbul, turkey. ruchd, as always, sir, thanks very much. >>> turning to politics. it has become something of a cliche from the moment donald trump came down that escalator four years ago today, he has changed the norms of our politics. whether as a candie clairing that john mccain has no war hero or as president or declaring there was fine people on both sides of the neo-nazi protests in charlottesville, there's a familiar pattern. step one, stay or do something startling. step two, public and press react with shock, outrage, approval or all of the above. step three, say or do something else startling. step four, public and press forget about step one. wash, rinse, repeat. the latest example, trump saying this week, sure i'd take incriminate aginformation about an opponent from a foreign government. many heard that as, mr. trump saying, russia, if you are listening, come on in, the water is fine, if you can help again, i will take it. perhaps the most remarkable thing about the four-year cycle of the

richard engel, let's pick it up there. there are obviously foreign policy concerns not just with the u.s.'s relationship to the united kingdom but the things that the united states and united kingdom need to get done in the rest of the world. what's your take on how things have been developing and what happens tonight? >> reporter: so as hallie was saying, today was the fun part, the easy part for president trump. it was a tour of royal events. tomorrow he has a lot more down time, he will be meeting with theresa may who was a lame duck at this point and he will be holding a press conference. so tomorrow is his opportunity to wade into british politics and british politics are right now in a very delicate place. this country doesn't have a prime minister, it doesn't know where it is going, it doesn't know if it is going to have brexit through negotiations, whether it's going to leave brexit, leave europe without a deal. so right now this country is very sensitive to foreign disruption. and that makes it sensitive to presid

nbc could not verify this independently. >> that was richard engel also overnight, the faa banned all u.s. planes from flying over iranian administered airspace in the persian gulf and the gulf of ohman. the move was later followed by australia, germany and british airways. >>> now to our weather and hopes of aek beautiful wed ahead. chuck is here to explain weather. starting off like a nice day?op >> keep alive, it's going to be nice around here for your weekend. and really not a bad day coming up today either. off to the ud races, these clouds areng raci southeast bound because the wind is really gusty now. out of the northwest, way over 20 miles per hour, right now in the city, 77 degrees, the average wind speed is 17 miles per hour. look at these wind gusts, winds gusting to 40 miles per hour, 26 miles per houin lees burg, fredericksburg. it isin definitely w outside. it's going to stay that way for the next couple hours. the number of clouds we have in our sky will gradually be decreasing. by the time we get past about 6:00 or 7:00,kies will be clear, that will allow for a cool c

following those protests on the ground today is msnbc chief correspondent richard engel. richard? >> reporter: well, it is very troubling to hear the president say he saw thousands of people on the streets cheering for him. iver be i've been all across london today following the president's movements. we did not see thousands of people cheering for president trump. instead we saw thousands of people who were dressed in very colorful outfits, flying balloons, making a lot of noise to express their great frustration and disapproval of president trump. so is he trying to convince the world that this happened, or does he really believe that there was this warm and outpouring of emotion on the streets of london? that is really what i don't understand at this point. who is he trying to fool? has he fooled himself or is he trying to fool the rest of the world? >> and, richard, where -- in the end when we wrap this up, what's it going to look like for the president? will there be a success? he seems to be courting two people who might succeed theresa may as the president of the united kin

perhaps not knowing our own richard engel would be fact checking him in realtime.s how that went. first, the president and then richard engel who was appearing with andrea mitchell from the london streets live on this network earlier today. >> as far as the protests i have to tell you because i commented on it yesterday, we left the prime minister, the queen, the royal family. there were thousands of people on the streets cheering. >> reporter: there's something deeply disturbing about president trump claiming he saw thousands of people here who were celebrating him and welcoming him as a rival. >> even coming over today there were thousands of people cheering. >> reporter: the weren't tens of thousands of people out there greeting him. >> and then i heard there were protests, and i said where are the proestters. >> reporter: there were several thousand protesters. >> i did see a small protest today, very small. >> reporter: there were thousands of people on the streets. >> so a lot of it is fake news i hate to say. >> reporter: they were protesting trump, not cele

joining me from the white house nbc news correspondent kelly o'donnell, and from qatar, richard engel. richard, iranian leaders previously said the president is not worthy of negotiations so what next, at least from the perspective of iran's supreme leader? >> so it seems unlikely that president trump is going to sit down with the supreme leader of iran, ayatollah al khamenei. the leadership structure is not like north korea where you can meet with kim jong-un or a u.s. president could. in iran, the supreme leader has a more symbolic role. yes, he does have the ultimate decision, does have the ultimate veto power, but the day-to-day running of affairs falls to members of his government, including the entire administration of iran, and president rouhani. so while the supreme leader says that he wouldn't meet with president trump, it does seem increasingly likely that we might have some sort of diplomatic resolution, despite what iran says they do want talks with the united states. they want the sanctions that the president has been putting on iran to be alleviated. i would say that is

richard engel in korea for us. richard, thanks very much. >>> now to this week's big political news and what w think we learned from the two nights alof democratic presidenti debates. we think we learned the party's center of gravity or at least the candidates believe the party'avcenter of gry has moved sharply to the left, especially on issues like health care and immigration. we learned that kamala harris' big viral moment proved she was worthy of the hype. we learned that joe biden has no path to this nomination. he still has to earn it. we also should learn to be cautious about putting too much stock into the social media analysis and twitter chatter post-debate. people who , 64% of watch the debates on television were 55 or older. that's not exactly the social media progressive demographic. and those older viewers m be more sympathetic to biden. most of all, we learned that this nomination battle is wide open with no prohibitive favorite. in a party trying to decide exactly how far to the left it wants to go. >

. >> nbc's richard engel is live in qatar for us. here on set, former director for iraq on the national security council during the obama and george w. bush administrations. richard, to you first. a lot of developments expected for you today. and plenty over the weekend as secretary of state pompeo is in the region working to build an alliance against tehran. >> reporter: yeah. i'm not sure if he is building the alliance. the alliance is already there. i think he is trying to put everybody on the same page. there is a lot of discussion about putting together a joint proposal with israel, the uae, saudi arabia and the united states to form a kind of maritime pact in order to improve security here in the persian gulf and in the straits of hormuz in particular. so if you look at where these officials are going, john bolton, mike pompeo, both iran hawks. they are going to meet with other iran hawks and try to make sure that they are singing from the same song sheet when they go to the g20 in japan at the end of the week. so it is not a co

that part critically was missing. . >> richard engel live from doha. thank you very much. evelyn, you heard richard. you heard ali, hans and kelly. how unusual is it to have something like this happen? as the president said, pulling back with 10 minutes to spare. >> i don't know any other precedent where it's happened, certainly not in recent history. the problem is both sides are escalating. they are allowing, through their rhetoric, through this language that richard just mentioned, a little bit of a escape. the craft was unmanned. so the iranians, in their action, it was an action that wouldn't have harmed lives. so i think the president is right in his remark about the proportionality. it doesn't matter. right now there is verbal back and forth. a lot of military escalation and zero diplomacy. that's what we need. >> president trump tweeted about president obama's desperate and terrible deal with iran. you have an op-ed. you say if he wants peace and stability he should make a deal with iran, a lot like the one that president obama negotiated and president trump was so

nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the ground in qatar.is the usual tit for tat in dealing with iran. how do you put this situation in perspective for us? >> reporter: i think it's much more. something is absolutely afoot if you look at where the top administration officials are going right now. i was listening to your conversation earlier. you were talking about getting inside president trump's head, he makes a threat one day, dials it back. brags about showing restrain, then the cyber attack is launched. what is his messaging, but if you leave president trump's logic and his rationale and his thought process aside for a second, and you look at what actually is happening in the middle east, particularly here in the persian gulf, there is a lot of activity. secretary of state pompeo today in saudi arabia, later going to the uae, john bolton the national security adviser in israel over the weekend. you have the two top officials on foreign policy in iran, meeting with some of iran's biggest enemies, all of this leading up to the g20 summit.

richard engel, nbc news. >> making the stage.ments for a spot on the democratic debates gets more complicated why we could see some unlikely matchups. this is the couple who wanted to get away who used expedia to book the vacation rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. expedia. everything you need to go. expedia. when cravings come on strong, now you can be stronger. with new nicorette coated ice mint. layered with flavor... it's the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. for an unexpectedly amazing taste... ...that outlasts your craving. new nicorette ice mint. craving relief never tasted so good. who got an awful skin condition. with uncontrolled moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, you feel like you're itching all the time. and you never know how your skin will look. because deep within your skin an overly sensitive immune system could be the cause. so help heal your skin from within, with dupixent. dupixent is not a steroid, and it continuously treats your eczem

richard engel is monitoring the situation from istanbul. richard, what is going on? >> well, it's hard to know exactly what's going on at this stage. a very mysterious and dangerous incident happened this morning right next to the straits of hormuz. according to multiple reports there were explosions on these two oil tankers. one was carrying methanol. the other was carrying a petroleum product. they were both according to japanese officials carrying products, quote, linked to japan. and around 6:00 this morning as they were pass, just leaving the straits of hormuz, there was this explosion. according to one ship manager of the -- at least one of the ships was hit either by a shell or even potentially a torpedo. there were about 40 crew members, all of them appear to be safely, they evacuated ship. all appear to be safely recovered and now there are multiple investigations under way as to what caused these explosions. this is being treated as it was a deliberate attack on two ships in fairly close timing and proximity. happened around 6:00 in the morning the first on

we have nbc's richard engel, our chief foreign correspondent from doha. what is the latest there, richard? >> good morning. iran has been very careful throughout this crisis and although it may not look like iran is being careful and there are many accusations in washington that iran is being reckless but from iran's point of view here in the region, they seem to be quite cautious. they want to drive this issue to the center of the debate. iran feels it is suffering unreasonably under sanctions so they are trying to drive this issue on to the international forum. but with every attack that they have taken, they're just shy of the threshold they hope of triggering conflict and they don't want to be one upped by president trump. >> iran showed pieces of the drone they shot down allegedly collected near the coast. and as if not to be outdone by president trump's restraint, iran claimed it, too, held back saying an american aircraft with 35 crew members was also in its cross hairs but they only targeted the unmanned drone. still iran's latest provication, shoo

reporter: tonight senior administration officials say all options are on the table >>> this is richard engel, iran today showed off what it claimed to be the twisted pieces of the $110 million american drone it shot down allegedly collected near the coast and if not to be outdone by president trump's restraint, iran claimed it too held back saying an american aircraft with 35 crew members was also in its cross hairs. but they only targeted the unmanned drone still, iran's latest provocation shooting down that drone with a surface to air missile was incredibly dangerous with multiple civilian aircraft in the same area as the drone. today, the faa banned american airliners from flying over parts of the persian gulf and gulf of oman and nearly a dozen international carriers including british airways, klm, and kwantis followed suit. just this week, iraqi officials say iran launched a rocket attack on an exxon mobile facility in iraq and tonight former military and intelligence officials say if president trump had carried out a strike, it would have added more fuel to the fire and reopened the pa

we start with nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel in the region. richard, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. we have seen dangerous escalations when one of the most volatile places on earth. now it seems the administration is trying to prove its case against iran. first publicly blaming iran for the attacks and then the military releasing this extraordinary video which could be the most damning evidence yet. the u.s. military released this surveillance footage which american officials tell nbc news shows iranian sailors removing an unexploded mine from the side of one of the tankers after it was attacked. the images taken by air seem to show the iranians recovering some sort of device and then leaving. it could be proof that iran was trying to hide its tracks. the japanese owner of one of the tankers said his crew spotted an iranian naval vessel in the area just before the attacks began, although he said the kind of weapons used remains unclear. the crew is saying the tanker was hit by a flying object, the owner said. presiden

nbc's richard engel is following new overnight developments from the middle east. >> there have been a number of provocations between the u.s. and iran of late, but this one may be the most dangerous, because not only did iran shoot down an american drone, it told the world that it did it. it released footage of the incident. has iran gone too far? the country wants to show strength but could it risk triggering a conflict? i'll have a full report coming up on the "today" show. >> 6:44 for you right now. >>> legislation aimed at cracking down on vaccination exemptions is one step closer to becoming law. the state assembly health committee voted to move that bill forward yesterday. it would continue to allow limited medical waivers to the state's mandatory vaccination law, but would also crack down on doctors who grant them when they shouldn't. governor gavin newsom says that he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. >>> a lot of young men are waking up as pro athletes this morning. >> some familiar faces from the bay area were selected in the nba draft. former san jose state p

richard engel has details. >> reporter: after nearly five years of pain-staking work, international investigators finally named the suspects they say were responsible for shooting down a passenger jet over ukraine >> i just want to know the truth. this is the truth. >> reporter: the malaysian airlines flight was traveling from amsterdam in july 2014 as it crossed over ukraine, it was hit. investigators say by a russian antiaircraft missile sending bodies and luggage into fields below. today investigators said three russian intelligence officers and the commander of a russian backed militia in ukraine would be charged with murder under dutch law. the research group helped link russian intelligence directly to the disaster >> russia says it didn't shoot down that plane. >> they faked evidence they faked a satellite photograph at some point you just have to stop taking them seriously. >> reporter: investigats think the plan was likely shot down by accident russia and kremlin backed militias were fighting against the ukrainian government at the time and may have confused the passenger jet for an enem

joining me now is richard engel, nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, and phil rutger, white house bureau chief at the washington post. richard, first to you, tensions in the region have to be sky high, but the president with this extraordinary tweet today giving exactly the thinking behind his last minute decision. >> reporter: there's a lot of confusion in the middle east. no one here has ever seen a president from any countriy making decisions about war and peace like this. outlining the private presumably top secret meetings inside the white house about whether to proceed or not with a strike against a foreign country. president trump saying that there were three targets chosen. that there was a presentation given to him that 150 people in iran could potentially die in this attack. and that within ten minutes he pulled -- with ten minutes to spare he pulled back from doing the operation. the iranians apparently not wanting to be outdone by this show of magnanimous restraint that president trump was tweeting about said that they, too, had an opportunity to carry out a mili

richard engel remains on duty for us in qatar. kelly o'donnell is at the white house and also with us, retired general wesley clark, former nato supreme ally commander and currently a fellowty uc berkley center. kelly, i'll start with you. what do yes know about the next step? >> we are waiting to hear any update from the white house on when or if there will be other plans put in motion. certainly the penalty gone provides options to the president. is there a real tell in his tweet about wanting this proportion a proportionality, as he's described it. the drone which had no personnel on board shot down by iranians and looking for potential targets that would not have human collateral damage, is that a say narrow? we don't know. did i speak to in when the president pulled back and gave not go rather than go for this operation. pelosi as speaker of the house a constitutional officer in the line of succession and the other top congressional officials from both parties and key chambers were here at the white house yesterday for a brie