I said, ill consider it and see what happens. At that time, he told me, you are not under investigation. Did you call him . In one case, i called him. Did you ask him, am i under investigation . I said, if its possible, would you let me know, am i under investigation . He said, you are not under investigation. New reports contradict the president s claim. One current and two former fbi officials tell nbc news the white house summoned comey to dinner shortly after the inauguration. The president is not correct. The white house called him out of the blue. Comey didnt want to do it. He didnt want the rank and file at the fbi to know about it. The former official added that he tried to stay way from the Russian Investigation. Telling the president , look, sir, i really cant get into it and you dont want to. After dinner, President Trump asked whether comey would pledge his loyalty to him. According to two sources who heard comeys account, the fbi director declined to make that pledge. He told trump he would always be honest with him but he was not reliable in the conventional, political sense have the lester holt asked the president if he felt he had betrayed him about wiretapping and the Russian Investigation. You didnt take that as a sign of disloyalty . I dont think of it as loyalty. I want whoever the director is to do the right thing. What about when he went public and said there was an fbi investigation looking at your campaign and russia . Did that anger you . I ask that because there was a sense there was building anger. I know, every once in a while, you will say that in the newspaper, somebody will report or have false sources that maybe dont exist because of the media, the way the media is. No. Did you ask him to drop the investigation . No, never. Did anyone from the white house no, i want it speeded up. Any surrogates on behalf of the white house . No, not that i know of. I want to find out if there was a problem with an election having to do with russia or, by the way, anybody else, any other country. Coming up on morning joe New York Times reporter, micha Michael Schmidt will join us. President trump contradicted the statements of mike pence claiming that Rod Rosensteins recommendation to fire comey came after he made the final decision. Did you ask for a recommendation . What i did was i was going to fire comey. You had made the decision before i was going to fire comey. There is no good time to do it, by the way. In your letter, you said, i accepted their recommendations . You had already made the decision sgchlt will i was going to fire regardless of recommendation. President trump flatly contradicted what the vicepresident said. It was russia and not the handling of the clinton investigation that was on his mind. Regardless of recommendation, i was going to fire comey, knowing that there was no good time to do it. In fact, when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. It is an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election. So that right there stands in direct contrast to what had been the white house message since comeys firing. This absolutely has nothing to do with russia. It has everything to do with whether the current fbi director has the president s confidence. Reporter they said there is investigation between Campaign Officials and russian officials. Thats not whoo this is about. The president took strong and decisive leadership and put the safety and security of the American People first. What about the president s dissatisfaction with the russian probe, did that play into this . Let me be very clear. The president s decision to accept the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general and the attorney general to remove director comey as the head of the fbi was based solely and exclusively on hit commitments o the best interest of the nation. Joining us, jordan hill. How do you think the white house is explaining or going to explain the apparent contradiction sns. They are really struggling too, ayman. What the president did in his interview was essentially take the paper trail the white house had built to explain the firing and tear it into pieces. We saw Sarah Huckabee sanders in the Briefing Room try to say, i havent spoken to the president yet before she had denied that the president had decided already to fire james comey before that memo came out. Today, they are going to have to really go on the defensive again. Sean spicer returning to the Briefing Room will have a lot of questions to answer. Let me play you this. This is more of what President Trump said about director comey and his interview. He is a show boat, a gr grandstander. The fbi has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that. You take a look at the fbi a year ago the, it was in virtual turmoil, less than a year ago. It hasnt recovered from that. I also want to have a really competent, capable director. He is not. He is a show boater. He is not my man or not my man. I didnt appoint him. He was appointed long before me. I want somebody who is going to do a great job. Speaking of that, who is the president going to be looking at to lead the fbi, you think . There are a number of names that have surfaced. One of them is mike rogers, the former chairman of the house intelligence committee, someone who has served on President Trumps Transition Team for a brief period last year and he was a former fbi agent. Another name that has surfaced, former nypd commissioner, ray kelly and one out of the box name that has come up is marek garland. President obamas nominee to the Supreme Court. I think would be doubtful he would take this post under President Trump given that he was a lifetime employment to the second most powerful court in the nation. Thank you very much for joining us. Roughly 48 hours into his role, the acting director of the fbi mass thrown cold water on the claim to justify President Trumps decision to fire james comey. Andrew mccabe joined the head of other intelligence agencies on global threats. He refuted the white houses claims about comey standing with fbi agents in the scope of the bureaus russia probe. Yesterday, a white house spokesman said this is one of the smallest things on the plate of the fbi. Is that a correct statement . Sir, we consider it to be a highly significant investigation. You would not characterize it as one of the smallest nings you are engaged in . I would not. Do you feel like you have the adequate resources for the existing investigations that the bureau is involved in to follow them wherever they may lead . If you are referring to the Russian Investigation, i do. I believe we have the adequate resources to do it and i know we have resourced that investigation adequately. I can tell you also that director comey enjoyed broad support within the fbi and still does to this day. We are a large organization, 36,500 people across this country, across this globe. We have a diversity of opinions about many things. I can confidently tell you the vast majority of fbi employees enjoyed a deep, positive connection to director comey. Despite mccabes testimony contradicting the claims that fbi officials had lost faith in comey as director, Sarah Huckabee sanders doubled down on that claim yesterday. I can speak to my own personal experience, i have heard from countless members of the fbi that are grateful and thankful for the president s decision. I think that we may have to agree to disagree. I am sure there are some people that are disappointed. I have heard from a large number of individuals. Thats just myself and i dont know that many people in the fbi. As the New York Times points out, the chance of countless agents calling the white house to complain about their director and being ran to the Deputy White House press secretary is precisely zero percent. The economist sat down with President Trump for a wideranging interview focusing on his economic policies. The main focus of the may 4th interview published yesterday was the president s recently announced tax plan. Trump and treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin would not go into specifics saying they are contemplating things. When asked if the wealthiest americans will benefit the most . President trump said, i dont believe that. On the subject of his own unreleased tax returns, the president and his director seemed to differ on if and when. Trump said, he might release them when he is out of office. I am very proud of them. I did a good job once the audit is over. Asked if this would increase the deficit he said, it is called priming the pump. It is okay if it increases the deficit. It may only add for two years. You understand the expression, prime the pump despite the reporter answering yes twice. Because i havent heard it. I came up with it just a couple of days ago and i thought it was good. As the New York Times points out, not only does it date back to the Great Recession but was commonly used back in 2009 and they can trace the original of the phrase back to the early 1800s. President trump watches a commission to invest gait claims of widespread voter fraud despite little evidence to support it. Heavy rain is hitting part of the heart land. How is the week end shaping up. We are going to ask meteorologist, bill karen, whin we come back. Mom gets breakfast in bed. You get to do the dishes. Bring em on. Dawn ultra has 3 times more greasecleaning power. A drop of dawn and grease is gone. Are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® its starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. Introducing new depend real fit briefs. Now more breathable than ever. In situations like this, theres no time for distractions. Its not enough to think im ready. I need to know im ready. No matter what lies ahead. Get a free sample at depend. Com if you want to stay on top of your health, one simple thing to do is take the pledge to go and get screened for the cancers that might affect you. So stand up to cancer and take the pledge at getscreenednow. Org it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with org. Did you know slow internet can actually hold your business back . Say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. Comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet thats over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company. Say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. And add phone and tv for only 34. 90 more a month. Call today. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back. President trump has signed an executive order to take action over his claims that millions voted illegally costing him the popular vote. He signed the order without cameras present creating the Election IntegrityCommission Led by mike pence, will investigate allegations of voter fraud and suppression and look at vulnerabilities in the election system. Chris kovac has been tasked to save as the vice chair. He has been the driving force behind the strictest votestr i. Laws in the country and pushed to crack down on undocumented immigrants. Lets get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist, bill karins. Give us some good news. A rainy saturday in the northeast but sunday for mothers day . A little improvement. Other areas will be just fine on mothers day. Yesterday, in oklahoma, we had all the bad weather and some damage done. Still, some thunderstorms waking people up early in louisiana, mississippi. By the time the weekend is all said and done, we are aware we could get some flooding out of this. It doesnt look like it. Widespread 12 inch rainfall interior sections of the northeast and all the way down through the midatlantic, including washington, d. C. Our rivers can handle it. We may get some minor urban flooding, lower over the bridges or where drains are clogged. Thats about it. Here is the timing. Starting with this morning, we are watching the storms in louisiana. We tracked the storms into alabama, into northern georgia. The rain breaks out through the appalachians and into areas of west virginia. If we get any flooding out of this, we have to watch the mountainous regions of virginia and west virginia. 8 00 p. M. This evening. Richmond, looks like the light, steadier rains will be arriving for you. If you have late evening plans, have the raingear with you from the midatlantic to the delmarva. 5 00 p. M. Saturday, the rain ends in raleigh, charlotte, rain ending in d. C. By 5 00 p. M. It will be still pouring. The rain moves in during the day in philadelphia, new york, and as we go through saturday evening. Notice the rain ends in philadelphia. The heavier rains are in northern new england. For todays forecast, not bad today. Northern half of the country, the heavier rains will be in the southeast. As we go through the weekend, we will track that storm up the coast. A lot of people are looking at a nice mothers day forecast. The middle of the country is warm, 80s, 90s in texas. Southeast is great. Northern new england can put the complaints in my mailbox. Authorities in new orleans have taken down a statue of jefferson davis. Crews Wearing Masks to cover their faces worked under heavy Police Protection to dismantle the monument you see on your screen. Opposing crowds had gathered as the statue was being removed. Those against the monument say it represents racism and white supremacy. Still ahead, without two star players, the San Antonio Spurs managed to eliminate the houston rockets. Sports coming up next. Stressful days can lead to sleepless nights making you feel helpless. Take control of your sleep with unisom® sleeptabs. You fall asleep 33 faster and wake up recharged with all the benefits of a good nights rest. Take control of your sleep with unisom®. Its the simple things in life that mean the most. Boost® simply complete™. No artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners, plus 10 grams of protein and 25 vitamins minerals. It doesnt get better than this. Boost® simply complete™. vo more dper rollres for mom bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty the quicker picker upper how to brush his teeth. woman vo in march, my husband didnt recognize our grandson. woman 2 vo thats when moderate alzheimers made me a caregiver. avo if their alzheimers is getting worse, ask about onceaday namzaric. Namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimers disease in patients who are taking donepezil. It may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. Namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. Dont take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine, or any of the ingredients in namzaric. Tell the doctor about any conditions; including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia. Serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems. Most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness, loss of appetite, and bruising. woman 2 vo i dont know what tomorrow will bring but im doing what i can. avo ask about namzaric today. Time for sports where the western conference final is set in houston where news with an ankle injury would keep Kawhi Leonard out of the game. Sparked fierce of another 27point loss to the rockets like the one in game one. The spurs blew out houston, 11475 punching their ticket to the next round. The 39point win came on a season high 34 scored by lamarcus aldridge. San antonio will meet the warriors in game one on sunday. Turning to major league baseball. The pirates and diamondbacks in phoenix. Zack greinke with a gem on the mound striking out 11 batters and carrying a nohitter into the 8th inning until Gregory Polanco steps up to the plate. This one is hit hard again. That one is gone. He breaks up the nono with a so low shot to the right that cuts the dbacks lead in half. Arizona goes on to win it, 21. In new york city, the yankees trailing the astros in the bottom of the 9th. On the ground, base hit to left. He charges. The throw by jake is in time. Astros win thats a rocket. Houstons jake more is sick cuts down Jacoby Ellsbury at home sending astros home with a 32 win. A low light for you in san francisco. Reds second baseman, scooter jeanette waving off his teammates to field the popup hit to shallow right field. He misjudges that ball turning it into a double for brandon crawford. Cincinnati still wins it 32. The only thing worse than an error like that is doing it twice ask the rays kevin gill mire who makes a virtually identical misplay while charging a ball hit to the ground in center field as he did on monday. This allows for an insidethepark home run during a fiverun 8th inning for the royals. Not good. An Honorable Mention for tampas Chris Dickerson who reached over the wall to take a home run away from eric hosmer in the first inning. Nice play there. The royals beat the rays 60. Some good baseball highlights. I have to say, i learned how to field a ground ball in little league. Too much, too soon. Trash talk. Still ahead, developing defending michael flynn. President trump stands by his decision to delay flynns firing for 18 days after being warned by former acting attorney general sally yates. Plus, President Trump talks about his tax plan in a new interview. The details are still scarce. Well dig up what he said coming up. Testinhuh . Sting is this thing on . Come on your turn where do pencils go on vacation . Pennsylvania laughter crunchy wheat frosted sweet kelloggs frosted miniwheats. Feed your inner kid the uncertainties of hep c. Wondering, what if . I let go of all those feelings. Because i am cured with harvoni. Harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. Its been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. And is proven to cure up to 99 of patients who have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. Certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. Before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if youve ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. Tell your doctor if youve ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. Taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. Common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. Ready to let go of hep c . Ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. If you want to stay on top of your health, one simple thing to do is take the pledge to go and get screened for the cancers that might affect you. So stand up to cancer and take the pledge at getscreenednow. Org it only takes a minute to take care of yourself, and nothing rhymes with org. Welcome back, everybody. Im Yasmin Vossoughian, with Ayman Mohyeldin and Louis Burgdorf. During a dinner where comey was trying to convince the president to keep him on as the fbi. Over dinner, he says President Trump demanded his loyalty and comey did not make. The ousted director believes that meeting was the beginning of his downfall. Democrats are calling for an investigation into the firing, the letter to the Committee Chairman calls the decision abrupt and says it undermines the Russian Investigation. Chuck schumer has invited Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein to the hill to brief all 100 senators on the firing. Of course, it was rosensteins critical memo of comey that the white house first cited as the reason for the firing. The white house scratched visiting the fbi headquarters. While many of them voted for the president , few are happy about the decision to sack comey and the way it was handled. Many are questioning the timing of the decision to p fire jim comey with the russian investigating heating up. Here is the president addressing that concern with nbcs lester holt. Take a listen. Did you worry at all when you made the decision to fire comey when you did, the day before lavrov was here in the white house and the Russian Ambassador . Did you think through the optics of the way this would look . I never thought about it. It didnt matter. The way this guy was investigating. It was set up a while ago. I could have waited but what difference does it make. I dont see what difference it makes. You think it is a coincidence. Actually, it was set up. Am i now going to cancel the lavrov meeting or delay Something Else . Im not looking for cosmetics. Im looking to do a great job for the country. Im looking to create jobs. Im looking to create strength and security. Im looking to have strong borders. Im looking for things like that. If people say, oh, gee, i met with lavrov. By the way, i had a very good meeting with him. I think we are going to settle the syrian horrible problem relatively soon. That meeting resulted in more embarrassing headlines after the white house was forced to admit it was duped into allowing a russian state media photographer into the oval office by claiming he was sergei lavrovs official photographer. There was no immediate plan to release images. The administration was caught off guard when photos appeared online shortly after wednesdays meeting. The white house did not release pictures until yesterday. They dismissed any concerns of a Security Threat saying the photographer went stthrough the normal screening process. There are questions over the shifting events the white house has offered over the events of the firing of james comey. Reporter in this tale of two days, the story keeps changing. Flashback to tuesday night when the white house said the president acted based on the clear recommendations of the department of justice. No one from the white house. That was a d. O. J. Decision. Reporter wednesday, the vicepresident reiterated Rod Rosensteins role repeatedly. Because of the actions that the Deputy Attorney general outlined, to act on the recommendations, to take the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general. Reporter later that day, a shift. Frankly, he had been considering letting director comey go since the day he was elected. Reporter now, the white house deflecting questions on the revised rational. This shouldnt be a complicated process. The president knew that director comey was not up to the task. He has the absolute right to fire him for any reason. The problem is the inconsistent reasons being offered. Reporter democrat warn warner alarmed that the president called comey a show boat. In a senate hearing, the acting fbi director defended the man he replaced. Director comey enjoyed broad sfoert within the fbi and still does to this day. Reporter back at the white house, a different story again. I have heard from countless members of the fbi that are grateful and thankful for the president s decision. We may have to agree to disagree. That was Hallie Jackson reporting. Joining us jordan po smith. Only 38 think director comeys dismissal was appropriate. That was before yesterdays contradictions came to light. Is there a sense of frustration at the white house that they are not getting their story straight . Absolutely, ayman. The president came out and basically ripped up the story line that the white house had concocted to justify director comeys firing. So i think there is some frustration this isnt going over well. I will point out those poll numbers, very interesting to see the firing again breaking down along partisan lines. So i know this is being going into their camps. Jordan, the white house also claiming that director comey lost the faith of many of the people working at the fbi. Lets take a listen to that and then well talk. I can speak to my own personal experience. I have heard from countless members of the fbi that are grateful and thankful for the president s decision. I think that we may have to agree to disagree. I am sure there are some people that are disapointed. I have certainly heard from a large number of individuals. Thats just myself. I dont even know that many people in the fbi. Thats not necessarily what we are hearing outside of the press room, is it, jordan . No, it is not, yasmin. Frankly, it is odd that Sarah Huckabee sanders would make that kind of claim from the white house Briefing Room. It would be very inappropriate. I have talked to people inside this administration and the obama administration. It would be unusual for people from the fbi to Contact People from the White House Press shop to offer endorsements of the firing of the white house director. It doesnt add up and other accounts in the media from folks in the fbi back up that story line that acting director mccabe gave to the senate. Sanders says she spoke to countless people and on the other hand, she is saying i dont even know that many people. It doesnt make any sense. Let me ask you quickly going into the weekend. What should we expect from the white house as we head into this . President trump seems to be hunkered down again at the white house. As you mentioned before, there was talk of going over to the fbi for a show of support. He is going to travel to give a commencement speech. That will be the first time we will see the president out and about since the firing of director comey. Jordan fabian. Thank you. Some other moments of the president s interview with lester holt. He defended the delay in firing his former National Security adviser, accused of refusing to hand over documents related to the Russian Investigation without the guarantee of immunity. While the president criticized comey as a show boat and grandstander, he had only kind words for the man lawmakers accused of slowing down the Russian Investigation. General flynn is a part of this investigation. Sally yates testified that the white house was notified he had been compromised and at risk of being blackmailed. It was 18 days later that he was finally fired. During that 18 days he had access, i assume, to all the nations top secrets. One day you meet on the issue of comey and you fire him in a humiliating way while he is sitting in a room with his colleagues. My white House Counsel came back to me and it didnt sound like an emergency. He didnt make it sound like that way either in the hearings like it had to be done immediately. This man has served for many years. He is a general. He is, in my opinion, a very good person. I believe it would be very unfair to hear from somebody who you dont even know and immediately run out and fire the general. The acting attorney general. My white House Counsel came to me. The they had, i believe, two meetings. We ultimately fired but we fired for a different reason. Did you know that he had received payments from the russian government . No. That he received payments from the turkish government . But obama perhaps knew. He had clearance from the obama administration. This is something they never want to report. He had clearance from the obama administration, the highest clearance you can have. So it goes on. The president was also pressed over his business dealings as it pertains to russia. A Senate Committee has already reached out to the Treasury Department for information about his finances. Here is the president pushing back against those concerns. I have nothing to do with russia. I have no investments in russia, none whatsoever. I dont have property in russia. A lot of people thought i owned Office Buildings in moscow. I dont have property in russia. I am in total compliance in every way. I am not involved with russia. I have had dealings over the years where i sold a house to a very well think russian many years ago. I had the Miss Universe pageant, which i owned for quite a while, i had it in moscow, a long time ago. Other than that, i have nothing to do with russia. Important to note here, democrats have long said that the president should release his tax returns to prove he has nothing to do with russia. Now, to the discussion of who should replace james comey, republican senator, mike lee, is floating an unlikely name. This morning, other gop lawmakers are backing that idea. One name that i think the white house really ought to consider, is marek garland, the d. C. Circuit judge nominated for the Supreme Court last year. This is someone with a long history of prosecutorial experience. One of the lead prosecutors behind the Timothy Mcveigh prosecution in oklahoma city. This would be an exciting pick, a prosecutors prosecutor. He has likely allies as a potential fbi nominee in both political parties. Eric Merrick Garland is back in the spotlight. I suggested that the whitecious ought to consider him. I didnt say they should pick him. I said, put merrick into the list too. Senator Lindsey Graham reportedly backed the idea of considering merrick. I like that, i think he is a good guy. Louisiana republican senator, bill cassidy, also seemed to approve. I think it is incumbent upon the president who appoint somebody who all americans will have faith in . Like Merrick Garland. I is an attorney so mike would have a better assessment of garlands merit, if you will, as an fbi director. I have not investigated that independently. If what he is saying is we need someone whom democrats would also respect and woefrn severyo see as an independent voice, i will certainly agree with that concept. A happened fundful of democr weighed in on the idea. Amy kimbuchar tweeted. Here is what senator dick durban told reporters. I dont know if Merrick Garland would be interested. He is an extraordinarily qualified and competent man. Now, if he were to leave the d. C. Circuit court for the fbi director position, President Trump would be able to pick a candidate to fill garlands seat. Look at this. Merrick garland never seeing the light of day and possibly be the fbi director. That would be really surprising. Only in washington. Absolutely. We should note, senator dick durban will be a guest coming up later on morning joe. Still ahead, tracking more severe weather. The potential for damaging winds and large hail. Bill karins will give us an update on all that and much more. The president just spoke about the bill that was passed. It is going to be fantastic health care. We have a Failing Health care but i shouldnt say this to a great gentlemen and my friend from australia. You have Better Health care than we do. Wait a minute, chris. The president has just said it. Thank you, mr. President. Well quote you on the floor of the senate. We cant stay here why . Terrible toilet paper ill never get clean way ahead of you. avo charmin ultra strong. It cleans better. Its four times stronger and you can use less. Enjoy the go with charmin. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. [boy] cannonball [girl] dont. [man] not again [burke] swan drive. Seen it. Covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum trust 1 doctor recommended dulcolax. Use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. Suppositories for relief in minutes. And dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax. Designed for dependable relief. Welcome back. Turning to business where President Trump discussed his plans for the economy. Nancy joining us live from london. The president s tax plan was the main focus. Details and specifics were scarce. A lot of talk about priming the pump. Thats right, louis. On the tax plan, President Trump was asked if it was okay for the reform to, in effect, increase the national deficit. The president said, basically, yes. It is okay. The increase wont last for very long. He also talked about the hope that Health Care Reform would help to, in effect, pay for this tax reform. Remember that in an of itself was not a done deal yet. Then, there was the, quote, prime the pump. An old economic phrase used to describe when governments increase spending or make changes to the tax code to in effect boost Economic Growth. When he talked about the need to prime the pump, he in effect seemed to take credit for the phrase saying he came up with it a couple days ago despite the interviewer saying he was aware of the term and then u. S. Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin did step in to explain over the course of the administration, they hope to have enough Economic Growth that you could see 2 trillion over ten years in revenues. Hence, the word, prime the pump in the short term. The interview also talked about trade. Donald trump saying very clearly he wants fair trade. This comes as we learn from the u. S. Congress secretary that a deal between u. S. And china will expand trade specifically with chicken and beef imports. It was crucial for the u. S. Industry wanting to get the imports into china to try to improve the u. S. Trade balance with beijing. Back to you for now. Nancy, live from london. Thanks so much. This is a good one. Here is one way of setting a Guinness World record. In april, 16yearold Carter Wilson dwoo tweeted out, yo, wendys, how many tweets for a free chicken mcnugget . They said 18 million. He said, help me, please, a mn needs his nuggs. More than 3. 5 million is your pazzing that. Despite not reaching 18 million, wendys is giving the kid his free nuggets for one year. He has also started making tshirts with all the proceeds going to the Dave Thomas Foundation for adoption. He sent us some nuggets. We could use some nuggets. The story of the lawmaker that made history by becoming the first person to breast feed in parliament. Sheryl sandberg regarded as a champion of working mothers sent her support going, go, larissa waters, leading by exam, hashtag, lean in. Incredible. Lets get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist, bill karins. Ayman, you have your first mothers day coming up this weekend. I celebrated last night. You are going out of town for your wifes birthday. Good guy. You have to make up for that one. We had a really good time, went to a broadway play. A lot of gifts. Yes, all right. Nobody cares. No guilt. Let me show you some pictures from oklahoma, some damage from the severe storms going through. A couple tornadoes. We saw a lot of wind damage. You get these big, huge trees falling and the structure held up pretty well considering how huge that tree is. As we go throughout the day today, we are going to continue to watch some severe weather, not a lot. Isolated severe storms. We already have thunderstorms this morning. If you are in alexandria, down to lake charles in South Central louisiana. These will move through the south. We dont have a slight risk of severe storms. Just a marginal risk. In the southeast, we will have some of those storms with us. As we go through saturday, that storm system goes up the east coast. It is a rainout type saturday, from d. C. To baltimore. In new york, the rain arrives later in the day, the heavier stuff, specially in the afternoon. For mothers day, thats only northern new england. The rest of the country is looking good. The northeast and northwest corner have the issues for mom. A ayman doesnt have to work with. It is my first mothers day. Your first mothers day too. Still ahead, new information on the battle to retake mosul. Well tell you what the iraqi army is saying. The earliest known recording of jfk. That piece of incredible history next. 5. 0liter v8 engine. A 10speed directshift transmission. A meticulously crafted interior. All of these are feats of engineering. Combining them with nearperfect weight distribution. Is a feat of amazing. Experience the firstever 471horsepower lexus lc 500 or the multistage hybrid lc 500h. Experience amazing. Tidy cats lightweight with glade clean blossoms. Our newest odor fighting scent gives you the power of choice plus. The power of pleasant. Exclusively in lightweight every home, every cat, theres a tidy cats for that. I need the phone thats where i happen to be. To be the one that rings. I need not to be missed phone calls. To not be missed. I need seamless handoff. Canyon software. From reception, to landline, to mobile. I need one number. Not two. Im always moving forward. Because i cant afford to get stuck in the past. Comcast business. Built for business. Week, a couple weeks before ramadan begins on may 26th. It comes as reports indicate advanced u. S. Backed iraqi forces is moving through the old city that still controls that part of the city. Joining us live from london, nbc Foreign Correspondent keir simmons. Could the 7monthlong fight for mosul finally be coming to an end . As you know, its been bloody urban warfare since october in mosul. And now we are hearing reports that they think only fewer than a thousand isis military are holed up in northwestern areas of mosul. There, too, trapped, 450,000 civilians. The International Committee of the red cross expressing concerns for those civilians as supplies of food and water run out. It has been a deadly toll. A thousand civilians dead or wounded and iraqs military, we think, has lost around 770 security personnel and seen almost 5,000 wounded. More civilians are likely to be displaced as the fighting continues, but now a iraqi commander telling the British Organization that hes hoping the fighting will be over, that mosul will be liberated from isis in the coming weeks and crucially hopefully before the 26th of may which is before the holy month of ramadan. A brutal fight not only in iraq, but if they take mosul, they still have to make their way to raqqa. Keir simmons, thank you very much. Up next, the on the coming fallout over the firing of james comey as fbi director. Well talk to New York TimesMichael Schmidt who is reporting what the firing. Senator dick durbin is calling for an independent council on the russia probe. Congressman Elijah Cummings u calling for emergency hearings on the decision. Morning joe just moments away. You have access to the right information at the right moment. And when you filter out the noise, its easy to turn your vision into action. Its your trade. E trade. Start trading today at etrade. Com vo more dper rollres for mom bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty the quicker picker upper introducing new depend silhouette active fit, with a thin design for complete comfort. They say move it or lose it and at my age, im moving more than ever. Because getting older is inevitable. But feeling older . Thats something i control. Get a free sample at depend. Com. Whats the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store . S . 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A historic day in space. Nasa Astronauts Peggy Whitson and jack fisher will perform a 200th space walk in just a half hour. That does it for us on this friday. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside Louis Burgdorf and Ayman Mohyeldin. You said you had confidence in im what change . The recommendation behind it. When you receive a report that is so clear and a recommendation by someone like the Deputy Attorney general, you have no choice but to act. President trump made the right decision at the right time. To accept the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general and the attorney general, to ask for the termination, to support the termination of the director of the fbi. Because of the actions that the Deputy Attorney general outlined to the president that were endorsed and agreed with by the attorney general. The president made the right decision at the right time. This is the action a president takes when he is told by the Deputy Attorney general who has only been on the job for 14 days, he took a new assessment, a new look at everything. Did you ask for a recommendation . What i did is i was going to fire comey, my decision. You had made the