Transcripts For MSNBCW First Look 20190515

Quote, nearly every issue facing our two countries that includes Yasmin Vossoughian along inside nbc correspondent Geoff Bennett in washington for us. Russias interference in the the House Intelligence Committee political system. Is examining whether lawyers for on that top, however, things are President Trump and his family very far apart. Obstructed its investigation into russian interference. Watch this. In the wake of basis of based on testimony from former accusations against us in Trump Organization executive attempts to influence american Michael Cohen and what the elections and collusion of the Committee Says is corroborating highranking officials of the evidence to conceal the extent of a lucrative business proposal incumbent administration. And it is clear that such to build a tower in moscow. For the lawyers of the insinuations are absolutely fake. We spoke about the question president , his businesses, daughter ivanka and son don of interference in our domestic junior, chairman adam schiff affairs. I maintain that there are things wrote this, among other things, that russia can do to demonstrate these type of it appears that your clients may activities are a thing of the have reviewed, shaped and edited past. You can see we had disagreements statements made by the committee on this issue. Including the addition of ive made clear for mr. Lavrov, certain facts. As weve made clear for the past in addition, several of your clients may have engaged in months that interference in efforts to deter o american elections is unacceptable. If the russians were engaged in investigations. That in 2020 it would put our a statement on behalf of the lawyers responded with this. The House Intelligence Committee relationship in an even worse appears to seek a truly needless place than its been. Dispute that would force private encouraged them not to do that. That we would not tolerate that. Attorneys to violate privileges and ethical rules. However exotic special as committed as lawyers, we will respeblg the constitution. And defend the attorneyclient counsel mueller was, i have to say on the whole he had a very privilege, one of the oldest and objective investigation, and he most sacred privileges in the confirmed that there have been law. While the organization may only no traces whatsoever of result in referrals to the trumble justice department, collusion between russia and the chairman adam schiff called the incumbent administration which proceedings necessary. If there were others that we said was absolutely fake. Were participating in that act of obstruction of justice, if there were others that were youve made clear and sergey knowing of that false statement, participated in drafting that lavrov made clear that you dont false statement. We need to know about it, we need to expose it. Share what happened in 2016. And we need to deter other do you think the message got through on 2020 . People from coming before our committee and lying. Do you think they understand that there will be real donald trump jr. Has struck repercussions . I said it as clearly as i a deal for limited testimony could so, yes, i think so. Before the Senate Intelligence committee. After a subpoena by the but i also think he could be president s eldest son signed by mistaken about america finding the republican chairman richard that russian interference is burr was met by outrage by the president s allies. Unacceptable in the 2020 election. Now, a joining us from washington, axios editor dave waller. Dave, lets talk about this meeting between the secretary of state and of course, sergey lavrov. We heard the russians calling this baseless. And using the word collusion which is interesting because that is a word that weve heard the president use over and over again. Then we heard pompeo say they are not on the same page when it comes to election interference. But it seems as if putin is certainly on the same page as of president of the United States, maybe not on the same page as secretary of state mike pompeo. We also know that russians are clearly backing up trump on the mueller probe. But they want russia to butt out of american politics. Can they have this both ways . Right. So the tricky thing here for pompeo, he was actually sent to moscow with the mission of getting a better relationship with russia. Thats what donald trump says he wants. Hes basically said we can draw a line under the Mueller Report and move on to better relations with russia. Russia is obviously saying, look, that means everything that weve been accused of over the years is false and great, well move on. And pompeo is saying, no, no, this wasnt fake, this really happened, but we take this seriously. And the president is sending a different message. As you said, its a delicate balancing act. Dave, help us understand what more are House Democrats hoping to gain from probing President Trump and his familys lawyers . All right. So House Democrats and schiff in particular have been very clear if there was wrongdoing, if congress was misled, theyre going to get to the bottom of it. And that extends beyond muellers probe, that their investigation is ongoing. As youve mentioned, you know, theres only so far they can push this. They can refer this to Robert Mueller who has already said his investigation is finished. But schiff is trying to send a message, if congress was lied to, you know, were not moving on quite yet. Dave lawler, thanks so much. Well talk to you in just a bit. Lets talk about the trade war because less than a day that Global Markets shed more than 1 trillion in balance and as major markets continue to raise the impact at home, President Trump is giving no ground on tariffs. In fact, heres how he described his trade war with china. Were having a little squabble with china because weve been treated very unfairly for many, many decades. I think its going to be i think its going to turn out extremely well. Were in a very strong position. We are the piggy bank that everybody likes to take advantage of, or take from. The relationship i have with president xi is extraordinary. Its really very good. We are, again in a very, very strong position. They want to make a deal. It could absolutely happen. But in the meantime, a lot of money is being made by the United States. And a lot of strength is being shown. You say this is a small squabble, but dont you understand that American Consumers may well suffer because of this. Yeah. Do you think youre winning the trade war, mr. President . I think were winning it you want to know something . You want to know something . We always win. Mr. President , are you confident that there will be no recession while youre in office . Well, you never can say that, but were doing very well. Morgan stanley says the country could fall into a recession if President Trump slaps tariffs on the remaining chinese goods which the u. S. Imports yesterday which trump said, quote, looking at very strongly. President trump is staying on the offensive once again taking on several of his 2020 democratic opponents highlighting infrastructure and Economic Growth in louisiana yesterday, watch this. Ive got buttigieg, ive got them all. Ive got beto. Beto is falling fast. What the hell happened . Remember, about four weeks ago, he said i was made for this. He was made for it. He was made to fall like a rock. What happened to him . But hes trying to restart his campaign. That generally doesnt work out too well. Political geniuses, when you have to restart your campaign, history has said that does not work out well, right . I dont know what the hell happened to biden . What happened to him . Im looking, i said that doesnt look like the guy i knew. What happened to him . And bernie, you know, bernies crazy. Bernies crazy. But bernies got a lot more energy than biden, so you never know. Just a bit of the taste of what the runup to 2020 is going to look like that. Still ahead, alabama lawmakers vote to effectively ban abortion in the state setting up a challenge basically to reverse roe v. Wade. Plus, pennsylvania files a lawsuit with a pharmaceutical representative over the opioid epidemic. Well talk to Danny Cevallos in a bit. Shaving has been difficult for me. I have very sensitive skin, and i get ingrowing hairs. So its a daunting task. Oh i love it. Its a great razor. It has that fence in the middle. It gives a nice smooth shave. Just stopping that irritation. That burn that i get is really life changing. Every curve, every innovation, every feeling. A product of mastery. Lease the 2019 es 350 for 379 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Heresshow me making it. Like. Oh i got one. The best of amy poehler. Amy, maybe we could use the voice remote to search for something that youre not in. Show me parks and rec. From netflix to prime video to live tv, xfinity lets you find your favorites with the Emmy Awardwinning x1 voice remote. Show me the best of amy poehler, again. This time around. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Experience the entertainment you love on x1. Access netflix, prime video, youtube and more, all with the sound of your voice. Click, call or visit a store today. Welcome back. The senate has approved a bill that would create the nations strictest abortion law. The bill would make it a felony punishable up to 99 years in prison for a doctor to perform or attempt a procedure during any stage of pregnancy, except to save a mothers life. Now, the overnight vote followed hours of emotional debate between lawmakers as the Republicancontrolled Legislature unilaterally removed clauses for rape and incest. It passed 256. The move is part of a larger chunk across the deep south and midwest to challenge the United States roe v. Wade ruling by whittling it down to the most restrictive. The bill heads to republican governor kay ivy. She has not indicated whether or not shes going to sign it. The state of pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma claiming the oxymaker muled the ep yoopioid epidemic. Pennsylvania is among the states hardest hit by the opioid epidemic. And the suit adds 16 claims against purdue. More than three dozen states have sued the company over allegations about its deceptive campaign. The lawmaker has denied claims against it. Joining us here is legal analyst danny ka val ny sa valn. Thank you for joining us. I practiced in pennsylvania and pennsylvania has a robust Consumer Protection law. And the way that law works any company that engages in deceptive trade practices have been held liable. And the allegations here, over many years, Purdue Pharma had this campaign where it promoted the drug. The problem with the drug, the problem with opioids in general, theyre so heavily addictive. Theyre one of the most addictive substances on the planet. And they targeted at least according to the pennsylvania a. G. , very fragile groups like the elderly and veterans who deal with pain medications on a daily basis. And they manufactured this drug knowing the addictive qualities of oxycodone. Thats right, that goes with the intent, that they promoted this with full knowledge that it allegedly had this highly addictive quality, this drug. Danny lets talk about alabamas antiabortion bill. It might be the strictest, but, look, its one of many pushing this top to push this to the top of the Supreme Courts todo list. How likely is this going to get the justices attention . Highly unlikely. Most like, the court will issue an injunction, because its facially in violation of existing constitutional case law. Not necessarily the constitution itself. And thats what sets up the battle with the Supreme Court. When this case gets to the Supreme Court, folks will be very surprised and concerned to find that roe v. Wade, while its been constitutional for many years and planned parenthood after that, it stands foundationally an an arguably weak justification. In other words, the justices at the time of roe v. Wade found that right to privacy protecting an abortion emanated from what they called the penumbra of the words of the constitution. And folks like Antonin Scalia and the bottom line that roe v. Wade has always been very susceptible to attack. And now that attack seems to be coming. It seems, danny, states like alabama which passed a bill which i believe is going to go into effect in 2020. Theyre angling for a Supreme Court fight. Thats exactly right. Theyre Supreme Court shopping. They have found theres no doubt that the Supreme Court now with its makeup is the one most likely to overturn roe v. Wade . To overturn roe v. Wade, the time is right for a challenge. Which is why youre seeing the laws which lawmakers dont plan to go in effect unless and until they get to the Supreme Court because they fly in the face of existing constitutional case law. Thanks, danny. Lets get a check of the weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Sun will come out, i promise, for people in the northeast. Its going to take a little while, though. The storm is still lingering in nova scotia. Its going to feel like late march and early april. From portland, a hit of showers all the way down to long island. But were now dry from new york to d. C. Thats where the sun will come out first. Look at these temperatures. Brutally cold. At 27 in bangor. And low 40s upper 30s from buffalo to albany, all the way through boston. Again that chill is still with us. But, this is it. Its not going to be this cold for a long time. For today, spring rebound will begin. In the middle of the country it feels like summer. Some areas up to the 90s over the next couple of days. For today, 60s around pennsylvania. Philadelphia to d. C. , low to mid70s. But boston only upper 50s. Low 60s if were lucky. On thursday, we continue to warm up. Heres really warm air. Look at omaha. 92 degrees. A big contrast. By the time we get to the weekend, the heat doesnt get to the northeast. It drives to the south. Raleigh could be in the 90s this weekend. And very comfortable from pittsburgh into areas of the northeast. So, were done with this yucky stuff in a lot of areas in the east, geoff. Its good. Better days ahead. Thanks for that. Still ahead, as condolences pour in, we take a look back at life of legendary comedian and emmywinning actor tim conway. Thats coming up next. Sometimes, the pressures of todays world can make it tough to take care of yourself. But natures bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and wellrested. Because hey, tomorrows coming up fast. Natures bounty. Because youre better off healthy. Natures bounty. Run with us. On a john deere z500 series mower. Built to mow better, faster. Because sometimes. When you take a look around. You notice. Your grass is long. Your time is short. And theres no turning back. Nothing runs like a deere™. Run with us. Visit your john deere dealer today, to test drive a z500 or z700 series ztrak™ mower. Ahh ms. Saquigens. I wanted to see you. When . Well, im free now. [ laughter ] would it be more handy if i put the revolving door in here for you . [ laughter ] welcome back, legendary comic tim conway who made generations of americans laugh on tv shows such as mchales navy and the Carol Burnett show which you saw there, he died yesterday at the age of 85. As tributes continue to pour in, nbcs harry smith takes a look back. Reporter tim conway had a funny face. Whats the matter now . Oh, this girdle is killing me. Reporter a face that has its shape shifted its way through a bit, always drew laughs. Say something to me. Can you hear me . [ laughter ] reporter conway first came to our attention as ernest borgnines helpless number two anson parker on mchales navy. But conway really made his mark and won emmys as part of the remarkable ensemble on the Carol Burnett show. Its sketches were either burnett or Vicki Lawrence or Harvey Korman would inevitably crack up because of conways antics. He had no idea i was going to immobilize myself with novocaine, when i punched my hand, my leg, the whole thing and went completely he actually wet his pants. Reporter of conway, Carol Burnett said im heartbroken, he was one in a million. Hell number my heart forever. Hey reporter ours, too. Rry smit. Still head, the bhouswhite pushes back. Plus two voter systems hacked by the russians in 2016. Those stories and more coming up next. Strange forces at work . Only if youre referring to gravityand we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum to take care of yourself. But natures bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and wellrested. Because hey, tomorrows coming up fast. Natures bounty. Because youre better off healthy. 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Show more of you. Ready to treat differently with a pill . Audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. And theres no better place to listen than audible. With audible you get a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. And now, youll also get two Audible Originals titles exclusively produced for audible. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them, and if you dont like a book just swap it for free. Enjoy 100 ad free listening in the car, on your phone or any connected device. And when you switch a device pick up right where you left off. With our commitment free guarantee, theres never been a better time to start listening to audible. The most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories, the best place to listen. To start your free 30day trial, text listen5 to 500500 today. Welcome back, everybody. Im Yasmin Vossoughian alongside nbc News White House correspondent Geoff Bennett. Its the bottom of the hour. Lets start with the top stories. Some democratic members of the House Judiciary Committee are growing impatient with President Trumps attempts to block their russia investigation and calling for a, quote, second look at impeachment. Nbc news spoke with several lawmakers who are urging that stronger tools be used including impeachment proceedings in order to get access to documents an witnesses. Just this month, trump has said that special counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before the committee by invoking executive privilege. Congressman told nbc news, whatever you think about the findings in the report itself, the blanket defiance of laufly issued subpoenas and refusal to cooperate with oversight is in and of itself basis for imbeachment. And saying the more documents, the more unified we will become. Other members of the committee including jerry nadler remain firm that Congress Needs to exercise other options before impeachment. President trump is refuting the use of spying. Trump has claimed numerous times that they have spied on the campaign and pushing that to lawmakers last month. But during testimony before Congress Last week, fbi corrector Christopher Wray said he didnt agree with barrs characterization. Speaking to reporters yesterday, the president was asked whether he still had confidence in wray, given the directors answer. Do you have confidence in Christopher Wray after he well, i didnt understand his answer, because i thought the attorney general answered it perfectly. So, i certainly didnt understand that answer. I thought it was a ridiculous answer. So, at a News Conference yesterday, Florida Governor ron desantis said Russian Hackers successfully gained access to voter databases. Now experienced an intrusion and hackers did not manipulate or change any data. According to the tampa bay times, desantis told reporters hed been breached on the breach but was not allowed to name the counties. He said, im not allowed to name the counties. I signed a nondisclosure agreement. But they asked me to sign it so i respect their wishes. It is highly unusual that the federal government would ask a governor to sign a nda especially in a case in that own state. And Jared Kushner with questions about the white house plan. And gop officials tell the Washington Post that kushner failed to give clear answers on his pitch to move the u. S. Toward a meritbased immigration system. At one point, kushner reportedly said the plan would not address the legal status of daca recipients, also known as dreamers, which would be crucial for securing democratic support. Joining from us washington axios world news editor dave lawler. Dave, what does it say about President Trumps soninlaws immigration plan, if republicans cant even seem to get behind it . Right. So, in this room, you have Jared Kushner who said hes been tasked with coming up with the nonideological, pragmatic approach to immigration. You have Steven Miller who is about as ideological on his issue if not anyone in the country. And then you have the republican senators deciding hone how to go ahead on this and have been burned before. Its a pretty tough task. Obviously, those reporting in the Washington Post, the senators werent getting answers to specific questions they had. And were not even talking about democrats, yet. So theres a long road ahead. My read its just political theater ahead of the 2020 elections. Immigration policy, as we know, is always the third rail of american politics. What do you make of this . Well, trumps slogan is finish the wall. Thats one of his slogans. So, once youre starting from that standpoint, its very hard to city how you get from there to a bipartisan consensus on immigration, heading into what will be a very charged campaign, particularly on that issue. I think youre right, were more likely to see people talking about immigration than actually passing something. Dave, lets talk about the revelation from the 2016 election with regard to floridas governor. Its a pretty ugly story, to say the least. The fact that the governor was asked to sign nda, unprecedented. Lets talk about that, the fact that hes asked to sign nda, a, and b, how this could feasibly impact the 2020 races ahead. Right. So this is the reasoning, i guess here, as far as desantis has put it is that the fbi wants to protect sources in that state. They dont want to reveal everything they know about what happened here. It seems to me to be a very bizarre situation. And as you mentioned, probably an unprecedented one. What we do know is that the threat still continues going into 2020, as far as these intrusions into voting databases. We know how narrowly the 2016 election was divided. We know that there are plenty of people who would like to access these databases. And so the question is, how much information can authorities put forward about what people are trying to do, what we know theyve attempted to do in the past. Yeah. And how much they need to keep quiet in order to protect themselves. Quickly, i think the question over and over is we have pressed the federal government as to what theyre doing to protect the Elections Come 2020 when it comes to election interference. And we have gotten a lot of run around. They are doing things to make sure that were protected in 2020. But theyre not giving specifics as to what is actually being done, whether thats to protect intelligence on it or not. The question is, is it important for the 3ub public to know what being done . Well, that brings us back to the first segment that i was on for, mike pompeo trip to russia, where hes telling the russians dont do this in 2020. Obviously, thats not the solution to this situation. No, its a tricky one. Obviously voting bases vary by state to state. There are procedures in place to protect our election systems but youre right, we dont know as much as we could heading into 2020. Dave lawler, thank you for your time. We have breaking news out of the middle east. Just days after the u. S. Embassy in baghdad issued a security alert, the state department has issued a do not travel advisory for iraq, due to richterrorism, kidnapping and armed conflict. Beyond that, all embassies in baghdad and the consulate in erbil have been ordered to leave the country. This comes after President Trump and his administration is mu mulling sending troops. The New York Times reports that the iran top security aides, the times said it would hinge on iranian attack or if stay run accelerates its work on Nuclear Weapons but would not involve a land invasion. When asked about it yesterday, the president disputed this report. I think its fake news, okay . Now, would i do that . Absolutely. But we have not planned for that. Hopefully, were not going to have to plan for that. If we did that, wed send a hell of a lot more troops than that. Where was that story . The New York Times . Well, the New York Times is fake news. Following the times reporting the irans ambassador said the u. S. Is playing a dangerous game trying to drag iran into an unnecessary war. Geoff, i was making calls on this as well yesterday. A speech on tuesday, about this whether or not the u. S. Was angling to go to war with iran. Heres what he said, he said he doesnt think war is going to happen. United states doesnt want war with iran. Iran doesnt want war with United States. Its not going to benefit either country. He goes on to say the u. S. Will retreat on this. Nobody has anything to gain. And he says when hes asked a question that rohuhanirouhani, the president of iran should sit down with United States, the reason they dont want to negotiate with the United States, the u. S. From their perspective cannot be trusted. If you remember, the u. S. Pulled out. Jpcoa, and they believe that the u. S. Should be asked to dial out of the Defense System and the way they see it if the u. S. Were to attack iran that would leave them defenseless. Heres what i learned from analysis from people ive been speaking to is, iran is being bled dry of cash right now. And when youre bled dry of cash, ultimately it could lead to conflict. We heard of tankers and suspicious activity. And were looking into that. Nbc has not confirmed whether or not iran was actually responsible for that. Nonetheless, it could prove how expensive war could be with iran. One thing i would look out amidst all of this is the middle east plan that Jared Kushner is going to unveil come june. That could unite the sunni countries against iran. Well have to wait and see what happens here. Certainly an escalating situation and very concerning to say the least. So is your read on this that tough talk and saber rattling on the part of the trump administration, is this just a scare tactic then . I dont think we necessarily know yet. We do know theres one iran hawk within the administration. And thats john bolton. It seems everyone ive talked to said people in the administration dont want a conflict with iran but john bolton may want one. Still ahead, the latest on the National Rifle association as say new report sheds light on the groups financial woes. Plus bill karins has another check at weather, plus another threat of severe storms. Your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. Theyre americas biopharmaceutical researchers. Pursuing lifechanging cures in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs. Like a way to fight cancer by arming a patients own tcells. Because its not just about the next breakthrough. Its all the ones after that. Shaving has been difficult for me. I have very sensitive skin, and i get ingrowing hairs. So its a daunting task. Oh i love it. Its a great razor. It has that fence in the middle. It gives a nice smooth shave. Just stopping that irritation. That burn that i get is really life changing. Get it. Get it. Get it get it crowd chanting get it get it get it crowd groaning crowd cheering narrator give your town a reason to celebrate because every goodwill item you bring home, brings job training and more to your community. Goodwill. Bring good home. Internal chaos at the National Rifle association. It appears to reveal major cracks within the powerful lobbying group over its handling of donor funds. A review of the nras tax records by the New York Times reports that a steady shaky finances the group has relied on cash injections and other questionable transactions funded by its affiliated charity, adding up to at least 206 million since 2010. The groups long time Ceo Wayne Lapierre is said to be one of the biggest spenders even with a 1. 4 million salary. Lapierre recently billed 270,000 for purchases at a luxury store in beverly hills. And 267,000 on flights and Limousine Services for trips to the bahamas and an italian lake resort among other things. A lawyer for the nra has denied the spending was, quote, improper in any way. Yesterday, one of the groups Board Members retired colonel allen west pulled his backing for lapierres reelection and called for the nra to clean its own house. And meanwhile, nra is accessing its current tax exempt status. All right. Lets get a weather update with nbcs bill karins. Theres as you good weather somewhere. Not always. Just about. Theres one or two days a year i can say its nice everywhere. That usually doesnt happen. A new storm coming into the west. This is unusual time of year for wet weather to spreading over california. Thats a rainy spot for the next two days. Maybe even heavy rain. Snow at higher elevations, at 5,000 feet. Just the fact that california and even Southern California is getting rain in the middle of may is very rare. Their rainy season is typically over with by now. This is the system were watching. Heres the rain footprint. Most of the heavy rain is near San Francisco north wards, northern california. A possibility of a foot of snow in the high terrain. Above 5,000 feet. Heres where it gets interesting. That storm comes out of the central plains, friday, saturday, sunday. Isolated tornados west texas, also nebraska. Then on saturday, this could be the worst of the Severe Weather outbreak. Dallas, ft. Worth, Oklahoma City and kansas city, too, yasmin. Its rainy season. Geoff, well continue to watch that. All right. Still ahead, investors continue to show an appetite for one meat alternative maker as its stock surge. Plus looking to have in ground as the u. S. Trade war appears to ease. Details coming up next. You might take something for your heart. Or joints. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Mno kidding. Rd. But moving your internet and tv . Thats easy. Easy . easy . Easy. Because now xfinity lets you transfer your Service Online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. Really . Really. That was easy. Yup. Plus, with twohour appointment windows, its all on your schedule. Awesome. Now all you have to do is move. That thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. Its just another way were working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinity. Com moving to get started. Welcome back. Weeks after the fatal crash of lion air flight 610 American Airlines pilots pressed boeings executives to find a solution urging authorities to take emergency measures and ground the 737 max planes. The New York Times citing a recording of a november meeting reviewed by the newspaper reports that boeing executives resisted. Saying although the manufacturer was assessing potential design sflau flays with the plane, they would not take a more aggressive approach because it was not yet clear that an antistall system was to blame for the lion air crash. Nbc has not yet had an opportunity to hear the recording. Less than four months later Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all people on board. Boeing declined to comment on the november meeting. Both boeing and faa are facing intense recruscrutiny for the m. At a hearing later today, lawmakers will question regulators how the max was certified. Trade war concerns appear to be subsiding after optimistic comments from President Trump yesterday with u. S. Stocks closing higher and Global Markets following suit this morning. Cnbc areas Joumanna Bercetche joins us live from washington. How are stocks this yesterday. The nasdaq, tech index, closed 1 higher. Dow 0. 8 higher. Overnight, chinese equities rebou rebounded, north of 1. 5 percentage points. This after constructive comments out of the president s yesterday. President trump said the dialogue was that theyre in good stages of the dialogue and, fundamentally, it was a little squabble between the two sides. Because, quote, the u. S. Has been treated unfairly for many, many decades. There are plans for the two sides to meet at the sidelines of the g20 summit that is later this month in japan. All eyes on that. Investors will be watching for that very closely. Another story were looking at in corporate space, at comcast, obviously the Parent Company of cnbc, msnbc, and nbc, yesterday announced they will be selling 30 ownership of their stake in hulu to disney. The sale will happen in five years. As of now, disney will have full operation of hulu and will be part and parcel in streaming services and put it in a bundle. Disney plus, espn plus, and hulu, as well. Lets talk about this plantbased meat producer, beyond meat. I think they make a fantastic product. I dont think theyre surging though because of the amount of beyond meat im buying. I bought one package yesterday. 14 surge yesterday. Pretty intense. The stock though has been pretty hot, as you well know, since its ipo. What was behind the surge yesterday . So thats right. Since the ipo, the stock is up three times. It has tripled since the ipo price. Very Strong Performance there. Yesterday, the catalyst was another meat alternative Company Raised 300 million in private funding, putting the valuation at 4 billion. There is strong consumer demand for this meat product. Not just from you, yasmin. Compare it to, say, lyft and uber, where those stocks are down from 20 to 40 from the ipo. Thanks for your time. Coming up, everybody, Axios Jim Vandehei has a look at this mornings one big thing. On morning joe, lawmakers ramp up their investigation into President Trump. More on the house intel committees probe into whether lawyers for the president and his family impeded the probe into russian interference. Intel Committee Member jim himes will discuss the investigation. Plus, the chairman of the caucus. James lankford and jon tester join the conversation. Actionpacked morning joe is moments away. Away but in my mind im still 35. Thats why i take osteo biflex, to keep me moving the way i was made to. It nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. Osteo biflex now in triple strength plus magnesium. Aas a guy withe his own catchphrase, i appreciate that after 75 years smokeys only said. Smokey bear only you can prevent wildfires. Al but, im filling in because theres a lot more to report like when there are parched or windy conditions out there, you gotta be extra careful with things like burning yard waste. After all, wildfires can start anywhere, even in your neck of the woods. Go to smokeybear. Com to learn more about wildfire prevention. Whyou should be mad that airports are complicated. Hes my emotional support snake. But youre not, because you have e trade, whose tech isnt complicated. It helps you understand the risk and reward potential on an options trade. Dont get mad. Get e trade. Cant see what it is yet. Re . What is that . Thats a blazer . Thats a chevy blazer . Aww, this is dope. This thing is beautiful. I love the lights. Oh man, its got a mean face on it. It looks like a piece of candy. Look at the interior. This is nice. This is my sexy mom car. I would feel like a cool dad. Its just really chic. I love this thing. Its gorgeous. I would pull up in this in a heartbeat. I want one of these. That is sharp. The allnew chevy blazer. Speaks for itself. I dont know who they got to design this but give them a cookie and a star. I said he would be here, and i stick to my promises. Joining us here on set with a look at axios am, cofounder and ceo of jim vandehei, who was walking away when i tried to tease him, but hes here now. Im your favorite prop. Talk to us about the axios one big thing. There is a lot about trump versus mueller and trump versus congress. It is trump versus the world. Hes picked fights with north korea, iran, venezuela, and the europeans. Every one of those, whether it is a trade war china. And china. Whether it is a trade war, Nuclear Weapons, whether or not we can get the Iranian Regime to do what we want them to do, were not winning on all of those. Theyre all high risk. Its sort of the volatility in the markets. Its beyond the economic markets being higher than it is. People in the white house think the china trade war goes into next year. Nobody in the white house thinks youre going to resolve the north Korean Missile crisis. Venezuela, which looked like we were making progress in overthrowing the government there, looks worse than ever. In all of those, trump is struggling. Jim, you ticked through some of the hottest spots internationally where trumps America First policy is being tested. Whats the end game here . I mean, pick one of these countries, and give us a case study for how you think this is going to play out. I think china is the best one, right . The president feels like because the economy is strong, unem moimt plo ployment is thrlow, he can waitt the chinese and theyll buckle. Theres people inside and outside the white house who think china may never buckle. China may be able to sweat this out longer than we can. Ultimately, at some point, people resume well slip into recession, six months, 12 months. If you have a trade war on top of that, it can put pressure on the u. S. Economy. Now, suddenly, there is a great graph in the New York Times piece that shows trade among the most developed nations. We are the tariff nation. We have higher tariffs than germany. Higher tariffs than many of the emerging markets. For the longest time, its been conservative theology, that thats crazy. You want globalization and trade. You want it as unfettered as possible. Thats how you get growth here and growth overseas. When you have synchronized growth, it ultimately helps the u. S. Lets talk about how russia plays into all of this. No coincidence pompeo was speaking to putin and lavrov in sochi yesterday. You think about north korea, china, iran. Who is the commonality in all countries . Who talks to all these countries . Russia. Trump feels, yeah, i have this relationship with putin, and ill be able to use it to his advantage. I think the other countries are thinking the same thing. The russians are looking at the same facts everyone else is. They see where our economy is at. They see how easy it is to influence Public Opinion or potential influence elections. Pompeo is there, and trump talks in big terms, but theres almost no issue where were close with the russians on, that we think were really going to make great progress. I wonder if this is an effort to redirect post Mueller Report. I want to talk about michael wolfes new book, the sequel to fire and fury. Hes going to be out with a new book. Remember the first one, fire and fury, sold 4 million copies. It was the first book that exposed the chaos in real time inside the trump white house. His second book, siege, is going to be a continuation of that. It is going to show what he says is like the dysfunction. He said the unsustainable legal pressure on trump. A lot of people dont love michael wolfe. They felt he was fast and loose with some of the facts. Atmospherically, i think he was right about what was happening inside the white house. If he sold 4 million before, hell probably sell a lot this time. Jim vandehei, thanks for your time this morning. Jim will head over to the big desk for morning joe. Well be reading axios am in a little while. Viewers can sign up for the newsletter at signup. Axios. Com. That does it for us. Im jasmiYasmin Vossoughian wit Geoff Bennett. Morning joe starts now. Breaking news out of the middle east. Just days after the u. S. Embassy in baghdad issued a security alert, the state department has issued a do not travel advisory for iraq, due to terrorism, kidnapping, and armed conflict. In addition, all nonemergency u. S. Government employees at the embassy in baghdad and the consulate have been ordered to leave the country. This is developing overnight. Joe, quick thought, especially with escalating tensions with ir