Good day, everyone, im alex witt here at msnbc headquarters in new york. We begin this hour with breaking news as the president has announced that secretary of Defense James Mattis who was supposed to stay in his post until february is now out effective new years day, and it just so happens the president s new acting chief Mick Mulvaney spoke this afternoon. I think the president no longer relied on mattis to be able to deliver the president s vision. The president has to know i dont have to agree with the president on everything he asks me to do, and i dont think he expects that. He hires people to hear other input. But if he asks me to go with everything he agrees to, i cant serve him well. Before we get to the subject of the shutdown overall, lets talk about this from the president. How is it being read . Reporter alex, any change from the president is always a huge event because the secretary is the most consequential member of the cabinet. So the president , after previously sayin
Meeting with congressional staff. The partial Government Shutdown now on day 16 and a breakthrough is not expected any time today. Theres no end in sight. Meanwhile, President Trump joining a staff retreat at camp david. Before leaving, the president said he may decide in the next few days whether to bypass congress and declare a National Emergency to build the border wall. Setting the scene for us, msnbcs Mike Viqueira at the capital and Geoff Bennett at the white house. Geoff, the president appeared to be signalling a concession of some sort on his end. Tell us more. The definition of what constitutes a border wall is becoming more and more flexible by the day. This might seem like ancient history now, but it was six days ago that President Trump feeted, an all concrete wall was never abandoned as has been reported by the media. You have Mick Mulvaney saying they are willing to take this all concrete wall entirely off the table thinking that democrats might be able to get behind some
Them to learn about the latest investigation. Live in cnn headquarters in atlanta. We welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. Im George Howell. The cnn newsroom starts now. 4 01 on the u. S. East coast. We start with the ukraine scandal. And now reports of a second potential whistleblower. It all seems to have caught the u. S. President s attention. Mr. Trump on twitter saying the first whistleblower has been discredited, so a second whistleblower is being brought in, also armed with secondhand information. Keep them coming, he said. None of what he said is true. Lets go point by point with the facts at hand. The first whistleblower did not get the president s conversation wrong. Thats borne out by the white houses own rough transcript. And as for the second potential whistleblower, the New York Times describes this person as an intelligence official who corroborated the first whistleblowers complaint with firsthand knowledge of the call. Only a few republicans a
It or not, for holding one of the toughest seats in a swing district along the border between texas and mexico. He is one of six republican incumbents to retire in the last two weeks. And the third House Republican from texas not to seek reelection. Hurds departure leaves his district the largest in texas and a majority hispanic one as well vulnerable to democrats looking to make headway in the lonestar state. Joining me now is the dc bureau chief for the Texas Tribune abby livingston. I know you cover this and know this better than anyone. Lets start with what the reaction has been to hurds surprise retirement. I saw your tweet. It is blowing up as you said, with all kinds of strategists calling you. Tell us more about what youre hearing. I mean, its borderline panic both in texas and in National Republican circles. The official line from the house Gop Campaign Committee is theyll fight hard for this seat and it is a seat that they can win in good circumstances. But hurd is a uniquely
We had such a late night last night and im looking for someone here. Good morning. Welcome to morning joe. Its friday, may 17th. Along with joe, willie and me, we have nbc News National reporter heidi pryzbyla. Joe, get over here. Joe is tardy. Joe scarborough, rush chairman. Nice to meet you. We dont want him. Joe scarborough. Glad to meet you. Can you come sit down . A funny story about this jacket. The fireside chat. So larry mize very upset because i won in 87. Sit down. People dont know the rest of the story. But i actually borrowed this from tiger. He was up so late last night because literally i got really fuzzy around 4 a. M. He was in a bar screaming and singing way past bedtime. Also with us please stop. Please stop what . Also with us, Pulitzer Prize columnist and associate of the washington post, plolitical analyst eugene robinson. He spent the day yesterday at iheart radio. And mika had this big party. It was for danielas book. Kids from all over were outside. This was lik