9:00 in the east, 6:00 a.m. out west. here's what's happening. taxing situation. the battles that lie ahead, the gop gets ready to rewrite the u.s. tax code. we're going to tell you about one idea that could keep high earners from getting a big break. gone but not forgotten, the lives of four american soldier were remembered this weekend while the search for answers intensifies. new insight into why so many troops are in africa and what their mission is. you knighted front. for the first time in years, five former presidents gather on stage at the same time. what prompted the gathering and how it helped so many in need. but we begin with politics and president trump's ongoing feud with democratic congresswoman frederica wilson, entering the sixth day with the president ramping up his attacks in a tweet again this morning saying wacky congresswoman wilson is the gift that keeps on giving for the republican party, a disaster for dems. you watch her in action and vote r. in a series of tweets last night, president trump focus ed error. as josh said, he could have handled this so much better by saying, if i was misunderstood, i apologize, i respect the service. and instead he's elevated it into this national week long fight that has no end in sight. he went after a gold star family on the campaign, this is territory he's gone down before and knows it doesn't end well. he's incapable of restraining himself and admitting any kind of error, apologizing in any kind of way. >> to the tweet about the dossier, the president again asking the justice department to interfere in the russia investigation, which is centered on him and his campaign. is this another sign of president trump feeling the heat or do you think these tweets feel a little different to you? >> the strange thing to me is that the president seems a lot more focused on the dossier than almost anybody else. it is really -- it seems to have shaken him through the whole investigation, unprompted and insisting that what is in the dossier is not true. time, similarly to the conversation about the johnson family, he's incapable of avoiding making anything about himself. >> and in terms of people paying for things, these tweets came out less than an hour after the washington post put out that report on the president pledging $430,000 to help pay the legal fees for some of his aides. is that what the tweets are all about, what can you tell us about the pledge, $430,000 seems like a small amount for legal fees. >> in this line of work it is not much at all. this pledge comes after the rnc paid roughly that amount in legal fees. there was controversy about that, people giving money to the rnc doesn't know the money goes to lawyer and not campaign activities. but you're right, it is not very much money. i talked to somebody in the clinton white house wrapped up in that scandal there. they were not directly connected to anything close to the millon and says you can have a tax cut that leads up to $1.5 trillion in deficit increases over the next decade. and then following that, it has to reduce the deficit or not increase it. that creates the box in which they have to write the tax reform bill. they have to argue about what to do with the space inside the box. there is a lot of competing interests, even among republicans on the hill. rand paul has been out there attacking the plan for the fact that it raises taxes on many middle income families. the plan needs to be substantially changed to hold the families harmless. john mccain skeptical, people sometimes forget he voted against both of the bush tax cuts. senator bob corker, retiring senator from tennessee, has been saying he doesn't want a tax plan that raises the deficit at all. people can change their minds about things, can compromise but also a number of other people like senator mike lee from utahed are voluntary cautah ed advocating a larger child tax credit. the plan as written according to the tax policy center would lead to more than $2 trillion in deficit increases. you have people saying they want to give out new goodies, you have people who want a bigger child credit, you need to take stuff away to fit things in the box. so that's going to be the really hard political part, making those decisions about who wins and who loses and that's what i think makes it really difficult to actually get a tax reform done, if you did the plan as it is now, you have 25% of american families actually paying more taxes than under current law by 2026. that would be very unpopular, the changes you have to make to avoid that unpopularity. >> the way this will potentially squeeze 401(k) plans, that will be a huge discussion point. your concerns as well on this? >> i think they're trying to thread a very thin needle here. passed with the thinnest of margins, the budget before we get to taxes. the president and the white house have been reaching out aggressively to democrats that are up for re-election in states that trump won. so far no real success there. so it looks like they have to do this almost entirely with just that 52 vote republican majority. very, very thin, they already lost rand paul. it is going to be really tough. >> josh and alex, good to see you both. thank you. to the investigation in niger, new attack there, saturday left 13 paramilitary police officers dead, gunmen on trucks and motorcycles crossed the border and fired on a security base. hans nickles is in washington with more with what officials want to know about that attack. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the families continue to mourn, congress is preparing to ask some hard questions next week, not only about this specific mission, but the overall strategy this that is putting american troops at risk in africa. army sergeant la david johnson was laid to rest saturday near his home in florida. his pregnant widow kissing his casket as she held an american flag. johnson was killed in an ambush in niger earlier this month with three of his comrades, his body found one mile from the ambush site, 48 hours after the deadly attack. there was hope he was still alive with his beacon emitting a signal. the new york times reports that some nigerian officials say the army convoy spotted and chased insurgents until they crossed into neighboring mali. the times adds that the american soldiers did not mention giving chase. and they claimed they were ambushed and surrounded by insurgents outside a village. possibly tipped off by tribal leaders who they were meeting. all week, pentagon officials have insisted that u.s. forces aren't in niger to hunt extremists. >> our missions are advise and assist, we are not directly involved in combat operations. >> reporter: a senior congressional aide tells nbc news the ambush stemmed in part from a massive intelligence failure. congress now demanding more information on counterterrorism missions across africa. >> have to keep us informed so we can make good decisions about do we want 1,000 soldiers in niger? if we don't want them, the way to deal with it is to cut off funding. >> reporter: the commander told congress earlier this year he had only a quarter of the reconnaissance flights he needed. >> the readiness of the airplanes has gotten better. but when you go from 12 to 6, the capacity is cut in half. and the impact, we have to do a better job coordinating and sharing assets because the continent is extremely large. >> yes, sir. >> reporter: there are roughly 800 u.s. troops in niger, most of them building a drone base, which will serve as a hub for a drone network across all of africa. >> thank you so much for that. he called on voters to reject the politics of division and fear, but there was another reason former president obama returned to the campaign trail this week. i'll speak with democratic congressman jeffries about that next. up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get. t music) - [announcer] imagine what you wear every day actually making your body feel better. that's exactly what tommie copper does for people everywhere. they call it wearable wellness, and tommie copper has infused it into everything they do. why not experience the difference tommie copper can make in your life? visit tommiecopper.com to see the entire line of wearable wellness compression. go right now and find out how you can save 25% on your first purchase plus free shipping. life hurts. feel better. of new york, he sits on the judiciary and budget committees. with a big welcome to you, sir. does the white house have a point there? is there a line that should be drawn when it comes to topics like this when they're so personal. >> a line that should be drawn and the one that broke through that line and highly inappropriate way was donald trump, the president, as well as the white house. i'm stunned that the white house chief of staff would make the decision to engage in character assassination against congresswoman wilson, a long-standing, well known civic advocate, activist, down in south florida. i'm stunned that to justify that character assassination the white house chief of staff would functionally lie about the speech that congresswoman wilson delivered back in 2015 during the building dedication and stunned at the fact that on the same day that sergeant la david johnson would be funeralized that the commander in chief, donald trump, will be at the -- not at the white house, will be playing golf and attacking congresswoman wilson who is sitting at the funeral. >> would you be appeased, would you think the majority of americans who take offense to this whole tit for tat back and forth, would they be appeased if general kelly were to say i misremembered what happened in that speech at the fbi build ing dedication and i apologize for my mistake? >> that would be the right thing to do. doesn't appear that the white house has ever had any interest in apologizing or clarifying misinformation or misstatements that have come out of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. we all assume that the adult in the room is general kelly. and he would be the one to take that type of mature step, hopefully we'll see it in the week to come. we have a whole host of issues that we need to get behind in terms of this particular drama that has been inflicted upon the american people, we need to deal with tax rae foeform, strengthe the affordable care act, protecting the dreamers, the white house has us mired in conflict, controversy and confusion. >> i want to ask you about a political report saying that the president is personally interview ed two candidates, this for jeffrey berman and ed mcnally. the white house is saying it is the president who is making these nominations. so since they're candidates, he has the right to speak to them and figure out and try to decide for their position on things. but it has been raising concerns. can you chalk this up to political novice on behalf of the president or more? >> i doubt it. it seems to be of concern to a lot of people who are interested in good government and the even handed administration of justice. these u.s. attorneys functionally focus their energies as a chief law enforcement officer for their particular jurisdiction. manhattan happens to be the home of donald trump. and what is troubling about it is this evidence of an effort to help shape the mentality and the mind set of the individual who will be eventually confirmed as the top law enforcement officer, because the president is concerned about the investigation into his campaigns' possible collusion with russian spies, interfering with the election, it will be best just to leave the process alone, make sure that it is not political, as every other president in the history of the republic with the possible exception of richard nixon has done. >> it is my understanding that president obama never conducted any of these candidacy interview s, is that correct? >> that's correct. as far as i understand it. neither did george w. bush or george h.w. bush or ronald reagan or bill clinton. >> house is gearing up for big legislation. you mentioned it. tax reform. top of mind of many certainly. in the coming weeks, look, there will be a lot of debates about this idea of a fourth tax bracket we heard about. house speaker paul ryan says the idea is to put that in place to make sure high earners don't get a big drop in their income tax requirements. so is this something you are on board with? >> well, i'm on board with focusing on trying to create better jobs, better wages and better future for the american people and part of creating that better future which is what house democrats are all about is making sure that tax reform is done from the middle out. if anyone deserves a tax cut in america, it is the middle class. what appears to be happening is that president donald trump, republicans in the house and the senate, continue to put forward this failed theory of trickle down economics. where there is an argument if you cut taxes for the wealthy and the well off, everyone else will benefit. the problem is that there is no evidence of that having happened. if anything, what you do is you explode the deficit, the wealthy and well off save the money, put it into things other than creating jobs for middle class americans, and wages will remain stagnant. that was the record of george w. bush, that was the record during ronald reagan's tax cuts and if it happens again, it will fail again. we'll do everything we can to stop it. >> i want to ask you about former president obama on the campaign there in the gubernatorial race in virginia. among the theory that -- or concerns that black voter enthusiasm is waning, they say the sentiment goes beyond that of virginia, and new jersey, and more should be done by the party about all of this. what are your thoughts? >> well wi, certainly in the context of president barack obama's historic eight-year tenure, he was always going to be a very difficult act to follow because he would naturally be a vehicle to create a great deal of enthusiasm among african-americans, people of color, young people and many others across the united states. jackie robinson who broke the color barrier was a tough act to follow. but that said it would be issue that i think will be important in driving african-american turnout moving forward and we can all do a better job of speaking to the concerns of the african-american community, higher rates of unemployment than anyone else in this country, the mass incarceration phenomena, the voter suppression, the rise of the alt-right and the white supremacist movement in america, all issues that we're going to be sensitive to, speak to, with a laser like focus, and in the aftermath of president obama's tenure in office, those will be the issues that will drive african-americans to the polls, to turn things around in this country. >> thank you so much for the conversation. i appreciate it. still ahead, bill o'reilly firing back at a new york times report of a multimillion dollar settlement and the amount will make your head spin. it started on a field of accomplished dreams and continued into the locker room, the houston astros last night celebrating their game seven victory over the upstart new york yankees with more than a little bubbly. now advancing to the world series as underdogs against my -- or the los angeles dodgers. sorry. today, the new new york is sparking innovation. you see it in the southern tier with companies that are developing powerful batteries that make everything from cell phones to rail cars more efficient. which helps improve every aspect of advanced rail technology. all with support from a highly-educated workforce and vocational job training. across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov. to grow your business with us in new york state, when it comes to strong bones, are you on the right path? 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>> these are tough calls. clearly the family is grieving. they frankly some as i read, the president for the decision to send the loved one into a theater of war. these are really, really tough. however, a family that is grieving always has the upper hand. a family that is grieving gave the ultimate sacrifice and so for anyone, whether the president of the united states or any elected official to criticize that or to question that goes beyond the pale, no question about it. >> there is a great story about -- not great, but very indicative story of how difficult it is for president george w. bush, when he had to make a condolence call, he came away from marine one and had a tear rolling down his cheek and said they hate me he because the family just yelled and yelled over their pain. to your point, these are very difficult calls to make. but marjorie, once the criticisms came in, couldn't the president have taken the high road, are his whispers telling him that attacking a congresswoman who happens to be close to a gold star family in mourning fires up his base or what is it? >> well, i feel like the president brought this upon himself when he started politicizing it from the beginning, criticizing the way obama -- well, obama didn't call everyone the way i did. he opened the doors to a conversation that should have never been had. these should be intimate moments between a president and grieving families. every president has handled it differently. and by opening that door, he already takes away the intimacy and the care that came from that moment to begin with. absolutely it is problematic. it shouldn't be talked about in this way. it makes me sad that we're parading these people's grief around and that the president can't, you know, act like an adult and just be gracious and let the moment ride. >> we have to talk about the privacy of the phone calls and the fact that the congresswoman, she was in a car, with the family, with whom she's very close to. the widow of la david johnson got the phone call, put it on speaker, so her mother and the congresswoman who i believe was riding in the back seat as the story goes could hear what was being said. so she made a lot of this public. did she not? >> yes, but i will say that the conversation around how calls were handled which started when the president talked about i call everyone and president obama didn't call everyone and, again, these calls should have stayed private and became public, and in the same way that when, you know, president trump offered $25,000 to one of the fallen soldier's fathers, and then the money never arrives, he goes to the press, so he's made what were private moments very public, which has invited the recipients to also bring that to the press. this has become a media storm where it wasn't one before. that in itself is a sad, sad state of affairs. one that he brought on himself. >> yes, robert. >> just very quickly, if i was the white house press secretary or senior adviser in the white house, this is what i would have done. i would have said, mr. president, the widow and the family has the right to do whatever they want with that call. that's their call. we will be silent on this. this is a family that is grieving, please be quiet, don't say anything at all. >> okay. >> i think he should sign up for that press secretary job. >> no, no, no. >> he's like, not right now. don't want it. let's move on to with you marjorie to president having praised and then trashing a health care proposal. now he's pushing for a rightward shift that would get rid of the aca mandates. do you think he'll get his way? >> it is a daily flip-flop. i think it goes to the core of understanding the health care policy, which is -- just cost driven. the mandate was absolutely fundamental to making sure that cost was spread out among the sick and the healthy. and that's what it was in place for. republicans were at the inception of the aca bill. until everyone's covered, we don't have an even marketplace. it rattles the core of the affordable care act. so dare we try to predict and look in a crystal ball to understand what trump will do next. the subsidies they were proposing had to do with keeping it afloat, keeping costs afloat. it is how do we fund this, and nothing about the way trump has approached this has made us feel like he understands the core of how the markets work around the affordable care act. >> so then, robert, is the president just setting himself up for another health care failure? >> well, i don't know if it is a health care failure from his mind. he did -- in fairness to him, he did campaign on repeal and replace, he did give republicans in the house and the senate three opportunities to be able to repair and replace this. and they failed in that regard. what he's doing here, and i agree with what she said a few moments ago, this is the fundamental foundation if you will, the affordable health care act. you need a pool of healthy people in the system to subsidize the sick people. that's the reality in the marketplace and how it works. the question becomes do you take the heart out of the affordable health care act, does it collapse? i think it probably does under its own weight if in fact the president is successful. >> all right, well, thank you so much for weighing in on all of the topics. see you both again. word of another huge settlement involving sexual harassment allegations against bill o'reilly. a new york times report not verified by nbc news goes into detail about the $32 million settlement with a long time fox analyst. nbc's morgan radford has details. >> cautioun, you are about to n enter the no spin zone. >> reporter: according to a new york times report, o'reilly paid a $32 million settlement to lis wiehl, often seen on his top rated primetime show. the report alleges o'reilly had a nonconsensual sexual relationship with wiehl, in a statement that fox admits they knew there was a settlement in january but was informed by mr. o'reilly he settled the matter personally, adding the terms were confidential and not disclosed to the company. one month later, fox extended o'reilly's four year contract for $25 million a year. >> at the time fox re-signed mr. o'reilly, it knew about the settlement, it was also trying to make the argument to the public, its employees and its board that it had cleaned up workplace issues that had arisen under roger ailes. >> this was the sixth payout made by o'reilly or fox to settle allegations against him. the company says the anchor's latest contract included a clause, saying it could fire him if other allegations came up, which, in the end, fox says it acted on when he was ousted in april. o'reilly continues to maintain its innocence, his attorney is calling today's report a smear campaign. last month, o'reilly speck to matt lauer. >> you said at the time you did absolutely nothing wrong. you stand by that? >> i do. i never mistreated anyone on my watch in 42 years. >> that was nbc's morgan radford reporting. in the state, o'reilly's lawyer claims the new york times story ignored evidence taken under oath, adding the reporting was based on unsubstantiated allegations, anonymous sources and incomplete or stolen documents. president trump claims he contacted almost all of the gold star families of military personnel this year. but reports say an e-mail from the pentagon tells a different story. later this morning, joy reid talks to frederica wilson about the condolence call that has become so controversial. i'm ginny and i quit smoking when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking or allergic and skin reactions which can be life-threatening. stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. tell your healthcare provider if you've had depression or other mental health problems. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. the most common side effect is nausea. thanks to chantix, i did it. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or $0 copay. an exclusive report from roll call is revealing a scramble at the white house, sparked by comments that president trump made last week. they obtained an e-mail in which the white house asked the pentagon for information about surviving family members of all service members killed after trump's inauguration so that the president could be sure to contact all of them. the e-mail was apparently sent after president trump said in a fox news radio interview he had contacted the families of, quote, virtually everybody in the military who died in service to the country since he took office. the associated press found that to be inaccurate. joining me now is chris, welcome back to the broadcast. what does this tell you about how the white house is operating behind the scenes? >> well, it is just more fallout from a terrible week for john kelly. he really -- this was a terrible blunder on thursday, a self-inflicted wound, when he went on that tirade against representative wilson. and got all of his facts wrong. but, you know, in fairness to kelly this is what happens to almost everyone in the orbit of this death star known as donald trump, who diminishes and tarnishes everybody around him. this should have been an easy thing to do. with any other president, you call the widow back, you apologize, end of story. but this president is incapable of empathy, incapable of apology, and that has to be hugely frustrating to john kelly. >> speaking of kelly, he opened up about his own experience, you talk about empathy and sympathy for him, i don't think there was anybody whose heart didn't go out to him as he talked about having lost his own son in afghanistan. that notwithstanding, do you get a sense of how much influence he has or doesn't have in this white house? >> first of all, you know, he was eloquent on the subject of his son, he was eloquent on the subject of the fallen soldiers. but, again, he veered off and lost control when he went after representative wilson. and i think that, you know, as for whether how much influence he has on donald trump, i talked to denis mcdonough, president obama's last chief of staff, who told me that he's been on the business end of some phone calls from general kelly and there is never any doubt that in his mind that he speaks hard truths. another former republican chief of staff told me, okay, if that's the case, how did rocket man get on to the teleprompter of the speech before the u.n. general assembly? that's malpractice by the white house chief of staff or evidence that donald trump isn't listening to kelly. >> so, the comments by frederica wilson, the ones which john kelly has gone after, they have been proven to be inaccurate. he didn't speak the truth about what she said, whether intentionally or not. is it in his makeup as a four star marine general or as a chief of staff in a white house to issue an apology or do you think that is something that just is part of the either within this white house, the fact that everyone says this president is incapable of issuing apologies. >> well, it is certainly part of the ether. i think we learned a number of things about john kelly this week. one thing we have learned is that he's out of his depth politically. the jim bakers, the leon panettas, the denis mcdonoughs, the really good white house chiefs of staff understood when you stand in front of a camera, you're not speaking as a marine, you're speaking as the white house chief of staff. you have to stay above the fray. even dick cheney, when he was gerald ford's 34-year-old white house chief of staff, his views were described as being to the right of ghengis khan and yet cheney was able to stay above the fray. he was always an honest broker, never would have known what his politics were, he never got into the trenches to fight the partisan battles. and that's a lesson that kelly, you know he, is apparently unequipped for. he doesn't have political experience. >> the white house is still firmly defending general kelly as you know. you've got a top white house official telling axios that kelly made himself the moral core of the trump administration. do you agree with that assessment? >> that remains to be seen. i think another thing we learned about john kelly this week is a lot of people thought he was the nonideological grown-up in the room who would take the edge off of donald trump's excesses. well, maybe not so much. i think in that tirade that he went on against representative wilson, we got a sense that he may share more of donald trump's view s than we realized up to this point. it may not be a safe bet that he's always going to be the grown-up in the room here, taking the edge off of trump. >> okay, chris, thank you very much. we'll see you again no doubt. it has been 32 days since puerto rico's been without power and a majority of the island, but the drinking water situation there is also dire. my next guest will explain just how dangerous it is. ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave you see it there. all five living former presidents appearing last night at the one america appeal concert at texas a&m to help raise money for hurricane relief. the presidents jimmy carter, george h.w. bush, bill clinton, george w. bush and barack obama all united in their call for americans to do what they can for the victims of the disastrous hurricanes. >> as heart breaking as the tragedies that took place here in texas and in florida, in puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands have been, what we have also seen is the spirit of america at its best. when ordinary people step up and do extraordinary things. >> president trump made an appearance in a video praising the relief efforts of the former presidents and vowed that america will recover and rebuild areas hit by the hurricanes. since the one america and rebui hit by the hurricanes, more than $31 million has been raised and you can go to oneamerica.org if you want to make a donation. maybe "too affordable and fast." wbut "they" are buying them to protect their secrets?!?!, hi bill. if that is your real name. it's william actually. hmph! affordable, fast fedex ground. what happens to the factories if there's sustained damage, what happens to the people that live near them? >> the environmental impacts of the aftermath of hurricane maria are tough to even determine whether it's industrial pollution or animal pollution. what we are seeing is that at this point there's very little monitoring, and what we know is that unfortunately a lot of the chemicals and contaminants end up in peoples' drinking water no matter where you are, and when you add the extra layer of the ca catastrophe brought on by maria, and a weak infrastructure, it could be a disaster. >> 18 superfund sites there in puerto rico. what is a superfund site and what do they pose to people and the threats in the environment? >> there's a superfund site location is could be a long-term contamination of soil and water and other resources, and they recognize this could pose a serious threat to human health, and those are sites basically slated for cleanup, and what we know is that even some of the recently designated superfund sites are still being used as sources of drinking water, so we can only begin to imagine the magnitude of risks we are taking there. the truth is, unless there's continued testing, we are potentially leaving a lot of people very vulnerable if these sites are even considered from spots where people can draw any drinking water. >> cleanup and ultimately getting puerto rico back in shape from an environmental perspective, how long is that going to take? >> it's anybody's guess, alex. it's likely to take a tremendous amount of time, probably years. in the immediate future, what i think we can look forward to and hopefully will have the epa's support and funding for the epa to get in there and duty work, to test and to analyze whether it's soil samples, drinking water, and to really assess what happened to a lot of dangerous industrial sites, coal, ash, et cetera, and even landfills after the hurricane, and how those might be affecting human health and the population because until we really know what we are dealing with, we are guessing and leaving a lot of people in really, really -- a really p precarious situation. >> thank you for providing that information to the show. in just a few minutes, nancys will be joy's guess on the future of obamacare. e. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies, and data without insights. and fragmented care, stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. at optum, we're partnering across the health system to tackle its biggest challenges. at breathe freely fastring awmy congestion's gone. i can breathe again! i can breathe again! vicks sinex... breathe on. 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? 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