Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Ali Velshi 20171006 :

Who believe in those beautiful words, made in the u. S. A. In addition to the 14 workers the president hosted in the oval office during todays proclamation signing, more than half a Million People around the country are participating in thousands of events related to manufacturing day. Among them will be numerous members of the president s cabinet and other senior officials. Our tax plan would lead to a Great American manufacturing boon. We will cut taxes on american manufacturers and businesses of all sides and restore their competitive edge. Our plan will also encourage them to bring back trillions of dollars currently parked overseas. The president will be back out on the road next week Building Support for this plan, which is really a jobs bill. He will be visiting hamburg, pennsylvania, on wednesday and will have more details on that trip coming soon. And with that, well kick off friday with questions, and well start now this is kind of fun. We should do this more often, not just save it for fridays. John decker. Thank you, sarah. The body of another u. S. Soldier has just been discovered by local forces in niger, which brings to four the total number of green berets that were killed on wednesday in niger. So far theres been no response to this by the president , no tweet from the president , no statement from the president. Can we expect some sort of reprisal by the u. S. Military in niger as it related to what happened on wednesday . I made a statement on behalf of the administration yesterday in the opening. Obviously anytime one of the members of our great military are injured, wounded, or killed in action, that is certainly something that we take very seriously. Our thoughts and prayers are with those individuals. Were continuing to review and look into this. And as we have more details, well certainly let you guys know. Cecilia. Can you clarify the president s comments . Was he referring to military action when he said calm before the storm . As weve said many times before, i know the president has, as i have from this podium on quite a few occasions, were never going to say in advance what the president s going to do. And as he said last night, in addition to those comments, youll have to wait and see. How seriously should the American Public or american adversaries take these comments . Was it a joke . Was it serious . I think you can take the president protecting the American People always extremely serious. Hes been very clear that thats his number one priority, and if he feels that action is necessary, hell take it. Steve. Sarah, when the president said that he wants his military leaders to give him military options faster, does he feel like they are intentionally slowwalking these options to him . No, not at all. But this is, as you know, hes a person who likes to take action and take it quickly. I dont think you should read into anything beyond that as he wants options on the table so that he can make quick decisions. Was that just a general comment or did he mean a specific country . Believe it was just a general comment. Im not aware of anything specific that was in reference to. I have two questions. One on the soldier who was killed in niger. When was the president made aware there was a fourth soldier missing in action and whether did he become aware that soldier had been killed and discovered by local forces . I believe the notification was yesterday, but id have to get clarification on the specific timing of when that took place. When was the president made aware that soldiers body was found . Again, i know that it was pretty soon after that had been discovered, but as far as like an exact time, i couldnt give you that. But i know chief kelly kept him updated constantly on that situation as it evolved. The question on daca, today the president welcomed hispanicamerican leaders to the white house. He did not mention his decision to end daca during his remarks there. He did not call renew his call for congress to protect those who are going to be vulnerable for deportation starting in march. Why did he not bring that up . Look, i think hes been clear theres no reason to continue to reiterate the same position that hes held. Hes called on congress to act on it. You can expect in the coming days that hell lay out his responsible Immigration Reform. I think you can count on that to happen very soon. And thats all part of the process moving forward. But he hasnt been unclear about what his position is on that front. April. Sarah, going back to calm before the storm, when president s deal with world matters like this, all options are on the table. Have you has this white house exhausted diplomacy because for him to say the calm before the storm, in listening to what you just had to say were continuing to put maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on countries like north korea. Were going to continue to do that. But at the same time, the president s going to keep all of his options on the table. Our position has not changed. Its been very consistent. So nobody, thats the storm . Im just using that as an example. I think weve got a lot of bad actors in the world. North korea, iran, there are several examples there. Let me ask you about the hhs decision today to expand the contraception waiver. The aclu has already filed a lawsuit or announced its intention to. They said, quote, the Trump Administration is forcing women to pay for their bosss religious beliefs. Were filing this lawsuit because the federal government cannot authorize discrimination against women in the name of religion or otherwise. Your response to that would be what . I dont think its been a secret that i would probably never use the aclu to get any of my talking points. The president believes that the freedom to practice ones faith is a fundamental right in this country, and i think all of us do. And thats all that today was about. Our federal government should always protect that right, and as long as donald trump is president , he will. So what would you say maybe to the women out there or to the families out there who now have to pay more out of their pocket to get contraception coverage that they choose and that they desire . This is a president who supports the first amendment, supports the freedom of religion. I dont understand why that should be an issue. The Supreme Court has validated this decision certainly many times over, and the president is somebody who believes in the constitution. If people dont like what the constitution says, they should talk to congress about changing it. Given the lawsuits that the aclu has already filed, is the administration prepared to defend this contraceptive rollback all the way to the Supreme Court . The Supreme Courts already made clear what their position is, and it support whats this administration has done. Legal fight that es clacas to the Supreme Court . I think if it does, it it will show this administration is on the right side of the law. On the calm before the storm issue again, the president it is friday. I thought maybe wed change it up. Its actually a followup. You said the president wants to preserve an element of surprise. Why would he dangle hints about his actions in the first place . I dont believe he did. Matthew . [ inaudible ]. He didnt talk about any specific actions at all. First following up on the hhs change, does the white house have any estimate of how many people could lose access to Birth Control under this change . Im not aware. Id refer you to hhs for specifics. Just a quick followup. The president repeated earlier today that the u. S. Is the highest taxed nation in the world. Thats not true. So why does he keep making that statement . Why does he stick to that talking point . I believe there are specific sectors within the country that are among the highest taxed in the world, and well be happy to provide that data to you. John. Thank you, sarah. I have two questions. First, there has been rumors that Prime Minister tsipras of greece will come here on the 17th, meet with the president , and then meet with the Vice President on the 18th. And weve had no confirmation. Is the Prime Minister invited, and is he coming to meet the president and Vice President . He is, and i believe that date is correct. The 17th, i believe that hell be here on that date. The other thing is that the administration has had a vacancy without a permanent secretary of Homeland Security for two months, which is a record for that position not operating with a permanent secretary. Are we going to have an announcement on a choice for permanent secretary within days, next week perhaps . And rumors are consistent he will make elaine duke the permanent secretary and send her appointment up. True or false . Im not going to get ahead 6 any announcement that the president may make about a permanent person, but i will say that acting secretary duke is very competent and has managed the department of Homeland Security very well in a very tough and trying time given the Hurricane Season that weve had and certainly have not wanted to make big shifts in leadership during this time and while theres so much going on there. In terms of a timetable, well keep you posted when he with have an announcement on that front. Thats what you just said about secretary duke the testimony you gave is the president s opinion of her as well . Yes. Hes happy with the job shes done as acting secretary. [ inaudible ] immigrations principles are be floating out there would be harmful to the daca negotiations. He believes daca should be kept separate from any discussion about legal what is the response to that . Are you guys committed to amuch attaching Legal Immigration to the daca debate . We want to put forward a responsible Immigration Reform thats not one piece of this process dealt with separately. We need to make sure were addressing all the problems so were not dealing with this again in two, four, five, six years, but that were putting forward a very thorough and full plan. Nie thats what youre going to see coming from the administration in very short order. Fred. Thank you, sir. Two questions. First theres cfpb rule on not that im aware of. Id have to check on that and circle back. Just to follow up on that topic, there have been some House Republicans who believe that theres already cause for firing richard going back to his handling of the wells fargo case. Why hasnt the president i mean does he approve of the job that corduroy has done so far . When we have any Personnel Announcements on that nt fro, well keep you posted. Thats two already. Im going to have to move on. Two quick questions. There have been some rumors about the future of secretary of state Rex Tillerson today. Can you continue to say the president remains confident in him as secretary of state . He does. As he said yesterday or two days ago, as i said yesterday, nothing has changed despite what you may read in the media or watch on tv. I would certainly trust the president and my comments far above those other reporters. And i want to ask you, the president words matter. The president can move markets. He can cause miscalculation when it comes to adversaries. In the context of the questions asked of you today, when youve been asked what he meant by calm before the storm, youve mentioned north korea. Youve mentioned iran. Theres the implication that there is some kind of military action. There was some sort of forecasting there. Can you clarify if we are interpreting things correctly . I havent been specific about anything. Ive always talked about the fact that were continuing to put maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on countries like north korea. Im simply saying that all options are on the table as they have been, and were not going to announce what actions well be taking until that moment comes. Why did he say that . Sayre are, can you be more specific about the president s position on bump stocks . Would he be open to legislation clearly banning them . As i said yesterday, we want to be part of that conversation. We want to gather more information. Were going to continue to do that over the coming days and thats the current position. It hasnt changed since yesterday. Two questions if i can. Why not . I asked you about senator corker. Just not three. Two is the limit. Actually about senator corker and some of the comments he made a few weeks back. Earlier this week he said that secretary tillerson, secretary mattis, and general kelly are basically whats keeping the country separated from chaos, and he said that there are other people in the white house that arent putting forth policies in a coherent fashion. Do you have any response to senator corkers look, i think the president is the one thats keeping the world from chaos. He has an Incredible Team around him thats helping him lead that effort, and hes had tremendous accomplishments on the International Stage by working with allies and confronting the enemies. Were going to continue doing that. Were going to continue doing that as a team with the president leading that effort. Is general kelly ill come back to you. Getting back to these calm before the storm comments, i wanted to ask you about that in a different way. Theres a theory in washington and forgive me if youve been asked about it before that the president subscribes to this madman theory, that if he makes a lot of unsettling, offputting comments that sort of throw people off, that he likes to keep his adversaries guessing, that thats sort of the point of making comments like calm before the storm and so forth. What is your sense of that . Is there anything to that . I think the president has addressed this himself. He certainly doesnt want to lay out his game plan for our enemies. So if youre asking is the president trying to, you know, do that, absolutely. I mean i dont think that thats hes trying to throw people off . I dont think thats a secret. I wouldnt say hes trying to throw people off, but hes not trying to broadcast his exact actions. I think weve seen what a failure it is when an administration does that, and this is a president who is going to do it differently and do it better. When people are when they sort of catch their breath in this town, when they sort of hold their breath in this town when he says Something Like that, you have a smile on your face. I mean is that somewhat satisfying . No. I just picture people in this town actually holding their breath. It might be a welcome surprise for most of america. Go ahead. Sarah, one more thing i want to pick up what margaret was trying to get at. Let me put it to you this way. Can you exclude the possibility that the president was actually just being mischievous, that he was messing with the press a little bit when he made that comment . I wouldnt say that hes messing with the press. I think we have some serious world issues here. I think that north korea, iran both continue to be bad actors, and the president is somebody who is going to always look for ways to protect americans, and hes not going to dictate what those actions may look like. I dont think theres anything beyond that that i can add on that front. Question on iran. A couple days ago, senator tom cotton gave a speech in which he said he believes the best outcome for the Iranian Nuclear deal would have to be refer it to congress but rather than have congress reimpose sanctions, which he called a backward looking step, we would use this period of 120 days to renegotiate several terms of the deal. Does the white house think that that sounds like a plausible and a good way to zedeal with the in nuclear deal . Im not going to get ahead of the president s announcement on the decision that he has. What i can tell you is the president isnt looking at one piece of this. Hes looking at all of the bad behavior of iran, not just the nuclear deal as bad behavior, but the Ballistic Missile testing, destabilizing of the region, number one state sponsor of terrorism, cyber attacks, Illicit Nuclear program. He wants to look fr a broad strategy that addresses all of those problems, not just oneoffing those. Thats what his team is focused on, and thats what hell be rolling out to address that as a whole in the coming days. To follow up on that, is it the president s wish that congress reimpose sanctions im not going to get into what the president s decision is until he makes that later in the week. Sarah, about cuba, our cbs news reporting today has taken the story to a new level. There are now americans who do not work for the government who are saying theyre subject to these attacks. The state department is telling us there are a handful of americans who are reporting these symptoms. Whats going on here . How is the white house viewing this . Its something we take extremely seriously. Were continuing to investigate. The state department is taking the lead on this effort, and were going to continue looking into this until we get some real answers. Ill come back. Just to drill down what you said yesterday about the press, saying that we owe it i dont think anybody would disagree we should be as accurate in factfinding as possible. But do you and the president believe the president has a responsibility to be as truthful and honest with us as possible . Has he done it . And for those surrogates who have used your terms, alternative facts, would they then not do that . Absolutely. I think we all come here every day and do our very best to give you the best and most Accurate Information that we possibly can. April. Going back to the answer about leadership, the president s leading, is jgenera kelly part of that Leadership Team with the president as hes leading in this white house . Absolutely. Does the president have confidence in general kelly . Absolutely. Today is friday. Could we expect a resignation today from anyone . I dont think so, april. David. Thank you, sarah. Since we last heard from you, the Million People<\/a> around the country are participating in thousands of events related to manufacturing day. Among them will be numerous members of the president s cabinet and other senior officials. Our tax plan would lead to a Great American<\/a> manufacturing boon. We will cut taxes on american manufacturers and businesses of all sides and restore their competitive edge. Our plan will also encourage them to bring back trillions of dollars currently parked overseas. The president will be back out on the road next week Building Support<\/a> for this plan, which is really a jobs bill. He will be visiting hamburg, pennsylvania, on wednesday and will have more details on that trip coming soon. And with that, well kick off friday with questions, and well start now this is kind of fun. We should do this more often, not just save it for fridays. John decker. Thank you, sarah. The body of another u. S. Soldier has just been discovered by local forces in niger, which brings to four the total number of green berets that were killed on wednesday in niger. So far theres been no response to this by the president , no tweet from the president , no statement from the president. Can we expect some sort of reprisal by the u. S. Military in niger as it related to what happened on wednesday . I made a statement on behalf of the administration yesterday in the opening. Obviously anytime one of the members of our great military are injured, wounded, or killed in action, that is certainly something that we take very seriously. Our thoughts and prayers are with those individuals. Were continuing to review and look into this. And as we have more details, well certainly let you guys know. Cecilia. Can you clarify the president s comments . Was he referring to military action when he said calm before the storm . As weve said many times before, i know the president has, as i have from this podium on quite a few occasions, were never going to say in advance what the president s going to do. And as he said last night, in addition to those comments, youll have to wait and see. How seriously should the American Public<\/a> or american adversaries take these comments . Was it a joke . Was it serious . I think you can take the president protecting the American People<\/a> always extremely serious. Hes been very clear that thats his number one priority, and if he feels that action is necessary, hell take it. Steve. Sarah, when the president said that he wants his military leaders to give him military options faster, does he feel like they are intentionally slowwalking these options to him . No, not at all. But this is, as you know, hes a person who likes to take action and take it quickly. I dont think you should read into anything beyond that as he wants options on the table so that he can make quick decisions. Was that just a general comment or did he mean a specific country . Believe it was just a general comment. Im not aware of anything specific that was in reference to. I have two questions. One on the soldier who was killed in niger. When was the president made aware there was a fourth soldier missing in action and whether did he become aware that soldier had been killed and discovered by local forces . I believe the notification was yesterday, but id have to get clarification on the specific timing of when that took place. When was the president made aware that soldiers body was found . Again, i know that it was pretty soon after that had been discovered, but as far as like an exact time, i couldnt give you that. But i know chief kelly kept him updated constantly on that situation as it evolved. The question on daca, today the president welcomed hispanicamerican leaders to the white house. He did not mention his decision to end daca during his remarks there. He did not call renew his call for congress to protect those who are going to be vulnerable for deportation starting in march. Why did he not bring that up . Look, i think hes been clear theres no reason to continue to reiterate the same position that hes held. Hes called on congress to act on it. You can expect in the coming days that hell lay out his responsible Immigration Reform<\/a>. I think you can count on that to happen very soon. And thats all part of the process moving forward. But he hasnt been unclear about what his position is on that front. April. Sarah, going back to calm before the storm, when president s deal with world matters like this, all options are on the table. Have you has this white house exhausted diplomacy because for him to say the calm before the storm, in listening to what you just had to say were continuing to put maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on countries like north korea. Were going to continue to do that. But at the same time, the president s going to keep all of his options on the table. Our position has not changed. Its been very consistent. So nobody, thats the storm . Im just using that as an example. I think weve got a lot of bad actors in the world. North korea, iran, there are several examples there. Let me ask you about the hhs decision today to expand the contraception waiver. The aclu has already filed a lawsuit or announced its intention to. They said, quote, the Trump Administration<\/a> is forcing women to pay for their bosss religious beliefs. Were filing this lawsuit because the federal government cannot authorize discrimination against women in the name of religion or otherwise. Your response to that would be what . I dont think its been a secret that i would probably never use the aclu to get any of my talking points. The president believes that the freedom to practice ones faith is a fundamental right in this country, and i think all of us do. And thats all that today was about. Our federal government should always protect that right, and as long as donald trump is president , he will. So what would you say maybe to the women out there or to the families out there who now have to pay more out of their pocket to get contraception coverage that they choose and that they desire . This is a president who supports the first amendment, supports the freedom of religion. I dont understand why that should be an issue. The Supreme Court<\/a> has validated this decision certainly many times over, and the president is somebody who believes in the constitution. If people dont like what the constitution says, they should talk to congress about changing it. Given the lawsuits that the aclu has already filed, is the administration prepared to defend this contraceptive rollback all the way to the Supreme Court<\/a> . The Supreme Court<\/a>s already made clear what their position is, and it support whats this administration has done. Legal fight that es clacas to the Supreme Court<\/a> . I think if it does, it it will show this administration is on the right side of the law. On the calm before the storm issue again, the president it is friday. I thought maybe wed change it up. Its actually a followup. You said the president wants to preserve an element of surprise. Why would he dangle hints about his actions in the first place . I dont believe he did. Matthew . [ inaudible ]. He didnt talk about any specific actions at all. First following up on the hhs change, does the white house have any estimate of how many people could lose access to Birth Control<\/a> under this change . Im not aware. Id refer you to hhs for specifics. Just a quick followup. The president repeated earlier today that the u. S. Is the highest taxed nation in the world. Thats not true. So why does he keep making that statement . Why does he stick to that talking point . I believe there are specific sectors within the country that are among the highest taxed in the world, and well be happy to provide that data to you. John. Thank you, sarah. I have two questions. First, there has been rumors that Prime Minister<\/a> tsipras of greece will come here on the 17th, meet with the president , and then meet with the Vice President<\/a> on the 18th. And weve had no confirmation. Is the Prime Minister<\/a> invited, and is he coming to meet the president and Vice President<\/a> . He is, and i believe that date is correct. The 17th, i believe that hell be here on that date. The other thing is that the administration has had a vacancy without a permanent secretary of Homeland Security<\/a> for two months, which is a record for that position not operating with a permanent secretary. Are we going to have an announcement on a choice for permanent secretary within days, next week perhaps . And rumors are consistent he will make elaine duke the permanent secretary and send her appointment up. True or false . Im not going to get ahead 6 any announcement that the president may make about a permanent person, but i will say that acting secretary duke is very competent and has managed the department of Homeland Security<\/a> very well in a very tough and trying time given the Hurricane Season<\/a> that weve had and certainly have not wanted to make big shifts in leadership during this time and while theres so much going on there. In terms of a timetable, well keep you posted when he with have an announcement on that front. Thats what you just said about secretary duke the testimony you gave is the president s opinion of her as well . Yes. Hes happy with the job shes done as acting secretary. [ inaudible ] immigrations principles are be floating out there would be harmful to the daca negotiations. He believes daca should be kept separate from any discussion about legal what is the response to that . Are you guys committed to amuch attaching Legal Immigration<\/a> to the daca debate . We want to put forward a responsible Immigration Reform<\/a> thats not one piece of this process dealt with separately. We need to make sure were addressing all the problems so were not dealing with this again in two, four, five, six years, but that were putting forward a very thorough and full plan. Nie thats what youre going to see coming from the administration in very short order. Fred. Thank you, sir. Two questions. First theres cfpb rule on not that im aware of. Id have to check on that and circle back. Just to follow up on that topic, there have been some House Republicans<\/a> who believe that theres already cause for firing richard going back to his handling of the wells fargo case. Why hasnt the president i mean does he approve of the job that corduroy has done so far . When we have any Personnel Announcements<\/a> on that nt fro, well keep you posted. Thats two already. Im going to have to move on. Two quick questions. There have been some rumors about the future of secretary of state Rex Tillerson<\/a> today. Can you continue to say the president remains confident in him as secretary of state . He does. As he said yesterday or two days ago, as i said yesterday, nothing has changed despite what you may read in the media or watch on tv. I would certainly trust the president and my comments far above those other reporters. And i want to ask you, the president words matter. The president can move markets. He can cause miscalculation when it comes to adversaries. In the context of the questions asked of you today, when youve been asked what he meant by calm before the storm, youve mentioned north korea. Youve mentioned iran. Theres the implication that there is some kind of military action. There was some sort of forecasting there. Can you clarify if we are interpreting things correctly . I havent been specific about anything. Ive always talked about the fact that were continuing to put maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on countries like north korea. Im simply saying that all options are on the table as they have been, and were not going to announce what actions well be taking until that moment comes. Why did he say that . Sayre are, can you be more specific about the president s position on bump stocks . Would he be open to legislation clearly banning them . As i said yesterday, we want to be part of that conversation. We want to gather more information. Were going to continue to do that over the coming days and thats the current position. It hasnt changed since yesterday. Two questions if i can. Why not . I asked you about senator corker. Just not three. Two is the limit. Actually about senator corker and some of the comments he made a few weeks back. Earlier this week he said that secretary tillerson, secretary mattis, and general kelly are basically whats keeping the country separated from chaos, and he said that there are other people in the white house that arent putting forth policies in a coherent fashion. Do you have any response to senator corkers look, i think the president is the one thats keeping the world from chaos. He has an Incredible Team<\/a> around him thats helping him lead that effort, and hes had tremendous accomplishments on the International Stage<\/a> by working with allies and confronting the enemies. Were going to continue doing that. Were going to continue doing that as a team with the president leading that effort. Is general kelly ill come back to you. Getting back to these calm before the storm comments, i wanted to ask you about that in a different way. Theres a theory in washington and forgive me if youve been asked about it before that the president subscribes to this madman theory, that if he makes a lot of unsettling, offputting comments that sort of throw people off, that he likes to keep his adversaries guessing, that thats sort of the point of making comments like calm before the storm and so forth. What is your sense of that . Is there anything to that . I think the president has addressed this himself. He certainly doesnt want to lay out his game plan for our enemies. So if youre asking is the president trying to, you know, do that, absolutely. I mean i dont think that thats hes trying to throw people off . I dont think thats a secret. I wouldnt say hes trying to throw people off, but hes not trying to broadcast his exact actions. I think weve seen what a failure it is when an administration does that, and this is a president who is going to do it differently and do it better. When people are when they sort of catch their breath in this town, when they sort of hold their breath in this town when he says Something Like<\/a> that, you have a smile on your face. I mean is that somewhat satisfying . No. I just picture people in this town actually holding their breath. It might be a welcome surprise for most of america. Go ahead. Sarah, one more thing i want to pick up what margaret was trying to get at. Let me put it to you this way. Can you exclude the possibility that the president was actually just being mischievous, that he was messing with the press a little bit when he made that comment . I wouldnt say that hes messing with the press. I think we have some serious world issues here. I think that north korea, iran both continue to be bad actors, and the president is somebody who is going to always look for ways to protect americans, and hes not going to dictate what those actions may look like. I dont think theres anything beyond that that i can add on that front. Question on iran. A couple days ago, senator tom cotton gave a speech in which he said he believes the best outcome for the Iranian Nuclear<\/a> deal would have to be refer it to congress but rather than have congress reimpose sanctions, which he called a backward looking step, we would use this period of 120 days to renegotiate several terms of the deal. Does the white house think that that sounds like a plausible and a good way to zedeal with the in nuclear deal . Im not going to get ahead of the president s announcement on the decision that he has. What i can tell you is the president isnt looking at one piece of this. Hes looking at all of the bad behavior of iran, not just the nuclear deal as bad behavior, but the Ballistic Missile<\/a> testing, destabilizing of the region, number one state sponsor of terrorism, cyber attacks, Illicit Nuclear<\/a> program. He wants to look fr a broad strategy that addresses all of those problems, not just oneoffing those. Thats what his team is focused on, and thats what hell be rolling out to address that as a whole in the coming days. To follow up on that, is it the president s wish that congress reimpose sanctions im not going to get into what the president s decision is until he makes that later in the week. Sarah, about cuba, our cbs news reporting today has taken the story to a new level. There are now americans who do not work for the government who are saying theyre subject to these attacks. The state department is telling us there are a handful of americans who are reporting these symptoms. Whats going on here . How is the white house viewing this . Its something we take extremely seriously. Were continuing to investigate. The state department is taking the lead on this effort, and were going to continue looking into this until we get some real answers. Ill come back. Just to drill down what you said yesterday about the press, saying that we owe it i dont think anybody would disagree we should be as accurate in factfinding as possible. But do you and the president believe the president has a responsibility to be as truthful and honest with us as possible . Has he done it . And for those surrogates who have used your terms, alternative facts, would they then not do that . Absolutely. I think we all come here every day and do our very best to give you the best and most Accurate Information<\/a> that we possibly can. April. Going back to the answer about leadership, the president s leading, is jgenera kelly part of that Leadership Team<\/a> with the president as hes leading in this white house . Absolutely. Does the president have confidence in general kelly . Absolutely. Today is friday. Could we expect a resignation today from anyone . I dont think so, april. David. Thank you, sarah. Since we last heard from you, the Film Producer<\/a> Harvey Weinstein<\/a> has become the subject of some very serious Sexual Harassment<\/a> allegations and theres building pressure on democrats who ceive Campaign Donations<\/a> from him to send the money back. Does the president support the idea that democrats who got donations from this person should send the money back . I think thats a decision for those individuals to make. Whether or not thats money that they want to take, thats up to them. Thats certainly not a decision for us to make. One more. Im sorry. Why hasnt the president fired john cosca nin from the irs in all the skand over the conservative targeting scandal. Why does he still have his job . Ill have to ask him and get back to you. Las vegas question. The president lavished praise on the Las Vegas Police<\/a> for their amazing handling after the sunday mass shooting. Nevadans credit programs that can you speak up a little bit . Im sorry. Nevadans credit federal money, programs to train them to deal with terrorist attacks for their great response. You all have cuts in those programs in your budget plan. Are you rethinking that . I think at this point, were continuing to move forward. If there is a moment where we feel like the safety and security of american citizens may be at risk because of cuts, i think wed have to revisit it at that time. Jim . Sarah, the nation lost 33,000 jobs in september, and i was just curious how the president feels about that, and is he stepping up his efforts to convince congress to pass major tax reform because of this surprising job loss in september . I think that todays report shows certainly the devastating impact of the Hurricane Season<\/a>. But while many displaced werent able to work, the economy still remains extremely strong. Those people continue to have jobs, which is why the Unemployment Rate<\/a> actually fell. I think one thing to really note and something that this administration wants to focus on, certainly moving into the future, i think tax reform plays a big role in this. But one the big identifiers that i think we should look at is the drop in the Unemployment Rate<\/a>, including new lows for africanamericans, teens, and women, which is certainly a great step forward in this process. Sarah, President Trump<\/a> has repeatedly said we should just let obamacare implode. Theres a new report in the Washington Post<\/a> that says that President Trump<\/a> personally directed Administration Officials<\/a> to deny a request from republican governor of iowa to fix the obamacare market in that state. Is that true . Im not aware of that specific directive, so id have to check into that and get back to you. If it is true im not going to comment on hypotheticals where i dont have the information in front of me. I want to ask you a question about the iran recertification process. Regardless of what the president decides, when he makes this decision next week, would you rather not have to do this every 90 days after that . Again, as i said earlier, were looking at something that is a broad strategy, doesnt just address one part of irans bad behavior but that addresses a wide range of issues. So that would certainly be our focus. Hopefully they would begin to not be a bad actor, and we wouldnt have to do this at all. But our goal, again, would be to address a number of factors, not just one or two things. Peter. Sorry. Second question. President indicates that he wanted pakistan to against agents of chaos within pakistani territory or. The foreign minister was here in the white house this week to meet general mcmaster. Are you seeing any change in pakistani behavior in six weeks . Nothing specific that i can weigh into at this time, but well certainly keep you posted. Peter . Sarah, the president campaigned for the candidate for governor in virginia, ed gill lesspy . As ive said many times before from the podium, im not going to weigh into specific races and the actions we may or may not take. I think thats a great place to end this for friday. I hope everybody has a great rest of your friday and a good weekend. Thanks, guys. My question is why is it appropriate for him to Sarah Huckabee<\/a> sanders, about 24 minutes into the briefing, leaving as always. Fastmoving, lots of topics covered, withdrawal by this administration of coverage under obamacare for Birth Control<\/a> on the same day the president welcomed hispanics to the white house. They ended applications for socalled d. R. E. A. M. Ers. But i think the bulk of this questioning is people trying to figure out about this i guess youd call it an unprompted cliffhanger from the president last night. Take a listen. This represents. Maybe its the calm before the storm. Calm before the storm. What did this mean . Last hour, the president was asked to clarify, and heres whats happened. Mr. President , what did you mean by calm before the storm indication . What d what did you mean by that . Youll find out. Well find out . Thank you. Well see. So nothing more either from the president himself or from Sarah Sanders<\/a> about what he meant to a country already on edge for so many reasons. Its just part of a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the white house today. In particular, new reporting on Rex Tillerson<\/a>. The president reportedly steaming about our nbc news exclusive that the secretary of state called him a moron. So were wondering whats next for tillerson. You heard Sarah Sanders<\/a> say he still has the president s support. Weve got an ace team in place to walk us through this newspacked friday. We have to start this hour over at the white house because hallie was inside that briefing asking some of the questions, and i have no better understanding right now, hallie jackson, than i did last night when i first heard it what the president means by calm before the storm. I do know that for a lot of people who were listening, it seemed pretty ominous. Sarah sanders sort of just almost being dismissive of it but not rejecting it as something that was teasing the press. Reporter right. Listen, chris, if it was cryptic 18 hours ago, it is still cryptic at this moment in time. Sarah sanders did nothing to shed any light on what the president was talking about and that was very intentional. She had plenty of opportunities to and said repeatedly and this is a line we have heard from the podium before, that the president doesnt want to foreshadow actions that he may take. The question is why the president would have unprompted brought up any hint of a calm before any storm in the first place. Sarah sanders linked a couple of times or appeared to link or at least in the same answer or sentence or sentences, put north korea and iran into some of these conversations, which injected new uncertainty into these remarks. But in a very deliberate way, declined to specify what the president was talking about, whether that did mean military options or in response to a good question here, whether the president was simply being mischievous, sort of playing with the press a little bit when he called everybody in, talked about the calm before the storm and today winked at a reporter and said, youll find out. I think we have a sound bite i can play for you from Sarah Huckabee<\/a> sanders, so im going to toss to it and hope it runs. As weve said many times before, i know the president has, as i have from this podium on quite a few occasions, were never going to say in advance what the president s going to do. And as he said last night in addition to those comments, youll have to wait and see. I think you can take the president protecting the American People<\/a> always extremely serious. Hes been very clear that thats his number one priority, and if he feels that action is necessary, hell take it. Reporter so that was Sarah Huckabee<\/a> sanders on this idea of a calm before the storm military options, et cetera, what that meant. I think you have a number of other headlines coming out of todays briefing. Chief among them is this contraception mandate rollback that the health and Human Services<\/a> agency unfurled this morning. The press secretary took several questions about that saying essentially that the administration does not believe its going to have a legal issue because the Supreme Court<\/a> back in 2014 with that hobby lobby fight essentially allowed some exemptions for companies to not choose to pay for Birth Control<\/a> for employees because of religious or moral reasons. Of course this new rule would expand that fairly dramatically, so there is a question of, in some eyes, legality. You have the aclu suing. Sarah Huckabee Sanders<\/a> was asked about the aclus comments and chose not to emphasize why the administration is doing this, talking about religious liberties, which is something the president campaigned on and reemphasized when he signed an executive order on religious liberties. Javier becerra in california said they plan to challenge this, but it is a promise the president made to the conservative right. I want to bring in tom brokaw. Can we go back for a second, and i want to ask you as somebody who has questioned many a president and many a press secretary in your day. We heard Sarah Sanders<\/a> say this is a president who wants to preserve the element of surprise, who wants to keep his adversaries guessing. Yet he also keeps the American People<\/a> guessing. We dont know. Maybe the military leaders around him are guessing. Maybe the Foreign Policy<\/a> establishment is guessing what he meant when he said calm before the storm. What do you make of it . Well, i think it just made donald trump ready fire aim again. Thats been his approach to doing big Foreign Policy<\/a> issues especially. I think if there was something ominous on the books at this moment, we would be hearing or seeing more movement militarily because the pentagons big place. People do talk. What was so striking to me about this, it was another example of Trump Administration<\/a> stepping all over the news of the day. They opened with some pretty good news about the economy and where they wanted to go with it. But at the same time as you say, they talk about the cutbacks for women in getting their reproductive rights in order and what theyve come to expect. Then the president continuing to say with that smile on his face, calm before the storm right up against Rex Tillerson<\/a> out there all week long, saying, were working on a process here. We think we have something going. That got to such a critical stage that tillerson had to come out and say the president is a really smart man. I was quite surprised by this former executive chairman of exxonmobil going as far as he did in trying to backtrack out of the obvious differences that he has with this president. So once again we have a very muddled scene, and i think weve all learned in the time weve been watching this, the president will take it as it comes. We cant read too much into it. And youre going to stay with us, tom. Were going to talk in just a minute about another question that she was asked, and that is about bump stocks and the talk about gun control in the wake of what happened in las vegas. But as we sit here guessing grasping for what the leader of the free world could possibly have meant by the coming storm, was it the iran deal . Something involving military . Did it have to do with secretary of state Rex Tillerson<\/a> . Nbc news has learned the president was furious over our exclusive that the secretary of state called President Trump<\/a> a moron. That report according to multiple Senior Administration<\/a> official whos were aware of the matter at the time. Tillerson did not deny the remark during his comments this week, of course, but his state Department Spokesperson<\/a> did. Joining me is one of the journalists behind that reporting, carol lee. So were hearing now youre hearing that trump was furious on wednesday. Is this resolved . Because if you hear Sarah Sanders<\/a> just minutes ago, she said nothing has changed. Hes fine. Hes not going anywhere, and were not expecting, as she laughed, any resignations today, a friday. Not expecting. You know, look, this is a relationship that has been rocky from the start. As we reported, it came to a head this summer. There was attempted a reset. The president was very angry at our report what was in our reporting, and then not only that, he felt that secretary tillerson didnt go far enough in that press conference that he held, specifically by not denying that he had called the president a moron. And, you know, to a bunch of folks in the white house, when they saw that, to them they took that as confirmation that he did, in fact, say that. For the president watching that, you know, it felt like once again tillerson was not out there defending him, which has been an issue for the in their relationship in the past. I think at this stage, this is a relationship thats not necessarily going to be repaired. You know, theres a sense that there is different schools of thought. Some feel it would bring too much instability into an administration thats facing a lot of global challenges and also seeing a very hefty share of instability so far to shake up something that something as significant as the secretary of state. So you also have the president who is about to head to asia where hes going to five or six different countries. So theres a serious question about whether thats the time to make a change. I just want to ask you super quickly because were out of time, axios is reporting that mike pompeo could be a replacement. Do you know 23 theyre at the point where theyre putting toth a list in case . Well, theres always been different rulers about who might replace secretary tillerson. I will say this about pompeo. He has a very good rapport with the president and the two of them seem to get along very well, so that would be one significant difference if he were to come in. Thank you so much for your reporting. Nbc News National<\/a> report carol lee. Some of the news that broke during the white house briefing, the Vice President<\/a> is flying to las vegas tomorrow. Hes going to be paying his respects to victims there. This comes as we learn disturbing new details in the Las Vegas Mass Shooting<\/a> investigation. The gunman, Stephen Paddock<\/a>, his girlfriend revealing he might have had some Mental Health<\/a> issues. Two former fbi Officials Say<\/a> Marilou Danley<\/a> told investigators that paddock would sometimes lie in bed, moaning and screaming. He was also taking a very common antianxiety medication. S survivors still reeling. I want to show you something, a quick reminder this is still very raw, still very painful for a lot of people across the nation. This was wednesday at the grand old oppry, one of the most Legendary Music<\/a> venues the world has to offer. Country music star eric church delivering a powerful speech to the people that came to see him. You might know church was one of those big name performers. He performed that friday before the attack. Listen to some of what he said right before he performed an emotional new song called why not me. I went all the way down the right side, waved at my sound guy, came back up the left side, smiling faces, hands in the air, pictures being taken. And i jumped back up onstage, and i played a man who was going to die young, and 48 hours later, those places that i stood was carnage. And those were my people. Those were my fans. The reason im here tonight is because of heather molten. Her husband sonny, who died, and every person that was there because im going to tell you something. I saw that crowd. I saw them with their hands in the air. I saw them i saw them with boots in the air. And what i saw, that moment in time that was frozen, theres no amount of bullets that can take away. We want to talk about the latest on the investigation. Pete williams has been following this every step of the way. It is difficult to listen to that emotion. I was there. I felt it from the people who i spoke with who were there that night, and you do understand that everyone is trying to figure out why. I mean this is the question we always have. Are we any closer to that, pete . Answering that question why did he do what he did . Reporter i think so. I think they feel that theyre getting closer to the possible answers, but nothing that theyre ready to discuss yet. Nothing definitive. Theyre obviously probing heavy on the Mental Health<\/a> issue. Were there pressures in his life . Was there something going on . Was he coming apart mentally . Nothing strong or definitive at that point, but that remains very much a focus of their investigation. One of the other questions theyre looking at, chris, and just to give you a sort of a sense of all the Different Directions<\/a> that this investigation goes in in something of this magnitude is to try to sort out whether anyone helped him. And one of the questions was, was anyone else ever in that room . He was in the mandalay bay for several days. Was anyone ever in the room with him that might have been involved or known what he was up to . So thats an important question. No answer to that yet, but let me just give you an indication of the sort of complexities that the fbi and the Las Vegas Police<\/a> run into. Number one, they found a charger, an electrical charger, in the room that did not fit any of the phones that Stephen Paddock<\/a> brought in there. So does that mean someone else was there and left the charger . No answer to that. Second point is paddock parked his car in the mandalay bay garage. Part of the time he was registered in the room, that car had left the hotel and then came back. During that time when the car was gone, someone used one of his key cards to get access to that room. So does that mean there was someone with him . I dont know. The fbi doesnt know. The police dont know. But it just gives you an indication of the sort of things theyre looking at. The second point, just a little more insight into his life. Were told that his financial records for 2015 showed that he earned 5 million. Some of that may be from his real estate investments, but were told most of it was from gambling. So he was a very successful gambler obviously. Finally, a minor point here, but it appears that a month or so ago before the shooting, a month or so before the shooting, he was at a gun show in phoenix, and he talked to an ammunition dealer and asked if he could buy tracer rounds. These are the rounds that when you shoot them at night, you can see the line. They leave a visible trace of where they go through the air so that you can aim them more accurately. And this dealer said he didnt have anywhere near the quantity of tracer rounds that paddock wanted. Now, we have no information to indicate that paddock used tracer rounds during the night of the shooting. Finally, i think weve just heard that the police will be holding another News Conference<\/a> in las vegas in about 35 minutes or a little less than 30 minutes. We will be watching for that. Thank you so much, Pete Williams<\/a>, in washington. I want to bring tom brokaw back in. Inevitably these shootings raise questions about gun control. Its a little different this time because of the bump stock this was used. People know by now this is something you can put on a semiautomatic weapon that essentially turns it into an automatic weapon. Theres been talk about could this move the needle. Sarah sanders said the president is willing to gather more information. Republicans, who have usually been very svociferous defenders of their constitutional right to bear arms have said we should have the hearing. We should have the conversation. What were not hearing in huge numbers is, we should have legislation that outlaws this. Even the nra, which was getting some credit for making a small move, doesnt want a new law that bans these bump stocks. Is this going to move the needle at all as you see it, tom . I think my guess is that its going to move the needle on the stocks that allow the gun from a semiautomatic to a fully automatic thing. But what were not going to get at obviously is the enormous array of military weapons that are out there, that somebody will find another way to make them automatic. You know, gun collectors are also gunsmiths. I know a lot of them. And they know how to tinker with a gun and make it do what they want it to do. Some are just fascinated by guns and what they can do in the mechanisms of them all. But the fact is the whole gun debate changed enormously when military weapons became the primary base for the customers that came through the door. A lot of that was driven by gun manufacturers who were not doing as well in their ordinary hunting rifle kind of business and with the n prrr as support have now in every big gun shop i go into and its mostly military sourced weapons now. Complete and total change over the last couple of decades, right, tom . Not even two decades. Theres a shop that i go to in montana. I like the proprietors very much. Theyre very responsible merchants. But, you know, four or five years ago i would go in there and they would have conventional shot guns and hunting rifles. Now its row after row of ar15s, which is the semiautomatic version of a military weapon. Theyre designed to do one thing, which is to kill people. The real question is about the debate we have, were not going to eliminate guns from america. We ought not to eliminate guns from america. There is the Second Amendment<\/a>. People can have guns and use them responsible. But what we have now are weapons that go way out of the bounds of real need. So to that point, tom, heres what a lot of people dont understand. When you look at the polls, youve got about four in ten adults living in a gunowning household but only about three in ten own one personally. Just 3 of americans own 50 of the guns. So we start there. But three quarters of gun owners say while this right is essential compared with 35 of nongun owners, huge numbers, majorities want changes to get these kinds of militarygrade weapons out of the hands of people. So if thats the case, how is it that nothing changes when you have, after a columbine, 90 plus of the American People<\/a> saying they would support change, majority on both sides of the aisle saying they would support change, why does nothing change . Because the nra is very shrewd about picking out the Political Races<\/a> they want to support and creating a kind of reign of terror against people who do not support the nra position. They come after this. Theyve got a lot of support. Go beyond the gun owners. Talk radio in america. Most of them are conservative hosts who talk about the importance of having guns. One day the government must come after us. The fact of the matter is in all these incidents that involve militarystyle weapons, it has been people using them for terrorist purposes, for creating terror in our domestic economy. Las vegas was the most recent example. Sandy hook was another example. When we couldnt change after sandy hook, that was stunning to me. And i have a pretty realistic view about how tough it is to change. But if you couldnt change after sandy hook, going into an Elementary School<\/a> and wiping out these youngsters and their parents begging for some kind of a change, i dont know when youre going to begin to get it. I think it depends on the rest of society to rise up and say you can have guns, the weapons that a lot of my friends have without going into the military part of it. And the other thing they may have to think about at some point, if you want to shoot a military weapon, go to a licensed gun range like they have outside of las vegas, and you can shoot to your hearts content, and youre going to be shooting at targets with protection and some kind of a supervision. But you dont need to have them just available. How many guns does this guy have . We dont even know for sure at this point. And he was able to buy them without cross checking one kind or another. How many did he buy last week . How many is he going to buy next month . We dont know. This is a debate that americans have to step forward on. Were not going to eliminate guns. I dont think we should. The Second Amendment<\/a> does have its place. But at the same time, there are excesses in everything. Were protectsed by the first amendment. That does not mean we can yell fire in a crowded theater, that we can lie bebel someone. Were responsible for that. Gun owners have to accept responsibility as well. Thats how i feel about it. Tom brokaw with the experience and insights. I thank you so much. Appreciate it. We want to get to that breaking news out of the pentagon. You heard it referenced at the briefing with Sarah Sanders<\/a>. A fourth u. S. Service member killed in niger, hans nichols is live at the pentagon. Reporter we know there was a massive rescue operation launched almost immediately when they figured out this soldier has been missing. Remember, wednesday night there was an ambush in niger. This is a country in west africa close to the mali border. There are about a dozen u. S. Troops, mostly special forces. They were on a routine mission. They thought it was in a quiet environment. It was anything but wquiet. The initial report is this could be an isislinked group in west africa, and they came under such intention fire, they returned fire. Then french helicopters came in, swooped them out. Three were dead and two injured but they realized they had left a soldier behind. And we hear re at the pentagon, have known this soldier was there. Weve known there were Ongoing Operations<\/a> trying to recover him. Those hopes have now been zashed. When i heard President Trump<\/a> talk about the calm before the storm e thats what i thought he was referring to. We were all under strict orders here not to report and jeopardize the mission. This morning they found the body. Theyve recovered that body of the u. S. Soldier. He is in the capital of niger. Ultimately he will be returned home. The dignified transfer of the remains for the agree green berets that we knew died wednesday night, they have already returned home. But, chris, i have to tell you there will be a lot of investigations of this. Number one, how were they ambushed . How were these highly trained special operators ambushed . And, number two, what happened to force them in the chaos of battle to leave a soldier behind . Theyre still trying to figure out basic questions like did the u. S. Forces kill any of the militants on the other side . Chris . Thank you. Our thoughts and prayers and our thanks are with the families of these service members. Happening now in puerto rico, Vice President<\/a> pence being briefed by fema officials on Hurricane Relief<\/a> efforts there. After the break, well take you live to the island still reeling from the destruction of hurricane maria. 90 of that island still without power. Just under 50 still without water. But first, hamilton creator Linmanuel Miranda<\/a> on the today show this rng month, defending his recent tweet about President Trump<\/a>s response to the crisis in puerto rico, tweeting that the president is, quote, going straight to hell. Its unprecedented language from me, but its unprecedented to have the president of the United States<\/a> attack the victims of a natural disaster. Ive never seen that before, and so those were the only words i had to express my feelings on that. So thats the idea. What do you think . Hate to play devils advocate but. I kind of feel like its a game changer. I wouldnt go that far. Are you there . Hes probably on mute. Yeah. Gary wont like it. Why . Because hes gary. phone ringing what . Keep going yeah. laughs voice on phone its not millennial enough. There are a lot of ways to say no. Thank you so much. Thank you so were doing it. Yes we got a yes start saying yes to your companys best ideas. Let us help with money and knowhow, so you can get business done. American express open. I even accept i have a higher risk of stroke as far as i used to. Due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. But no matter where i ride, i go for my best. So if theres Something Better<\/a> than warfarin, ill go for that too. Eliquis. Eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis had both. Dont stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Im still going for my best. And for eliquis. Ask your doctor about eliquis. We just found the body her head. Is missing. [ stirring music playing throughout ] who does he leave the snowmen for . This killer is completely insane. [ gasp ] [ distorted voice ] i gave you all the clues. You could have saved her. Hes been watching us the whole time. No. [ screaming ] [ distorted voice ] this is just the beginning. [ screaming ] the snowman. Think it goes without saying this years Hurricane Season<\/a> cannot end fast enough, yet another destructive storm is now gaining strength, setting its sights on the gulf coast. Tropical storm nate has already killed at least 21 people in central america. The governor of mississippi is declaring a state of emergency in coastal areas. Louisiana is also declaring a state of emergency and issuing evacuation orders. Meantime, the victims of hurricanes maria and irma seem to be on the mind of the president as he celebrated hispanic heritage month at the white house. We are also praying for the people of puerto rico. We love puerto rico. We also love puerto rico. And also, we have to remember this. The Virgin Islands<\/a>. The u. S. Virgin islands. They were hit so hard, and not much was left, but they are rebuilding and the spirit is incredible. U. S. Virgin islands. Now, take a look. You can see the Vice President<\/a> here earlier getting a look at the damage in the u. S. Virgin islands. Right now, the Vice President<\/a> is touring the damage in puerto rico. Maria atensio is in puerto rico for us. The focus and images we are seeing that have been coming out of where you are continue just to boggle the mind. Tell us what you are finding now. Reporter it is not just about san juan, where President Trump<\/a> visited. We know Vice President<\/a> mike pence is now at a church in san juan as well. What you are seeing in the capital is completely different from what we saw, we have been seeing in the country side. We know people in the countryside have no power, no water, no cell service. Many of them need medical help. Thats the dire situation we w saw. While on the show you have been talking about the calm before the storm. Well, this is the storm after the storm on this island. We were able to imbed with teams of volunteer nurses who were shocked at what they saw. Dozens of people in need of medical help. We actually ran into a woman who started crying when she spotted our cameras because her husband has cancer, he has not been receiving his treatment, and this was her message for the white house today. My husband, he has cancer, and i have to give him treatment, and i dont have anything to give him. Reporter what is your message to the white house, the federal government, anyone watching . Please help us. Thats the only thing im asking. Please, from the bottom of my heart, please help us. Reporter that woman also telling us that a couple of days ago, she saw what she thought was the president s plane flying over that town and that she waved hoping that it would make any difference, but it hasnt. As this island is witnessing the visit from Vice President<\/a> mike pence today, again, these images that are disappointing to some of the people we have been speaking to. The Vice President<\/a> at this Episcopal Church<\/a> in san juan, but we are not really seeing him, thats what locals are telling us, venturing outside the capital. So its really a tale of two puerto ricos here. The storm after the storm, some say its the legacy this white house is going to have to live with for months, if not years. Chris . Thank you so much for your continuing reporting. Let me bring in congressman Stacy Plaskett<\/a> who represents the u. S. Virgin islands. She just toured there with Vice President<\/a> mike pence. Thank you so much for joining us. I wonder what your key message was that you wanted the Vice President<\/a> to hear. Thanks so much, chris. Yes, i spent two days with the Vice President<\/a> , first in orlando, then over to the u. S. Virgin islands. What we wanted to reiterate to him was the unique challenges that the Virgin Islands<\/a> as well as puerto rico have. The difficulty in bringing goods and services down here, the difficulties we are going to be having in terms of bringing back up our utilities, bringing back up cell service, fixing the homes that have been destroyed by two category 5 hurricanes, and also both of our hospitals being completely debilitated by this hurricane. So as an island territory, we have very unique challenges. We are three, four islands as well as some other smaller ones. That also presents challenges in terms of scale and duplication and really trying to let him know that, you know, we are so grateful for the federal emergency people that have been here, the military, fema and others. Once we have stabilized ourselves in terms of relief, that we are really going to need the support in terms of our rebuilding and being sure the Virgin Islands<\/a> and puerto rico can really be a beacon in the caribbean basin of american greatness. So once you were able to outline for him in detail what exactly the u. S. Virgin islands need, but in addition to that, show him what the u. S. Virgin islands need, did you feel he understood, do you feel that you are going to get the help that you need, that its going to come in a timely fashion . Did you hear something that made you feel better today about whats going to happen than you felt 48 hours ago, before you started spending time with the Vice President<\/a> . I think that always spending time and being able to look individuals in the eye and them seeing on the ground the people who have been affected by is always a means to reach individuals, particularly someone like the Vice President<\/a> pence and his wife, mrs. Pence, who i believe are very caring and compassionate people. I think that hes made a life of Public Service<\/a> and so hes going to be really attuned to the needs of individuals and the need of a place like the Virgin Islands<\/a>, having been a member of congress as well as a governor before taking on the task of being the Vice President<\/a>. There was no doubt in your mind he gets it, he understands whats going on and what needs to happen . I think he completely gets it. Hes pledged his support and the support of President Trump<\/a> and now its for those of us here on the ground, our leadership in the administration as well as myself and congress to ensure that Congress Gets<\/a> it as well, because they are the ones who are actually going to be writing the bill to ensure that the Virgin Islands<\/a> and puerto rico can rebuild themselves. Congresswoman Stacy Plaskett<\/a>, thank you so much. Again, i cant imagine how overwhelming this continues to be but our thoughts and prayers again with the folks in the u. S. Virgin islands. We appreciate your time. Thats going to bring this hour to a close for me. You can always find me on twitter. Just also want to let you know, because Pete Williams<\/a> talked about this. We have some new information we have been learning over the course of perhaps the last 12 hours or so about what investigators are learning on the ground in las vegas. We have learned something about the information that was gotten from the shooters girlfriend that he sometimes woke up in the night. We had known he was on some antianxiety medication. We also know some more things that are puzzling about what was going on in that hotel room, not the least of which was that they found a charger. A charger that didnt fit any of the devices that he had. So we are waiting for that press conference thats going to be coming up. A late briefing from the folks in las vegas. Thank you so much for watching. Have a great weekend. Deadline white house starts right now. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in new york. Donald trump today doubled down on his cryptic calm before the storm reference from last night. Now, we have been scratching our heads to figure out what hes talking about. North korea . Rex tillerson . Paul manafort . Its probably just a coincidence but one hour before his first reference to the calm before the storm, this story broke. Nbc news reported that bob muellers team had traveled to interview christopher steele. Steele is the former British Intelligence<\/a> officer who compiled the dossier. The dossier which contained some salacious material also contained unsubstantiated examples of possible collusion between Donald Trumps<\/a> campaign and russia. We have learned in recent days that multiple investigations are working to corroborate some of the dossiers contents. This afternoon, nbcs ken delanian reported more, that steele is also in talks with the Senate Intelligence<\/a> committee to","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia600400.us.archive.org\/14\/items\/MSNBCW_20171006_190000_MSNBC_Live_With_Ali_Velshi\/MSNBCW_20171006_190000_MSNBC_Live_With_Ali_Velshi.thumbs\/MSNBCW_20171006_190000_MSNBC_Live_With_Ali_Velshi_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240617T12:35:10+00:00"}