Its monday, february 26th. Im Ayman Mohyeldin alongside louis burgdorf. Students at Margie StonemanDouglas High School expected to return to class as early as wednesday following the deadly shooting that took place there less than two weeks ago. An orientation was held yesterday where students and parents returned to the school for the First Time Since the attack that killed 17 students and staff members. The fbi and local authorities now facing more criticism in the wake of that attack. According to the New York Times, less than six weeks before the shooting, a woman who knew the gunman said on the fbis tip line, i know hes going to explode. Mean wile, the brawl ard county Sheriffs Office is investigating why three of its deputies apparently remained outside the school during the shooting. The news came days after another deputy, scott peterson, resigned following reports that he, too, had not gone inside the school to confront the shooter. The Broward County sheriff scott
kelly. Good morning, ayman. There was a notable change at the white house this week and it has to do with the nations most coveted secrets. It involves employees whose Background Checks have not been completed or who have not yet this hr permanent Security Clearance and it happens to include one of the president s the closest advisers. Rarely heard in public. My name is Jared Kushner. I am Senior Adviser to president donald j. Trump. Jared has done an outstanding job. I think hes been treated very unfairly. The more inside of insiders. The 37yearold Jared Kushner, husband of ivanka trump, does not have permanent high level Security Clearance. Theres nothing normal about a Senior Adviser having an interim clearance for more than
a year. Rod rosenstein took an unusual step of calling the white House Counsel, don mcgahn, in early february to deliver a warning. Kushners Background Check had hit a serious, but unspecified snag. Some people described this conversation as a status update. Others said it was a houston, we have a problem moment. Friday, Chief Of Staff john kelly put in place new policy, tightening access to secrets for staffers without permanent clearance. President trump was asked if he would waive the rules for his soninlaw. I will let general kelly make that decision. And hes going to do whats right for the country. I have no doubt hell make the right decision. Kushner has been interviewed by the Special Counsel and says he had no improper contacts with russia. As a campaign official, he attended the june 2016 trump tower meeting with the russian lawyer and others. Democrats have raised concerns that kushners vast foreign
business interests pose a conflict. If general kelly wants to keep his job, hes probably going to the make the president happy and allow Jared Kushner to have this clearance. Aides to kushner would not comment on his Security Clees clearance. The white house Chief Of Staff put out a statement saying he has full confidence in kushner and he could do his work, things like work on Midwest Peace and the relationship with mexico. But the white house has not explained if or how he could carry out those responsibilities without the highest level permanent Security Clearance. Ayman. At the white house for us, kelly odonnell. Thank you for that. And on friday, President Trump spoke at this years conservative Political Action conference, better known as cpac. He spoke for about an hour and 14 minutes in a free wheeling speech that harkened back to his days on the 2015 campaign trail. Here are a few of the things he had to say. By the way, you dont mind if
i go off script a little bit because, you know, its sort of boring. Its sort of boring. Got this beautiful speech, everything is wonderful, but a little boring. I had a couple of characters saying he doesnt really want the wall. He just used that for campaigning. I said, can you believe it . Every time i hear that, the wall gets 10 feet higher. You know that. So the cpac summit was also the source of some controversy as critics of the Trump Administration were taken to task. Veteran Conservative Writer and advocate sharon had to be escorted out for her comments. Listen to this. Im going to twist this around a bit and say im disappointed in people on our side. Okay. For being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women in our party who are sitting in the white house who
brag about their extra marital affairs, who brag about mistreating women, and because he happens to have an r after his name, we look the other way, we dont complain. This is a party that was ready to endorse the Republican Party, endorsed roy moore for the senate in the state of alabama, even though he was a credibly accused child molester. You cannot claim that you stand for women and put up with that. So just hours after President Trump spoke on friday, the Communications Director for the group behind cpac, ian walters, made a controversial statement about the election of Michael Steele ago republican chairman in 2009. Take a listen. We had just elected the first avenue can american president and that was a big deal. And a little bit of cynicism, what do we do . This is a terrible thing. We elected mike steele to be the
rnc chair because hes a black guy. That was the wrong thing to do. Walters later called steele to apologize. And the following day, the american chair of the Conservative Union appeared on steeles siriux xm radio show. You have been rather critical of some of the more conservative aspects of the trump phenomenon and this trump agenda. Right. I think what ian was getting to, the heart of that was there are people who are critics of some of the things you did as you were chairman. What the hell does my race have to do with any of that at the end of the day . What does the color of my skin have to do with anything you just said . You mean to tell me as a black conservative, put it in that context, i cant be critical of the president . You can be, back seat as you know, there are a lot of people i can take race out of it. Yeah. But hes injecting race into it. I would agree with you. So, again
those words that tumbled out of his mouth, i believed were unfortunate words. They were stupid. Its not unfortunate. Call it what it is. Dont take the worst out of what he said. You know him. I know, but this is where you need to have some grace. Wait a minute, what the hell do i have to be graceful for . Youve not been very graceful to the republicans and the conservatives in this hall and in this room for a very long period of time. Coming up, mona chapel and david steele are going to weigh in on this movement. Joining us now, steve, lots to faulk about here. Lets discuss what we were just talking about at cpac. Whats been the reaction, particularly among conservatives to what was said about Michael Steele at cpac, the subsequent response,lty of heads this morning, probably scratching their heads and wondering whats
going on. Diversity is important for all political organizations. In 2009, republicans were excited to have a black chairman of the rnc, Michael Steele. But what this comment implied was this was diversity for diversity sake and that steele didnt do a very good job. Of course thats going to upset steele and its going to stomp on the message that the Republican Party as a diversion organization. But i think its important to keep innen context here that this person who spoke was the spokesperson for the american Conservative Union. Thats not a wing of the Republican Party. This is the organization that throws the Cpac Gathering Every year. But between gatherings, its not an essential part of the Republican Party. So i think we need to keep in context just how big of a deal this is. I think a lot of people would look at that comment and say this was a racist comment to refer to it. Hes saying he was elected because he was a black guy. Right. It certainly doesnt sound good. Its a matter where you have to
be delicate and this is certainly it sounded offensive. It was a personal slight against Michael Steele. And it definitely steps on the message that the party would like to communicate. Lets switch gears and talk about Jared Kushner and the issue of permanent Security Clearances and the lack thereof. It doesnt look like hes going to get one anytime soon. How big of a political liability is this potentially for the president . When you could have somebody as influential as Jared Kushner who deals with very important portfolios like the middle east peace process, if hes not getting the intelligence reports about the palestinians, the israelis, how is he going to provide the president with his best advice and counsel when he doesnt have a Security Clearance . Rob porter was allegedly beat both of his exwives and the white house allegedly knew about it. With Jared Kushner, we dont know what exactly is holding up the Security Clearance review. It could be he helped manage a
multibillion Dollar Company with international connections. If its something worse than that, if he allegedly has some deeper issue, some scandal lurking, i think that is when it could be a real liability to the white house. Yeah. We can only guess what that conversation between rod rose. En stein and don mcgahn was like when he told him hes not going to get that clearance anytime soon. Stick around. Still ahead, bizarre but legal, thats what some experts are calling a newly reported arrangement that has the rnc Forki Forking Thousands of dollars a month to the trump campaign. And later, Florida Governor rick scott breaks with President Trump on one of his most controversial thoughts on School Safety. Unusual, but legal. The payments began in september according to Financial Disclosure forms. This was just after the rnc came under pressure to stop paying President Trump at his r and his eldest sons legal bills related to Special CounselRobert Muellers investigation in the russian interference in the 2016 election. The payments include more than 37,000 a month for office space rental and trump tower in new york. Party officials have confirmed and thousands of dollars per month for a staff that includes Vice President mike pences nephew, john pence. This is not the first time the rnc has paid trump for use of one of his properties. Party committee spent 1. 3 million in the first eight months of 20 17. Dianne feinstein has failed to win the backing of her state party. The 84yearold feinstein, seeking her sixth term in
office, received just 37 of the votes from Party Delegates with her challenger, state senator Kevin De Leon getting 54 . Below fell below the 60 endorsement threshold. While feinstein remains well ahead in endorsements and campaigning, theres a more growing Liberal Movement within the party. Lets get a check off your weather now with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Youre tracking some rain in the southern part the of the country, but hopefully the northeast rain will dissipate. The whole country needs a break. Over the weekend, we had our tornados on saturday. Unfortunately we ended our streak with no fatalities. We just got done with the longest stretch in our country with no tornado fatalities. In kentucky and tennessee, about five people died in total this weekend from the flooding and from the tornados. I think we have some pictures of the tennessee damage. Ef1. So it wasnt like a huge really
intense, but you can see it just shattered that home that was sitting there that was significant roof damage below. So its warm like spring and with it comes Severe Weather season. Its its like we just forgot about winter all of a sudden. So a little rain activity, light rain for you in atlanta for your morning commute. Its going to stay mostly south of d. C. Down towards richmond. For todays forecast, theres the Rainy Weather in the southeast. Feast, were hoping to get you some sunshine for the first time in days. Where we head to horrible flooding over the weekend, try weather for you in arkansas. Here comes the next storm in the middle of the week. This will be a Soaking Rain Event as we go wednesday into thursday. Theres that heavy rain in the yellow. A little bit of snow on the back side of this. Then this whole mess redevelops into a strong almost noreaster type storm. You start thinking big snowstorm. Too warm. Mostly a rain event for the city. Possible snow in the mountains of new england. We have to watch this for coastal flooding. Thats going to be a pretty good storm on friday, guys, but well talk about that as the week approaches. Lots to track out there. Thanks for that, bill. Still ahead, the final report from pyeongchang as the 2018 olympics draw to a close. As students get set to return to class this week, their schools hockey team gives them a big lift. Thats next in sports. A doctor. Became diagnosed with hodgkins lymphoma. I had to put my trust in somebody. We recommended chemotherapy, and then a stem cell transplant. When his disease progressed, i thought that he would be a good candidate for immune therapy to unleash his Immune System against the cancer. Im back to working hard. Ive honestly have never felt this great. The evolution of cancer care is here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com Appointments Available now. At ally, were doing Digital Financial services right. But if thats not enough, we have more than 8000 allys looking out for one thing you. Call in the next ten minutes. And if thats not enough, well look after your every dollar. Put down the phone. And if thats not enough, well look after your every cent. Grab your wallet. Beeping SoundComputer Voice access denied. And if thats still not enough to help you save. Oh the new one well bring out the dogs. Mush dogs barking the old ones just fine well do anything, seriously anything, to help our customers. Thanks. Ally. Do it right. Welcome back. Time now for sports. Starting with the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 winter olympics, host country south korea used the world stage to promote an optimistic and peaceful future. It included kpop stars dancing among the 900 cast and crew along with a show forming the mascot of pyeongchang games. But even though the ceremony preached peace and unity, north and south korean athletes wore different uniforms while matching into the stadium together, a departure from the countrys opening ceremony. And with the flame extinguished, norway came away with the model most medals with 39, tied with germany in 14 gold medals. For a story of resilience here,
the Hockey Players at marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in the aftermath of the shooting that left 17 classmates and teachers dead weighed heavily in their hearts as they made a run to the state title. Starting the day as the lowest seeded team in the tournament, Stoneman Douglas whose players dyed yellow hair in on honor of their fallen classmates were resilient, eventually winning the state championship. This wasnt for us. This was for the 17 victims. We played for them. So passionate, so emotional, its all for them. The players almost didnt hit the ice because of the shooting, but they played for their school. A heart broken school. What an incredible story. So happy to see that school get some good news in the wake of everything that has happened there. Still ahead, President Trump is scheduled to meet with governors from across the country this morning. What we expect to hear from him as the the debate over guns and School Safety ramps up. Plus, Jared Kushners Security Clearance hits another staff. What white house john kelly may be doing about it. Well be right back. But you started a new life in a brand new world. When i built my ancestry family tree, i found your story. Then, my dna test helped me reclaim the portuguese citizenship you lost. Im joshua berry, and this is my ancestry story. Combine ancestrys dna test and Historical Records to discover your story. Get started for free at ancestry. Com you or joints. Something for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brainhealth supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. Your heart doesnt only belong to you. Bye grandpa. And if you have Heart Failure, entrusting your heart to entresto may help. Entresto is a Heart Failure medicine that helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. In the largest Heart Failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital compared to a leading Heart Failure medicine. Dont take entresto if pregnant. It can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren. If youve had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, dont take entresto. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. And help make more tomorrows possible. An orientation was held yesterday where students and parents returned to the school for the First Time Since the attack that killed 17 students and staff members. Mean wile, the Broward CountySheriffs Office is investigating why three of its deputies, apparently remained outside the school during the shooting. The news came days after another deputy, scott peterson, resigned following reports that he, too, had not gone inside to confront the shooter. Broward county sheriff, scott israel, said the actions of the deputies are under investigation. He also said he would not resign despite the criticisms he and his agencies are facing. Tammy, lets start with the president for a moment. We know hes going to meet with the nations governors today. He said gun violence will be at the top of his agenda. What are we expecting to come out . Most likely, gun control will dominate the conversation as well as gun violence in america. We know both President Trump and
governor rick scott have come out and said that they support discussion of raising the age to 21 and being able to purchase a rifle in america, which is an interesting move considering that Governor Scott has maintained an a plus rating with the nra. Could this put pressure on the nra which is always maintain a hard line that they dont believe that the purchase age of purchasing a rifle should be raised to 21 . Its possible. Another idea trump has floated is arming a select group of teachers in schools with weapons. Now, this is an idea that his own daughter has stopped short of supporting. She spoke with nbc over the weekend and expressed uncertainty as to whether this would actually make the schools any safer. She said, quote, this is not a bad idea, but itsen an idea that definitely needs to be discussed further. Ayman. Yeah. It seems like it will be an
uphill battle to get any kind of movement on the issue of gun legislature or gun reform. Thank you very much. And staying in florida, Florida Governor rick scott broke with President Trump on friday, rejecting trumps proposal to arm teachers in order to prevent school shooting. Scott said he would support legislation that would prohibit gun sales to people under the age of 21 and those who are mentally ill or have a violent history. However, republican senator pat toomey said yesterday he is skeptical about raising the age. Im very skeptical about that because the vast majority of 18, 19, 20, 21yearolds are lawabiding citizens who arent a threat to anyone. So im skeptical about that. Im willing to the hear the other side on this, but im skeptical. So while the gop has remained mostly silent on a possible gun
control bill, republican congressman brian mast says he supports an Assault Weapons ban. He wrote a New York Times oped where he said he would support banning weapons like the ar15 used in the parkland skoot school shooting. Later this morning, Congressman Mast will join morning joe to discuss his support for a ban on Assault Weapons. In the wake of the Parkland Shooting, a growing number of companies are are severing ties with the National Rifle association. United airlines, metlife, and several others are all doing away with discounts and perks for nra members. The nra responded with a statement over the weekend writing in part, quote, some corporations have decided to punish nra membership in a shameful display of political and civic cowardis. The statement went on to say the loss of a discount will neither scare nor distract one single nra member. Switching gears for a movement and back to the white house where President Trump says
he will not intervene to get a Security Clearance for Jared Kushner. This after Deputy Attorney general Rod Rosenstein told white House Counsel dawn mcgahn that kushners clearance would not be coming anytime soon. Rosenstein was return ago white house phone call seeking guidance on the status of kushners and others background investigations. Two of the sources said the Deputy Attorney general told mcgahn that the Just Department the had obtained new information suggesting it could be an obstacle to kushners clearance process. One other said rosenstein does not discuss the nature of the ongoing investigation. A week after white house Chief Of Staff john kelly ordered an end to interim clearances that had been pending for months, kus curbing kushners access, President Trump was asked if he would use his influence to grant a waiver. We have inherited a system that is broken. Its taken months and months and months to get many people that do not have the complex complemented financials. And its still taken months. Its a broken system. And it shouldnt take this long. You know how many people are on that list. People are not a problem in the world. That will be up to general kelly. General kelly respects jared a lot and general kelly will make that call. I wont make that call. I will let the general, who is right here, make that call. Special counsel bob muellers probe has object stained a guilty plea from rick gates, the deputy to Campaign ChairmanPaul Manafort who remained in the campaign and transitioned for months after manaforts ouster. In federal court, gates pleaded guilty to participating in a financial conspiracy to hide money he earned in ewe contain and to lie to federal investigators earlier this month about a 2013 meeting about ukraine that manafort had are a pro russian member of congress. Gates has agreed to cooperate with the probe. Manafort responded, i continued to maintain my innocence. I had hoped and expected my Business Colleague would have had the strength to continue the battle to prove our innocence. For reasons yet to surface, he chose to do otherwise. And on saturday, congress released a tenpage memo for democrats to refute a republican memo that warns to spy on carter page were tainted by politically motivated materials. The Response Memo argues that the application made, quote, narrow use of the information paid for by democrats and that the work had been commissioned by people, quote, likely looking for information that could be used to discredit the trump campaign. The memo also claims that the surveillance of page allowed the fbi to collect valuable intelligence and that all of the four judges who approved of the warrants were appointed by
republicans. In a statement, page said that the memo is the latest Smear Campaign by dnc loyalists. President trump said it was a bust and demanded an investigation of, quote, illegal activity alleged in the republican memo. A lot of bad things happened on the other side. Not on this side, but on the other side. And you know what is interesting somebody should look into it because what they did is really fraudulent and somebody should be looking into that. And by somebody, im talking about you know who. I have a feeling i know who it is, mr. President. Back with us in washington, d. C. , White House Reporter for the washington examiner, steve nelson. Steve, good to have you back with us. Lets talk blths bit about this memo if we can. There are now questions as to whether the release of that memo in the wake of the republican memo has changed anything beyond the further divide between the democrats and the republicans and even the accusation that the House Intelligence Committee has now become hyper partisan. Well, of course this memo was just dumped on saturday without apparently much notice to the democrats who wrote it. So its a punch thats been muted by that. It is interesting that were continuing to learn more details. Weve learned now that the length of this initial application regarding carter page was longer than 50 pages. We have learned the exact date that the russia investigation started. These are details in the public interest. But certainly the House Intelligence Committee has become hyper partisan. Thats just not in dispute. And its going to be interesting Going Forward how that plays out abuse traditionally, its been almost above politics. When Edward Snowden released claims about surveillance abuse, the Intelligence Committee members were in lock step with each other saying, to, we do very careful oversight. You should trust us. We are on top of this. So it will be interesting to see how their lack of credibility plays out Going Forward. Yeah. Its a very good comparison between what happened with Edward Snowden and what is happening now. Lets switch gears for the a moment and go back to what has erupted in the wake of the Parkland School shooting. We continue to see these young survivors take to the air waves calling out elected officials over gun control reform. Have they taken lawmakers by surprise . And do you anticipate that were actually going to hear prosecute them as we head into the Midterm Elections . Could this be an issue in the Midterm Elections that no one was particularly prepared for . I dont know. I agree, though, that it does seem remarkable how many well spoken students they have who are great on television and very effective at social media. Communicating their points the of view regarding gun control. Were certainly going to be hearing about this for another month when at the end of march there are large protests planned, apparently organizers are thinking half a million
people could show up in d. C. And that, of course, will keep the issue alive for longer. I dont know that its going to be a major Midterm Election issue. It could be certainly in some localities, in florida, for example. But certainly were going to be hearing this for at least another month. Yeah. Were going to have to wait and see how it all plays out in the coming months. Ahead, steve nelson live in washington. Thanks, steve. Still ahead, after a Sexual Harassment scandal, a last intent to save the Harvey Weinstein company fails. Plus, heavy rains cause major flooding in part of the midwest and more rain is in the forecast. For some already water logged cities. Full check on weather when we come right back. Stay with us. Listerine® Cleansaches 25virtually 100 . Helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. Never settle for 25 . Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™
the midwest with at least five different Tornados Ripping through parts of tennessee, missouri and kentucky. A funnel cloud spotted in southwest kentucky and in hopkinsville, powerful storms tore roof off buildings. This home was flattened. In arkansas, strong winds ripped apart this hotel in osceola. The next town over, kaiser, lost part of its roof. These two houses suffer similar fates. In ohio, winds uprooted trees, damaging buildings and cars. Residents in louisville still face severe flooding with homes and roads submerged. The citys Fire Division responding to more than 100 rescue calls. Communities surveying the devastation coming together to recover. Lets get a big picture on the Weather Forecast across the
country with nbc meteorologist bill karins. How is it looking . A little calmer to start our workweek than what we saw this weekend. The river, all of those were still very high. So we need the warm pattern, but we need it to be dry and warm. You know, to help dry things out. And its going to stay mild this week. Its not going to feel like the end of february at all. Temperatures the today, 65 in little rock. New orleans at 74. 84 in jacksonville, florida. Its too early. All the snowbirds are saying, its too warm. 55 in new york city is pretty nice. The sun will come out eventually in areas of the northeast. Its been like three days in new york with clouds. D. C. , warmer. 70 in nashville on tuesday. Theres to signs of any cold air coming. As we head into march, wilmington, North Carolina, 76 on this thursday. Theres nothing too chilly. Todays forecast, we have the rain with us this morning along i10. That will head through pensacola
shortly. Foggy around the midatlantic. Especially d. C. Look at dallas, 67. St. Louis at 59. After a couple of snowy days in the last four or five, minneapolis at 39, youre going to start to melt some of that snow. Here is a look at the rain throughout the southeast. Steady, heavy rain, mobile to montgomery. A light, dreary rain from roanoke to raleigh, charlotte, Virginia Beach to richmond. Throughout the afternoon hours, this will begin to exit and head out a little bit. It will begin to clear out somewhat and we could use it. As we go throughout the workweek, again, the areas of greatest concern are going to be in the southeast. Then as we go throughout the week into areas of the midatlantic, yet the noreaster, if we do get it, looks to be mostly a rain event towards the end of this week. And i think, you know, i was looking at the calendar and the problem is we had the full moon coming as we go throughout march 1st. Thats thursday night. Then were going to have the high tide cycle on the east coast. We dont know exactly who is going to get the worst of this storm, but it does look like we
are going to see thursday, friday on the east coast. If you have travel plans at the Airports Wieb airports, its going to be rainy and windy, too. Just when i thought you were going to give us good weather march isnt like that. Latch, you get two nice days and then punished, eventually nice will win out. Lets turn to business. The Weinstein Company is facing fallout. They have filed bankruptcy. Lewis, they havent actually declared bankruptcy yet, but they could be declaring it imminently after talks with a buyer have collapsed. This is a company that has been reeling from significant losses. Much partners such as netflix have pulled projects from the company and mr. Weinstein himself has been ousted from the
board and is also under Police Investigation in both the u. S. And the uk. Elsewhere, some Airlines News for you, the chicago mayor and Chicago Airline carriers are in the final stage of negotiating an 8. 5 billion rebound of Chicagos Ohare International airport. It is one of the busiest airports in the world, but it has traditionally lagged in the category of international passengers. So the plan is to revamp the airports with dozens of new gates, Wider Concourses and more international flights. So good news for the jet setters like yourself louis. Thank you. Dunkin donuts has teamed up with the girl scouts the. What can you tell us about the flavors . Very exciting news. The new collaboration comes in three flavors, thin mints, coconut caramel, is. My favorite, Peanut Butter cookie where the company itself has
created its first ever flavor of mouth watering Peanut Butter. You can add these flavors to your coffees, whether hot or cold as of today. They will be available in stores until may. Back to you. All right, all the flavors, all the inside information. Thank you so much. Im not sure about the Peanut Butter flavored coveree. That may be a tough sell for me. Still ahead, new details about President Trumps proposed military parade. Plus, a rare possible step towards diplomacy. North korea holds a willingness to hold talks with the United States. Were going to get the very latest on that. Stay with us. Fight Security Threats 60 times faster with ai that sees threats coming. The ibm cloud. The cloud for smarter business. The ibm cloud. A whole new concept in skin say heldefense. Etox new absolutely ageless®. Pretox day mask from aveeno®. Its powerful antioxidant formula. Fights pollution and keeps skin looking younger, longer. Aveeno®. You know whats not awesome . Gigspeed internet. When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Would have just it would be a great representative parade. We would have a lot of plane flyovers. It would be something great for the spirit of the country. Well see if we can do it at a reasonable cost. If we cant, we wont do it. The generals would love to do it and so would i. A lot of flyovers. So north korea is willing to hold talks with the United States in order to resolve tensions on the korean peninsula. The revelation came during a meeting south korean president moon jaein had with several highranking north korean officials at the end of the winter olympics. President moon also told the north koreans that talks between the u. S. And north korea, quote, must be held at the soonest, according to moons office. Now, interestingly, one of the officials moon met with was kim yongchol. He was suspected of being the master mind behind the attacks on a naval ship back in 2010 that killed dozens of sailers and several civilians. North korea has expectedly condemned the latest round of u. S. Sanctions, adding that the new plan reportedly by the u. S. And its allies to widen the crackdown on ships suspected of violating sanctions would be considered, quote, an act of war. Now, curiously it was the president s daughter and adviser ivanka who briefed president moon on the sanctions despite prevailing questions on her own Security Clearance status and her background in korean diplomacy. First let me say, ivanka trump has been briefed on this. Shes been part of the team. She had dinner with president moon. They had a private discussion in advance about this occurring. This has been an interagency process. Secretary, you said that by going to a little more detail about Ivanka Briefing the south korean president. Does she have the proper Security Clearance to been able to know what these things were and brief the south korean president . Yeah. She has the appropriate access
to brief the president moon. Chinas ruling party are paving the way for xi jinping to stay in power indefinitely past the end of his second term in 2023. Currently the Communist Party has limits of two consecutive terms. The change is expected to be ratified by Chinas Parliament during its annual session next month. During Chinas Congress last october, xi jinping thought was added to the partys constitution elevating him to the same level as past and enshrining his theories into the partys constitution. Longtime conservative mona sws charen and Michael Steele are here to talk about cpac this past weekend. And jim hines and mike quigley join us Rebutting Allegations made by republicans. And Senate Minority whip dick durbin will also be a guest this
morning. Morning joe, everyone, just moments away. Art. It can be sculpted, bringing to life beautiful detail. Or painted in luxurious strokes. And in rare cases. Both. Hnew litter . Lled this no. Nobody has its unscented vo new tidy cats free clean unscented. Powerful odor control with activated charcoal. Free of dyes. Free of fragrances. Tidy cats free clean. When no scents makes sense. Has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Tell your doctor if these occur. Otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Other side effects include Upper Respiratory Tract Infection and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Welcome back, everyone. Before we toss it over to morning joe, lets get a quick check on the stories well hear about in the day ahead. After a tendaybreak, members of congress are returning to work today. Lawmakers are under a lot of pressure to respond to the public outcry over gun reform. President trump is expected to discuss the deadly Parkland Shooting with governors from across the country during meetings that will take place today at the white house this morning. He said yesterday that it will be the first topic on his list. Also happening today, members of the public will get a chance to pay their final respects to the reverend billy graham. His body will lie in Repose Inside The Graham Family Home place in charlotte, North Carolina today and tomorrow. And on wednesday and thursday, grahams body will lie in honor in the u. S. Capital rotunda in washington, d. C. Before returning to charlotte for the funeral on friday. Guys, that does it for us on this monday morning. Morning joe starts right now. We have a very crooked