versus getting people back to work is a false choice. plus three top officials now in some form of quarantine after possible exposure inside the white house. my guests this morning, infectious disease specialist michael osterholm and jeffrey shaman, and republican representative lamar alexander of tennessee. also historic unemployment disaster. unemployment numbers not seen since the great depression. i m going to be homeless if i don t open my business back up. i m not trying to be a scofflaw, i m trying to make a living. my conversation with billionaire businessman and philanthropist robert f. smith on making sure no one is left out of recovery efforts. we have to reinvest so when we come back from the pandemic we re actually in a much better position. and the latest in the michael flynn and tara reade stories. joining me for insight are nbc white house correspondent kristen welker, richard haass, president of the council on foreign relations, and wall st
it would be serious, literally. we could know within hours. finally democratic senator are sheldon whitejoses fbi director james comey led him to believe he would make things clear by this afternoon. republican senator lindsey graham says he s ready to subpoena the fbi if he doesn t get answers. congress is going to flex its muscles. the president of the united states asked congress to look into this as to whether or not the trump campaign was surveilled during the 2016 election by the federal government. i m going to get to the bottom of it. if it needs a subpoena to get there, that s what we ll do. shortly president hits the road. it s a good thing air force one has plenty of carry-on space, he s carrying heavy baggage. how hard will he campaign for the health care plan. senior washington correspondent joe johns at the white house for us now with the latest. are we going to hear from the fbi? is the house and the administration going to turn over the evidence it says it
is one of the truly egregious crimes, and it shouldn t have happened. and it shouldn t be allowed to happen. do you think that assad should leave power in syria? i think what happened in syria is a disgrace to humanity, and he s there, and i guess he s running things. so something should happen. something should happen. you heard the president. well, joining me right now from london with more is nbc correspondent richard engel. richard, there s something happening, and i m wondering what we know at this point. what do you know? reporter: well, i ve been speaking to senior u.s. military officials, and they say that something is seriously under consideration, that it could happen imminently, that a wide range of options are being presented to the president. this could develop very quickly, perhaps even in the next couple of next several hours. and that the president is leaning toward a more limited option, not a massive military campaign that would change the regime,
very contentious talks on trade, north korea, and a host of other issues. trump just addressed reporters saying he and the chinese president are building a friendship, and he ignored shouted questions about syria. and we begin tonight with a stunning reversal from the white house with potentially huge consequences. president trump is considering a military response against syria as early as tonight, perhaps in the next couple of hours. less than one week ago, the trump administration maintained it was not seeking to oust syrian president bashar al assad. but today secretary of state rex tillerson told reporters that in the wake of tuesday s horrific chemical weapons attack in a rebel-held region of syria, assad has, quote, no role governing his country. assad s role in the future is uncertain clearly. with the acts that he has taken, it would seem there would be no role for him to govern the syrian people. it s a serious matter. it requires a serious response. that aforem
now. announcer: and now, shepard smith reporting live from the fox news deck. shepard: as the president faces impeachment proceedings, today he did it again on live television. it happened in response to a question about what he wanted from the ukrainian leader. president trump: i would think if they were honest about it, a major investigation into the bidens, it is a simple answer. they should investigate the bidens. how does a company that is newly formed and by the way, likewise, china should start an investigation into the bidens. because what happened to china is just about as bad as what happened with ukraine. shepard: the president asked ukraine and china to investigate his political rival on television for all the world to hear. fox news knows of no investigation for any american law. it if it is determined that the president made that request, president trump may have violated federal law. it is illegal to ask a foreign national or foreign country for any