Situation even worse. And no apology. I have jokes, he has the launch codes. So Steven Colbert addresses the controversy surrounding his vulgar rant about the president. I would change a few words that were cruder than they needed to be. Will that be enough to satisfy his critic . Today thursday, may 4th, 2017. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to today. Its a thursday morning. Matt is on assignment. Craig is here. Happy for Prince Philip. A flury activity a few hours ago. A lot of people were concerned. You thought perhaps harry decideding to tie the knot. We have to wait for that announcement. Lets start with this showdown on capitol hill. A vote happening today on the republicans long Promise Health care overhaul than comes less than two months after a similar vote was scrapped over fears it wouldnt pass. But now the House Majority leader says things are different, they have the votes. We have in depth coverage this this morning. Well start with kristen walker. Reporter good morning. That vote could come in just a few hours. The Dramatic Development following a series of false starts after President Trumps initial push for Health Care Reform failed. Gop leaders insisting they do have the votes. The white house more measured this morning calling it a positive development. After period of plat fine the republican repeal and replace obamacare has a pulse. Tomorrow we begin the end of obamacare once and for all. Reporter amid weeks of scrambling to find votes and a flury of high stakes meetings on wednesday gop leaders announcing they will hold the critical vote today. But do they have enough support to get it passed . The break through coming after key relawmakers met with President Trump at the white House Wednesday to push a new compromise amendment. The deal would provide 8 billion over five years to reduce payment for those living with preexisting conditions, resolving concerns the initial bill did not sufficiently cover that issue, something that the president has consistently promised. Preexisting conditions are in the bill. And i mandated it. I said it has to be. Reporter theres still fierce opposition. Two powerful groups the American Medical Association and aarp saying the fix could actually increase prices. Democratic House Minority leader nancy pelosi taking aim overnight. Trump care would raise your health costs, destroy the coverage of millions of americans and under mind a womans right to choose. Reporter these could be the first steps towards a major legislative victory for President Trump who made overhauling health care a key campaign promise. We have to repeal and replace obamacare. Reporter mr. Trump suffered an embarrassing defeat in march when the initial effort failed. But this morning his fight to Reform Health care appears to have new life. The bill hasnt been reviewed publicly so its not clear how much it will cost and even if the bill passes the house it will face steep opposition in the senate included from southeast president s fellow republicans. President trump will sign a controversial executive order aimed at easing restrictions on political activity by churches and charities. The move cheered by conservatives but opponents warn it could lead to discrimination. Kristen walker starting us off at the white house. Nicole wallace our analyst. Here we go again. Servicing on the line for the republicans. They campaigned on this repeal and replace for seventh years now and really obviously feel like the political calculus is we have to at least try. Thats the politics. But to pick up on where kristen left off on the substance the final breath of life came from putting 8 billion on the table for preexisting conditions. Good news, bad news for democrats. The good news shift on the goal post on covering preexisting conditions. People were showing upbers. You had jimmy kimmel at the beginning of the week, talking about his son. So, that obviously had an affect on the politics. The politics are now do or die for republicans. The nonpartisan cbo, the congressional budget office, hasnt scored this legislation so we dont know how many people will lose or gain coverage. And we dont know how much it is going to cost. Onesixth of the american economy, thats what were talking at here. Whats the thinking of not waiting until the cbo can score this . Its not very good thinking. You know, i dont think we should skip over the fact that last time the democrats paid the political price because i think it was nancy pelosi who said, well read it after we pass it. Republicans are now taking the same sort of foolish rush to pass something that not everybody has read. And lets remember our civics. There are two branches of congress and the u. S. Senate would like to weigh in on this. So, the house could pass it, but the senate is a whole oracle clags. And thats exactly where your point comes in. So, the shortsightedness they are going for the political, you know, i love the sports analogy of spiking the ball in the end zone. Dy get it right . Of trying to get the votes in the house today, could really sort of bite them in the end when this goes to the senate and they are the more deliberate body, when they take a harder look at this and obviously the cbo will score it by then, if they find holes in the policy, but the politics could blow up in their face again. To be clear, you say they have the votes, right . They say they have the votes. My only point is, if they do, we are looking to analyze a political victory. Because on the substance they could get tripped up in the senate, which is controlled by the republicans. First important steps today. Thank you very much. The Health Care Vote is not the only thing to watch for on the hill today. James comey will be back on the hot seat a day after telling lawmakers he stands by his decision to reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton emails just days before the president ial election. Nbc National CorrespondentPeter Alexander has more on that. Peter, good morning. Reporter hey, craig, good morning to you. Hes become a lightning rod for criticism after the role he played in last years election, but this morning fbi director james comey is speaking out for the first time in terms weve never heard him before, publicly explaining his controversial decision in last falls october email surprise. Everybody who disagrees with me has to come back to october 28th with me and stare at this and tell me what you would do. Reporter from the fbi director, distress but no regrets. This is terrible. It makes me mildly nauseous to think that we might have had some impact on the election, but honestly, it wouldnt change the decision. Reporter james comey defending his controversial decision less than two weeks before the election, revealing the fbis discovery of a new batch of Hillary Clinton emails, potentially relevant to a case that was effectively closed. So i stared at speak and conceal. Speak would be really bad, theres an election in 11 days. Lordy, that would be really bad. Concealing, in my view, would be catastrophic. Not just to the fbi, but well beyond. Reporter his candid comments coming just hours after clinton blamed comeys move in part for costing her the presidency. But i was on the way to winning until the combination of jim comeys letter on october 28th and russian wikileaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off. Reporter President Trump pouncing on that complaint, tweeting comey was the best thing that ever happened to clinton, giving her a free pass for her many bad deeds. Also revealed in the details in the email surprise, a total of 40,000 Clinton Emails forwarded by huma abedin to Anthony Weiners laptop so they could be printed for the secretary of state. Neither abedin nor wiener has been charged. Asked why it was appropriate to comment on the clinton case, but not the fbis russia investigation, including possible ties to the trump campaign, comeys answer . I think i treated both investigations consistently under the same principle. Reporter director comey also declined to answer whether the white house is cooperating with its russia investigation. And on the topic of wikileaks, he blasted it as what he described as intelligence porn, strongly suggesting that the u. S. Government is preparing to file criminal charges against the and susan rice is declining to testify in front of congress, what is that about . Reporter . Yes. This morning thats what President Trump is tweeting about. Well put those on the screen. Susan rice, the former National Security adviser to president obama, is refusing to testify before a Senate Subcommittee next week on allegations of unmasking trump transition officials. Not good unmasking, to be clear, is the requesting of the identities of names and classified documents. Susan rice repeatedly said she did nothing wrong or improper. This request, and we have obtained the letter from her attorney, the request, they say she declined because it came only from the Top Republican on that Senate Subcommittee, thats lindsey graham. Democrats had not joined in on that invitation. They didnt want it to be a distraction from other witnesses scheduled to testify next week, including the former acting attorney general, sally yates. Susan rice, her attorney is willing to testify to help in congresss russia investigation at the appropriate time in the classified hearing. Well see how that develops. Peter, thank you very much. And now to the flooding emergency thats playing out across parts of the midwest and south. Days of heavy rain leading to evacuations, hundreds of road closures and high water rescues. And this morning new storms are not helping that situation. Nbcs blake mccoy in valley park, missouri, west of st. Louis. Hi, blake, good morning. Reporter savannah, good morning to you. Check this out. Major highways washed out. 6 homes and businesses have been evacuated. Here in missouri alone, at least five deaths have been attributed to this historic flooding. This morning in parts of the midwest and south, torrential rain is adding to already record flooding. Oh, my god. Thr waterfront cabin no match for arkansass swollen current river. Down river, water surging through a levee breach northeast of little rock. Officials warning its a lifethreatening situation. The black river ten feet above flood stage. National guard troops now on alert. 6,400 nearby residents told to seek higher ground. This couple left their house monday. Its cold, its raining, its bad. I would like to go home. Reporter overnight, a new line of severe storms racing across the gulf coast. Up to four inches of rain pounding the area around lake charles, louisiana, already hit by dangerous hail as the water continues to rise. This terrifying scene in iowa, louisiana, as a school bus with kids inside comes precariously close to tipping over. The kids all rescued and okay this morning. Everywhere you look, water. All over, stories of misery. Stacey robinsons basement flooded in 2015. She just had it redone three weeks ago. Now its under water again. I havent had much sleep. I set my alarm every 45 minutes to wake up and go out and check the road to see how far its come up. Im wanting this rain to stop, you know . I hate this. Reporter weve launched our drone to give us some perspective as to the magnitude of this flooding. This is the Meramec River which has swallowed up so many lowlying areas. Good news is even though the rain continues to fall, the river is starting to recede. Folks will soon be let back into their homes and businesses to get a look at the damage left behind by all of this water. Craig and savannah . Blake mccoy, thank you. Well get als forecast in a moment. Back to the breaking news from Buckingham Palace this morning. 95yearold Prince Philip is stepping down from his royal duties later this year. Nbcs keir simmons is at Buckingham Palace with the latest. What can you tell us . Reporter that is momentous moment. Prince philip, 65 years on the job, but a crown he didnt find easy initially, but hes the person the queen leans on for support, for advice, and often a good joke. And it will raise questions about her role because, from august it will be strange to see the queen at official events often without him by her side. The palace making the historic announcement this morning. Prince philip, the duke, unquestionably the single most important person in the queens life, standing down from royal duties. At 95, he will no longer carry out public engagements from autumn this year. The queen in full support. Effectively, hes retiring. I think hell be attending major events but no 9 00 to 5 00 anymore. Reporter this is how the world knows him, a loyal companion, always two steps behind the queen. He has quite simply been my strength and stay all these years. I think the queens obviously going to be greatly moved by this and effective because Prince Philip has always been by her side. Reporter rumors started from the daily mail saying that a highly emergent meeting was called at Buckingham Palace this morning for all senior royal staff members. Initially, the palace refused to reveal what the meeting was about, setting off a firestorm of speculation. Media quickly gathering outside the Buckingham Palace. The internet melting down. Rumors making Buckingham Palace a top hashtag worldwide this morning. Prince philip was seen enjoying himself yesterday attending a critic ground in london. Both royals enjoying a day at the zoo last month. Each day has taken its toll. Prince philip was in and out of a few times in of the hospital in the last years. And royal duties can be physically demanding. The palace quick to underscore the queen will carry out engage mentes as usual. She has relegated some duties and cut back on travel. And after fighting a heavy cold last christmas, she missed the Traditional Church service for the first time. And this is the generational change. Remember, the queen will not abdicate, but well see her pull back slowly from royal duties, perhaps well begin to see more of william. And Prince Philip, well miss his often politically incorrect sense of humor. Yesterday at an event, he told people, youre about to witness the worlds most experience clack unveiler. Its too much, hes got to e retire now. Thank you. We are learning about a tragic accident that happened northwest of boston. Three people were killed, nine others injured, after an suv driven by an auction employee suddenly accelerated and plowed through the crowded building. Jeep grand cherokee came to a stop when it slammed into a concrete wall. The driver was a man in his 70s, he was unharmed. And investigators are still trying to figure out what went wrong there. A massive phishing attack turned in googles popular Gmail Service has millions of users are on edge this morning. Jolie kent with what we need to know. Good morning. Reporter good morning, craig. Millions of goggle users are on high alert after a sophisticated new scam hit their email boxes affecting far more than just their gmail accounts. It looked innocent enough, an email inviting you to view a google document from a trusted contact. But when you click the phony document, it gives hackers access to your gmail account. Phishing is a common tactic, but these scammers went a step further sending a worm out to your contacts, reproducing itself hundreds of times with just one click. Chris got the email on his smartphone. This has me a little more on edge. Im surprised how many people were affected by this, smart people, vigilant people. Reporter of more than a billion gmail users, google says a million were affected. Among the targets, u. S. Senate staffers who were instructed wednesday to delete the message and not click on the links. For those that did click, scammers harvested full email history including all the personal data sent or received in gmail. And hackers could reset passwords for Online Banking and amazon accounts, even facebook. Email is a mess. And its not getting any better. People are only getting more sophisticated at hacking. Reporter in a statement google added we were able to stop the campaign within approximately one hour while Contact Information was accessed and used by the campaign, our investigations show that no other data was exposed. Experts say although google issued a quick fix, hackers have proven theres a new strategy thats effective and lucrative. These user names and passwords are being sold all over the dark web. And you can package a bunch of them and buy them and sell them for not that much money. Reporter there is no word on exactly who is behind this attack, but google says the issue has been fully resolved and users dont need to take any further action. But if you did receive the email or youre concerned about your security, run googles security safety check or you can always change your pass word. Jo kent for us, thank you. This happened to you yesterday. I got the email, i didnt click on the link, but i was too scared to look at it. I thought if i looked at it it would affect my computer. Lets get a check on the weather. Mr. Roker, i cant believe it. Yesterday Orient Express, look at you now, al. Right in front of the eiffel tower. Good morning. Reporter im in another studio in new york city. Hes on the sixth floor. The moon landing. Im really in new york. We got here early this morning, on the venice Orient Express for a story well bring you a little later, but the weather here is nice. But in the east back