hallie jackson has those details. >> reporter: for president trump, somber silence after a in moments of tragedy and horror, america comes together as one. >> reporter: the president responding to the attack with remarks that called for unity, but not gun control. making no mention of gun rights at all, as the combative debate resurfaces. >> it would be premature for us to discuss policy when we don't fully know all the facts or what took place last night. >> reporter: gun control advocates see it differently. >> if we don't act now, when will we. >> reporter: at the capitol, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords shot in the head in arizona in 2011 delivered a message to her former colleagues. >> the nation's counting on you. >> reporter: by now it's a familiar pattern, that not even the murders of 20 children at sandy hook could break. a devastating shooting, a national gun dialogue, then gridlock. with deep background checks and mental health regulations. >> you can't sit here and call for ban this, ban that. when you don't even know what was used. >> reporter: most republicans op

our chief white house correspondent hallie jackson tells us more. >> i will say this. i think the republican party has a pretty good unity. >> reporter: tonight a victory lap for the president as a brewing republican resistance simply hasn't materialized one day after two retiring republicans slammed the president's character. [ inaudible question ] >> well, i think the press makes me more uncivil than i am. you know, people don't understand. i went to an ivy league college. i was a nice student. i did very well. i'm a very intelligent person. >> when is it okay for you to pull punches? >> i think it's always okay when somebody says something but that's false, i think it's always okay to counterpunch or to fight back. >> reporter: to senators bob corker and jeff flake, that's part of the problem. >> we can't continue to just remain silent when the president keeps going on like this. >> reporter: but the silence on capitol hill speaks volumes. many republicans moving on rather than rising up. >> we've got a job to do, damn it, and so all of this nonsense. i've got nothi

lester. >> hallie jackson at the white house. thanks >>> now to the cryptic comment from president trump that is rippling across washington tonight. surrounded by military leaders and their spouses, the president told reporters that they might be seeing "the calm before the storm," a remark that prompted many to ask was he referring to something specific. the white house isn't saying. nbc's peter alexander has more. >> thank you very much, everybody. >> reporter: from the oval office tonight president trump with a wink and a tease. >> thank you very much. you'll find out. >> reporter: revealing no new details about the meaning of this cryptic comment during a reception with military leaders and their spouses thursday night. >> you guys know what this represents? >> tell us, sir. >> maybe it is the calm before the storm. >> what's the storm? >> could be the calm, the calm before the storm. >> what storm, mr. president? >> you'll find out. >> reporter: what's he talking about? the white house insisting president trump never tips hi

>> hallie jackson starting us off from the white house. off from the white house. thank you. >>> let's get out of washington and to the people living in the epicenter of this opioid crisis. perhaps no community is harder hit than the area around dayton, ohio, where already this year 517 people have died from an accidental overdose. nbc's kate snow traveled there to talk to people struggling with addiction either directly or through a loved one about washington's response to the crisis. >>> we're the experts. we're the ones that know -- >> reporter: at the weekly families of addicts meeting in dayton, ohio, they're encouraged the white house is taking notice, but not sure their leaders really get it. how many people here think that washington maybe doesn't understand what's happening here in dayton? they'd be happy to show the president around, though. >> he needs to come to my hood and ride around with me. [ laughter ] and see what it's like every day. >> reporter: the president? >> yeah. i could see that right out our window every day. drug -- drug deals right the

lester. >> hallie jackson is the the white house, thank you. today is just latest in which attacker used car or truck to mow people people around the world. isis and al qaeda have called on people to use vehicles to kill innocent civilians. and they're hard for law enforcement to prevent. more from nbc's tom costello. >> it's a growing terror tactic used around the world. july 2016, truck on the boardwalk in nice, france, 86 killed, 200 injured. similar tactics on the london bridge in may, eight dead. another five killed in march. around the world attacks in barcelona, stockholm, berlin and ohio state university, 11 injured. for years isis and al qaeda called for this kind of low tech attack, using cars to mow down as many people as possible. >> small-scale attacks using tools widely available make suppressing this entirely not just difficult but truly impossible. >> in new york last may wasn't a terror attack but deranged suspect on drugs who killed a woman and injured 22 after driving through a crowd in time square. james o'neill told lester

our chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: late tonight, nbc news is learning the ambush in niger may have been a setup, a sneak attack by terrorists tipped off in advance about a meeting between u.s. special forces and tribal leaders in a village sympathetic to isis. three officials briefed on the matter say that's the emerging theory among pentagon investigators. >> a big part of the mission there is meeting with the locals and getting in with them, getting intelligence from them, but what this mission shows is just how dangerous that can be. >> reporter: today the nation's top military officer tried to explain what went so wrong. >> why owe the families of the fallen more information. >> reporter: in a rare briefing, general joseph dunford says u.s. special forces, who perhaps thought they could handle the fight themselves, waited an hour after the initial confrontation to call for air support. >> did the mission change? that's one of the questions being asked. that's a fair question, but i can't tell you definitively the answer to that question. >>

hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. >>> still ahead tonight, hotels on high alert. the enhanced security you may find next time you check in after the mass shooting here. hope you can stay with us. >>> we're back now from las vegas where tonight resorts have stepped up security as officials try to add extra layers of safety while trying to find the right balance between the ease of enjoying the hotels and casinos up and down the strip and the need to protect what could be seen as soft targets. here's nbc's jo ling kent. >> reporter: tonight, major new security measures deployed in las vegas, three days after sunday's mass shooting from a hotel room window. law enforcement stepping up security outside of hotels and inside at the wynn and encore, beyond the security cameras, new bag checks and handheld metal detectors for guests and staff. plus, k-9 units scouring the strip and searching hotel rooms for possible threats. jeff and penny chittendon have visited vegas ten times. this trip is different. >> last night we had to go through metal detectors, which was the fir

let's get more from our chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. >> reporter: trick-or-treat is the only question president trump's answering tonight. the white house strategy now, distance and deflect. president trump tweeting today, sorry, but this is years ago, before paul manafort was part of the trump campaign. but why aren't crooked hillary and the dems the focus? >> today's announcement has nothing to do with the president, has nothing to do with the president's campaign or campaign activity. >> reporter: sanders is correct that paul manafort's indictment never explicitly mentions the trump campaign, but it does accuse him and rick gates of misleading the government, a felony, even after they joined team trump in spring 2016. >> paul manafort has done an amazing job. >> reporter: as for george papadopoulos, his plea agreement directly relates to his work for the campaign, a role the white house today tried to downplay as limited. papadopoulos was never paid but he was named a campaign foreign policy adviser last march. >> george papadopoulos, he's an oil and energy consul

nbc's hallie jackson went to capitol hill to find out. >> reporter: president trump argues now's not the time to talk gun control. >> we're not going to talk about that today. we won't talk about that. >> reporter: the president visiting vegas where some 22,000 people experienced the deadliest shooting in modern u.s. history. dianne feinstein's daughter was almost one of them. >> they were going to stay at that hotel. that's how close it came to me. >> reporter: the senator whose daughter never ended up at the concert introducing a new ban on bump stocks, which legally allow a semiautomatic gun to shoot faster, like an automatic. democratic senator richard blumenthal co-sponsors the bill. >> there is receptiveness that i think is very, very significant. >> reporter: at least two republicans say they would back a bump stock ban. one texas lawmaker said there's no reason for the devices, which senator bill cassidy wasn't familiar with until now. >> who wants to see another las vegas. on the other hand, there's not going to be a single lay but stops somebody determined to do something b

chief white house correspondent hallie jackson takes a look. >> reporter: reignited gun debate centers on piece of plastic like this. bump stock and law enforcement sources tell nbc news the las vegas hooter purchased two before the attack. allows a semiautomatic gun to fire faster like in this youtube demo video. almost like an automatic. they're legal but congress may reconsider. >> turn semiautomatic weapons into virtually automatic weapons, that's look at. >> all things that make america safer and don't infringe on the second amendment, count me in. >> you think it's time to have policy debate? >> good time have a hearing. >> reporter: some democrats agree. >> i would pray that nra did soul searching about the bump stocks. >> reporter: nra generally -- powerful gun lobby spent $54 million on the 2016 elections generally opposes more regulations on things like bump stocked. >> even if outlawed and restricted, it's unenforceable. >> reporter: says they don't sell any. >> due to the cost of the part and increased cost in ammunition when you fire, not something we necessarily see very

nbc's hallie jackson has details. >> reporter: after decades of republican resistance on gun control, tonight a new narrow opening on bump stocks, which let semiautomatic guns fire faster. >> apparently this allows you to take a semiautomatic turn it into fully automatic so clearly that's something we need the look into. >> reporter: it's not just house speaker paul ryan but the highest ranking gop senators. john cornyn. >> i think it's worth our serious consideration. >> reporter: and the president himself willing to consider new regulations. >> we're open to having that conversation. we think we should have that conversation and we want to be part of it moving forward. >> reporter: the wild card through all this has been the nra, silent since sunday's shooting, today surprisingly supporting stricter rules. in a statement saying, quote, devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations asking the atf to review bump stocks. but in 2010, that agency determined the devices are allowed based on federal law,

lester. >> hallie jackson, thank you. for perspective, turn to political director and "meet the press" moderator, chuck todd. corker and flake have little to lout put other republicans in with this? >> it's clear we have a fight for the soul of the republican party. but right now not litigated on issues but character and personality. i will say this, it is putting on one hand, corker and flake are not alone. on the other hand they're free to make the charges since neither one plans to run for re-election in '18. it creates a divide inside the party that will play out not just in primaries with trump versus the establishment but general elections where corker may become asset to democrats. everything is going to be thrown up into the air. that's for sure. >> all right, chuck. thank you. >>> new developments into the investigation into the deadly ambush in niger on u.s. special forces. and new questions on whether the mission they were on changed to include hunting down a top terrorist. hans nicholls with details. niger's c

and hallie jackson as well. moving on, confirmed report of how -- defend against cyber attacks after a national security agency contractor placed that information on his home computer. such a breach could enable russia to evade nsa surveillance and infiltrate u.s. networks more easily. with me one of the "the wall street journal" reporters who broke this story. he joins me along with nbc's ken delanian. gordon, talk to me about the gravity of this hack and what it means for not only 2016 but for the future. >> yeah. it's a significant discovery that they made in 2016 that this contractor had absconded with material from the nsa campus, put it on his home computer, it was running this software which we now know enabled russian hackers to potentially suck it out of the computer and make copies of it. it's significant because it demonstrates the power of russian hacking in some of -- with some of the america's best kept secrets. these are sources and methods and they show the russians hackers a lot about what can b

i'm joined by that reporter, nbc's hallie jackson working the white house beat. also senior adviser to president obama. and writer for "the new york times" magazine and hosts the podcast, with friends like these. i'm happy the three of you are friends of "the beat," at least for the next few minutes. nira, walk us through why this matters and halle is going to give us the latest reporting. >> this deal is really critical. it does a fair amount of the damage that president trump has done so far to the affordable care act and really not the affordable care act but the damage he's done to people's health insurance. it enforces the cost sharing reductions which will help improve affordability of people, all the numbers of people losing care will be aameliorated by what is proposed here, a 20 to 25% reduction for people, it establishes funding for outreach, another step that the president wasn't willing to take. he wasn't funding outreach. so this really does try to undo the damage that trump has done himself. i think it's an oddity when the president endorses somethi

hallie jackson, nbc news, washington. >>> still ahead tonight, hotels on high alert. the enhanced security you may find next time you check in after the before i had the shooting, burning, pins-and-needles of diabetic nerve pain, these feet... grew into a free-wheeling kid... loved every step of fatherhood... and made old cars good as new. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes causes diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain, from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects

hallie jackson there for us at the white house. hugh hewitt, jamil, thank you, hope you come back. love having you. >>> the people, the people speak. how republican voters are reacting to the public blood-letting that is happening in their party. >> not every member of congress and every member is supporting that agenda. is it the supporting the man or supporting their principles they got elected on? on your medicare part d prescriptions, switch to walgreens. we make it easy to seize the day, so you can get more out of life and medicare part d. just walk right in for savings that will be the highlight of your day. walgreens has $0 copays on select plans and 100 points on prescriptions. so, swing by and save today. walgreens, at the corner of happy & healthy. before i hadburning,oting, of diabetic nerve pain, these feet... loved every step of fatherhood... and made old cars good as new. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor r

hallie jackson, just talking to chris jansing. she'll be back with us in a few moments. let's talk about some of the things that the white house is trying to get done with respect to tax reform. they were hoping to have tax reform done. i want to walk to the board here and show you what we're talking about in terms of the goals for tax reform. the goal is to have tax reform introduced on november 1st in the senate, and then in the week of november 6th, to have the ways and means committee mark it up.

pete williams, hallie jackson, garrett haake, thanks to all. ari, and former acting director of the cia. barbara mcquaid is a former attorney in michigan and msnbc contributor. ari, i'm going to start with you. let's put both of these events together. as pete points out, these are very different things. two men under indictment. another one who has pled guilty. but when you look at them in total, what does it tell you about robert mueller's investigation? >> it tells you bob mueller is using a surprise strategy, that he had arrested someone in the summer and flipped them into a cooperating witness, providing information about kremlin intermediaries offering dirt on hillary clinton and her e-mails. and no one knew anything about this. this was not the leak people who follow this stuff over the weekend, as you and i do, may be thinking, oh, what's going to happen? none of this was known. it raises other questions. are there other people who have been secretly arrested under seal, other people who have become cooperating witnesses at this moment a

hallie jackson is at the white house to explain what could come next. >> reporter: good morning to you. this morning president trump and the rest of his party is waking up to shock waves basically. a political earthquake that has shaken the republican party so hard it is dangerous. it comes on the heels of senator jeff flake, a republican announcing he would rather administration and a leader that he has called dangerous to democracy. you may have caught pieces of that passionate and dramatic speech he gave announcing he will be leaving the senate in early 2019. it came after senator bob corker battled back and forth with donald trump. the white house dismissing both those senators stunning comments as simply petty arguing when the president hits he will hit back. we'll have a look at all of it today plus the new fallout coming up in a bit on the "today" show. >> looking forward to that with hallie jackson. public transportation is a life line for many of us around the region. >> for riders with disabilities, it's even a greater need. nbc 4 responds to seniors in prince gorges county w

jackson reports. the new, loosened requirement is part of the trump administration's sweeping roll back of an obama era >> reporter: it's getting harder for some women to get birth control through their insurance after a sweeping change by the trump administration. it will let more employers opt out of a requirement to pay for contraceptive coverage. it allows more businesses who don't want to subsidize birth control for employees to ask for exemptions for moral reasons. businesses of all sizes. schools and universities and non-profits, too. the decision today celebrated by religious liberties advocates. >> it creates a narrow and targeted exemption for those who can not in good conscious provide this as part of their health care plan. >> reporter: president trump, fulfilling a campaign pledge. >> the first priority of my administration will be to preserve and protect our religious liberty. >> reporter: his administration says the new exemptions might only apply to 200 companies and will not affect th

>> hallie jackson at the white house, thank you. and earlier this evening, i spoke to nbc news national security analyst michael lighter, the former director of the national counter terrorism center. prepared for these sorts of events, they've been focused on mass casualty attacks and terrorism really since 9/11, they were perfectly prepared for this. they had a perimeter around the site. they had police on seen. always videoing many areas around the hotels and this area. so they did everything right, but unfortunately, when you have a weapon that is so high powered which can be fired repeatedly from a long distance, it's really almost impossible absent stopping access to that weapon, for police to protect people in this situation. >> and then we keep running up against how much we as a society are willing to accept the idea of having your luggage screened at a hotel doesn't seem practical. >> i don't think it is, lester. sure, in this instance, screening at that hotel might have stopped it, but the fact is you can't screen everywhe

chief white house correspondent hallie jackson there on duty at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. shelby holiday, is here, so is josh barrow, msnbc contributor and senior editor at business insider, and rick tyler with us as well, msnbc political analyst. rick, let me start with you. this is as hallie just noted there, here's another controversy of the president's own making when he questioned president obama's actions, when it came to consoling families of fallen troops, why go there in the first place. >> i don't know, craig, it's extraordinary. hadn't called these families and it came up and was asked about it and then changed history as if other presidents didn't call for a new low and then we have another new low, when the family was all in the car with the congresswoman. so they have proof of what was said. and it seems pretty obvious what was said. one of the things most extraordinary about what was said was the widow, the gold star widow, myesha johnson, said the president didn't even remember his name, that is david johnson, the army sergeant. and that is just extraordina

hallie jackson with details. >> we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it, because it does. >> reporter: remarkable relentless critique of donald trump, jeff flake announcing he'll retire rather than work with a leader he finds dangerous to democracy. >> principles that underlie our politics, our founding are too valuable to our survival to allow them to be compromised by the requirements of politics. because politics can make us silent whether we should speak and silence can equal complicity. i have children and grandchildren to answer to. and so mr. president, i will not be complicit or silent. >> reporter: the senator's voice, thick with emotion. >> when we remain silent and fail to act, we know that silence is wrong thing to do because of political considerations, might make enemies, alienate the base, we dishonor our principles. those things are far more important than politics. if we simply become inneured to this, thinking it is just politics as usual, heaven help us. without fear of the consequences and without consideration of the rules of wh

more from nbc's hallie jackson. >> reporter: one of the president's high profile critics, not satisfied so far with lingering questions over the apparent ambush in niger. john brennan with savannah and matt this morning. >> i know that mattis and others are going to be looking into the details of this and how the process, you know, there are questions about what was going on. >> reporter: one of the soldiers killed, sergeant la david johnson, now a bitter back and forth over president trump's words to johnson's wife. the president denying a democratic lawmaker's claims he was insensitive in a come doll lens call. >> i had a nice conversation with the woman, with the wife who sounded like a lovely woman, did not say what the congresswoman said. >> reporter: that congresswoman, fredrika wilson standing by her account slamming the president for telling mrs. johnson her husband knew what he was getting too into when he signed up. the woman who raised johnson said she felt disrespected. >> general kelly counciled him on perhaps how he might to want choose or change his words in the future? >

he said yes. >> hallie jackson starting us off from 1600 pennsylvania. than than thanks as always. ned price, msnbc contributor and former spokesperson for the nsc under president obama. kevin baron, executive editor of defense one. hugh hewitt is an msnbc host, he's also a political analyst as well. hugh, let me start with you, rex tillerson calls him a moron, the president challenges him to an i.q. test. today the president insists he did not undercut him, that he has full faith and confidence and, again, here's a look here at secretary of state rex tillerson outside the white house. is this a live look, guys? or is this taped from earlier? we're not sure. we can tell you this is secretary of state rex tillerson. hugh, are you buying it, are you buying he has full confidence in his secretary of state? >> no, i'm not. i agree with david ignatius who was telling andrea mitchell in the last hour saying, an degree c andrea, you can't imagine the secretary of state staying on long in his position. the president has talked a ee e asking pompeo to state, asking senator tom cotton to go

hallie jackson has more of the impact on capitol hill. >> we must be unafraid to stand up and speak out as if our country depends on it, because it does. >> reporter: in a remarkable, relentless critique of donald trump, arizona republican senator jeff flake announcing he'll retire rather than keep working with a leader he finds dangerous to democracy. >> we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the content of our executive branch are normal. they are not normal. >> reporter: and neither was today, extraordinary on every level as a political earthquake shakes the gop so hard, it's li another retiring republican, bob corker, is now denouncing the world stage. >> i don't think there's any question. that's the case just in the way he conducts himself and goes to such a low level. >> reporter: corker never called donald trump a liar but suggested he is, calling the morning a lightweight. other republicans could block part of the president's agenda stalled so far. no health care reform, no big stra infrastructure package, no tax cuts yet. >> does the president feel li

hally jackson has more. >> i will say this, i think the republican party has pretty good unity. >> reporter: a victory lap for the president after two retiring republicans slammed the president's character. >> well, i think the press makes me more uncivil than i am. you know, people don't understand i went to an ivy league college. i was a nice student. i did very well. i'm a very intelligent person. >> when is it okay for you to -- >> well, i think it's always okay when somebody says something about you that's false, i think it's always okay to counter punch or to fight back. >> reporter: to senators bob corker and jeff flake, that's part of the problem. >> we can't continue to just remain silent when the president keeps going on like this. >> reporter: but the silence on capitol hill speaks volumes. many republicans moving on rather than rising up. >> we've got a job to do damn it, and so all of this nonsense, i've got nothing to say on. everyone shut up and your dure job and my view. >> reporter: all of it a win for steve bannon, too. telling nbc bannon feels like it's another day, anoth

and now hallie jackson. >>> see you in an hour. this morning, we are talking about the downplaying, deflecting, distancing and dodging around what could be the tip of the iceberg regarding the special counsel. there are two big questions, paul manafort and rickgates. now they are waking up under house arrest facing decades in prison. so will they flip to get themselves a deal? >>> and second, what about george papadopoulos? this guy, the one-time adviser cooperating with the investigation for months. so what has he been telling the special counsel and about whom? we know what team trump is saying about him, he's just a coffee boy, right? no, that's not right and we'll tell you why you should know papadopoulos' name. >>> and we have more news on what is happening on the hill, as the biggest names on sites you use every day, google, facebook, twitter, talk to lawmakers about how russia used their platforms to meddle in the election. >>> and why are we showing this to you? this is where the head of fema is walking in to get tough ques

i worked with several of our colleagues, kristen welker, hallie jackson, va vanna guthrie. we questioned this in a provacative way. people say that is his manner m mannerism. he asks these probing and provocative questions to get his leaders, cab netted members to think outside the box. >> i spent the most time talking about this. tim alberta, what do you think this is the most important story of the week? >> i would probably say what we are seeing with the dismantling of the affordable care act will ultimately, hugh, force both parties to come to the table and look at this in a more comprehensive way. what we have seen resulting coming from the failure of on the affordable care act, the president is taking matters into his own hands. it will have implications both in the short, medium and long term if chuck schumer and nancy pelosi realize with the proverbial gun to their hand, they have to do something. >> fran chess what chambers, what do you think was the most important? >> i'm going with iran. i hope we get to come back to health care. i have strong thoughts on that. i

joining me from the white house, hallie jackson from nbc. just at the announcement of his new homeland secretary. so many topics. >> reporter: start here and with john kelly. kirsten nielsen presented by the president as it's new pick to lead the department of homeland security. her soon to be bosses former job, essentially and kelly appeared on the briefing room in the other wing of the white house where we normally come to you live from, and it was an interesting moment. kelly's first appearance in front of the press corps and took a fair amount of questions. specifically he took questions from somebody you know well, my colleague kristen welker sitting in the front row and had a chance to ask john kelly about something that created consternation for the white house time and time and again and that is the president's tweets. >> although i read it all the time, pretty consistently, i'm not quitting today. [ laughter ] i don't believe and i just talked to the president. i don't think i'm being fired today. and -- i am not so frustrated in th

i'm joined right now by nbc's hallie jackson at the white house. so what are the president's plans in terms of reacting to this horror? >> so i think you've seen some of it already, chris. you've seen the moment of silence. you've seen the president scramble the morning plans that he had. he was supposed to hold a deregulation event. instead he came out and delivered that speech. as you noted, calling what happened in las vegas an act of pure evil. this speech was more spiritual in tone than what we've heard from the president before. he used language about scripture, language about faith that he hasn't always talked about after moments like these. we then saw the president add to his schedule what we're watching right now, which is that moment of silence with the first lady, the vice president and the vice president's wife as well. and then sarah huckabee sanders said now is not the time to be talking about gun control, which here in washington some lawmakers, particularly democrats do want to have the conversation about. >> well, we have to wonde

nbc news white house correspondent hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: after decades of republican resistance on gun control, a new narrow opening on bump stocks, which let semiautomatic guns fire faster. >> apparently this allows you to take a semiautomatic turn it into fully automatic so clearly that's something we need to look into. >> reporter: it's not just house speaker paul ryan but one of the highest ranking gop senators,on cornyn. >> i think it's worth our serious consideration. >> reporter: and the president himself willing to consider new regulations. >> we're open to having that conversation. we think that we should have that conversation, and we want to be part of it moving forward. >> reporter: the wild card through all this has been the nra, silent since sunday's shooting, surprisingly supporting stricter rules. in a statement saying, quote, devices designed to allow semiautomatic rifles to function like fully automatic rifles should be subject to additional regulations. asking the atf to review bump stocks. but in 2010 that agency determined the devices are allowed

i want to broaden our lens and bring in hallie jackson. pouring into the newsroom right now is something that has become a bit of a sad thing. you are talking about a global terror threat. the mayor of london, london stands in grief and solidarity with the great city of new york tonight. a statement from a leader of another city plagued by violence, chicago mayor rahm emanuel. we stand in solidarity with new york city in the wake of this horrific attack. the prayers of every american are with new york this difficult day. the leader of the minority party, chuck schumer, also new coming into our newsroom. thoughts with the victims and their families. he is also a new york senator. it is critical we learn what we can from this incident. the scourge of terrorism unfortunately still with us and we must remain vigilant. what reporting do you have and are you hearing from the lawn of the white house? >> reporter: so number one, what has stood out in some of the statements we've sfraenl the capitol have been the phrasing of an act of terror or lin

coming up right any, my friend and colleague, hallie jackson. >>> we have a lot of news this morning. the president right now doing a series of interviews, including one in just the last five minutes here about his choice for drug czar withdrawing. the president saying tom marino was gracious and wanted to avoid even the perception of conflict, all of it coming after that explosive "washington post" "60 minutes" investigation into a bill that seemed to undercut the dea's ability to crackdown on drug companies flooding the market with pain pills. so on that topic, we're about to hear from the deputy attorney general. this is a live look right now, he's going to be making an announcement on the opioid epidemic. we are going to bring that to you live as we take a look at the new fallout from very tough comments overnight from a frequent faux of the president's. john mccain's half-baked nationalism. he said it's part of the family feud inside republican party. and in the middle of it all, we have to talk about what is happening in syria. with a major milestone this morning. the de facto i

. >> hallie jackson is in the room and joins us now. it's a bit unusual to have this sort of pomp and circumstance surrounding a nominee for a cabinet secretary, before that nominee is confirmed. no reason to believe she won't be confirmed by the senate, but this does offer a good opportunity for the president to change the conversation at least for a moment today. >> reporter: what i think you saw on display here in the east room was the relationship that kirsten nielsen has developed not just with president trump but with chief of staff john kelly, and that's significant for a couple of reasons. i've been told by sources inside the west wing the president is fond of nielsen. obviously. or he wouldn't have installed her in this position a nominee to now lead the department of homeland security. remember, dhs is where a lot of the priorities of the president are ending up. for example, the travel ban. a lot of his immigration priorities are there. dhs has been involved in what's happening over on capitol hill as it relates to border sec