we'll monitor the news wires nbc news is working on this. keir simmons is working on this. and he was stations in that area for eight years. so he's on the job on that for us >> we do want to note, sue, that the stock market appears to have taken a bit of a leg lower, perhaps on this news, upsetting what has already been an unsettled market today there's a look at your dow jones industrial average, down by nearly 167 points. stocks had already been lower on the day. it's important to note that, as questions about the future of gary cohn continue to swirl around the stock market. interesting, you know, people are still passing around stories on that. our former colleague, kate kelly, who is now at t"the new york times", tweeting that she spoke to a hedge fund manager on that issue, and the quote is, the dotted line between the market and gary is not circuitous it's a pretty direct line right now. and i think that's how most of you feel it appears the markets at large feel that way as well, joe >> for sure. and listen, we can hear it from the white house, but we haven't heard

a former senior intelligence official with knowledge of the discussions has told nbc news mueller is looking at whether the president may have obstructed justice president trump's new white house lawyer, brought in specifically to deal with the russia investigations, says he wasn't aware mueller had started using a new grand jury calling those matters typically secret adding the white house favors anything that accelerates the conclusion of mueller's work fairly and is committed to fully cooperating. mueller has recently added even more former top prosecutors to his team as he assembled high powered experts on everything from foreign bribery to public corruption >> the team mueller has assembled is a strong team of seasoned veteran prosecutors this the varsity >> reporter: the president has repeatedly lashed out at mueller's investigation. >> the entire thing has been a witch hunt. >> reporter: now on capitol hill lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are today introducing bills to help protect mueller and his investigation. >> some people can say flexing your muscle but it's really j

jay gray, nbc news, houston. >>> get political reaction tracie potts joins us from washington i was looking at the distance between charlottesville, virginia and houston, texas, 1289 miles, but the reaction to the president was so criticized heavily over charlottesville, is he getting it right over harvey in houston >> reporter: there's some criticism of the fact that houston wasn't evacuated, but that's very much a local decision what the president is trying to do is lead a federal effort that will end up being a sustained effort this is going to be a long recovery his fema director says it could take years to clean up and restore what hurricane harvey left behind. we do now know that president trump is headed down there tomorrow this is the first big natural disaster of his presidency so yes, all eyes are on how he responds here. he had his homeland security adviser, his fema director out front talking about what they hope will be not only a sustained response but a quick response by declaring a disaster before the storm hit they're hoping to be able to get money and resources to people m

back to you. >> edward, thank you very much for that edward lawrence of nbc news joining us out of washington >>> coming up, with the geopolitical instability on the rise, is now the time to invest in gold etfs we'll be back in two >>> let's get back to the big story. european government bonds have jumped on reports that the ecb president mario draghi will refrain from delivering a fresh policy message at the upcoming fed conference in jackson hole later this month draghi will focus on more macro themes on his speech and leave monetary policy until the ecb autumn meeting the your ro dolleuro/dollar has from the initial slump we are now getting back towards the session highs. so maybe some disappointment over that report has waned a bit. 1.1730 >>> the imf is out with a warning about china's debt levels the fund said downside risks have increased because of the continuing rise in public and private liabilities. they forecast debt to hit around 300% of gdp in five years. but it raised china's 2017 gdp forecast from 6.2% to 6.7. >>> a loehost of retailers postd earnings yesterday courtney reagan

jay gray, nbc news, casper, wyoming. >>> general electric ceo jeff immelt is the frontrunner to be the uber ceo other candidates are also being considered uber has been without a ceo since kalanick stepped back following invest tore revolt jeff immelt left ge earlier this year amid criticism of the company's stock performance under his tenure >>> carl icahn has resigned from his role as adviser to president trump. this came ahead of an article which criticized him for his potential conflicts of interests as adviser particularly around regulatory reform. cnbc published an investigation into his potential conflicts due to his stake in energy dak in december icahn said he offered his resignation to, quote, avoid part is an bickering and that he never, quote, profited from my position >>> u.s. treasury secretary steve mnuchin has defended president trump's response to recent events in charlottesville, virginia as well as his own role within mr. trump's administration in a statement responding directly to a letter penned by more than 350 of his yale university classmates, mnuchin said that

joe fryer, nbc news, los angeles. >>> sony's operating profit tripled in the first quarter to 1.$1.4 billion putting it on trk for its highest annual profit in two decades. >> sony's net profit for the april to june quarter increased to nearly 7$730 million sales were up 15% as demand grew for the smartphone image sensors, 4 k tvs another area that investors are counting on is the gaming business concern was that demand for sony's playstation 4 peaked, but new game titles are in the works, including one based on the box office hit spider-man released last month. the new game titles are expected to gain more players the fact that sony is unaffected by a stronger yen is the plus. the firm gained 3.5 billion yen in operating profit, which makes it preferable for investors compared to other exporting firms. all this good news had seemsly been priced in as stocks hit a high last week, and today it shed nearly 2% as investors became wary of quick selling before the earnings report came out. that's all from the nikkei back to you. >> apple has failed to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it broke i

. >> thank you, eamon javers meantime, nbc news reported that a south korean official told nbc news that south korea and the u.s. intelligence offices are analyzing the details about this launch there's still a lot that we do not yet know, but we are getting more details about this. i think the point that colonel jacobs is making about how the technology, the missile technology that south korea has -- that north korea has, excuse me, that north korea has, may be more advanced than we thought. may be progressing faster than we naught. >> i think the scariest part about that, most american, you know, americans don't understand this, it's not about them being able to send a missile over and hit the united states because currently within kae lly we ca. anti-missile technology that allows us to intercept that. the problem is they're very close, probably four, five years away from being able to hit a satellite. if they can hit a satellite, they can take down our anti-defense mechanism so we can't defend ourselves under those circumstances. in my opinion, time is running out. >> north korea cou

nbc news has not been able to confirm that at this point reports were that the driver of the van got out of the van and fled on foot and that police were looking for that person, that man so right now, what we know is, at least one person is dead. we have multiple injuries. it is considered a terror attack and keep in mind, these are the types of -- what they're calling, low-tech terror attacks that we have been seeing in europe recently. although, interestingly enough, spain has been spared that for some time now. the most deadly attack was the driver of that tractor-trailer who targeted bastille day in nice that was back in 2016. germany has seen this type of low he have tech attack, as well and now, unfortunately, barcelona can be added to that list of terror incidents we'll keep you posted, brian, on the fatalities, if that number continues to climb, and also the injured. back to you. >> all right sue, thank you >>> well, also happening now, president trump is back in new jersey, meeting with small business leaders, working to get the narrative back on point about business and ta

news on board the george h.w. bush. >>> a lot to talk about with global political analyst tina, thank you so much. another busy weekend when it comes to news out of the white house. also in terms of ratcheting up of geopolitical tensions kickoff with north korea seems like president trump needs a win badly, tried to portray the 15-0 vote in the u.n. security council in favor of more sanctions against north korea as his personal win. do you think it is that significant for him? >> i actually think it is pretty significant. given that congress passed new sanctions against russia a few days ago, russia could indeed threaten to veto at the security council. the p 5 need to vote together. heard from russian foreign minister lavrov they might do that getting russian support and unanimity is something we haven't seen in a while. not sure it is a victory, but a positive signal for sure. >> china didn't block it either. i wonder to what extent the sanctions are a game changer when it comes to north korea's aggressive behav

back to you. >> tracie potts, nbc news. >>> and illinois is going to hold off on issuing $6 billion in bonds staying the state comptroller should score other options to use state accounts to pay off debt illinois has $15 billion in unpaid debt. illinois has the lowest credit rating and highest borrowing cost in all of the u.s. states >>> a sign of the times, the federal reserve said u.s. consumer credit card debt hit more than $1 trillion in june. that tops the previous record set just before the 2008 financial crisis the fed says nonrevolving credit which includes things like auto loans, student loans as well rose at its slowest pace >> really interesting data there. tonight, now on "the profit," we're taking you inside california's booming marijuana industry we meet one entrepreneur which takes delivers profits to a whole new level. ♪ >> hi. i'm marcus >> i'm dreangela >> hi. customers don't have to worry about coming here. this is a deliver service called stashtwist it brings medicinal, and season maybe recreational pot right to your door, as easy as ordering a pizza. >> your orde

intelligence officials investigating the attacks tell nbc news sonic waves could be to blame. gentleman pab japan is bearing the brunt of the bad weather. the northern part of the country was hit with torrential rains. here at home this was just one of three bench clearing brawls last night between the new york yankees and the detroit tigers the drama started in the 6th inning when a yankee batter was hit by a pitch several players were ejected no surprise there. that's the news update at this hour >> bracing for fines and suspensions and all of that. >> i'm sure. >> probably a good thing that nobody got hurt because baseball players fighting is usually not -- >> it's not a good thing no. >> yeah. it was good at least right now nobody got hurt. thank you. >> you got it. >> when we come back, maybe the new key to the kingdom new york times columnist jim stewart weighs in on disney splitting from netflix and what that means for the content wars. just over an hour from the trading session. let's take a look within the s&p 500. you see signet jewelers. leading up almost 7% airline

blayne alexander, nbc news, washington >>> the nato secretary-general has welcomed president trump's decision to send more troops to afghanistan. in a statement he said the military alliance remained committed to the country and would work to destroy sanctuaries for extremist groups in the region. the after again presideghan pres grateful by president trump helping to fight the taliban let's talk about afghanistan the uk has an important role here always has done since 2001 since that initial invasion. the role of pack ston, president trump brought that up. the u.s. has been funding them for a long time. does the uk have an important role to play both with the relationship to pakistan and also the relationship to the u.s. when it comes to making decisions, not necessarily about troop numbers but strategy can the uk influence the u.s. administration about this. >> i think it can. when dave cameron was prime minister, he made a difference in trying to get pakistanis and afghan poll tings iticians comin together, trying to do triangulation and the political at mros fear for reconciliati

jay gray, nbc news, houston. >> as jay said, president trump is set to visit texas today to survey the damage. he has now approved an emergency declaration for neighboring louisiana where the rain is spreading and said that congress would act swiftly to fund rescue efforts. >> you are going to see very rapid action from congress and certainly the president. your governor has been absolutely outstanding in the job he has done and hess entire staff. i will say that i just sfopoke with greg and he is work 24/7. we expect to have requests on our desk fairly soon we think that congress will feel very much the way i feel, in a very bipartisan way. that will be nice. we think you are going to have what you need and it is going to go fast. >> harvey is having a huge impact on the commodity markets. u.s. fuel prices continue to rise as more gulf coast refiners cut out leaving more than 13% of the country's refining capacity offline. gasoline up by 0.5%, rising 2.7% yesterday to a two-year high crude oil fell 2.7% settling at 46.57. over concerns that the refiner shutdowns could reduce demand fo

richard engel, nbc news, london. >>> president trump denounced the events in barcelona as he faced pressure from within his own party after comments made after the charlottesville violence >> reporter: within three hours of the attack in barcelona, president trump condemned it as terror tweeting the u.s. will do whatever necessary to help, be tough and strong we love you. then as an example of how to get tough on what he called radical islamic terror, he cited a debunked anti-muslim myth. that many muslims find inflammatory general john pershing cracking down on unrest in the philippines a century ago, something that set off a firestorm when he first said it on the campaign trail. >> and he took the 50 terrorists, and he took 50 men and he dipped 50 bullets in pig's blood. you heard that, right? >> reporter: the islamic faith prohibits pork as the president's reference to that inflammatory story becomes part of his quick response to an attack overseas. here at home his response to the domestic attack in charlottesville is still generating fallout as the president now laments the removal of

news mr. trump sees his tough tweets as a tactic to hold lawmakers' feet to the fire. now republicans are firing back. >> i don't think a government shutdown in necessary and i don't think most people want to see a government shutdown. ourselves included >> it would be completely counterproductive. >> reporter: and tonight, more tough questions for the white house after the president promised mexico would pay for the wall >> who's going to pay for the wall >> mexico! >> who >> mexico! >> reporter: so will mexico still foot the bill? >> how is that not a concession from the white house that mexico is not actually going to pay for the wall and american taxpayers will >> this is something the president is committed to. >> reporter: in border states they're watching the battle closely, texas republican congressman will hurd's district is along the border. he insists the wall is the wrong move. >> we should be using technology and manpower in order to secure the 2,000 miles of our border. that's a

the former sheriff tells nbc news that he has no idea if he's getting a pardon. >> thank you very much for that report from washington. >>> back to the market action. let's see where we are broadly risk-on. asian trade for you, broadly higher only the knnikkei was down. european trade, which was soft yesterday after a positive wreak last week, is higher today germany up 0.6%. the ftse 100 up a similar amount miners up nicely bhp bill ton repoiton reporting results. >>> a check of the broader markets. look at oil prices here. we are higher today after we saw wti lose 2.5% yesterday. there's some hope that perhaps signs of tightening u.s. supply, but we'll get those government numbers tomorrow so some traders may be in a bit of a holding pattern for wti brent is higher by 0.4%. look at what's going on with gold gold actually down slightly here today. about 0.5%, 1290.4 lastly to round things out with the dollar u.s. dollar finding a bit of footing steadying itself a bit here you can see the euro is weaker against the dollar it will cost you $1.17 and change to buy a euro today the dollar

news is on the table. >> we don't talk about that. i never do i'm not like the other administration that would say we're going to mosul in four months i can tell you that what they've been doing and getting away with is a tragedy and it can't be allowed. >> reporter: the president also lashed out at his predecessors calling them ineffective and acknowledging a new round of sanctions might not be enough to solve the problem, even denying any internal discord when it comes to communications in his administration >> there are no mixed messages and i'll tell you this, it may be tougher than i said it, not less >> reporter: his message to americans now, stay calm >> people of this country should be very comfortable. >> reporter: but to north korea -- >> north korea better get their act together or they're going to be in trouble like few nations ever have been in trouble in this world >> that was kristen welker reporting. donald trump is maintaining his stuff stance on pyongyang. however the president's defense secretary that warned militar

kurt gregory, nbc news >>> and let's get further analysis on these latest developments with a senior asian analyst joining us on the line from beijing thank you so much for taking the time let me ask you, do you think president trump's language is appropriate warning of fire and fury?scending to the same level when it comes to language as the north koreans >> exactly it's not very helpful in this situation because it mirrors the sort of rhetoric that we generally are used to cohearing coming from pyongyang. it doesn't help that the administration is sending extremely mixed messages we're seeing for example secretary of state saying something completely different, so we're seeing on the one hand an extension of an offer of talk and the other hand threats ever unleashing fire and fury and there is obviously not based on our analysis anyway a very success testimony approach to dealing with north korea >> we had a guest earlier that said obviously the red line is now that north korea threatens the u.s. further well, actually north korea did that just an hour after trump eve comments came

news that the north koreans had managed a nuclear feat in terms oftheir technology here's what we know about the technology that the north koreans have now they have managed to miniaturize a nuclear weapon that is small enough to fit on a missile but it didn't mean that they have a nuclear icbm. it means that they have the technology to make a bomb small enough to put on an icbm and they have achieved that miniaturization sooner than expected the key here is that there is a lot of technological steps between where they he are now with the miniaturized nuclear weapon to where they would have to be to actually develop a nuclear icbm including getting a weapon that would be able to survive the heat of reentry. so it's not as if they have this technology now but they have passed this ke milestone according to the assessment of the u.s. intelligence community in response now to the president's comments yesterday, the north koreans issued another statement and this one in which they threatened guam they said the korean people's army strategic force is now carefully examining the operational

in an exclusive interview with nbc news, attorney general jeff sessions says federal authorities are in no rush to file charges than the charlottesville car attack >> we will be working with the state to see how they would proceed with their charges once -- and we can bring charges whenever the investigation justifies them but i don't think we should just feel like we've got to do it in a matter of hours or days. >>> two administration officials confirming to nbc that hope hicks will be named intercommunications director until a permanent person is named. hicks has been by president trump's side since the day that he launched his campaign >>> brio soft hammer rattles have been recalled due to the wooden rings on the rattle that can crack posing a choking hazard to children about 1500 items were sold at specialty stores, such as home goods and in ordnordstroms and . >>> that's our news update at this hour. "squawk alley" is back after a quick break. our collaboration with pg&e is centered around public safety. without pg&e's assistance, without their training we could not do our missi

news that the president will be looking at the eclipse with the first lady on the truman balcony this afternoon. >> they're going -- they have a better view in washington, d.c.. >> i bet you they have goggles >> they need goggles if you're going to look at it. >> let's get to the half >>> there it is. welcome to the "halftime report." i'm scott wapner the great american eclipse, just moments away for the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire united states we'll brick it to you live beautiful picture already. first, though, better picture for the markets this hour. and that's our top trade the recent pullback in stocks, which are mixed right now, with us for the hour, to discuss all of that, joe terranova, steve weiss, jon najarian. we begin today with stocks on pace for their worst month of the year three down days in a row looks like we'll have a pickup where we came off. but we've come off the worst levels >> we've bounced a little bit. and i think right now, this is more of a derivatives type of trade. this is an options the trade and a feature

news the vehicle attack on soldiers in a paris suburb is a terrorist attack the suspect, a 36-year-old man of french/north african origins, has been arrested. he slammed his bmw into a group of soldiers injuring six >>> kenya police engaging opposition protesters in nairobi as violent protests erupted across the capital it follows the allegation of election fraud they were seen firing tear gas at protesters this morning that's the news this hour. i'll send it back to you >> all right, sue, thank you >>> let's get to michelle caruso-cabrera with the european close in less than a minutes' time >> you can see weakness across most of europe the rising tensions caused by north korea affecting a number of markets we'll start with the swiss/franc today making the biggest gain. a whole 1% move. the swiss franc, traditional sachb safehaven. by definition, the country has large impacts. richemont and nestle were all hit hard today and investors buying german bonds today were hit hard, so when they buy the yield, the price goes up. and that helps the struggle on banks in germany and the french ba

nbc news reporting the senate will vote as late as perhaps 6:00 p.m. eastern time to confirm christopher ray as the next fbi director. if time is yielded, the vote could come a bit earlier. >>> on the "today" show, senator lindsey graham imploring the president to stop the chaos in his administration and vowed that the senate will not change its long-held rules to pass legislation just to please mr. trump >> we're not going to change the rules of the senate because he tells us to. we're not going to deal out our democratic colleagues. for 200 years, the minorities had a voice in the senate. i don't want to become the house. i've been in the house, love it. but i'm not going to change 200 years of history because donald trump is mad >> according to beverage digest, soda consumption fell to a 31-year low last year. as many consumers chose healthier drink options. soda has taken a hit at sugar taxes aimed at stemming diabetes and obesity. i'll send it back over to you guys. >> all right thank you very much, sue. >>> let's take a look at your markets. earl

news that the president will be looking at the eclipse with the first lady on the truman balcony this afternoon. >> they're going -- they have a better view in washington, d.c.. >> i bet you they have goggles >> they need goggles if you're going to look at it. >> let's get to the half >>> there it is. welcome to the "halftime report." i'm scott wapner the great american eclipse, just moments away for the first time in nearly a century, a total solar eclipse will cross the entire united states we'll brick it to you live beautiful picture already. first, though, better picture for the markets this hour. and that's our top trade the recent pullback in stocks, which are mixed right now, with us for the hour, to discuss all of that, joe

nbc news has learned steve ba bannon is out at the white house. we're reporting the same thing you're right, we did see that call from the tennessee republican senator bach corker for a change at the white house. he questioned the president's stability and his competence those are very tough criticisms from your own party or any party to say about the president of the united states and now we're seeing it. steve bannon is out at the white house. stephen bannon is departing according to a senior administration official. senior administration official confirming bannon is out. >> stay with me. bob pisani is back on the floor with us as well. bob, there's been quite a move on the market related to this news. >> let's take a look at the s&p 500. remember, scotty, we were talking about this there was another report that ban would be fired we were down about 5 points. as you see, we've rallied up 8 points that's a 13-point move since the initial headlines came out that's quite a move. i just want to point out the market is a lot more stable. a long of f

but this fight might not be over in a statement to nbc news, he says he thinks he was fired for political reasons and that he is currently exploring all possible legal remedies melissa, back to you. >> josh lipton in san francisco. >>> so will google's latest issues lead to even more scrutiny for the biggest names in technology as the war of words continues between president trump and silicon valley giants like amazon? should investors be worried? let's bring in co-founder fast money friend jim vandehie. we've been waiting for when president trump will turn his attention to technology and start blasting it for one reason or another do you think this is the time, this is the thing? >> i don't think this specific instance but i think your viewers should be prepared over the next year for really the tides to turn against big technology companies if you go back eight or nine months ago, this country had a very romantic view about all of these high-performing big techs. people feel, rightly so, facebook influenced the election they feel we're turning over way too much data to these big compani

intelligence officials confirming to nbc news that north korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key fle threshold to becoming a nuclear power. >>> jacob zuma surviving a parliament after growing anger over alleged corruption and no growing economy. mazda says it is aiming to make autonomous driving technology standard by 2025 it plans to launch a new engine in 2019 to be called sky active "x." mazda says it will be the first commercial gasoline engine to use compression ignition >>> jury selection has been completed in taylor swift's civil trial involving a groping allegation against a former disc jockey both swift and the d.j. are suing each other over the alleged incident that is the cnbc news update this hour. power lunch is back in two minutes time >>> there he is, the profit, back with a new episode at 10:00 p.m. eastern in this special, he talks about businesses moving in to cash in on the coming legalization of recreational marijuana here is a clip >> reporter: i've never smoked pot. in fact, i had never even se

nbc news new confirming a u.s. intelligence assessment on north korea first reported by "the washington post" earlier today, and the assessment is this, that north korea now has a weapon, a nuclear weapon that's small enough to fit on a missile this is a key milestone of nuclear capability, but it doesn't mean that they have a nuclear icbm intercontinental ballistic missile. it does mean that the north koreans have achieved miniaturization sooner than expected so the way to think about this is to go back to your old high school textbooks about world war ii and the history lesson there on the nuclear weapons that the united states dropped on hiroshima and nagasaki the pictures of that fat man and little boy, those weapons were enormous it takes a significant technological breakthrough to get the enormous nuclear weapons down to a sides that's small enough that you could fit it on top of a missile and then fire that missile that's the capability that this the north koreans, the u.s. intelligence community is now asse

. >> he was responding to reports in the "washington post" and confirmed later by nbc news that the u.s. intelligence community has assessed that north korea has successfully miniaturized a nuclear weapon that would be small enough to fit on a missile. it's a key milestone, but it didn't mean that the north koreans have a nuclear capable icbm the reentry technology is a tricky piece it's not clear that they have mastered that. but they did achieve miniaturization sooner than had been expected by analysts in response to the president's comments, the north korean issued a statement of their own in part threatening guam north koreans saying that the korean people's army strategic foo forces xanling the operatiexami plans in the areas around guam with medium to long range problem kets in order to contain the major military bases including the andersen air force base so that escalation of rhetoric there on the north korean side responding to the president's rhetoric, all of this as the united states has been trying to get china to interview with the north koreans and we saw the united nation

nbc news political analyst, hi, robert. >> great to be with you. >> first there was president trump on afghanistan, stuck to the teleprompter and last night he makes the threat about a potential government shutdown. you should know not only is the stock market falling but yields that come due in october around this time, those yields are starting to rise on concerns that we're not going to see the things get paid on time. what are you hearing in terms of the scuttle but on whether or not it's really possible to have a government shutdown over the wall >> as eamon said, the treasury secretary and mulvaney, pushing for a clean debt limit unlikely to be the showdown and not going to be the battlefield. and however, republican leaders and leader mcconnell and speaker ryan don't want a major showdown over the wall. look for a watered down version of funding for technology on the border to make its way into the budget to not have a huge fight over the wall. >> how much money do you think we're talking about? >> we're not talking about the billions going to be needed to ultimately construct a

nbc news's sara dal love is live where more than 2 feet of rain is possible, sarah >> reporter: officials are warning about a life threatening storm heading in to the coast of texas, urging people to evacuate if they think they have time and if not, to prepare for the worst. not only a possible category 3 hurricane, but widespread flooding now, it's expected to make landfall just east of corpus christi, sometime tonight between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. eastern time we're expecting anywhere from a foot and a half to nearly 3 feet of rain. this storm surge expected to be very dangerous 6 to 12 feet and winds topping 110 miles an hour. now, this hurricane is actually prompted the national hurricane center to issue its first ever public storm surge warning the bottom line there is a lot of water coming and people need to be very cautious. let me show you the conditions here right now the ocean there behind me, those waves ticking up as we see the winds increase the rain just stopped a moment ago. we had a heavy, heavy down pour a few minutes ago and saw metal sign fly across the parking lot.

., two officials tell nbc news, the pentagon prepares a specific plan for a preemptive strike on north korea preemptive strikes. they'll test on testing growunds and launch facilities. joining us now is ash carter, it is good to have you here >> you had me all worry now. >> what are the chances of a conflict, a military conflict right now? >> there is always a chance for conflict with the north koreans. e used it is bound to be one of those days from something is heating up on the korean peninsula just a little bit in the sense where i think we have been here before we have seen different administrations handled these situations where they can help the north koreans to get the rhetoric down and get back to the constant roar that we have in the peninsula i was concerned of this report on the pentagon preemptive strike i don't think there is much wisdom in a preemptive strike. the fact that someone would deliberately put out from the administration of a specific plan instead of speaking in generalizatio generalizations, i am not quite sure what that is about. >> especially when president

. >> we're just learning from nbc news that u.s. law enforcement has been talking to spanish law enforcement who have identified a suspect link to the van rental used in that attack. we don't know if he's the attacker, but at this point one of two people detained by spanish authorities. right now the latest numbers, 12 dead that's an update at least 80 injured come from the catalon ministry and people urged to stay out of the public square and police are confirming that a driver hit two officers at a checkpoint in barcelona we're waiting to hear if that was connect asked, but, of course, these vehicle attacks have become a weapon of choice for terrorists throughout europe we'll keep our eye on it as we get new developments. >> contessa, thank you contessa brewer. >> we'll also get another check on state of retail gap is expected to report its results and we'll get instant analysis could an exit of gary cohn lead to a potential even bigger selloff? we'll have more on that after this whoooo. going somewhere? here's some advice. tripad

time now for c nbc news update let's get you over to sue. >> hi, everyone, here's what's happening at this hour a. gunman who stormed a charleston, south carolina restaurant, killing one, holding several other hostage is now in custody t. tense standoff lasted two hours and happened at a popular tourist spot during the height of lunch hour. rescuers in brazil are searching for survivors after a passenger boat with more than 100 people on board sank in a bay near salvadore. authorities now say that 22 people died in that accident the state department is now confirming 16 americans working for the u.s. embassy in cuba have been sickened in what is described as an unprecedented incident it is believed that the attacks may have included the use of ultrastonnic sound waves t. diplomats are reportedly suffering from severe health problems, in some cases even brain damage. >>> and border patrol agents in california found this little guy sitting in the front seat of a car, trying to cross into the united states from mexico. agents say the driver planned on keeping the bengal tiger cub as a pe

vice president pence in colombia today speaking exclusively to nbc news about the situation in venezuela. >> the united states of america is committed to bring all of the resources of our nation, economically and diplomatically to bear, to bring venezuela back to the point where its people can restore democracy. >> no bond for the man accused of driving his car into a crowd of counterprotesters in virginia killing one person james alex fields jr. appeared via video conference in a charlottesville courtroom. he told the judge he understands the charges against him. >>> and justin thomas picking up his first major golf tournament win and a cool $1.2 million. his putt on the 10th hole will forever mark the moment. watch this he had a routine eight-foot putt for birdie, but the ball hung on and hungon and there it goes for 12 seconds before dropping in. thomas birdied two more holes on the back nine and won the pga championship by two strokes. >>> i could not be more thrilled for the kid. we had him on the show in january. went out to chelsea pier here on the hudson river and hit balls with

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, which i can. >> nbc news has confirmed that vice-president pence will return from his overseas trip a day early. he was scheduled to leave friday morning. he will meet thursday night and meet with the president at camp david on friday. vice-president pence ending an overseas trip one day early. maybe it is a huddling up of the team to try to re-evaluate and restrategize as a guy that not only goes in and runs your own company but advises small businesses on how to handle problems, what would your best advice be to the trump white house? >> i thatink that advice has tob very direct and sound about being quiet and cleaning things up i don't know what effect that is going to have. there is no doubt his idea around taxes around forum everybody is in favor. when you start to get into questioning people and questioning humanity and what the country stands for has t change i don't know how successful pence will be in delivering that message. in is one of those times to be quiet moments. >> marcus, hold on a second. we have to get back to andrew ross sorkin with breaking news. >> larry fink

news that the president will back a compromised deal which would fund the government for three, four months without funding the wall then trump would demand a border wall funding on an omnibus spending bill. speaker ryan talking to us yesterday saying he thinks there's going to be a need for a spending extension, so they won't be able to get everything done in the time frame they imagined so there will need to be a short-term spending bill between now and when the ultimate deal happens that is giving us a bit of a picture about how the fall will shape up politically in washington >> eamon, thank you. >>> coming up, markets and commodities are in focus dennis gartman will join us after the break. who better on this hurricane harvey coverage that we're having both of you remember who -- if you say harvey, don't you think of the giant invisible rabbit? no jimmy stewart? >> no. >> no. no. >> why is it only me harvey, fantastic. one of james stewart's greatest movies it was about a guy who was friends with a six-foot tall invisible -- >> i'm not going to watch it. >> it's good you should.

speculation about his political future nbc's kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: from his summer stay at his new jersey golf resort, president trump's first take on a significant foreign policy accomplishment. north korea sanctions came without bravado. two tweets noting china and russia voted with us, very big financial impact today, adrenaline out of the trump administration came from vice president mike pence. after "new york times" report described a shadow campaign for 2020, where prominent republicans, including pence, were donors, made political stops in case president trump is not on the ballot. but in a lengthy review, he called the assertions disgraceful and offensive to me, laughable and absurd and pledged his efforts to see trump reelected in 2020. >> greatest privilege of my life to serve as vice president to a president who always puts america first. >> reporter: counselor kellyanne conway defended pence's loyalty. >> it is absolutely true that

intelligence official told nbc news there are two reasons why north korea would do this, testing their technological capability and to show continued defiance. in a week we had thought the tensions were ratcheting down between the united states and north korea, now they are ratcheting back up again the president had used very tough rhetoric about fire and fury interms of response we will see whether or not he responds in kind he is going down to corpus christi to visit some of the hard-hit areas in texas and talk to first responders and back at the white house tonight. >> we roar by aboworry how somee this finally starts and we hope there is restraint on both sides. we worry about the united states reaction japan could decide this is just too dangerous for us or could be allies together. i don't know how this finally works. if the guy actually ever fires something at people, at that point i don't know what happens at that point. >> the united states has obligations to defend japan, and south korean allies. >> how about conventional weapons. i have seen some articles written today that

he's executive chairman of tenio risk, and an nbc news senior law enforcement and security risk analyst, and i guess we know now, commissioner, that the weapon of choice is has become this very difficult to defend against van into a crowd, and it's something that in a free society i don't know how you ever completely prevent the possibility of it. >> you're correct, it is the weapon of choice it's low cost. low tech very high impact and it follows the al qaeda and isis instructions to use guns, bullets, bombs, and cars several days ago i was talking here in new york, to john miller about the issue of the threat of these types of attacks, and we have the idea of coordinated attacks. and you think of the incident up in catalan with five people in that one car, some of them wearing suicide vests. if they'd opted to get into five different cars in five different areas of that city and it follows a pattern attack with a car, get out of the car, and attack with guns, knives, or in this case possibly suicide vests. it is unfortunately the new normal that we're going to have to start facing mor

multiple military sources tell nbc news the pentagon has prepared a preemptive strike plan involving b-1 bombers if needed. >>> let's get over to morgan brennan. she spoke to the air force secretary about the north korea threat morgan, what did you hear? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, becky. so here the air force is taking the unusual step of testing off the shelf light attack aircraft from three contractors to see basically what is already available on the market. it is one of the ways the secretary of the air force, heather wilson, is looking to bolster the air force's readiness. as tensions escalate, she spoke with me about what is needed to keep america safe. >> this year's budget proposal, we've turned the corner on trying to restore the readiness of the air force the united states air force is too small for the missions that the nation is expecting of it. and as a result, we are stretched very thin. we have asked to increase the end strength in the united states air force but also putting money into immediate readiness and then medium and long-term modernization so that we're

women are big consumer of news >> comcast, nbc networks also domestic advertising not strong. >> shouldn't it be stronger then. >> this has been across the board. don't forget the larger issues which is there are fewer subscribers. it is happening. let's call it 2 to 4%. that's 2 to 4% you're going down there in terms of subscription declin declines you have that secular decline and the chinese partners and there's been a delay in their june payment and as a result we made the result not to book an impact of that deal in the quarter. the chinese helping to finance the slate of films being produced by paramount. unclear as to why. the deal continues to be in effect and they view the acquisition by the times media as a positive. i did want to note that as well. this deal they're talking about positively there's a lot of back and forth between these. a pretty good number in terms of what fees are being paid but there's a lot of back end money that goes back on these deals i'm told as well so we'll see howell it's doing >> we'll see if they're really going to news. i'm sceptical. i think it's

. >> that was nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell reporting there >>> in other news, markets edged higher that south african lawmakers would be allowed to vote in secret on president zuma in all confidence he could step down as party leader by the end of the year. he's had a rocky term about his management of the economy. >>> and the united states is reportedly preparing sanctions against more venezuelan officials close to president nicholholaolas maduro, however,s not expected to include penalties on the oil sector. >>> now, would you take money advised from a robot that's after a short break sckrod.doti aun >>> shares in standard life are trading near the bottom of the stoxx 600 due to flows from the fund however, the fund manager offered a 6% increase. those numbers come as standard life nears completing an $11 billion merger earlier, they told cnbc where the company is setting up shop after brexit >> to asset management, there are two clear homes. one is luxembourg, which is the heart of the ccab administration and the other strong contender has to be irelan

ways with shows that don't look anything like they do on cnn or nbc >> what does this mean when you start talking about investing in these sector sns. >> you have to look at the media, all the networks and cable networks even those existing today on the internet they could be history except for one thing. somebody's got to create the content that twitter and facebook and google and instagram and snap chat all have there's a reduced role for content producers and -- >> we are the producers. the way i describe maybe this is the right way to describe it if michelle is driving along and sees a forest fire and takes a video and posts it to her instagra instagram. instagram owns that video. they're the store. we're the roduct >> yes also premium con tent like cnn are an important part of the mix as well. i think there's room for both. >> it's a key to the future and it's happening almost instantly now. it's really impossible to predict and keep up with it. think video first and global second short attention span six seconds is about the limit >> on tv or on the phone >> that's on tv. it w

the new shares are worth 16$16. billion, given warren buffett's backed conglomerate 5$5.5 billin in paper profit. brian moynihan welcomed the move saying he appreciated the continued support. >>> goldman sachs will overhaul its bond trading unit next month. they have succumbed to pressure from investors who have given vague explanations for the trouble in the business. >>> uber has said it is cooperating with a preliminary investigation into possible bribery law violations the company confirmed that the u.s. justice department started a probe into whether it's managers broke u.s. laws against bribing foreign officials. it is not known whether the dodge is focused on one or more countries where the ride service operates the news came before uber's board announced the hire of dara khosrowshara. >>> let's get more on the impact of hurricane harvey where houston, texas has imposed a kur vie from midnight to 5:00 a.m. for ann indefinite period to prevent robbery and looting. america's fourth largest city is bracing for m

eye on tropical storm harvey nbc's blake mccoy joins us now from new orleans with more blake? >> melissa, good morning this is one of the giant pumping stations that surround the city of new orleans and they've been running through the night to keep water off of the streets, to keep the city from flooding, so far these pumping stations are holding up pretty well. residents here have been sandbagging in preparation for this storm they closed schools and government offices yesterday to give residents more time to prepare. as you mention, harvey is coming almost 12 years to the day that hurricane katrina devastated this city. those images seared in the minds of the people here forever, so they weren't taking any chances with this storm. the good news, though, is that the forecast for new orleans has improved a bit the storm has tracked further south making a third landfall overnight close to the texas/louisiana border, so that is the hard-hit area right now folks here in new orleans are breathing a sigh of relief they dodged the worst of this storm. in fact, schools and governmen

kayla mcgrath is checking its path with the news, this is a category 3 storm and we'll begin with you, jackie. >> reporter: that's right, kelly. as a matter of fact, we've been watching this storm all day from category 2 now to category 3 not really coming as a major surprise to anybody. the white house is actually out with an official statement on this right now as well saying that people should obey the rules determined by their local officials, really urging that caution there. and, of course, president trump said that he would come to this region, to texas, early next week as well a presser just ending from the texas governor also to comment on this. he made a statement saying this is going to be a very major disaster in fact, that's how it's shaping up at this hour. he also said put your life first and your property second so i think all of those points in their totality really sum up what's happening on the ground here now many people did evacuate there wasn't a forced evacuation in corpus christi and many people did leave at the same time, many people have chosen to stay and th

in relation to the storm, let's get to nbc's bill karins with more on today's broader weather forecast as well good morning to you. >> good morning to you bad news overnight, the storm is getting more organized, it's a bit stronger and the new forecast has it more intense at landfall if you're waking up in southern texas, not the story you wanted to hear it's expected to link near next week all the oil platforms that have been evacuated in that area, they may not get people back there until wednesday or thursday of next week. what will that do to production? 45-mile-per-hour winds, so a weaker storm but moving to the north and starting to intensify. thunderstorms are over the top of the center, condition also be more favorable for it to intensify. the new forecast from the hurricane center has it making landfall never saturday at 1:00 a.m. they have it at 5 m85-mile-per-r maximum winds. that's twhere it can really star doing damage south texas, look for the possibility of a cat 2 and hope it's lower than that this is tuesday, it's still sitting in almost the same location a stalled out

. >> now to nbc meteorologist angie with the latest weather forecast >> good news out of some of our radar pictures they continue to be showing heavy rain in some parts but houston, overnight, not seeing all of the heavy rain like they did yesterday. we continue to see the circulation of harvey moving off the gulf coast we continue to watch for the eastern side of that system to continue to sit over beaumont. we will still continue to watch for some of those heavy rains. i want you to notice why this is important. if we take a look at buffalo bayou. of course this is the bayou through the center of the city, we see over the next couple of days we're going to watch it move up to about 70. that's going to be continuing to see heavy amounts of rain falling in that area, so the flooding that we're already noticing from there, you'll notice our old record, 61 feet now we're talking about 70 feet. that's not even the peak point of the bayou as we head later into those overnight hours between tuesday and wednesday, that's when we'll watch for 71 feet notice, if we took a look at our additio