it is good to be back with you on this second hour of

"chris jansing reports." at this hour, republicans take their battle against the justice department to the next level. will they vote to hold the attorney general in contempt for refusing to give them audio tapes of president biden's interview with the special counsel. we're tracking the action. also, terrifying moments in georgia after a man hijacks a bus full of passengers. how the high speed chase came to a deadly end. the ice sting across the u.s., eight men with suspected ties to isis arrested in three major cities after crossing the southern border. how did they escape detection for so long. plus, breaking news, the fed out with its latest decision on interest rates after u.s. consumers got some promising news on inflation. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments, but we begin on capitol hill with nbc's julie tsirkin where speaker mike johnson is expressing confidence

the contempt vote against attorney general merrick garland will pass. julie, what's the feeling you're getting from republicans writ large? >> reporter: well, that's exactly right, chris. according to republican leadership, they feel like they do have the votes and their very slim majority now of about two-vote margin that they will have the votes to hold merrick garland, the attorney general, in contempt of congress for failing to turn over the tapes of the biden interview during the special counsel probe looking into the classified documents that the president had possessed. look, you don't have to take my word for it. take a listen to speaker johnson himself this morning. >> we'll be holding attorney general garland in contempt of congress. he is refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena and that's a problem under article 1. we have to defend the constitution, the authority of congress. we can't allow the department of justice and executive branch agency to hide information from congress. i do think the contempt of merrick garland will pass on the

floor, and we're anxious to have that happen. >> reporter: now, there were many moderate republicans who were unsure how they would vote on this. i spoke to a handful of them last week, yesterday, revisited with a number of them, including new york republicans who have a tough reelection in november. they tell me now that they are definitely going to vote in favor of holding garland in contempt of congress. he said he should turn over those tapes. republicans feel confident they have the votes. in an hour and a half from now, will the votes translate to reality. will they be able to get the simple majority needed to hold the attorney general in contempt of congress, something that garland has said unnecessary, something he said is a targeting of his department, that remains to be seen. we know in the past, republican leadership has put votes on the floor before that they thought they had the votes for, and at the last minute were surprised when one or two republicans voted against them. we'll see what happens here, chris, but certainly a lot at stake this afternoon. >> julie tsirkin, thank you.

now to a wild high speed chase involving a transit bus. kathy park is in atlanta for us. this story is terrifying. what happened here? >> hey, chris, good afternoon to you, terrifying indeed. so this initially came as a call to law enforcement, a hostage situation, possibly, and there was gunfire reported on a bus, and it quickly escalated near downtown atlanta. and you're seeing some incredible and dramatic images of what became a bus carjacking, and now the suspect has been identified as 39-year-old joseph greer. he is a convicted felon, but this all happened during the height of rush hour, and this bus, this hijacking, it crossed several jurisdictions and it took roughly an hour before officials were able to disable the bus. they use an armored vehicle. they were able to get the bus to stop. 17 people were on the bus.

and when they cleared the bus, they found one individual, one victim who had gunshot wounds. this individual was taken to the hospital, and was later pronounced dead. but a little bit more on the suspect once again. a convicted felon. he was arrested 19 times before, and now faces several other charges in the wake of what's happened including kidnapping, murder, hijacking of a motor vehicle, and chris, this is a new twist that we have learned after speaking to our local affiliate in atlanta. shortly after, there was a separate shooting that was reported in atlanta. this was before the hijacking, and our local affiliate reporter there on the ground actually interviewed the suspect, the hijacking suspect hours before the bus hijacking. so that is an unusual connection there. and in this interview, the suspect, joseph greer is talking about his mental health history, and also talking about his criminal past as well. we do know that he has waived his initial appearance. we are still waiting for that new court date, chris.

>> kathy park, thank you. we have learned several men with suspected ties to isis living here in the u.s. have now been taken into custody. nbc's julia ainsley has the latest for us. julia. >> what we know so far about these eight men is they were arrested over the weekend by i.c.e. in new york, philadelphia, and los angeles, all crossed over the border and they're all from tajikistan originally. at least one is a citizen of russia, and at least two of them crossed over over a year ago, which means they were living freely in the united states. at the time they crossed, we should point out, we don't believe they crossed as part of a group. at the time, none of these men had any kind of derogatory information. that's a term, customs and border protection uses to say they didn't have anything that could connect them to terrorism or criminal background from their home country that would alert officials at the border that they should detain these people. they were treated like any other migrant that wouldn't pose a threat and released. it wasn't until recently that an

fbi probe found these met might have a connection to isis. they're currently being held in i.c.e. detention, and only charged with immigration violations. that's the key here. essentially, what federal authorities decided to do was arrest these men, get them off the streets while they continued this investigation. they went for the lowest hanging fruit, which is the immigration violation. they have not yet been charged with terrorism related crimes, but that could come later, and we're told this is all part of what officials say is a heightened threat environment for terrorism in the united states. particularly from that part of the world where isis k has been growing. remember, that was the organization behind that attack in moscow last fall, and it's something that we understand the fbi is continuing to watch. >> julia ainsley, thank you. we have some breaking news. the fed has just announced it's leaving interest rates unchanged. nbc's brian cheung is with us now. what can you tell us?

. >> the federal reserve, just a few minutes ago, announcing it's not going to change interest rates. it's going to hold them where they are, essentially, we shouldn't expect to see our mortgage rates, credit card rates, auto loan rates decline. that's the benchmark they use. in assessing the economy there has been modest further progress towards inflation getting to the 2% number. that's important, we just got updated figures on inflation. this coming from the consumer price index. you can see 3.3%, that's how much the government says prices increase between may of this year or may of last year. that's a slower pace than the 3.4% figure we had seen in the april to april period, and substantially lower than the 9% pace. when you unpack the numbers underneath the inflation report. we did see food prices, on a monthly basis, by the way, increase by 1/10 of percent. by the way, they declined even further, prices at the pump, between may and where we are today on june 12th. lastly, the shelter, this

remains a big story, that's not letting up in terms of inflation. prices are rising by 4/10 of a percent on a monthly basis. the federal reserve holding interest rates steady after seeing the data this morning, and again, we'll have to see whether or not they project interest rate cuts. projections alongside the announcement today show the possibility of one or even two interest rate cuts by the end of the year. the median member of the 17-person committee, saying they could see one interest rate cut by the end of 2024. >> brian cheung, thank you for that. in 90 seconds, new secret recordings of justice samuel alito as democrats make a push for the supreme court code of ethics. is reform possible? music) - they get it. they know how it works... and more importantly... it works for them. - i don't have any anxiety about money anymore. - i don't have to worry about a mortgage payment every month. - it allowed me to live in my home... and not have to pay payments. - [narrator] if you're 62 or older and own your home,

you could access your equity to improve your lifestyle. a reverse mortgage loan eliminates your monthly mortgage payments and puts tax-free cash in your pocket. call the number on your screen. - it was the best thing i've ever done, and- - really? - yes, without a doubt! - just like these folks, aag can show you how a reverse mortgage loan uses your built-up home equity to give you tax-free cash. - it's a good thing. - why don't you get the facts? like these folks did. - [narrator] call right now to receive your free, no-obligation info kit. call the number on your screen.

today senate democrats will try again to get a vote on a supreme court ethics bill, knowing that they will run into republican opposition. the court has been under intense scrutiny this week after secret recordings were made public. they're of justice samuel alito talking to a progressive activist who is known for recording conservative political figures while posing as an ally. in this newly released portion of the tape, you can hear alito railing against media coverage of conservatives on the court. >> they don't like our decisions, and they don't like how they anticipate we may decide some cases that are coming up. that's the beginning of the end

of it. and there are groups that are very well funded by ideological groups that have spearheaded these attacks. on other portions of the tape, alito is heard endorsing a nation of godliness, and questioning whether compromise between the ideological left and right is possible. nbc news has not been able to confirm what edits may have been made to the recordings. joyce vance is a former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst. jennifer palmieri is former communications director for the white house and hillary clinton's campaign and an msnbc political analyst. senator john cornyn said the alito recording was part of a, and i'm quoting here, campaign of harassment against the court which is kind of what we just heard from the justice. but i wonder what your reaction is to hearing what justice alito

has had to say. >> right. so people can debate the tactics that were used to obtain this recording. but the problem is we hear justice alito in his own words articulating a vision that no judge who's sitting on a court, particularly not the supreme court should be embracing. we expect our judges to be neutral umpires, and, look, judges are human beings. they have their own personal views, what they're asked to do and what they take an oath to do is set their personal views aside when they act as judges. that's the problem here. the conflation of the judge's personal views with the way he sits on the bench. and then, chris, just the last thing i'll say is, this is a casual public conversation with someone he doesn't know, and if he's willing to be this free and to go this far in that format, we have to be very concerned about how he's conducting his business. >> jen, our chuck todd wrote a

piece, he argued, for the attention on alito, there should be attention on what chief justice john roberts said when he was secretly recorded. here he is on what he sees as the role of the court. >> you don't think there's like a role for the court in like guiding us toward a more moral path? >> no, i think the role for the court is deciding the cases. if i start -- would you want me to be in charge of guiding us toward a more moral path? that's for the people we elect. that's not for lawyers. >> if that's what he believes, what should john roberts do, do you think? or maybe at the very least, should that help build faith in the court? >> well, i think, the problem, what i found stunning is the same response that joyce had, which is supreme court justices feeling comfortable just speaking into a microphone, in a hallway of someone who they do not know. and particularly for alito,

expressing the beliefs that he did. and then the chief justice, we don't know if he heard what alito said, but, you know, i don't know if they was cleaning up what alito said, but it's just -- it is pretty stunning that alito would be that forthcoming, and that even if the chief justice would respond in some way. if he wants to actually protect, you know, the court in that way, he should be being, you know, we can't know what he's doing behind the scenes. he should be more aggressive in managing the court, in dealing with the ethics problem, and perhaps siding with the minority sometimes, when these questions, you know, some of these abortion cases, the contraception case coming up. if you really want to keep government, keep the court out of measuring and guiding towards

morality. you know, he's not -- he is -- there was a time, you know, i'm thinking in particular, chris, of the affordable care act decision in 2012 where we understood that chief justice roberts really played a role in trying to keep the court incremental and how it's deciding things, not overstepping its bound when it comes to legislation, kind of keeping that decision, getting that decision to where it needed to be, and then either has laws all controlled or has stopped or not pushing back or not pushing back enough to keep the court from becoming the court of godliness, you know, to paraphrase what justice alito said. >> there's been attention on a number of justices, as you all know, joyce, but also on their lives, in the case of alito's life, who he blamed for flying the controversial flag, there

were two of them outside the property. she was also recorded and here's what she said. >> you know what i want, i want a sacred heart of jesus flag because i have to look across the lagoon at the pride flag for the next month. >> they're persecuting you, and you're like a convenient stand-in for anybody who's religious. >> look at me, look at my, i'm german, from germany. my heritage is german. you come after me, i'm going to give it back to you. >> does justice alito need to address what his wife said there? does the chief justice need to address both what he said and what she said? does it have no bearing on his work? >> well, mrs. alito clearly knows what expectations are for her behavior as the wife of a supreme court justice because in that same recording, she goes on to acknowledge that justice alito has asked her not to fly flags right now, and that she

won't fly them right now, and that's when she goes on to talk about the flags that she would like to fly. so, look, there aren't hard and fast rules around spousal behavior, but the problem here is that the supreme court does not have an army that goes out and enforces its decisions. the supreme court has merit as an institution in our society because the public has confidence in it. and we are living through a time of just lagging public confidence in the integrity of this court as an institution. the justices and the people around them need to be taking every step they can to restore that confidence, not continuing to denigrate it. >> jen, you previously said, the blame the wife defense, makes somebody look like a coward. do you think, though, it moves the needle at all? do you think that the supreme court is something people are voting on in november? >> i do.

i do think that, and, you know, by the way, alito's wife was talking about the sacred heart of jesus flag. leonard leo has it. i have seen it. leonard leo has that flag hanging outside of his home in maine. he, of course, is a very wealthy donor who has given a lot of money to conservative legal organizations who try to accomplish what they have, which is very conservative, and religious leaning in their decisions, supreme court. so i think that -- i do think, you know, it is -- i mean, it really is stunning to hear, justices normally don't voice any kind of political opinion at all, and to be so casual with it, i found -- i found really shocking. i thought that the discussions happening behind closed doors, the supreme court, and i do think it's going to be a vote.

i think the supreme court is going to be a big voting issue. when you have the mifepristone decision coming soon. already living with how the roe decision has wrecked women's health care across the country, and now you hear that the supreme court justice wants there to be a nation of godliness, and the chief justice is a little weak kneed about how you push back on a court that's trying to push towards morality. i think that's going to have a big impact. >> joyce vance, jennifer palmieri, thank you both. for more analysis, check out msnbc's how to win 2024 news letter, scan the qr code on your screen and sign up to get major updates to the campaign trail sent straight to your inbox, each week through november. the war, shocking new statistics that shows u.s. soldiers are more likely to die by suicide than in battle. in ba.

g and living longer are two things i want from my metastatic breast cancer treatment. and with kisqali, i can have both. kisqali is a pill that when taken with an aromatase inhibitor helps delay cancer from growing and has been proven to help people live significantly longer across three separate clinical trials. so, i have the confidence to live my life. kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. avoid grapefruit during treatment. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. long live life and long live you. ask your doctor about kisqali today.

it's good to get some fresh air. fresh air? hi guys! bill, you look great! now that i have inspire, i'm free from struggling with the mask and the hose. inspire? inspire is a sleep apnea treatment that works inside my body with a click of this button. no mask! no hose! just sleep. give me this thing. where are you going? i'm going to get inspire. inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. (vo) you were diagnosed with thyroid eye disease a long time ago. learn more and view important safety information and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your thyroid eye disease could still change. restoration is still possible. learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp.com.

you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it.

a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today!

shocking new data from the pentagon reveals the leading cause of death for active duty u.s. soldiers is suicide. and it is by a devastating amount. soldiers are nine times more likely to die by suicide than in combat. in the five years from 2014 to 2019, there were 96 combat deaths among active duty

soldiers. the number for suicide deaths, 883. so now the question is what needs to be done to stop this deadly trend? joining me now is veteran attorney and former missouri secretary of state, jayson candor. also author of "invisible storm. it's good to have you on the program. these statistics are shocking and disturbing to hear for us on the outside, but are you surprised. >> i'm not surprised. thanks for having me back on, chris. thanks for talking about this. i'm not surprised because when you look at one of the better known statistics that's been out there for a while that your viewers are probably familiar with, it's that on average, every day in the united states, 22 american veterans take their lives. the statistic that is less likely to be known is that within that 22, on average, 16 of those veterans are not

connected to any specific form of veteran services at the time that that happens. so they're not receiving any veteran-specific services at the time they take their life, and so that's sort of the consistent thread through veteran and active duty suicide is that when someone is not receiving services, they're much more likely to be isolated, much more likely to die by suicide. at the same time, as wild as it may sound for me to say this, there are actually positives in some of these findings. for instance, the per capita rate of suicide among veterans is going down. it's not going down anywhere near where it should. but it is going down. but when you compare combat deaths to suicides, what you have to remember is that the off tempo, the deployment tempo, the, you know, the amount of combat that american service members are engaged in has been going down over the last several years. and in a lot of ways, for me personally, when i look at these numbers, what i see is that a

great majority of the suicides could be classified as combat deaths if they are related to post-traumatic stress sustained during deployments that hasn't been treated. >> last september, the defense secretary outlined the pentagon's strategy to prevent deaths, including improving access to mental health counseling and incentives for a safe storage of firearms. but what can really be done beyond that? how much progress do you think can be made realistically? >> i'll give you a few things. what they really start with is something that i believe is already beginning right now, with just the va, and the defense department beginning to work together. because obviously va has been working on this, the veteran suicide issue for quite some time. for them to start working together is huge. in the same way that it's really important that they work together in the way people separate from the service. a lot of people don't realize when you separate from the

service, it's not like you automatically get enrolled in the va. it's a lot more difficult when you change insurance companies, it's a lot more difficult than that and shouldn't be, but in the same sort of pursuit of trying to have the two agencies work together, now they need to work together in the reverse way. the va can work with d.o.d. on these issues, and i believe personally that this needs to start much earlier in the process. when you go into the military. doesn't matter what branch you're in, when you go into basic training, in addition to learning how to shoot, move, communicate, all the soldier and marine stuff you learn, you learn other stuff. you get briefings on policies and procedures. you get briefings on sexual harassment in the workplace, all of this sort of thing. what we don't do anywhere near enough is educate new members of the military on what post-traumatic stress looks

like. what suicidality or suicidal ideation looks like. if they were to actually conduct this training, what we would have are a lot more, as we would call it in the military, safety officers. when you go on a firing range. you don't have to look for somebody else for safety. if you see something unsafe, you can stop the range. we need to do the same with mental health. we need to train service members about mental health, how to spot it in themselves, and the battle buddies the moment they get in the service. >> jason kander, so good to have you on the program. this is so important. we will speak again. we have to keep this in the public eye. thank you so much, appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> if you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, call or text the national suicide crisis hot line, 988 or you can text home to 741-741.

a bittersweet day today as survivors of one of the nation's deadliest school shootings will cross the graduation stage in their caps and gowns to get their diploma. a diploma that 20 classmates never got a chance to earn. some sharing personal moments and how the legacy of the friends they lost lives on. >> i watched all my friends drop, and one of the victims did not make it. he told me and a couple of other people to run, and we did. we ran out of the classroom, out of the school, and on the way, we saw bodies in the hallways, and doors blown off the hinges, and we just ran and ran and ran. >> this tragedy never ends. the friends, family who were lost that day, the smiling faces that should be filling the seats in the classroom, the parents who should be able to watch their kids graduate, get married, the kids to never hug their parents again, it's never over.

>> your prayers don't mean anything. it doesn't help me. i've had to deal with this for ten years. >> as unfortunate as it is, it's going to keep hang to someone else until people like us make the change. >> i thought sandy hook would shock people, wake everybody up. it just keeps happening over and over and over again. >> to exactly that point, there have been at least 1,290 incidents of gunfire at u.s. schools since the sandy hook shooting in 2013. that's according to everytown for gun safety. and we'll be right back. 'll be . upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. we all need fiber for our digestive health, but less than 10% of us get enough each day. good thing metamucil gummies are an easy way to get prebiotic, plant-based fiber.

with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies the easy way to get your daily fiber. ♪ ♪ metamucil gummies have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? same. discover the power of wegovy®. ♪ ♪ with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. ♪ ♪ and i'm keeping the weight off. wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only fda-approved weight-management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. wegovy® shouldn't be used with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take wegovy® if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop wegovy® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis

and gallbladder problems. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes. common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off. and i'm lowering my cv risk. that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. -remember when i said we need to screen for colon cancer? -was that after i texted the age to screen was now 45? [both] because i said cologuard®! -hey there! -where did he come from? -yup, with me you can screen at home. just talk to your provider. [both] we'll screen with cologuard and do it my way. cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive.

it's for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for me, cologuard. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... talk to a healthcare provider so i wear a lot of hats. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up!

so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on.

one step forward could mean two steps back on cease fire hostage talks between israel and hamas. today, secretary of state tony blinken hammered hamas over what he called its unworkable demands to the u.s.-backed proposal. the plan would end the fighting in gaza and free israeli hostages. the setback comes as the united nations found israel and hamas responsible for committing war crimes against each other. matt bradley is in jerusalem. unworkable, doesn't sound promising, what are we hearing from blinken on where these talks stand? >> reporter: it's not just antony blinken is essentially saying, this is hamas who's at fault here, hamas is the one who

needs to exceed to the deal. they are outstanding in the negotiations. here's a little bit more of what he said in doha. >> hamas could have answered with a single word, yes. instead, hamas waited nearly two weeks. and then proposed more changes. a number of which go beyond positions it had previously taken and accepted. >> reporter: now it sounds as those he's saying, hamas is to blame for the adoption of this proposal. at the same time, we got a statement from a senior member of hamas, senior political figure. he spoke with al jazeera, and he said that their position has always been the same. it has been entirely consistent, and we have gotten this information as well from nbc news saying that they were disputing the time line for the actual end of the war. not a temporary cease fire, but the end of the conflict and the

withdrawal of israeli forces, and as a matter of fact, they have said that. they have hued to that line from the beginning saying they want to see, and they will stop at nothing to see an end to israel's war in the gaza strip, and a full withdrawal of israeli troops. now, they have been consistent on that. now, we don't know the details, we don't know anything about the behind the scenes discussions. antony blinken would know. he's in the room, but at the same time, antony blinken is proposing and making noises sounding like israel has succeeded to this deal. that may be the case. on may 31st when joe biden presented this deal, he presented it as israel's proposal. and in the week that followed, benjamin netanyahu and his allies gradually walked that back and said that they had not necessarily agreed to this deal. now we have heard positive signals from the israelis, and we've heard positive signals from hamas in the past couple of days. this is really the closest we have been to some kind of deal since the last deal in november,

that halted the fighting for a week, and freed more than half of the hostages and palestinians in the israeli jails. there is cause for optimism, chris. >> matt bradley, thank you. g7 leaders are gathering in italy under clouds of uncertainty. president biden just one of the leaders with the challenge in this immediate future and hanging over these meetings. upcoming elections in the uk and france could change the balance of power among key allies who he rallied around ukraine and against russia. the far right made major gains in european union elections earlier this week. raising doubts over whether those alliances can hold. nbc's monica alba is reporting from southern italy. monica, the next g7 summit is in 2025 after the presidential election. so what does joe biden hope to accomplish on this trip? >> reporter: well, certainly that election, which is just five months away is the backdrop to all of this in terms of what

world leaders sometimes ask the president, according to the president. which is to discuss what life was like under the trump administration, and whether there's a possibility that former president trump could be back in office. and the president likes to talk about conversations that he's had with world leaders where he likes to assert that america is back, and that during his term in office, president biden says world leaders frequently like to engage him in that kind of conversation, and he likes to tell those stories. so that is likely something that will be happening behind the scenes here that you can expect the president to discuss, though he doesn't always go into every specific detail, and we saw that just recently during his trip to normandy and in france where he didn't want to specifically invoke donald trump, but it was very clear who he was talking about. if that is the large political implication here, chris, there's so much else on the agenda for these world leaders to speak about, and perhaps at the top of the list is what to do about the

war in ukraine and russia's continued aggression. we know there's broad agreement among the leaders that they want to be able to use these frozen russian assets to try to help continue to fund ukraine's defense. but there's a little bit of disagreement about how exactly to go about doing that. so we expect there will be a robust conversation on that. and then in addition, we've learned that the u.s. and ukraine will announce tomorrow a new security deal which the president and president zelenskyy will detail in a joint press conference. so we expect to hear from both leaders, again, as there are many questions about the ra -- trajectory of this war, where it goes from here, and larger questions you talked about that are being raised over the continent of europe as a result of the elections that we expect to come in terms of those shifting tides. we expect that to be a large topic of conversation here in addition to artificial intelligence, which it may surprise some people to learn the pope of all people will be

leading a discussion on that on friday. and it's the first time that a pope has attended a g7 summit like this, and that is the issue he's choosing to focus on in terms of some of the benefits of the technology, but also he says, some of the dangers, chris. >> monica alba, thank you for that. a group of highly advanced russian military ships has arrived in cuba, just 90 miles from the southern tip of florida, a bold show of force at a time when tensions between russia and the united states are extraordinarily high. nbc's ed augustine is in havana with the latest. what's going on there, ed? >> what's going on, cuba and russia allies are getting closer. i was there just a few hours ago when the russian nuclear powered submarine, amongst other naval vessels pulled in. it was an amazing scene. what's going on is that over the last few years, especially since

the war in ukraine, there's been a lot of economic integration between the allies. russia is sending more oil to cuba than it was a few years ago. there's been a parade of cuban officials to moscow. cuba's position on the war in ukraine, which started out back in february of 2022, something that could be construed as neutral, has become far more pro russian, the cuban president said last month, he wishes russia every success with their special military operation. even copying or using the same language that vladimir putin uses, and i think the reason for this isn't too hard to grasp. one, the war in ukraine has created geopolitical fault lines, which is reshaping the world, and cuba is moving closer to russia in that context. the last five or six years, under the trump administration

and biden administration, efforts toward normalizing u.s./cuban relations that were heralded in under the obama administration have been pretty much demolished. unprecedented sanctions have been put on the country, and a lot of cubans watching that submarine were feeling poignant. there were american cruise ships docked at the very same dock. pumping dollars into the cuban economy. today a russian nuclear powered submarine. hard to think of a more powerful image where u.s. relations are with cuba and russian. >> ed, thank you so much for that. we have sad news to share, impacting the wider world of journalism as well as our smaller family here on "chris jansing reports." long time veteran journalist howard fineman has died after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. he was 75 years old. howard was well known, well respected for his breadth of

experience covering seven presidents in a career that spanned four decades. he worked for news week, the huffington post and an msnbc analyst for two decades. his wife amy nathan reported on his death saying quote, he couldn't have been adored more. the world was a better place because he lived in it and wrote about it. his long time colleague, sam stein remembered him as a force of nature and a check on power. he was righteous about the right things, and dogged in the right ways. he had big thoughts and surprising depths. he had a value system and an town where that can get lost. i will miss my friend, but more importantly, we in political journalism will miss the example he set. i would just add this. i spent a lot of time in the trenches of political coverage with howard, starting during the 2000 campaign. i was a relative rookie on the national stage. i was in awe of him.

yet, howard always treated me as an equal. generous with his knowledge, kind and encouraging. my admiration for him as a person and a journalist is limitless. howard's sonic is a senior producer on our program. there he is with his wife summer and the rest of his family. we send our love and condolences to the entire family. this is a tremendous loss, and we love you all. you want thicker, stronger, fuller hair? you need expert skincare. new dove scalp + hair therapy serum active skincare ingredients targets the source of beautiful hair. your scalp for visibly thicker, stronger, fuller hair. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools, and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are.

e*trade from morgan stanley

♪ [suspenseful music] trains. [whoosh] ♪ trains that sense what isn't on the schedule. ♪ trains that use the power of dell ai and intel. ♪ to see hundreds of miles of tracks. ♪ [vroom] [train horn] [buzz] clearing the way, [whoosh] so you arrive exactly where you belong. i'm jonathan lawson, here to tell you about life insurance so you arrive through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54.

what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. options start at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate-lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling, so call now for free information.

a shocking breakup in the world of competitive eating that's almost too hard to stomach. joey chestnut, the perennial winner of the nathan's hot dog eating contest is banned from the competition this year. major beef is over beef itself, or the lack thereof. the man famous for guzzling nathan's famous beef hot dogs has partnered with impossible meats, and he wouldn't be able to compete unless he renounces that sponsorship. chestnut has won 16 of the last 17 hot dog contests and holds the all time record, 76 hot dogs and buns eaten in ten minutes. a remarkable discovery, 2,000 years in the making, we're getting an exclusive look behind the scenes at a shrine unearthed

in pompey. kelly cobiella is there. >> reporter: archaeologists have been digging at this site for 2,000 years but a third of the city has remained hidden until now. in the shadow of the old roman city of pompey, preserved in volcanic ash for centuries. . are we on a roman road yet? >> we're making a journey of about 2,000 years. >> reporter: now, the biggest dig in a generation has unearthed a breathtaking scene from the past. >> oh, wow, this is the blue room? >> this is a very special thing. >> reporter: it's so vibrant. oh, it's stunning. >> reporter: nbc news getting an exclusive look at this ornately decorated shrine as it was nearly 2,000 years ago. female figures representing the four seasons. and rare egyptian blue paint on the walls.

>> blue was the most expensive color. >> reporter: on the floor, a row of clay jugs and oyster shells used for plaster, sitting exactly as builders left them that fateful day in 79 a.d. >> reporter: something strange started happening at mount, you could hear a big bang. >> reporter: the entire city was buried in volcanic rock and ash from the devastating eruption and frozen in time. bakers and artists, builders and merchants, more than 20,000 people lived here. this was a big, wealthy, thriving city. today teams are finding new clues about how those people lived, carefully putting the pieces back together. >> seeing something for the first time in almost 2,000 years. >> reporter: exposing entire rooms, like this newly discovered banquet hall, decorated with mythical figured, like the beautiful helen of troy.

showing the sophistication and elegance of the pompey yans. some of these finds open to the public this month. we were given an up-close look. >> this is a little bedroom. >> when this room was first uncovered, we thought that was amazing. we had no idea obviously after what we were going to come down on to. >> reporter: frescos from the ceiling to the floor, and this intriguing image of a boy and his dog. >> this is unique. >> reporter: around the corner, another surprise, charcoal drawings made by children, a hunting scene, a boxing match. >> little hands. >> you can hear the little giggles of the children. >> reporter: like a hand reaching out from the past. not every picture is clear, this unfinished fresco, reigniting an age old debate about a pizza sfl . >> it's still not the first depiction of a pizza. it's a not pizza, but we love --

>> but looks very much like a pizza. >> reporter: it's fascinating to imagine what they might find next. there are ruins under my feet where i'm standing right now. they will be digging at this site for months. >> kelly cobiella, thank you, and that's going to do it for us this hour, make sure to join us for "chris jansing reports" every weekday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. our coverage continues with katy tur reports next. honestly, i was scared when i was told age related macular degeneration could jeopardize my vision. great. one more thing to worry about. it was all too hard to deal with in the beginning, but making a plan with my doctor to add precision was easy. preservision areds2 contains the exact nei recommended,

clinically proven nutrient formula to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. thanks to preservision, i feel better that i'm doing something about it like millions of others. preservision. (vo) if you have graves' disease, your eye symptoms could mean something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor. see an expert. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com

♪♪ ♪♪ citi's industry leading global payments solutions help their clients move money around the world seamlessly in over 180 countries... and help a partner like the world food programme as they provide more than food to people in need. together, citi and the world food programme empower families across the globe. ♪♪ ♪♪ innovation in health care means nothing if no one can afford it. ♪♪ at evernorth, we're helping to unlock barriers. ♪♪ using our 35 plus years of pharmacy benefits

management experience to save businesses billions while boosting medication adherence. helping plan sponsors and their members be at their best. that's wonder made possible. evernorth health services.

good to be with you, i'm katy tur. hunter biden's conviction appears to be inconvenient for a key republican campaign pitch. as we have been hearing since 2020, donald trump has repeatedly called him a