agent accepting payoffs to help egypt get more military aid and using his powerful committee by helping new jersey businessmen get a multi-million dollar business deal approved by the government. he once chaired the foreign relations committee until stepping down last fall. menendez and his wife, who has also been charged in the bribery scheme as we point out, she has pleaded not guilty. they are undergoing separate trials because she is being treated for breast cancer. that jury is expected to get this case perhaps sometime tomorrow after the closing arguments a finished. jose? >> thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," president biden defiant, writing to congressional allies he is

running this race until the end despite new and growing calls from lawmakers within his party to step aside. but pressure could ratchet up exponentially with congress back in session today. the commander in chief calling in to "morning joe" today to make his position clear. >> the bottom line here is that we're not going anywhere. i am not going anywhere. i wouldn't be running if i didn't absolutely believe that i'm the best candidate to beat donald trump in 2024. we had a democratic nominating process where the voters spoke clearly. also, we continue to track tropical storm beryl and its impact on southeast texas, including at least two deaths after making landfall in morning. a critical nato summit in washington in week ahead strikes in ukraine including on a children's hospital in kyiv. days after a landslide in

britain's election, the left rallies for a surprising result in france's elections, preventing the far right wave predicted in the polls. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. under fire to save his candidacy. president biden went on offense today calling into msnbc's "morning joe" to signal to nervous democratic members of congress that he has the support of the base and he is not going to step aside. >> i want to make sure i was right that the average voter out there still wanted joe biden and i'm confident they do. so what i did was i went out and wanted to make sure there wasn't any slippage at all. with the average voter. i don't care what the millionaires think. i'm not going to explain any more about what i should or shouldn't do. i am running. i am running.

>> with the house gaveling back into session this hour, the president is expected to call more lawmakers, trying to reassure them he's up to the job after that disastrous debate performance and questionable answers in his interview on abc on friday night. in a letter today to fellow democrats, biden asking naysayers if the democratic process no longer matters. quote, that voters don't have a say, citing his overwhelming support in the primaries. but defections continue to grow with four high ranking members joining the cory for him to step aside. the president challenging skeptics to turn their words into action. >> i'm getting so frustrated by the elites, not you guys, the elites, because they know so much more. these guys don't think i should run, run against me.

challenge me for me. challenge me at the convention. >> with a three-day nato smmit kicking off tomorrow, president biden is under pressure to reassure those allies as well. we start with mike memoli and capitol hill correspondent, ryan nobles. so, mike, the president came out swinging on "morning joe," says he's listening to the base and he is running. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, andrea. president biden may now be the president. he was the vice president before that. the chairman of prestige committees in the senate but has never considered himself the establishment or elite in his party and you're hearing that come through so clearly now as he's fighting for political survival. we've heard he, his wife and others say he's not about to let 90 minutes in a debate overshadow his years as president. he's not going to make a snap decision to get out of this race based on that 90 minutes. he's going to fight this through and stay in this race until we

see there's no path forward. that interview with "morning joe" today making the point he's made in other settings in that letter to congressional leadership at that rally that i was covered in madison, wisconsin last week. setting this up as a disconnect. a fight between the voters, the backbone of the democratic party. black voters, union voters, versus these millionaire donors. what the criticism from democrats among others has been though is that this forceful campaign we're seeing over the last 72 hours which included a blitz through pennsylvania yesterday was almost too late. he was hunkered down at the white house not allowing it sooner and it's allowed the doubts to grow. but the white house is setting about the biden campaign to fix that this week with a much more aggressive schedule moving forward. of course, he is hosting this nato summit this week. the campaign believes that will be a good forum for him to

demonstrate leadership on the world stage. he'll be giving a press conference here solo on thursday. he's also meeting with union leaders in washington on wednesday before he heads to michigan on friday. all important opportunities now to continue to show that not only is he still fighting for this job, but that he can still do the job. that's a question a lot of democrats on capitol hill as they come back to washington are going to be asking this week. >> he did not call the leaders until wednesday. not jim clyburn, not jeffries. he waited all of those days. a lot of people are criticizing the response and also that interview on friday night with abc. let's talk about defections versus supporters. you've got the congressional black caucus largely sticking with the president. what's your latest reporting about what people were saying on the call yesterday with jeffries and there's a leadership meeting later today, tonight. >> reporter: one thing we know

is that there is widespread anxiety about congressional democrats. now, that doesn't mean there is widespread effort here to try to convince the president to step down, but nor is there a widespread amount of support rallying around him to try and keep him in the race. it seems most rank and file democrats aren't sure what the next steps should be for the party, but they are very concerned that joe biden has the stamina to stay in this race and lead their party in the fall election to beat donald trump. we are starting to see signs though where basically from the day after the debate up and through the weekend where you saw more and more people track away from the president, we are now starting to see it turn back where he is starting to rally support. the main place that is coming from is the congressional black caucus. the chairman was just speaking for himself when he put out a statement today where he said president biden is the nominee and has been selected by millions of voters across the country. like me, they don't want to see donald trump back in the white

house and are ready to work and vote to ensure that doesn't happen. we are not going back. we're moving forward. that was a very specific and emphatic support of joe biden as nominee. but just 20 minutes or so here on msnbc, gregory meeks, the ranking member on the powerful foreign affairs committee, he wouldn't go that far. would not specifically say that he believes that donald trump should remain the nominee. so you see that really across the board in the democratic party. a lot of concern, a lot of questions being asked as to how the party takes the next step forward. the one thing i'm finding as i talk to folks, andrea, there's a real concern among congressional leaders is they don't want this to turn into a public spat. where you see prominent leaders being forced to come out and issue public statements calling on the president to step down. they would prefer he come to that on his own. how he gets there, given how

much he's dug in over the last 24 hours, remains to be seen, if at all. >> exactly. you and mike are all over this because he has really dug in and the family around him as well. thanks to both of you and joining us now from "the washington post," chief correspondent, and ashley parker. also, former obama white house communications director, and former doug high. dan, first to you. if there's, if the president is not going to do so voluntarily and he is showing so much defiance and a lot of spirit right now, is there any way the so-called party elites who he's disparaging here could persuade him to drop out? >> it's very difficult to see that happening at this point given how dug in he is, andrea. i think that what we have seen

over the last few days is that all of the kind of public clamber for him to step aside seems to have moved him in the opposite direction that he has become more and more defiant. i think that letter to members of congress today is the latest indication as was his appearance on "morning joe" today. my guess is that there are only a handful of people who could really change his sense of where things are or his determination to stay in. obviously, his family would be that group but there's no indication that they are anything other than fully behind him and want him to stay in the race. i think that leaves it to people like chuck schumer and hakeem jeffries and nancy pelosi who perhaps in a quiet way, not in a public way, could give him kind of the full measure of how they see this and where they think the party is. but you know, as the reporting

has shown, there is some movement back in his direction. i think the other aspect of this is in a sense, he's got further tests ahead this week and yet, this can't go on indefinitely or seemingly can't. there will have to be some kind of resolution soon and if it is that he is stay ng the race, you're going to have a very, very nervous party but not one that has the capability of moving him to the sideline. >> and ashley, many democrats are saying that the president's abc interview only reenforced their doubts. many are privately pointing to this exchange which congressman schiff from california called out on "meet the press." >> and if you stay in and trump is elected and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in january? >> i will feel as long as i gave it my all and i did as good a

job as i don't know i can do, that's what this is about. >> that is the answer that most concerned me as well. this is not just about whether he gave it the best college try. but rather whether he made the right decision to run or to pass the torch. that is the most important decision for him to make right now. >> so ashley, you've been talking to voters, to politicians. what are you hearing from all of your reporting? >> well, that's exactly right. that was the most alarming line for a lot of democrats. a piece out just a couple of hours ago on this very dilemma, which is that for nearly a decade now, the animating force of the democratic party, which has brought together different groups of people, different id logical blocks, is all being united against donald trump returning to the white house. that is their north star and really their only star. and now, they're in this moment

where they don't know who is the best candidate to defeat donald trump. they're grappling with and kind of working through what they describe as three sub par options. the first of course is to prop up joe biden, hope he doesn't have another debate night caliber stumble and he somehow manages to beat donald trump. the second is for him to step aside, which is hardly a given and everybody coalesce around vice president harris and hope she can beat trump. some people certainly have questions about her. and the third is again to try to get joe biden to step aside and if he does, run some sort of mini primary process. all of those options are rife with risks. which is why when biden seemed to dismiss the concerns, which is as long as he tries hard, i talked to a donor who stopped all donations until joe biden steps aside.

she said that's a fine line for pee wee football. not a fine line where if you're joe biden and you believe that the stakes are existential and the potential end of american democracy, trying your best is not sufficient. >> and abigail disney is a very big deal donor as you know. and many are looking to vice president harris. she doesn't have that broad support in the party or from swing voters. according to the polls. what's the bottom line on whether she could defeat donald trump? >> i mean, the thing i would say about her, we look at polling, there was, first of all, any polling of a candidate who's not actually in the race is sort of meaningless because the public reacts very differently to you than when you are a candidate. just sort of the abstract idea of a candidate. but the one thing about her that i would note is you know, she

has not gotten very good press in the last four years. it's a very difficult position to be in. we normally see her intermittently. there was a lot of issues with her coverage and still, she does pretty good. she does pretty well when you see polling. i think she would have room to grow. but the sort of you know, first issue is i don't see the president stepping aside and i think the campaign really turned a corner yesterday where he had a strong appearance at a black church. cbc largely having his back. came out this morning and said that he was supporting him. individual members of congress coming out to pressure him to resign, i don't think it's going to work. frankly, i think in some ways, that's just another elite who doesn't get what the base wants and where the party really is. the question is could anybody persuade him for some reason if members of congress came back and heard all the concerns, the

president should know them. if there's something he doesn't yet know from these members that would actually persuade him to reconsider, that's one question. but i don't think he's going to feel pressure. you can play it's not ideal, but you could play this off as more of you know, party insiders deciding he should not do what democratic voters in the primary say he should. >> doug, it's really remarkable to look at it from the republican perspective. this is joe biden running against the democratic establishment. that's an effective tool. we've seen it used before. meanwhile, donald trump is going to come out and he's been kind of hanging back and obviously what you do when your opponent's in trouble is sit back and let them dig out of it. not step on it yourself, but now, he's going to be coming out and probably naming a running mate. how do you think all this crisis in the democratic side affects,

if it does, whether it be berg or rubio or vance? >> it affects his timing and how he's communicated. you've probably gotten 700 press releases from mcconnell's team that say democrats in disarray. this is it. the most disarray we've seen a party have amongst itself in generations. >> probably since 1968. >> yeah. where the chicago convention was held as well. and so democrats know this. republicans certainly see this and they want to stay out of the way. and as long as we have democratic members or senators or candidates saying either joe has to go or that vague it's joe's decision to make or a democratic version of i didn't read the tweets, i didn't see the interview, i didn't listen to the interview, this is going to continue. donald trump's going to continue, he has to announce at some point, vp, but he has to hold out for as long as he can.

>> do you think it will be this week or on the eve on a convention? >> i think more towards the end of this week or eve of convention because we want to, as republicans, let this continue for as long as it can and it doesn't look like it's going away with members of congress back in d.c. hearing from their constituents. that's going to focus this much more this week. >> and what we've seen, what we used to call the meet the press primary, the tim russert primary, now the kristen welker primary. they did well in defending donald trump and twisting themselves in knots to a certain extent in terms of their past positions. >> a lot of republicans have become pretzels. >> doug and dan, ashley and jen, thanks to you and thanks to ryan nobles and mike memoli for starting us off. landfall. an update now on tropical storm beryl from one of the hardest

hit parts of texas. that's next. we'll be right back. "andrea mitchell reports" is back in just 90 seconds. you're watching msnbc. 0 seconds. you're watching msnbc. this summer. snacking. just. got. serious. introducing new $3 footlong dippers. the world might not be ready for them... ...but at $3 a pop? your wallet definitely is.

14 million people from the texas coast to southern illinois are under flood watches and a tornado watch is in effect for southeast texas. as tropical storm beryl churns north. the storm made landfall on

texas' gulf coast as a category 1 hurricane with winds up to 80 miles an hour. state disaster dec declarationse been issued in 21 counties. at least two have died in harris county. joining us now is priscilla thompson in texas. also with us, nbc news meteorologist, bill karins. priscilla, you've been toughing it out there near where it made landfall. what are the conditions there now? >> reporter: yeah, so the rain has stopped here in wharton. he just got here a short while ago moving inland. you can see very large tree branches completely snapped. i'm also told there are a number of uprooted trees in this community and i'll tell you when we first got here, the road was pretty flooded but it seems like a lot of the flooding here is

being caused by drains that have debris in them. so people are coming through, removing that debris and trying to sort of clear the roads here. earlier today, i was about two hours out in port lavaca near the area where this hurricane made landfall and we saw a lot of heavy rain there, but really not the flooding that we're seeing in a lot of these inland communities. i know the mayor of houston right now is briefing and he is telling people there to continue to shelter in place because of the fears of major flash flooding. that's certainly still a concern even as the rain is subsiding but we're talking about really heavy winds, up to 90 miles per hour in some of these areas. that has definitely done some damage. i was speaking to a woman here who says a tree was completely uprooted and fell on top of her home as she was inside of it and she said that as this was happening, it felt like her whole house was getting ready to

come apart. that it felt to her like a tornado and we know there were some possibilities that there may be some isolated tornados in and around this storm. so we're waiting for further details from that, but as you mentioned, two people in the houston area in harris county have died. both of those fatalities from objects. trees falling on to homes. so that is again why the mayor is urging people to sort of shelter and just be very alert. very aware of their surroundings. and of course, the other big issue we're dealing with here in texas is power outages. there are more than 2.5 million people across the state without power. large number of them in the houston area. so even as the storm moves on, there's going to be a lot of clean up and restoration happening after all this is over. >> thank you so much. i know you drove 500 miles

yesterday just to traverse the whole area. so thank you for everything you're doing. bill, where is this headed next and what should people worry about most? the wind or the flooding? >> the winds are dying down so the number of power outages will start coming, you know, we'll stop adding to that as much we have been. but the rainfall, we still have flash flooding possibilities and now, we have to worry about tornados the rest of the day. the heavy rain is over for houston. el campo. all the way to galveston. i know we've had one home destroyed in galveston. that was likely from a tornado overnight. surf side beach, a bunch of condos with a roofs ripped off. as the storm moves north, we're going to shift to focusing on tornados and the heavy rain threat. we have one tornado warning out here towards jasper. these are going to be fast moving. not like the ones you get in the midwest or the peak of tornado season in the spring. these are fast moving tornados. they pop up, die off. it's hard to even prepare for

them. flash flood warnings continue from the beaumont port arthur area. all the way through houston, we've had major flooding. the water levels are going to go down because the rain has ended in houston. just give it a couple of hours to let the systems catch up. we've got about a foot of rain in downtown houston from this storm. as the storm moves north, this is where we could see flash flooding today. east texas tonight. northern arkansas, southern missouri and tomorrow, portions of southern missouri. that's where isolated spots could get additional flooding. for a category 1 hurricane, we still have considerable damage. that's what happens, especially when a city the size of houston is in the way. >> bill karins, thank you so much for being on your post and great information for everybody there. and coming up next, french connection. surprise in paris. where the far right coalition falters on election day.

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breaking news, first to nbc. house republicans on the so-called weaponization subcommittee are postponing this week's hearings. the hearing was set to take place this friday. it's being rescheduled. they had wanted to hold it after the sentencing on thursday, but

of course, former president trump's sentencing in the hush money case was also postponed following the ruling granting him immunity for official acts. heading overseas. in a result that took france by surprise, a left wing coalition pulled off a stunning upset sunday. staging an unforseen comeback, pushing the far right party into third place, but despite the leftist coalition winning the most seats, france will have a hung parliament. no party will have governing majority weeks before the summer olympics are set to begin and president macron will have to share power with a new prime minister. josh lederman, what happened was the other parties came together and got a lot of third party candidates to get out of the way. to build a larger majority against the far right. the pen coalition.

but this still spells trouble. not only governing trouble, but in a couple of year, macron has to run and reading the pen isn't going away. >> reporter: right. by no means a victory for president macron who had this big gamble after the far right surged. by calling these snap elections he could save his coalition. that did not happen. we are now in a period of instability for france where they're going to have power sharing between a president and prime minister of separate parties. no clear mandate for the prime minister to pass any domestic legislation and still far right. but the fact that the far right did fall so short of those expectations that they could end up with an absolute majority was a big relief for voters here like samira who told me what it was like bracing for the possibility of a far right

takeover. take a look. >> people who are very unsure and sometimes a bit violent. so, for me, it was a very difficult period. i also wanted to leave france because i didn't want to stay in the country where racism, xenophobia, people talk easily like that. >> reporter: but andrea, for those concerned about the rise of the far right throughout europe, there is another story line here. yes, the far right national rally fell short of that majority. but they still increased their seats in parliament by more than 50. they were at 88 before. they're going to be at 142 now. they are clearly still ascended here and there are parallels to elsewhere in europe including

the u.k. where the election was overshadowed by the huge by the labor party. the reform party won seats in parliament for the first time. nigel himself winning a seat for the first time in in history. even though these far right parties are not yet winning clear majorities in many of these western european nations, they say they are playing the long game and their ultimate victory is still to come. >> as you referred to faraj, he was one of the big forces behind brexit, which is the kind of a lot of problems and economic problems for subsequent prime ministers as well. so, as you point out, it's not going away. thank you very much. and as negotiations resume on a cease fire in a hostage release in gaza, prime minister netanyahu is saying that any deal has to permit israel to keep fighting until it meets objectives, despite assuring president biden last week on a

call that he was ready to make a deal. u.s. officials have described a softening of hamas' previous demand for a permanent cease fire up front as a significant breakthrough, but they acknowledge that how to implement any deal still has to be determined. william burns is in cairo today and will be in doha tomorrow where the other negotiators are gathering to meet. among the hostages to be released in face one if this all comes together, women, the elderly, and injured including 64-year-old keith siegel and one whose arm was amputated in captivity. joining us from tel aviv, matt bradley, who got rare access to rafah. tell us what you saw there. >> reporter: we were in rafah, this is a very interesting development. the first time we've seen optimism in any real way.

an actual budging on that one central demand that hamas has had from the beginning, which is that they will not be releasing any more hostages until they get the guarantee of a full and permanent cease fire and withdrawal of israeli troops. short of that, they said they won't exceed the any deal. now it looks like they're kind of moving and that's what's made everybody optimistic, but at the same time, some of what i've been hearing from israeli officials have been pouring cold water on this notion this that there's an imminent deal. we heard from netanyahu just yesterday saying that he isn't going to sign on to any deal that doesn't mean that hamas will be completely destroyed. this is one of the main goals of his war effort in this gaza strip. what we have heard over and over again from israeli officials is that the reason why hamas has been budging is because of the military pressure that they're bringing to bear on the group on the ground in places like rafah and we went there with the idf. they checked everything we had

shut and we were on their guided tour, of course. and they showed us what was an empty husk of a city. a place that i've been before and that had looked like a pretty dynamic city. one that was right on the border with egypt and that welcomed people from over that border. now, it was almost completely empty and they showed us a lot of these images you're seeing now of booby trapped homes and some of the dangers the idf faces but we didn't see almost any palestinians there. andrea? >> matt bradley in israel. thank you so much. and summit, next world leaders are arriving in washington to celebrate nato's 75th anniversary with america's leader under the microscope. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. scope. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... so my tech and my network need to keep up. it's good medicine. thank you, verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet

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russian missiles rained down on ukraine today, killing at least 33 people, injuring 150

more. the missiles strikes a large children's hospital in kyiv where people were trapped inside. first responders and civilians working to clear the debris searching for survivors and victims. president zelenskyy is demanding russia be held accountable for quote, its acts of terror. this as ukraine is going to be at the top of the agenda for world leaders gathering here in washington tomorrow at the nato summit. the 75th anniversary of the defense alliance. president biden is hosting the summit, of course, facing a number of challenges. strengthening the alliance, support for ukraine both before and after the war, and assuring allies about his own ability at a time when most were already nervous about american leadership if donald trump were to be elected. joining us now, retired admiral and michael crowley. admiral, first to you. we see the video coming out of kyiv. it is heartbreaking. it's a war crime.

i mean, it's horrendous. the latest russian missile strike hitting a children's hospital. not just a civilian area, but a children's hospital. so this is going to be part of the discussion. nato has stepped up. europe has stepped up. now the u.s. has stepped up. but they want to look forward. they want to look towards, you know, getting the weapons online, training long range issues as well as reconstruction and post war. >> you're right to draw a line under the video we just saw. they ought to be running that on loop for all those heads of state and government. there will be 40 different leaders. they ought to be running that on loop because that's what we are standing against. that is a war crime of a vicious and obvious nature. so job one, you're right. will continue to be how the

alliance can stand strongly behind ukraine and one thing i think you'll see a practical thing, the alliance will send a permanent representative for ward to kyiv to coordinate aid, military. and above all, the implementation of using these f-16s, the fighter aircraft that are being supplied from across the alliance. there's enormous work to do, but clearly, the alliance will be doing all it can to signal real resolve in the face of this kind of russian bar barety now extending into its third year. >> i want to get michael into this as well. let me just ask you, if they had more air defense, more patriots online, and i know the u.s. is short of patriots, they've been scouring the world getting them sent from other countries. parts here and parts there. but is there any way that they could have defended against this?

>> if we had early on gotten the f-16 aircraft in the hands of the ukrainians, they could have been there as early as a year ago by my estimate. if we had committed at the beginning. yes, patriots very helpful. those are being sourced from around the world. i think you'll see seven to ten new batteries landing soon. all of that will contribute to what president zelenskyy has said, which is help us close the skies. help us close the skies over ukraine. let's hope the alliance adds to that and also provides more offensive capability to the ukrainians, not only the f-16s but also attack ems, long range cruise missiles. unleashing those against russian targets. i think all that makes sense at this point. >> michael, we've talked about this, you and i, for so many,

for years now. but zelenskyy keeps coming to munich, to the security conference, asking for help, saying that he needs air defense. and we see this happening. this could also be a signal to nato as it's gathering because they're talking about nato membership down the road. path to that. they're talking about a lot of things to help zelenskyy against several nato members who are getting tired of the war and are pressing for some accommodation. >> yeah, that's right, andrea. and the goal of this summit is going to be to project unity, to say that we're standing together as an alliance and we are in it for the long haul against russia. of course, there are important divisions beneath the surface including what to do about this strong desire that zelenskyy and the ukrainians have for full nato membership. something they're not going to get out of this summit.

there's going to be some language addressing what that process will look like over time, but you know, few certainly nowhere near a majority of the members are ready for that step now. this summit will also be very forward looking in the sense of so much uncertainty about politics in the united states and in europe. will donald trump return to the white house as president of the united states? will right wing forces that are skeptical of nato and confrontation with russia continue to rise in europe? although there was a setback for the right in france. so, that will be another big part of this summit, is trying to show that nato can carry on. >> well, that's exactly the right set up. we didn't work this out, but this was joe biden on "morning joe" talking about nato and certainly alluding to the

possibility of a trump presidency. let's watch. >> and by the way, i'm going to have all these foreign leaders here. i've been in contact with the new british prime minister, any way. look, the country, the rest of the world's looking, our allies are looking for u.s. leadership. who else do you think could step in here and do this? i expanded nato. i solidified nato. >> and the contrast is quite obvious, admiral. nato members really want to talk when i talk to european leaders, they want to talk about trump proofing nato against a trump presidency. they're so nervous about it. this is a big test for the president but he can handle summits, generally. they're set pieces. in some ways, members of congress may be reluctant to be more aggressive against him. democrats who are really worried about him. whether he can do this. do another four years. maybe more reluctant to do it while foreign leaders are in washington.

>> i think that's right. it really is a tale of two presidents. this summit. one, the current president and the other, the former president. i attended these summits. i've briefed the heads of state and government on many occasions. there's a public piece of this and i think our president, our current president will stand up very well there. there is a second nato conference that also goes on. it's the quite conversations. the bilateral meetings. literally, the chat over a cocktail. that conversation will include former president trump and concerns about could he pull out of the alliance. could he weaken the alliance. capitulate on certain things to a president putin. i think you're exactly right. i've heard the same phrase. trump proofing the alliance. i'll close with this. part of that conversation will

include raising the limit the level of defense spending from its current goal of 2%, which now two-thirds of the nations are meeting, should that with moved on to a stretch goal of 2.5%. i assure you, the europeans are having that conversation add well. >> indeed. we're going to have to leave it there. michael and admiral, i hope we can talk throughout the week because this is a big deal. as joe biden would say. i'm cleaning that up a little bit. he's got to perform and he has to perform after 8:00 p.m. which is something that he brought up, you know, last week. he's got to start going to those dinners where those con you. next, the pushback from families of boeing 737 crash victims after the plea was made between the company and the justice department resulting in a guilty employee on just one single charge.

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space and weather, but boeing. full time -- >> it's kept me busy this year. that's right. this is a big deal. boeing is admitting it committed fraud. it failed to cooperate and fully disclose to the faa details about the 737 max 8 and, of course, later they had two crashes. now they've agreed to a plea deal that will keep them for now out of a criminal trial. >> more than five years after two fatal max 8 crashes overseas killed 346 people, this morning boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a single felony charge related to the crashes. that charge conspiring to defraud the federal government. boeing confirmed overnight it had reached the plea deal with the justice department. the deal already, though, drawing reaction. >> victim families feel like boeing is getting off easy. >> reporter: court documents indicate boeing would pay an additional $235 million fine and be required to invest more than

$455 million in compliance and safety programs. what the plea deal does not demand is legal accountability for the many lives lost. a faulty flight control system called mcas was implicated in both deadly crashes. a multibillion dollar settlement in 2021 allowed boeing to avoid prosecution, but last month prosecutors accused the company of breaching that agreement. overnight pushback came swiftly from the victims' families who chanted "shame" at the ceo. their lawyers blasted what they called a sweetheart deal. >> 346 people died in those two crashes. therefore, a plea of manslaughter would be more fitting. >> reporter: boeing has come under increased scrutiny following a series of miss shaps including a door panel that blew off a max 9 flight mitt need. boeing committed to changes from the board room to the assembly

line. >> we have tried to look at literally everything we do to make certain that that could never happen again. >> reporter: those promises ring hollow for the grieving relatives who are calling for even more action. >> i think that when people are not held accountable, you're setting a standard of what you can get away with. >> so, tom, a judge has to approve this. >> that's right. the families don't want the judge to approve it. they want this deal to be killed, nixed. >> that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on social media, @mitch mitchell reports. go to msnbc.com come/andrea. "chris jansing reports" starts after a short break. rea. "chris jansing reports" starts after a short break. ard®! -hey there! -where did he come from? -yup, with me you can screen at home. just talk to your provider.

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good day. i'm chris j