good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. a circular firing squad. that's how one house democrat described a parting meeting today meant to hash out who wants the president to stay in the race and who wants him to go. now as senate democrats meet behind closed doors, will they have better luck at reaching a consensus on whether to support the president's candidacy? all this as we wait for today's white house press briefing to get started any minute now. will we see more of the fireworks like we saw on monday? plus, president biden hosting international leaders for the nato summit today where he's already the topic of conversation. here's canada's prime minister who's meeting with senators before the summit gets under way. >> mr. prime minister, do you have any concerns about biden's

age or mental acuiti? >> good to see everyone here this morning. >> justin trudeau not willing to engage, but can other leaders help the president shift the focus off himself and onto what he calls the dangers of a second trump presidency? and no lights, no air conditioning for more than two million people in texas after beryl knocked out power right in the middle of a dangerous heat wave. the real-feel temperature in galveston today -- 102. houston -- 105. the rush to get the power turned back on. a lot to get to. we start with dozens of democratic senators meeting behind closed doors right now, holding conversations that could help decide president biden's future and the future of the country. many of those senators have served with the president for decades and consider him a friend, and none has publicly called for him to drop out of the race. that doesn't mean they aren't worried. >> concerns are whether or not that was a one-off situation or

are there -- more to the issue. secondly, what is the nature of his campaign moving forward? we've got to defeat donald trump. >> i've heard concerns from colleagues. i think that the president needs to address them along with more importantly, frankly, the concerns that i've heard from people around the country. >> so again the senators meeting right now, but here on the house side, nine democrats had called for the president to drop out. but just hours ago, that number dropped to eight after jerry nadler said he's now, quote, fully supportive of the president. aggressive pushback from the white house and the president himself seems to have staunched at least some of the bleeding for now. with new signs of support from leaders of the congress at hispanic caucus and the congressional black caucus. but for the larger group of house democrats, no clear consensus out of their morning meeting. >> we must get behind him, we must support him.

donald trump's election would be extremely destructive to american democracy. we have no choice. >> do you now support biden, or do you think he should stay in the race? >> i don't think he should stay in the race. >> we're riding with biden. we're riding with biden. >> did anyone mention harris? >> we are riding with biden. >> joining me now, nbc's monica alba, ali vitali on capitol hill. take me to the hill, what's the mood? what are discussions you're hearing? >> reporter: it's a range of discussion points we've heard from democrats who have been mum on the contents of that meeting by design, chris, because hakeem jeffries, the top democrat here, was not pleased we're told with the leaks that came out of a top member call over the weekend. now members are being told to tamp down on that, that it's not productive to be leaking the contents of this meeting. what we have been able to discern is within this meeting as one lawmaker told our colleague scott wang, that no consensus and no organization by

the opposition to biden means that the advantage goes to the president. and certainly you showed congressman clyburn as one of the members who we heard from, at least a few words as they were leaving, telling us that they are riding with biden or that they are standing by the president as their standard bearer. still, we have just in the last few minutes heard from one more democratic lawmaker who is voicing concerns, and we can add them to the list of not quite calling on biden to step down, but congresswoman lori trayhan, in this democratic leadership apparatus, saying in a statement in part, "while president biden has made clear he feels he is the best candidate to win this election, nothing that has happened over the past 12 days suggests that voters see things the same way." she says she shares the concerns of massachusetts voters who she's spoken to over the last week and a half who have concerns about the president's electability. and certainly this is a new statement from trayhan, but it's one that we're going to be

watching to see if after democrats have huddled behind closed doors on the house side anything changes, and certainly that's the same thing we're watching for on the senate side, too, as they are in their weekly -- their weekly caucus lunch right now. and then we'll hear from leadership including chuck schumer around 2:00 after they're done. >> all right. thank you for that. quickly in studio now is simone sanders townsend, former chief spokesperson for vice president kamala harris and co-host of "the weekend" here on msnbc. so no consensus out of the house. the senate's meeting right now. how important is today for joe biden? >> i think this entire week is important for the president. and primarily because you've heard a lot of lawmakers say we want to see him do more. we have not heard the lawmakers detail specifically what more looks like because i think more is a mixed bag. i think this entire week they want to know that the president is up for it. they know he's in it because he said he's in it. so i think the debate over whether the president wants to do it or not is -- is not the

question. he's in it, he believes he's up for it. they said they want to see if he's up for it. so i think it's important, but i also think what people are hearing from the voters in their districts is critical. for the members that have come out and publicly said they think the president should step aside, if you will, they claim that they've heard from their constituents, right? i do think, though, it is notable that we have not seen more members come out. and you juxtapose that with what the president did over the weekend, particularly on sunday from philadelphia to harrisburg with union members and black church leaders and -- and the constituents there. there is i don't think a -- i was listening to andrea mitchell's show last hour, and even ali vitali who's been talking about the lack of consensus between the democratic caucus. there's a lack of consensus among voters. there's a subset of voters who say joe biden's our guy, what are you talking about? delegates say joe biden is our

guy, what are you talking about? some folks say i think there perhaps should be a new candidate. the question it all boils down to is -- are the voters, what do the voters say? because the president's going to listen to the voters which is, frankly, what i heard him say on "morning joe equity equity yesterday. -- "morning joe" yesterday. >> to your point, there are a number of comments made from other members of the senate who we have not talked about. let me tell you, for example, patty murray issued a statement saying "president biden must do more to demonstrate he can campaign strong enough to beat donald trump." senator chris murphy said on sunday, "i love joe biden. but i think he needs to do more and voters need to see more from the president." so to your point, what -- >> more -- >> what does more -- i think here's what -- i don't want to speak for anybody, but from conversations i've had, there is a nervousness that between now

and election day, and that's a long time in presidential life, one mistake could turn everything around. that the bar for him now is at such a level that he's tired, he makes a mistake or maybe he -- he shows a lot of americans that they believe there's something more at play here, and then that's it. >> yeah. look -- >> is that unfair? >> i think that -- i've heard a lot of concern from lawmakers specifically and, frankly, chris, i understand because their names are on the ballot. a number of these folks are on the ballot. it is not just a presidential, right? this is the senate is in play in november, as is the house. every member of the house of representatives is up for re-election. so they are also thinking about their own prospects. and they -- if you look at some of the most recent polling, and i've talked to talks from the democratic campaign committee, their members are actually running ahead of the president in their key districts. what they don't want is those

numbers to get closer or to even run behind the president who, in some of these key swing states, is running behind donald trump even though it's close. >> some of them are seeing more money than they thought they would have. >> exactly. >> the question is is it coming away from biden and to these races that people think are more winnable? >> i think at the end of the day, at the end of the day the reality is this -- i am not -- i know there's a lot of people that have poo-poo'd these lawmakers, i understand their concern. i think people have to operate in reality. reality is the president said he is not getting out of this race. how does it -- how does it benefit democrats who continue to call on their nominee to step down and move aside when the nominee is saying i'm not doing that? so i think that it is a circular conversation that gets democrats nowhere. whereas they can make -- they have to have a family conversation, though, i think that's what we're seeing, the family conversation is playing out in public. chris, that's never good. obama said keep your home business at home. >> every family is dysfunctional

to one level or another, but congress, okay. all right, monica. the white house has been a lot more aggressive in the last couple of days. president saying, as symone points out, the time for debating maybe, maybe it over. you got to move this along, right? that's the suggestion. are they cognizant, though, of the risk of saying this is a deadly issue or projecting that when obviously lawmakers on capitol hill and their constituents are suggesting there are questions that still have to be answered? >> it's the president really driving that message of defiance now, chris. and so because you're seeing it come from him directly as he appeared on "morning joe" yesterday and in calls with key stakeholders when you're talking about congressional members, when you're talking about democratic governors last week. tonight he's going to be speaking to democratic mayors, and then he has to broaden that out and try to do some convincing here to world leaders on this global stage that

happens to be for this week at least in his own backyard at the nato summit. but i'm told that his message is really supposed to be the same for all of those different groups, and he's trying to convince people who have these doubts, who have these anxieties, that they shouldn't be nervous, they shouldn't be anxious because he feels completely committed to this race, wants to stay in it, and still firmly believes, the president does the in his own words, that he's the person to beat donald trump in november. that is his argument. now, when you peel that back and you start to talk to some of those people who are on the other end of that message, it's not clear that it is convincing all of them. but it does seem at least to the white house and the biden campaign that what we've seen the last 24 hours has at least sort of stemmed some of those calls that did look like they were cascading and now have at least stopped or slowed to a bit more of a trickle. and they push the conversations back into the private sphere. that is where those conversations we know from our reporting are still ongoing about where this can go from

here. but the president also knows he has a real test coming up later this week on thursday in that solo news conference that he's expected to do where he will take a range of questions, we certainly hope and understand from the white house press pool, and reporters assembled there. and that is the bookend when you think about the beginning of these critical days of the last week or so with that network news interview that he did on friday. that's why he wants to be traveling to key battleground states to kind of take this message altogether so that people can make an assessment based off of multiple things, and he argues that it shouldn't all be reduced to that 90-minute debate in terms of trying to make that evaluation. but this week is really, really important for all of those reasons, chris. and then he's going to wrap it up with a trip to michigan, we expect, on friday. >> all right. so symone, a lot of democrats haven't said anything. and axios sums that up this way, quote, if they publicly call for biden to resign and he stays,

they rick seeming disloyal and paying a price if he wins. but if they back him forcefully and biden has another debate like moment and loses, they fear looking naive and complicit. hence, the deafening silence of so many. if you're in a swing district, multiply that by a lot. so does everybody wait at least until after thursday, see how the press conference goes? do you vote with your heart? do you vote with your constituency, as you see it? what do you do? >> look, i really think -- i think about angie craig, right, who was the fifth house democrat to come out publicly and say the president should step down. she is in a very swingy district. her district in minnesota is legitimately purple. when i read her statement, i saw that as, okay, angie craig is in a fit for her life in minnesota. and she didn't want to come out too soon to seem too opportunistic, didn't want to wait for republicans to pounce

on her. she did what she felt she needed to do. i'm sure the white house didn't like to see that angie craig statement. i don't know if she's going to be at the christmas party whether or not joe biden is re-electe. what is there to say? the president said he is staying. to say i think he should go, well, thank you for your opinion. but the president has said he is staying. so what was your statement going to be? just -- >> he said come to thing can. who's going to the convention? >> exactly. i don't think it serves democrats right now given the forceful statements that the president has made to come out and say anything. you don't risk, in my opinion i think the -- what i've heard from some lawmakers who have stayed silent who are supportive of the president and like him but still didn't know, they wonder if he can campaign for the next couple of months and then govern for the next four years, they say i like joe biden, i just -- i don't know. you going to put out a statement and say i don't know? chris, when i was a democratic strategist, i would never advise

any of my candidates to do that. this is a moment where do not rush to the cameras. this is a moment, do not rush to put out your paper statement. you need to wait and do not -- do not do anything if you don't have to. if you're a democrat, you need -- a lot of these democrats need to worry about their races in their districts. and that should be their focus. i think that there has been this intense want to get in on this conversation and create your space. i don't know if that's helpful to people with their constituents and definitely not helpful for people at the white house. >> are you holding your breath for thursday? >> i want to see thissies are conference. remember the last time joe biden had a press conference? he was on there for 330, 40 minutes, said he didn't know if vladimir putin was going to remain. he said a lot of things the white house tried to walk backwards. joe biden says what he means and means what he says. >> what a great panel. thank you all so much, as we wait for the -- somebody to come from -- behind the podium. a assume karine jean-pierre. and tune in now "the weekend"

airing saturdays and sundays at 8:00 a.m. eastern. i think it's must-see tv. world leaders are in town, d.c. i mean, for the big nato summit. but already they're being asked about joe biden's viability. a former supreme allied commander of nato will join us in just 90 seconds.

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secretary general will deliver the keynote address at the summit in washington. a group that's been focused on wars in ukraine and gaza overshadowed to some extent by questions over the fitness of president biden and a possible return of former president trump. raising the stakes and giving the summit a new sense of urgency. joining us now the former supreme allied commander of nato and chief international analyst retired admiral james stavridis. you can't look at one without the other at this point, right? who gets elected president of the united states is obviously critically important to the other members of nato. let me start with a general question because you know nato as well or better than anyone. what are your big questions as the summit gets underway? >> i think you put your finger on it. it's a tale of two presidents. the president won -- the current president, all of the heads of state in government, this is a

gathering of eagles. this is peers, the leaders of france, germany, italy, some of the biggest economies in the world, all looking at joe biden, assessing him. his fitness, his voice pattern, his speech, his gait, all of that. the other president, former president trump, who may come back again is part of the quiet conversations off to the side, chris, where the other nato countries outside of the united states are talking about if trump comes back, what does it mean for the alliance? can we hang together? will we have to massively increase our defense spending to accommodate him? all legitimate questions. so that's the back and forth. what i worry about and what i hope is that ukraine can still stay on the top of the agenda. that's job one for the nato alliance, to stop vladimir putin. so despite the back and forth about the u.s. president and possible president-to-be, well,

let's focus on ukraine. that's what i'm looking for and hoping for. >> do you think they can do it? >> i do simply because of the exigencies on the battlefield are such that they're being constantly briefed as a group. when i was supreme allied commander, i would go to these summits, prepare briefings. in those days we talked about afghanistan. now the central mission for the alliance is ukraine. all of that is going to move forward. and as the video you're showing demonstrates, russia is smashing its way through ukrainian civilian infrastructure, attacking hospitals, electric plants, water treatment facilities. these are war crimes, they're happening in real time. i think it will break through the drama about the u.s. presidents. >> world leader don't like to get involved in the domestic politics of other countries, but begin the stakes and given what you know and the people that you know who are leaders of these

various countries, it went through my mind as the question was asked of justin trudeau, prime minister, do you have any concerns about biden's age or mental acuity? and he said, good to see everyone here this morning. could you see it possible to say, i don't get involved in domestic politics, i will only tell you biden has been a great leader of nato? or some version of that if that's what they believe. are they just going to duck every time? what possibility do you see for them to in any way get involved in any of this? >> i think if you were advising a head of state and government there canada, italy, france, germany, or any of the other nato countries, you would tell them there's no upside to being involved in this conversation. i think that the furthest they might go is what you just said, chris. and i think a leader like trudeau could have said something like that. look, i have enjoyed my time

working alongside president biden in this alliance. beyond that, those are issues for americans to decide. something along those lines. i thought he was a little bit blithe simply punting it off and saying happy to be here today. a little bit of a, hey, joe biden has been a leader in this alliance because it's true, he's been a remarkably strong leader within the nato alliance. >> and probably a little less than the white house might have hoped for. let me ask you more about the other possibility here. former president trump, a wild card. he's called nato obsolete. he hasn't said much about ukraine other than to promise to end the war in a day. short on details there. how you do if you're the leader of another country navigate the road ahead given the uncertainty? >> i think all of the european leaders have three things in their mind when they think about their role in the nato alliance.

one is the spending, the defense spending. the good news is now over two-thirds of the nato european nations are hitting that 2% of gdp goal. i suspect that's not going to be good enough for trump administration. so they're beginning the conversations about are we going to need to raise defense spending even more. as a former supreme allied commander of nato i would say look around your neighborhood, look at vladimir putin, look at the events in the middle east just across the mediterranean from nato. there's pretty good reason to increase that defense spending. number two, they're thinking, okay, who is the team that will come in with a trump administration? people like former national security adviser robert o'brian. former ambassador to germany, rick grenell, former secretary of state mike pompeo. these are a team that i think are involved. you're going to be looking at what they're saying, what are they talking about in terms of

foreign affairs and international relations. and then third and finally, chris, i think any of these leaders is assessing their personal relationship. some have well-known paths with donald trump. emmanuel macron knows him quite well. i doubt he's ever met the new prime minister of the united kingdom, keir starmer. so each of them is thinking like any human being would about the personal relationships here. all of that, they've got to also compartmentalize because as we talked about at the top of the show, job one for this alliance is focusing on supporting ukraine and stopping vladimir putin. the alliance can't do that, it's not going to survive. >> and that's what nato's secretary general is trying to do right now as he has begun the opening address. we'll continue to follow that for you. admiral, it's always great to have you on the program.

thank you. coming up, beryl's shocking aftermath. the prospects for more than two million texans without power in scorching conditions. houston's emergency management coordinator will join us next.

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today houston is at a dangerous standstill battered by beryl and now baking in life-threatening heat. cars are stranded across

highways, and typically busy streets along with trees, boulders, and all sorts of debris make it much harder for emergency crews to get power back on for the 2.1 million customers who still don't have electricity. so no air conditioning on a day that could feel like 105 degrees, and many unlikely to get it back today. nbc's priscilla thompson is reporting from houston. what are you hearing there, what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, that combination of elements is why lots of folks are flocking to places like this. we're at lakewood church which is serving as a cooling center today. as you can see, there are pallets of water here, so folks are able to drive up and get water. i should point out that a lot of these volunteers here are also without power but still trying to help the community, and folks are welcome to go inside, use the power, get some ac. i spoke to one woman who was here, tracy, trying to work.

she's diabetic, she lives in northwest houston, has been without power all day. she is really upset with the infrastructure and the fact that the power infrastructure was not able to handle even a category-one storm. she said that even on sunday her power went out just when it rains. i want to play a little bit of our conversation, and you can just hear her frustration. take a listen. >> every time we're always losing power. so it's not so much just a hurricane itself, it's the loss of power that's really hurting us. just physically makes you sick, you know, to be in a hot house, knowing that you have other complications from diabetes. >> reporter: what does it feel like in your house right now? >> like an oven. even with the windows open. >> reporter: and tracy is one of the lucky folks who did not get any damage to her home. you can still see what an impact this power situation is having on her. she's talking about having to throw away all the food that's in her refrigerator. something that a lot of folks had to do just back in may whenever this same thing

happened. centerpoints energy says that they were tracking the storm but were not anticipated it veering and impacting as many customers in houston as it did. they are deploying resources to get power restored. they hope to have a million people restored by the end of day wednesday. for now folks are just left trying to make do, hoping food in the fridge is not an additional loss on top of what so many are dealinging with on the ground. >> such for that interview. joining me is thomas munoz, houston's emergency management coordinator. thanks so much for being with us. i'm sure you're hearing a lot of what we just heard from that one person, frustrated that a category-one storm is causing so much disruption for her. obviously she can't work. she can't number her house, it's too -- be in her house, it's too hot. she has no power, doesn't know if her food is going to have

thrown away again. what are your concerns as you see the breadth of the outages in the midst of a heat wave? >> yeah, the biggest concern as you mentioned is the heat wave. the number of people without electricity. right now we're focusing on the mass of that, the recovery process. get some normalcy back. the biggest concern is going to be the heat combined with no electricity, and so again the mass that we have it take care of. the vulnerable population, the medically fragile. those are ault the parts that we're working on right now to ensure the safety of everyone during this event. >> extreme heat has become the nation's deadliest weather hazard. you mentioned the vulnerable. look, according to the eu's monitoring agency, this year's -- likely to be the worst in history. so what do you do now, and how do you prepare for it? because if you're already vulnerable, the chances of you being able to get to a cooling center, number of elderly who don't have people looking in on

them, what's the worst case scenario here? >> for us we're preparing for that worst case scenario. right now prior to this newscast we are meeting just for that. how are we going to set up the medically fragile, shelters for people that need that extended care because of lack of electricity. we're working with all our state partners, our local partners, federal partners, our ngos, interfaith ministries, so we're all working with the american red cross, salvation army, on setting up that structure to be able to support the needy. that's what we're doing right now. so these are the times when the community's coming together along with all of our stakeholder partners to ensure that. it is a huge undertaking, but we have great teams, great people, and we've been planning for this. we continuously plan for this. if you recall six weeks ago we went through this. yeah, we -- that's a huge undertaking, but that is the biggest concern, heat with no electricity, the medically

fragile, a vulnerable population. so all together, yeah. that's a big concern. >> i wonder if you as the head of a large emergency response division have had conversations with other people in other major cities, particularly given the concerns about climate change that even though this may be a record-setting year, it may not be the last record-setting year. i mean, are you ready for it in the long term, what are those conversations like? >> you know, that's a great question. that's the long term -- as we see the climate change, you know, hurricane season starts in june, right? we -- here we are, july, and april we had scenarios that were impacted that we normally don't see. compounded with the heat. last year we had 52 straight days of our heat emergency action plan which the year before was seven. so you're starting to see the trend. now our preparedness is -- plan year round, but now we're seeing

those gauges move back and tighten up. you know, the direction was -- it was an event that we hadn't experienced since 1986. you're starting to see a lot of changes now as the emergency management community are trying to identify those and be ready year round. >> i know the next couple of days and weeks and beyond are going to be very difficult not just for you but for the folks who work for you and who may have problems in their own homes. thomas munoz, good luck, thank you for taking the time to be on the program. >> thank you. we're also feeling the impact of that heat wave here in new york city. it's day five of the heat advisory with temperatures so extreme you got to look at this -- they actually stopped the bridge connecting manhattan and the bronx from working properly. the metal on this 126-year-old bridge expanded in yesterday's hot weather, and the whole overpass got stuck in a half-open position. jutting out above the harlem river. marine units had to spray the

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with so much uncertainty surrounding president biden's run for re-election, new nbc

news reporting reveals the mission has shiftsed from many big-money donors away from biden and instead to shore up a congressional firewall against the chance of another donald trump presidency. nbc's has one of the authors of the report,david jolly joining us, as well. who is leading this firewall strategy >> it's happening on the money side. democratic donors are angry and spooked as they see the prospects of another donald trump presidency rising since that debate. some of them have openly told house democratic lawmakers and candidates that they see them as their only hope for keeping donald trump in check if he comes back to the white house. liberal groups meanwhile are telling us they're seeing a surge in donations to down ballot races, to their down-ballot programs. some groups are openly pitching donors on a message of think the unthinkable, a trump presidency is very possible.

in that scenario the house is the only hope of a democratic firewall to prevent total republican control. the theory here is that the median house district, in the suburbs, is friendlier to democrats, more winnable for democrats than is the electoral college which gives disproportionate weight to rural areas. what would a total republican governments mean? take a listen to how democratic senator michael bennett described it to me. >> what would a republican trifecta with trump at the top look like? >> what it would look like is a clear and present danger to the united states of america. what would it look like would be a complete compromise of our standing in the world. these are not political questions. these are moral questions. >> and of course the difference is if democrats have the house under a hypothetical trump presidency, it gives them a real check to control donald trump's legislative agenda, it gives them oversight and subpoena powers to investigate his

administration. and there are a couple of reasons why this is growing. democrats in the senate and house races are running well ahead of joe biden. today there was a poll in wisconsin where the democratic senator tammy baldwin is up five points against her republican opponent. while president biden in a head to head with donald trump is down five points. finally, there's the fact that democrats were caught flat-footed in 2016 when donald trump came into that election being the underdog. democrats ended up watching trump win with a full republican trifecta, win both the house and senate. they don't want to be caught flat-footed this time around. and at the very least, they want to make sure trump doesn'ten up in power -- doesn't end up in power with what they perceive to be a permissive republican congress. >> i was in texas at a grassroots organization swing left, their volunteer numbers are up compared to 2018 and 2022, then there was covid so the metrics are skewed there. bottom line, how much will following grassroots donations, whether it's don'tnating money or -- donating money or time

tell us about november, and where the rank and file are putting their time and attention? >> yeah, it is critically important. it's a great barometer, chris. the question is, is it fear, or is it confidence? is it aspiration to elect democrats and secure democratic values. i think coming off the last two weeks it's probably a healthy combination of the two. and here's why it is critically important. look, i was a candidate in 2016, a sitting republican who split from donald trump on his first run. we were on the ballot together. it is enormously difficult to run a race even in your home district where there is dissidence between the house candidate and the presidential nominee. and so part of the reality is these house candidates now need more money. sahill pointed out we're not necessarily seeing the drag right now, but we might. what we know for house members particularly, they need money. house democrats need money to run their race their way, and ensure they get elected.

and then secondly, it is a firewall. if you want to stop donald trump from project 2025, elect joe biden or if he steps aside, elect the democratic nominee. but elect a democratic-controlled house that won't pass the legislation and be there to handle impeachment if impeachment be necessary. the move to house democrats is important. 100 days ago there was a confidence among house democrats and rightfully so that democrats had a good shot of taking the majority. all bets are off. nobody truly knows. they're shoring up resources to go into november. >> they only need four-seat swing. having said that, not easy to accomplish, david. we haven't heard from a lot of them, the vast majority of them have had nothing to say about whether or not -- whether joe biden should stay or should they go. i was having this conversation with symone sanders townsend, a few exceptions like john tester running in montana. tough race. put out a statement.

but how tough is the decision they're making, and how long can they put off directly telling their constituents this is where i stand? >> yeah, all politics is local, right? i think what you're seeing from john tester and sherrod brown is the reality of tough races for those democrats. and i would expect their language to stay about the same. what democrats need writ large is a unifying moment. and in some ways it doesn't matter what that unifying moment is. they need to be a unified team. so i would suggest right now joe biden has said he's not getting out of that race, so unless somebody's got a plan to flip 2,000 committed delegates at the convention, joe biden's your guy. you're either with a criminal candidate in donald trump who will roll back your rights, or you're with joe biden who's going to fights for them. democrats can unify, but they must if they want to win. >> david joggy, sahill kipur, thank you. a terrifying scene in the

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for the second time in four months, a tire has fallen off a united airlines plane just after takeoff. >> we were just told a tire came off your aircraft. >> okay. standby. >> we saw the tire flying. >> did you see where it landed? >> tom costello covers aviation and joins us now. there was a little -- before it landed. what happened here? >> this was a united flight from lax to denver. it happened yesterday. and as they were departing out of lax, you heard other pilots radio the tower saying hey, that plane just lost a tire. one of eight tires on the under assembly if you will, the main landing gear on the 757. so the pilot opted to fly on to denver. he knew he had, you know, seven good tires at least on the main landing gear. he's going to have land

regardless. denver has a united operating base. so as they're then coming into denver, the flight attendant warned everybody in the cabin, all the passengers, prepare for a possible emergency. thankfully, that didn't happen, but take a listen. >> there was one bump but it was a normal bump. and you didn't hear any brakes. didn't hear any unusual screeches or noises. >> bottom line is this plane did land safely and united says it's investigating. here's the full statement from united. the faa by the way is also investigating. united tells nbc the wheel has been recovered in los angeles and we are investigating what caused this event, but chris, you may recall, we were talking a few months ago that the united maintenance division was under increased faa scrutiny because a series of high profile incidents including the case where that tire fell off the united flight

headed for japan. that was leaving from san francisco. there are other high profile incidents. leaving from san francisco, the tire came off the under carriage and other pilots saw it. it fell on to parking lot, damaged some cars and a fence. >> tom, thank you, my friend. we're about to hear from senate democrats for the first time since that big meeting behind closed doors about president biden's future. that's coming up at the top of our next hour. stay close. more chris jansing reports right after this. close more chris jansing reports right after this my recommendation is simple: every home should have salonpas. powerful yet non-addictive. targeted and long-lasting. i recommend salonpas. it's good medicine. ♪ hisamitsu ♪ (vo) if you have graves' disease... ...and blurry vision, you need clear answers. people with graves' could also get thyroid eye disease, or t-e-d, which may need a different doctor. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com

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