that is a foundational element and the reason for being why we are so interest instead the process of recapitalizing all three legs of the triad. >> commander, air force global strike command general thomas bussiere, thank you very much for being here and for your service. >> thank you. and that does it for us this morning. we appreciate you watching today and all week long, what a busy week it was. we will again see you monday morning right back here at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. ana cabrera picks up the coverage here on msnbc right now. have a great weekend, everybody. right now on "ana cabrera reports" an emotional homecoming, freed americans back on u.s. soil after the largest prisoner swap since the cold war. new reporting this morning on how this singular deal came together. plus, the race for the white house, donald trump continuing his attack on kamala harris's race as her team touts a historic fund-raising haul.

also ahead, the veep stakes, harris's plan to meet with top contenders this week, and the new rumors swirling around the pennsylvania governor. happy friday. it is 10:00 eastern, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. this morning three freed americans back home on u.s. soil greeted by the president and the vice president at an emotional homecoming at joint base andrews overnight, after the largest prisoner swap since the cold war. i think the front page of the "wall street journal" really says it all bearing a simple but powerful message, evan gershkovich is free. the reporter shown embraing his mother after spending over a year in a russian prison. >> there's nothing beyond our capacity when we act together, nothing, nothing, nothing. we're the united states of

america. >> this is an extraordinary day, and i'm very thankful for our president and what he has done over his entire career but in particular as it relates to these families and these individuals. >> joining us now from the white house is nbc's allie raffa, jesse kirsch is standing by in san antonio where some of the freed americans will receive treatment. also with us, susan glasser, staff writer at "the new yorker" and former moscow bureau chief for "the washington post," and clint watts, former fbi special agent and msnbc national security analyst. allie, you have more details about the diplomacy that went into this swap. >> reporter: white house officials says that these talks began even before he took the oath of office because he wanted to get his diplomatic team ready to be able to hit the ground running when he did become president, and officials say a

major milestone was reached in 2022 with the release of wnba star brittney griner. they say several iterations of this prisoner swap were -- was concocted including one version that included alexei navalny, and when he died in russian custody, it really raised concerns about the future of these talks, but they say a major breakthrough was reached in january of this year when the president and german chancellor olaf scholz discussed how germany really held the key to the success of this, and the german chancellor told president biden that for him, he would release a russian being held in germany, the lack of that basically a nonstarter for the russian side, and the biden administration then went and asked the leaders of poland, slovenia and norway to provide russians that were being held in those countries to be able to achieve this swap. and national security adviser jake sullivan, he was on the "today" show this morning talking about what went into

this saying that the president's alliances were to credit, and he locked in the final piece of this literally an hour before making that difficult decision to drop out of the 2024 race before announcing that. sullivan also talking about the president's decision-making process knowing that this prisoner swap would also require the release of russian criminals. listen to his comments here. >> these are very tough decisions, and the president has to weigh -- as do the other leaders -- has to weigh giving up criminals to get americans and other citizens home, but at the end of the day, the president asks this question, am i going to let these people rot for life this a russian jail, and his answer to that question was no. >> reporter: sullivan saying that there are still efforts continuing to get other wrongfully detained americans including the teacher mark vogel who's being held in russia back home, ana. >> it is just so, so heartwarming to see those images of the embraces, the kisses, the

big smiles, jesse, now back home. what is next for these americans? >> yeah, so ana, after those three freed americans touched down in the u.s. at joint base andrews in maryland, they got back on the plane after that meet greet. they came here to san antonio, texas, and what's next for them in the return to american society effectively is they're going to participate, according to a u.s. government official in post-isolation support activities. behind me here at this army facility. this is brooke army medical center. that is what is next for them. this is the same facility, the same type of support activities that brittney griner went through when the wnba star was released from russian custody. when the group touched down here in texas overnight, we did hear briefly from paul whelan who spent years in russian custody. here's part of what he had to say. >> oh, yeah, president biden gave me his pin. that's an american flag. he wore it on his lapel, so we

were chatting, and he took it off and he gave it to me. looking forward to seeing my family down here, and just recuperating from five years seven months and five days of just absolute nonsense by the russian government. >> reporter: that's what whelan had to say overnight, and again, we're waiting now to see any more details that might come out about what those post-isolation support will include for these individuals, ana. >> thank you both for the reporting. susan, you covered russian police extensively. there is a clear victory here diplomatically for president biden, but what does this do for vladimir putin's position in russia? >> well, it's interesting you bring that up. i was really struck, it's not playing as much on american television understandably, but the image that russians are seeing today is of vladimir putin embracing the stone cold murderer who was released by germany at the personal request of president biden to chancellor

sholz. you know, this is a message from putin to his own society about his kgb bona fides, the idea that he's going to bring back even if it's at a very high cost, the russian spies and paid assassins who worked for the russian government. it reflects the very militarized russian society that putin has created, even more so in the wake of his invasion of ukraine, full-scale invasion of are ukraine two and a half years ago. you know, there's also the very interesting image of these children of a russian deep cover spy who came off the plane. apparently they didn't even know, it's something literally ripped out of the tv show the americans, these kids didn't even know they were russian. they speak only spanish. they come off the plane. putin greets them in spanish with their new identities as the children of undercover russian agents. so it's creating more and

perpetrating more the ideology that the myth really of the all powerful kgb and the spy services that is part of vladimir putin's own cult of personality. but it means that he was willing to trade a lot to get these spies too. that's the other thing. he was willing to give a lot in order to get these people, which was the priority that he attached to it. >> it is all fascinating as you point out. this is not the end of the story, clint. there are still americans being held in russia, like school teacher marc fogel. his family says they're heartbroken, outraged that he was left behind. is there any intelligence about why he wasn't included in this deal? >> ana, there's not. there's nothing specific about it, but i do wonder if there's some sort of calculus on the part of the russians about how much they would trade for how many people. there are many russians that have been intercepted abroad. if you look at this package of russians that was returned, you had all three russian intelligence services, domestic,

foreign, and their military. all involved in some way in many of these countries. the next thing that you look at is some of these were long-time prisoners and that had worked in many different facets, everything from espionage to huge intelligence. i'm guessing that there was some sort of calculation. i would imagine the administration pushed hard to bring everyone home they could. there's some sort of calculation the russians are making, and i'm wondering today are there other russian spies abroad that still haven't come home and weren't part of this deal, and maybe that's one of the reasons why they went ahead and retained some american prisoners. >> we are reporting that much of this swap agreement was negotiated through intelligence channels led by the cia. we know cia director bill burns traveled to turkey last week to finalize logistics of the swap. talk to us about the role the intelligence community plays in pulling off something like this, especially as complicated as this particular swap. >> yeah, the intelligence services i just note too, roger

carsons who is from the white house and works at the state department, his job is this hostage negotiation process, and a very smart move which was rather than to go one for one trying to do each of these negotiations independently, it was to try and broaden essentially the package. can we do more and do more movement with allies and partners as the president noted and the intelligence services were critical. as much as we see television shows where one intelligence service from the u.s. is against another in russia, they actually know who each other are. they have studied each other. they communicate with each other oftentimes, and they do have meetings. what's been remarkable is over the last two to three months how this has changed from basically trying to get one or two prisoners to really expanding this out to many. i think the one thing that i do find interesting is the death of navalny. when you're looking through the negotiations here over the last couple of years, navalny was part of that, and there was a sudden switch in it. i'm still looking for answers on

why navalny was killed back in february, how he fell out of the calculus, but also what reignited this in june. there's going to be some questions about political timing here in the u.s. if you read russian sources, there's also some discussion about their belief about what the outcome for the u.s. election will be, and maybe they're having some different perspectives as well. all of this in terms of calculus. the intelligence services did a great job of uniting, coming up with an intricate package that brought americans home. >> president biden has talked about how it's such a huge priority for his administration that they've brought more than 70 americans home during the course of the last three and a half years. susan, right there greeting these freed prisoners alongside president biden was vice president kamala harris. the white house has stressed her involvement in this deal, including a meeting she had with the german chancellor and then separately with the sslovenian prime minister. what does this do for her foreign policy credentials,

particularly as she's running for president now? >> well, look, this is unmitigated good news for all americans, regardless of, you know, partisan considerations right now, but the timing of course is right in the middle of this extraordinary two-week run for democrats after a sense of, you know, grim fatalness maybe looking ahead to the election. the election has been reset with harris's candidacy. she's just been on a roll. if you look at her huge campaign rally on tuesday in atlanta, you know, she was ebullient it seemed to me. now she gets to showcase her credentials in terms of foreign policy. she definitely has a lot more foreign policy experience just in four years as vice president than she did coming into the role previously as a former attorney general and u.s. senator just for in her first term, but you know, look, this is a biden accomplishment, and i

do think that people have rightfully pointed out that this is where biden's years of experience come into play. i think it's remarkable, if you look at the chronology that is emering of this deal that president biden is on the phone personally having to, you know, conclude the final pieces of diplomacy, a little bit more than an hour before he puts out the most momentous announcement of his 50 years in politics and says that he is going to step aside and not run for a second term. you know, he's in the middle of conducting these diplomatic negotiations. so i do think it's a remarkable testament to, you know, biden still being very much on the job no matter what his decision is about his own political future. you can't look at these images that you're showing right now, i think, without just being moved as a human, as an american by the scenes of reunification, and i would point out that in addition to the three americans,

i do think it's really unusual and notable that they went to such lengths to get these several russian dissidents out of putin's custody as well. they are in germany going to be giving a press conference later today. these are folks who were in prison for the crime of daring to speak truth to power in putin's russia. i think it's really also remarkable and maybe under noticed facet of this deal that we went to these lengths to get out people who weren't even american citizens. >> but the priority about having truth be the victor when it comes to quashing that within russia. thank you very, very much, susan glasser, clint watt, i appreciate your analysis. up ahead, i'll speak to a friend of evan gershkovich about his release. what the road ahead looks like. plus, a new jobs report out this morning, what it says about our economy. also, the veep stakes countdown, the planned meetings this weekend and why political watchers think a lot of signs are pointing to pennsylvania's

josh shapiro. but first, the ugly turn in the 2024 presidential race, as donald trump continues to attack kamala harris over her race and ethnicity. we're back in 90 seconds. in 90s ♪ ♪ 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®. . welcome back. this morning we have the first 2024 fund-raising numbers since the harris/trump matchup took shape. the vice president's campaign raising $310 million in july,

more than doubling the trump campaign's haul for the month, and keep in mind, the harris team did that in just ten days. in the face of this financial deficit, former president trump has revived his oldest political instincts by questioning whether the first black vice president is actually black. it all started wednesday at a conference for black journalists. >> she was always of indian heritage, and she was only promoting indian heritage. i didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. so i don't know. is she indian or is she black? >> she has always identified as a black woman. >> i respect either one, but she obviously doesn't because she was indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn, and she went -- she became a black person. >> and that was just the beginning. let's discuss with nbc's garrett haake in washington. also joining us former gop

communications director tara setmayer, and princeton university professor and msnbc analyst eddie glaude. garrett, it seems that some republicans want trump to now change the subject, but he keeps doubling and even tripling down. he's even reposting birther conspiracy stuff about harris. is it because he can't help himself or is this more strategic? >> every republican not on the trump payroll wants him to be talking about kamala harris's record, the issues on which they think she's weakest. there is an element of trump, you know, kind of doing what he wants to do here, which is to play the heel a little bit. he wants to go into a room like that and kind of offend people, kind of put people back in their seats a little bit, and come back out and tell his base he's able to take the fight to an unfriendly room. strategically speaking it is not helpful. the risk that he takes is that sometimes these moments cross over the political zeitgeist into modern parlance outside of

politics. take this tweet from simone biles overnight, the multi, multi, multi gold medal winner, making a reference to the black jobs comments. this is something that came up in the debate, but was rehashed at that nabj conference. when donald trump becomes a cultural player in this manner, in which he's being mocked from across the political spectrum, that's not where any campaign wants to be. >> so vice president harris called the trump comments the same old show, and she's right, trump has a decades' long pattern of questioning people's race and identity. here's just a sample. >> you are not allowed to be a president if you're not born this this country. he may not have been born in this country. >> you have people down there searching -- >> absolutely. and they cannot believe what they're finding. >> you led the birther movement. you sent investigators out to hawaii to find out whether or not obama was as you said not born here. >> according to you it's not true. i don't know.

>> he released his birth certificate. >> if you believe that, that's fine. >> if you look at some of the reservations that you've approved, you sir in your great wisdom have approved, i will tell you right now, they don't look like indians to me, and they don't look like indians. now maybe we say politically correct or not politically correct. they don't look like indians to me, and they don't look like indians to indians. a lot of people are laughing at it. you're telling how tough it is, rough it is to get approved, when you go up to connecticut, they don't look like indians to me, sir. >> thank god that's not the test of whether or not people have rights in this country or not, whether or not they pass your look test. >> any jewish person that votes for democrats hates their religion. they hate everything about israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves. >> congressman george miller of california who confronted trump in that 1993 clip said that was the most irresponsible testimony he had heard in his 40 years in

congress. tara, trump launched his political career with the obama birther conspiracy back in 2011. how do you see these new comments, the ones we heard this week impacting the 2024 race? >> well, if we want to go further back, trump launched his business career being sued by the justice department for housing discrimination against people of color in new york in the '70s. he has a consistent of history of racism. his comments about the central park five, his, you know, books have been written about his comments about black accountants he doesn't want them handling his money. this is not new. the fact that he's going back and reverting to this demonstrates how threatened he is, not only by women but by women of color. this is obviously not the tactic that his campaign advisers want him to take. i don't know what constitueny that this caters to. in politics if you want to win

an election you have to add voters to your side, not lose them, and i can't imagine the swing states and the battleground states where trump is now losing in arizona and nevada according to a new bloomberg poll and is tied with kamala harris now in other swing states, i don't know how this helps him in these areas, particularly with women. this is so egregious and so offensive to the 35 million americans of mixed race of which i am one of them, that we are back in 2024 to this despicable era of calling people and identifying them and questioning their identity and using this as somehow making us seem as though we're lesser than. how dare he? well, he's going to have to answer for that moving forward, and i cannot imagine that this plays well for the voters he needs in battleground states. >> and he had been maing some inroads when it came to the black vote more broadly. i guess he's done courting black voters now. chuck schumer reacted to all of

this in a new nbc interview. watch this. >> the more his poll numbers go down, the more donald trump is unhinged, and he's afraid to even debate kamala harris. he already said he wouldn't debate. you know, she's a strong black woman, donald trump may not want to say that, but it's true and everyone knows it's true. he's afraid to debate her. >> eddie, what's your take? >> it's a distraction. donald trump -- to describe donald trump as a racist is pretty obvious to me. he wants us to get kind of em brawled in this kind of conversation. let's not get distracted by donald trump. understand what he's trying to do, and that is he's trying to appeal to his base. the strategy has always been there are more non-voting white americans than there are on the other side he believes, and his task is to get them to turn out. you appeal to grievance, you appeal to hatred. >> that's not giving a lot of credit to white americans. >> not at all. >> and then you add to that -- i

don't want the campaign to be distracted, continue to do what they're doing, but what we have to do is to show that he's confusing race and ethnicity. he just doesn't get it. i can imagine if he saw a black person come up to him and speak spanish, what would he do? he wouldn't understand that you can be racialized in the united states as black, but you can identify yourself as jamaican, you can see yourself as nigerian. you can understand yourself as southern. there's a whole range -- >> a lot of us have multiple identities that make up who we are. >> what he wants to do, he wants to pigeon hole, he wants to pigeon hole difference in this country. he wants to fit it within the binary of white and black so he can then make the judgments because he thinks white folk in this country are losing ground, that they're losing their country, and that's the way he interprets immigration. that's the way he interprets voting laws. that's the way he interprets kamala harris's body. we need to understand him for who he is. >> i want to touch on what we heard at the end of a chuck

schumer clip. do you think a debate or more or less likely after all of this? tara. >> i don't think that donald trump's ego -- i don't think donald trump's egowill allow him to not debate here. this is something that he thinks that he's great at, just like he thinks he's his own best lawyer. i'm looking forward to donald trump debating kamala harris. i think that she will use her prosecutorial skills to destroy him on the debate stage, because if his default is just to name call and to try to bully her, that is not going to play well. let's not forget that, you know, the idea of women -- now we have a woman at the top of the ticket and women voters are looking at this election as a life or death choice. the binary choice is democracy or trump and for women, it's our lives or trump, and kamala harris embodies the future of this country, embodies freedom in this country now, and donald trump and maga embody regression and trying to turn things back, and by his behave, acting like

this, continuing to act like this, this only reinforces that choice, particularly for women in battleground states. so do i think he's going to debate her, i don't think his campaign wants her to debate him, but she -- or for him to debate her, but i don't think his ego is going to allow him to be called a coward that if he were not to do it. eddie. >> that is right absolutely. i'm thinking about the swing voters, those people who are on the margins. you see that. you hear that. what are you on the margins for? what are you waiting for? are you going to concede? are you going to align yourself with that, morally, ethically, politically? what are you waiting for? and let's be clear, let's not give this some kind of intellectual significance. this is dumb. it's a clown show, and we need to understand it for what it is. are we going to go back to that, or are we going to reach for a different america? i think we need to reach for a different america. >> that's right.

>> eddie glaude and tara setmayer, thank you for that conversation. up next on "ana cabrera reports," i'll talk to a friend of evan gershkovich about his return to the u.s. and how the people in his life will rally around him as he readjusts to his new freedom. more fallout from the operation that killed that top hamas leader in tehran. we're in the region next. next s. 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. (woman) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. (kevin) man, the fish tacos are blowing up! (aaron) so whatever's next we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. why use 10 buckets of water when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc.

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evan, how are you feeling? >> i'm all right. it was a good flight. >> so matter of fact there. that was now freed "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich moments a after he stepped back onto u.s. soil late last night. it was an emotional reunion with his family, look at that embrace with his mom after he spent nearly 500 days in a russian prison, but for gershkovich and other newly freed americans that was the first step in a long readjustment to freedom.

joining us now gershkovich's close friend and college roommate, sam silverman. sam, wow, i'm feeling emotional just watching all of that. you know him personally. how are you feeling this morning seeing these images of evan reunited with his family? >> it's an absolutely overwhelming sense of relief. the fact that he's finally home after this nightmare, this 500 days that we didn't know when was going to end, embracing with his mother, his father, his sister, and having him back on u.s. soil is the greatest feeling in the world. >> and so great to see his smiles too when he came home. when you get a chance to speak to him, what do you want to say? >> i want to give him a hard time about what he put us through, and yeah, i just want to let him know how much support he had from his family, his friends, his colleagues at "the wall street journal," across the media landscape.

i mean, he knows all of this already, but he really united the entire country, and i want him to know that, you know, he was loved in this manner and i know he's going to reciprocate that. i mean, his first comments off the plane, he was already advocating for russian dissidents that he was jailed with. you know, i think he's going to hit the ground running here and use this moment and his platform to do some really good work in the world and give back to the people who were fighting so hard to free him. >> even after his release in just these small moments, it's been less than 24 hours since he's been back in the u.s., but we're learning more about his character and his strength. after he was released "the wall street journal" took us inside that russian prison where he read russian classics like war and peace. and we learned just before the prisoner swap he was required to submit a formal clemency request

to putin but he could have left the form blank. instead, in the formal high russian he had honed over 16 months in prison, the journal's russian correspondent filled the page. the last line submitted a proposal of his own, after his release, would putin be willing to sit down for an interview. sam, knowing your friend, what did you make of that? >> this man was born to be a journalist. i mean, for anyone who is doubting why he was in russia doing this dangerous, on the ground reporting, this was his calling, and you know, the fact that he still has that at his core, even after this entire 500 day experience just speaks to who he is as a person. i'm so proud of him, and i'm so excited to see the amazing work that he's going to continue to do after this. >> not deterred one bit it certainly seems. as this buzz just quiets down after he goes through the more

formal transition process in terms of reintegration, how are you and his other loved ones hoping to help him readjust to normal life? >> i mean, i think we want to just treat him as we've always treated him. go out to meals together, trade stories. you know, just have a good time. i think he needs a release after the tension of what he's been through, and that's what we're here to provide him, but he's free to do it on his own time line. i honestly think that he's going to hit the ground running. i don't think he's going to need a lot of time to adjust to his newfound freedom. you can tell just from his body language getting off that plane, hugging joe biden, hugging kamala harris, lifting his mom up into the air, and the responses that he had to his colleagues who were interviewing him on the tarmac, he's the same old evan, and he's going to slip right back into his old life like a comfortable slipper. >> i love that idea, thank you

sam silverman, such a pleasure to speak with you. appreciate your time today, thanks. >> thank you so much. meanwhile, in the middle east, iran is warning about potential retaliation for the high profile assassination of a top hamas leader in tehran. the office of iran's supreme leader warning in a state tv broadcast just this morning that, quote, necessary measures to respond have been made. the iranians blame israel for the killing of political leader ismail haniyeh. president biden told reporters yesterday that the killing was not helpful to cease fire talks. hours after he and vice president harris spoke on the phone with israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu. nbc's raf sanchez is live now in tel aviv. raf, so president biden said publicly the killing of this hamas leader in iran was not helpful for the cease fire talks. do we know how he conveyed that message to netanyahu? >> reporter: so, ana, the white house readout of the call

between the presidents and the prime minister makes no mention of the assassination of haniyeh. it also makes no mention specifically of either the gaza cease fire talks or the israeli hostages who are now on their 301st day of captivity. it does talk broadly about deescalation in the region, but that has the families of the hostages deeply concerned that at best this killing is going to delay hostage talks. at worst it is going to derail these cease fire negotiations altogether. that is what the president seemed to be saying when he talked about it being not helpful. the other concern is just that with such serious escalation all around the region right now that no one really has the bandwidth at this point to engage in a cease fire in gaza when the real priority is trying to prevent an all out war erupting between israel and iran, potentially this the coming days. now, we are starting to learn a bit more about the killing of ismail haniyeh in that

guesthouse in the very heart of the iranian capital. iranian state media had initially said he was killed in a missile strike, but there are now widespread reports that israeli agents actually planted a bomb in the room that he was staying in and detonated it remotely. the israeli military kind of obliquely appears to be confirming that. the spokesman denying on the record that israel carried out an air strike, but then when asked, well, did you kill ismail haniyeh with a bomb, he declined to comment. >> raf sanchez with that latest, thank you very much. up next on "ana cabrera reports," the harris veep watch, could some recent scheduling changes be a clue about who is rising to the top? t who is risingo tthe top?

welcome back. in the next 72 hours, the final interviews for kamala harris's potential running mates. nbc news learning this morning harris will meet in person with some of the top contenders this weekend. according to two sources familiar with the matter, the formal vetting process done by a law firm has finished, and the face-to-face interviews are the last step before harris makes her pick. harris is expected to have her running mate by her side at a philadelphia rally on tuesday. just a few days away. i want to bring in jim messina who managed former president obama's 2012 re-election campaign and was deputy chief of staff in his white house.

jim, nice to see you, so the formal vetting process is done. harris is hitting down with some of the top contenders in the next 72 hours. how would you expect these meetings to go? >> they'll be really candid meetings. she's trying to make one of the most important decisions of her life, and the first point of all of this, ana, is to do no harm. so she's looked at all the vets. she's made sure that these five or six people can actually survive the vetting process, and then she's going to want to get a feel of how this person would be as vice president, and most importantly, could they be the president of the united states if something were to happen, and then the third is she's going to want to be very clear about what she really views the vp's role as. she's been the vice president. she understands this, and she's going to be really candid about what the vp is going to do in her administration. i think those are the three things that she's going to do this weekend. >> we know the six finalists. let's put those back up, minnesota governor tim walz, pennsylvania governor josh shapiro, illinois governor j.b.

pritzker, kentucky governor andy beshear, arizona senator, mark kelly, and transportation secretary pete buttigieg. so several governors, a senator, and a cabinet secretary. who do you think is the strongest pick here? who brings the most to the ticket? >> i think this is the deepest bench we've had in a very long time. i would pick any of these six people. i think she has a great amount of choice here, and i think, you know, it's less about who can bring you a state and more about who on the ticket gives you something you don't already have. when we were picking joe biden, you know, the young barack obama with not a lot of foreign policy experience kind of needed joe biden to round out his ticket. i think that's one of the things she's thinking about. when i look at all six of these people, she cannot go wrong. >> senator laphonza butler said harris needs to pick someone she gels with perfectly. telling "the new york times" there has to be some geuine

like and good vibes. >> it is a great question, ana, and it is one of the questions she's going to wrestle with. i really agree with senator butler here. you remember when al gore got picked with bill clinton, that energy, that excitement, you remember joe biden racing onto the stage with barack obama. those two picks gelled. you contrast that with j.d. vance who yesterday, you know, donald trump had to go out of his way to say it doesn't really matter who the vice presidential pick is. that gel factor, ana, is real, but you also have political calculus. what does your ticket need to get over the top and get to 270 electoral votes, and that's what she's going to be wrestling with this weekend. >> one person whose name has come up a lot who is from a very important state for democrats to win, pennsylvania governor josh shapiro. we know he canceled a fundraiser in the hamptons this weekend.

nbc news has reported harris is expected to have her running mate at a rally in pennsylvania in philadelphia on tuesday. that's shapiro's home state, of course. should we be reading into that, do you think? >> no, i think what that choice is is about pennsylvania being probably the most important of the three mid western blue wall states. it is the biggest state, has the most electoral votes, and you'd naturally want to go there ch the easiest way to win this presidential election is the three blue wall states, pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin, and if i was her campaign, i'd be doing exactly what they're doing, which is i'd start in pennsylvania, and then i would go to wisconsin, and it seems like from press reports that's what they're going to do. i think it's more about the calculus to 270 electoral votes than it is about any one candidate. >> "the new york times" reported last week that the harris campaign's considering adding a high level senior adviser to the team that would function as a top strategist with a direct relationship with her, and your

name along with david plouffe's were part of this conversation. have you spoken to the harris campaign? would you be interested in getting on board? >> look, every democrat needs to do whatever the harris campaign needs them to do to make sure donald trump's not the president of the united states and kamala harris is, so we're all helping. i was on the phone yesterday with plouffe, we were scheming and trying to find ways we could be helpful. i think it matters less about roles and titles and every democrat is on board doing what we can, that's why i'm sitting here in a tie and funny suit talking to you, ana. >> that's not a no. are you considering a formal role? >> look, i am really happy. i'm in montana for the summer, and i love that. i think this is about as formal as i want to be. i got a tie on in august in montana. >> montana's a beautiful state anytime of year, but especially in the summer. jim messina, thank you so much for joining us. i appreciate your insights.

>> thank you. just moments ago president biden answered reporters' questions outside the white house, including about vice president harris's vice presidential pick. let's listen. >> have you spoken to vice president harris about her running -- >> yes. >> do you know who it is? >> you have been a vice president before, what two qualities -- [ inaudible question ] >> mark fog el, the pennsylvania teacher -- >> we're not giving up on that. >> what more can you do? >> what did you tell his mother? >> that was the president just moments ago as he left the white house for delaware taking some questions. i know it was difficult to hear because of the background noise

of marine 1, but he was asked, one, about marc fogel who is an american still held in russia. he said he's not giving up on that. he was also asked about whether he's talked to vice president kamala harris about her vp pick. he confirmed he has, but said it's her choice. up next on "ana cabrera reports," new jobs numbers, what they say about the health of the u.s. economy and take a look at how the markets are reacting. plus, justin timberlake appearing virtually for a hearing this morning in his dwi case. (vo) kate made progress with her mental health, but her medication caused unintentional movements in her face, hands, and feet called tardive dyskinesia, or td. so her doctor prescribed austedo xr— a once-daily, extended-release td treatment for adults. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ austedo xr significantly reduced kate's td movements. some people saw a response as early as 2 weeks. with austedo xr, kate can stay on her mental health meds— (kate) aww! hi buddy!

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significantly below expectations in july. and the unemployment rate ticked up to its highest level in nearly three years. nbc news business and data correspondent brian cheung is at the big board to break it down for us. so what was the landscape? what did we find? >> sometimes we get a bad jobs report, but the market goes up. this is one of those situations where the bad news is kind of the bad news and the bad news here is that jobs in america, they did slow down in terms of gains over the month, in the month of july, adding 114,000 jobs. for context, economists were expecting closer to 185,000 jobs, so this is well below what they had expected and much slower as you can see than the paces of around 250,000 jobs being added at the beginning of the year. when we look at the unemployment rate, it did tick up to 3.4% in this -- sorry, 4.3% in this report. what is noticeable about that is that it is a tick up from the 3.5%, 3.4% unemployment rates that we had seen prior to that, and which was also, by the way, the levels we were getting at

before the pandemi. but we are still relatively low, but, again, you want to take notice of the fact that we're up by over half a percentage point on the unemployment rate. that certainly is not welcome news. where do we see the job gains by industry? healthcare, construction, leisure and hospitality, these are bars and restaurants, all adding a healthy clip over the month of july, but look at this, information losing 20,000 jobs in the month now. what types of jobs are included in information? things like, for example, tech jobs and also jobs in media. we'll have to watch those threats going forward. last thing i want to point out here is the one bright spot in this report which showed that pay is going up on a yearly rate. 3.6%. that's how much more people are getting paid this time this year compared to this time last year. that is outpacing inflation, how much price tags are rising at the store, that is up by 3%. this has been a dynamic in place for over a year now. that's welcome news. you don't want to see this jobs market slow any further.

federal reserve likely expected to cut interest rates as a result of this report in september. >> cutting interest rates, though that could be music to some people's ears. brian cheung, thank you. pop star and actor justin timberlake just appeared virtually before a new york judge for his arraignment on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated in june. the judge suspended timberlake's license, because he refused to take a breathalyzer and said he may impose a gag order in this case. timberlake's lawyer has insisted the singer was not intoxicated when he was pulled over. the next hearing is scheduled for next friday. still ahead for us, going for the gold, and making history. the olympic records just set by two american athletes. we're live in paris when we come back. athletes. we're live in paris when we come back thanks for swingin' by, carl. no problem. so, what are all of those for? ah, this one lets me adjust the bass. add more guitar. maybe some drums. wow, so many choices. yeah. like schwab. i can get full-service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only frontman you need...

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the goat of gymnastics strikes gold again. simone biles taking home her

sixth olympic gold medal and ninth overall with teammate suni lee taking the bronze. and in the pool, katie ledecky taking silver in the 2 by 400 meter freestyle relay making her the most decorated female olympian of all time. stephanie gosk joins us now from paris. stephanie, what a show last night with simone biles and katie ledecky. team usa has plenty of chances today again with caeleb dressel, regan smith, phoebe bacon in the pool, track and field events get started finally. what can we expect? >> reporter: i was there last night when simone biles won that gold medal. it was incredible to see. i was also in tokyo when she had all those struggles. it was tight. we were on the edge of our seats the entire time and really did come back to -- come down to the last performance on the floor. and she absolutely nailed it. and won the gold medal. here is the great thing about katie ledecky and simone biles. they're not done. and they both have very good chances of winning more gold

medals. simone biles will be competing in the individual vault tomorrow. then she has the floor and the beam. so that's potentially three more medals for her. katie ledecky has the 800 meter in front of her. she has a heat today, and she will most likely qualify. her biggest competition in that race is summer mcintosh, a canadian swimmer, she's not racing the event here in paris. so, katie ledecky's chances of getting yet another gold medal are really, really terrific. as you mentioned, there are some other opportunities in the pool, caeleb dressel will be defeating his 50 meter olympic gold medal as well and regan smith, she's got the backstroke. so, you know, we are heading into a good string for u.s. athletes and, of course, the center of gravity is all going to shift to track and field and sha'carri richardson. >> the 10,000 meters men's final tonight. don't forget the long distance events. stephanie gosk, thank you, my friend. that does it for us this busy hour. i'll be back at 3:00 p.m.