here is what's cool. the auroras from these storms are sometimes visible at night, even in the summer. and forecasters say we should watch the sky tonight as far south as alabama, as far west as california. we might pick up a trace of auroras, not the bright lights you may see in the winter in the north, but just a trace of the auroras, even in a summer sky. so pretty amazing stuff. >> very quickly, if you will, how long could this last? >> well, they're saying for a few more days. it kind of all depends on what's happening on the sun, you know, how far away that is, and nobody on the sun is answering the phone to tell us how long it's going to last. >> i guess we've got to keep our eyes to the sky. tom costello, thanks. that does it for us today. i'll see you back here, same time, same place, tomorrow. you can catch our show online around the clock on youtube and other platforms. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now.

good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with new developments in the middle east. israel remains on high alert as iran rejects calls from the international community not to launch retaliatory attacks against israel. this comes after the u.s. and a number of european countries issued a statement urging iran and its allies to, quote, stand down on ongoing threats of a military attack against israel. earlier today israel launched retaliatory attacks against hezbollah military targets in lebanon. two militants were allegedly killed on a drone strike in lebanon. and there is troubling news about the hostages in gaza. a hamas spokesperson says a guard shot and killed a male hostage and two female hostages

were seriously wounded in a separate incident. with us now, nbc news chief foreign correspondent, richard engel in jerusalem, nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba, retired general, former deputy commander of the u.s. command, and msnbc military analyst and former israeli consul general in new york. richard, what's the situation on the ground right now in israel? any insights on when iran could be reacting? >> reporter: well, it's a moving target. i think that's the best way to understand it. there have been several moments, including last night, when it looked like military action, some sort of coordinated military action by iran and hezbollah was going to come. we saw last night israel go into its highest state of alert and readiness. but a week ago, i was hearing from very senior military commanders that they thought it was going to happen at that time. and i don't think that they were

wrong, necessarily then or they were misinformed, otherwise the united states wouldn't have sent two aircraft carriers to the region, one being sped up and f-22s and the commander of cencom. all of this is tremendously expensive. they moved because they were acting on intelligence and they believed it was coming then, and it seems that iran is still trying to calibrate where and when and how to react. the new development right now, and this has just changed in the last few hours, and this is only coming from reuters, but i'm corroborating it through other means, reuters is reporting, citing three sources, that iran is now holding off on its retaliation. could be proven wrong, could come at any moment. the troops are still here. israel is still at a state of high alert. the reporting is that iran is holding off for now, because it wants to take part directly in cease-fire negotiations, and that it would strike if those

cease-fire negotiations to release the hostages and stop the military campaign on gaza fail, or if it is perceived or they perceive that israel, specifically benjamin netanyahu, is dragging his feet, deliberately trying to avoid a commitment, then they would strike in that case. i've spoken to negotiators, one in particular at a very senior level, and he's aware of this, did not deny it, said that he has not received any formal application for iran to take part in the talks, but that he would not oppose it and we had a discussion with the idea that should iran should be there perhaps from the beginning, since it was always a major player. so there is still this hanging sword that could drop, but there is also a diplomatic track, potentially with iran getting involved and diplomatic visits from the biden administration heading to this region over the next several days.

so there is a lot of moving parts that need to -- that need to fall into place. so we're either going to escalation on one hand, or we're going to de-escalation and a potential diplomatic route on the other. and, really, it boils down to what do hamas want and what is prime minister netanyahu willing to accept. >> i know you've got new reporting on efforts to reach the cease-fire deal? >> exactly, talking about that diplomatic route that richard was just referencing, we know that cia director bill burns is expected to be in doha for what would be critical talks on a potential cease-fire deal that would free some of the hostages still being held by hamas in gaza. those are scheduled for thursday, but we know, given the potential for escalation in the region, it's possible that some of that could change, though the u.s., the biden administration saying they fully want to pursue

these negotiations, and that is why they're sending their top diplomat negotiator who has been part of all of these different rounds of talks, so many different iterations, moments where it seemed like things were close, but where the final gaps are clearly the most critical to close. and we've been in that position time and time again over the last few months. so that is the plan over the next couple of days. and in addition to the cia director, we know that the white house coordinator for the middle east, brett mcgurk, is going to be in the region as well. he was expected to first be in cairo for some talks between israeli and egyptian officials there, and then he would also be in doha later in the week, we expect, to come to the table and continue to hash out some of these things. but even the u.s. national security council yesterday conceded that if there is some major escalation, if we do see that, depending on what happens here, maybe the thursday talks would have to be moved or

affected. but it is the priority of the united states that they go on as scheduled and they're really trying to frame this as a last and best and final offer, even though we've heard that kind of language before, even when the talks have, sadly, collapsed or gone nowhere. but the u.s., the president specifically has been on the phone with allies, with countries like germany, france, italy, the uk, to try to talk to those leaders about what's happening there, the current tensions, in addition to trying to shore up more support for this potential deal to finally crystallize, though there are a lot of obstacles still before that can be done. >> and, general, meanwhile, what are the options that iran has? the last time they attacked israel, they did so with hundreds of missiles and drones, et cetera. what is it that they have in their arsenal now that they could utilize? >> well, i think you'll see a different picture now. we must remember that not only

was there a killing in iran, but in hezbollah, you had shakur also killed, the leader and the mastermind behind the soccer field attack, there's a retaliatory strike on him and he was killed as well. if you take a look at hamas, you had mohammed diff killed, the long-time leader of military forces in hamas. i think what has changed in this, they'll be looking to retaliate against israel. and i think the iranians will use their proxies in this fight. if you go back to the april fight, it was primarily an iranian 300 missiles and drone attack. i think hezbollah will get involved, i think hamas will try and fire missiles from the gaza strip, and we cannot forget about the houthis down in the

south, whether they will act, or whether or not the proxies that are located in syria and iran, whether they will act as well. and they may act against u.s. forces that are stationed in the region. that's why it's so critical to set our defensive posture, not only to defend and assist israel and defend israel, but also to protect u.s. forces in the region. >> you know, ambassador, iran has been involved through their different proxies, right, in the area, for so many years now. and now it seems that -- just listening to what richard was telling us, iran wants to insert itself into the diplomatic side of negotiations, et cetera, that would force the rest of the world to deal with iran as a major player. how do you see this part of the -- kind of the puzzle of

what iran has been doing and what it wants to do? >> well, there are two levels here, jose. one is indigenously iranian, and one has to do with foreign relations. indigenously, they're thinking about the cost effectiveness of any retaliation against israel and the general was absolutely right in describing the scene. there are two levels of escalation. what you can do bilaterally against israel, and how do you use your proxies. that's not forget the proxies, hezbollah, and the houthis in yemen, it's not like a mcdonald's franchisees, where one may be in cincinnati and one in miami, but they both have the same colors, the same furniture, the same menus. these are not exactly franchisees. they operate independently. the second thing that i think constrains iran, but also is

helpful, is, believe it or not, china. the chinese have levers of power and influence over iran, and i think -- i don't know this for a fact, but i'm connecting dots here that the u.s. and the chinese have cooperated, perhaps tacitly, not so much directly, on de-escalation because the iranians are heavily invested in iran, iran sees china as a superpower mentor that sort of equalizes the u.s. and all this leads to some kind of a recalibration in iran. and, again, like richard said correctly, it can happen in an hour and everything we just said here is null and void. nonetheless, it looks like there is a serious process going on. >> richard, meanwhile, as this is going on, the humanitarian

crisis in gaza is only getting worse. >> reporter: it is being described as unlivable in gaza. we speak daily to our team in gaza, our teams in gaza, different parts of the gaza strip, and every time i speak to them, i don't know how they can do it, how people can possibly live under the conditions where they are living. it has been now many months, people are moving, pretty much everyone in gaza has been displaced from their home at least once, most people multiple times. it is incredibly hot. things are outrageously expensive. there are shortages of everything from food, no clean water to speak of, soap is almost impossible to find, medicine is almost impossible to find. there's no such thing as a humanitarian zone, really. the humanitarian zone has been struck several times, israel says because hamas is taking

advantage of it and putting its fighters inside of it. and just recently israel ordered another partial evacuation of a humanitarian zone. and just to give you an example of a story that we're working on right now, there were two babies, two newborn babies, and they were swaddled in their wraps and they had just been brought home, and they had been born four days ago. the father went out, he went to go get a birth certificate. while he was out, an israeli strike hit the house, killed the two babies and his wife, and we have an image of him holding the death certificate in absolute -- in an absolute state of despair. there are also still hostages in gaza in this situation being held, mostly underground in tunnels because at this stage probably too difficult to move them around. israel keeps searching and re-searching areas.

they have been there, many of them, since october the 7th, perhaps not seeing any sunlight. many of them wounded. so across the gaza strip for the 2.2 million people, for the hostages, it is hard to see how it is survivable for much longer. >> richard engel, lieutenant general and ambassador, thank you so very much. coming up, donald trump made his return to x last night with the help of its owner, elon musk. we'll play for you part of their conversation. plus, the fbi is now investigating attempted hacks of both the trump and harris campaigns. later, puerto rico bracing for a tropical storm that official warn could unleash flooding and landslides. we're back in 90 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. with selection for any pet, with any diet,

chewy has a taste for every tummy. all right at your fingertips. all the brands they love to devour. at prices you love to pay. delivered fast, right to your door. with chewy, make meal-time delicious every time. for low prices and fast shipping. for life with pets, there's chewy with everything. you've got a pepto predicament, ace. you overdid it on the loaded fries and now your gut is in the gutter. undo it with pepto fast melts. so you can keep on rolling. [bowling pins knocked down] when you overdo it, undo it with pepto bismol.

16 past the hour. new reaction this morning after former president trump returned to x for a conversation with elon musk last night, which was delayed by 40 minutes due to a series of technical glitches. musk endorsed the former president and trump repeatedly attacked vice president harris. at one point trump joking that venezuela would be a safer place than america if harris wins. >> the next time what we'll do, if something happens with this election, which would be a

horror show, we'll meet the next time in venezuela, because it will be a far safer place to meet than our country. you and i will go and we'll have a meeting and dinner in venezuela, because that's what's happening. >> a spokesperson for the harris campaign responded with this. trump's entire campaign is in service of people like elon musk and himself, self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who can not run a livestream in the year 2024. joining us now, nbc news political correspondent, garrett haake. good morning. according to x, between 7:45 and 10:45 last night, trump's space on x received 73 million views. what ground did they cover during that time? >> reporter: jose, on the viewership numbers it's a little bit of funny math because it might be people who engaged with the post, trump's post saying that he was doing this or the post afterwards saying that it had been done. i was listening to most of the livestream where the viewership

numbers hovered around 1.3 million across the two hours. our broadcast gets many more viewers than that. the content, the format was different from what we usually hear from donald trump. some attacks on kamala harris, some attacks on joe biden, the suggestion that he was the victim of some kind of coup, and a heavy focus on combatting immigration and attacking the immigrants themselves. listen to some of what donald trump and elon musk discussed last night. >> i hate to say this, the reason the numbers are much bigger than you would think is they're also taking their nonproductive people. these aren't people that will kill you. we have enough of them. but these are people that are nonproductive. they are just nonproductive, for whatever reason. they're not workers or they don't want to work or whatever. >> reporter: jose, it's important to remember the trump campaign is hoping that this conversation will reach people

who are not paying attention to the news, who don't engage with any other political content, typically younger, typically white men, that they hope they can try to turn into trump supporters with language like that. >> garrett haake, thank you so very much. really appreciate it. the fbi says it is now investigating potential efforts to hack both the trump and biden-harris campaigns. attempted hacks of staffers, as well as former advisers, roger stone, as first reported by the "washington post." the trump campaign spokesperson claims they were hacked in june by iran. joining us, nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent, ken dilanian. what more do we know about these hacks? >> reporter: good morning. the fbi is investigating attacks to hack into the email accounts of officials on both campaigns, including three biden-harris staffers and one trump campaign official. there's no indication the

attempts against the harris campaign were successful. they see no evidence of a cyber breach. in the case of the trump campaign, mr. trump said the campaign website was hacked by iran and former adviser roger stone says that authorities told him his email accounts were compromised. and, also, several news organizations have said they were offered what appeared to be internal trump campaign documents. so it does look like the hack of the trump campaign was at least somewhat successful. now, the fbi isn't saying this was iran, but microsoft's intelligence unit said friday that an iranian government group tried to hack into an unnamed presidential campaign and that u.s. intelligence officials have been saying for a while now that iran is trying to influence the election and wants trump to lose. so the bottom line, it does appear that a foreign government is, once again, attempting a hack and dump operation to influence the presidential election, just as we saw when the russians hacked the democrats in 2016. but unlike in 2016, when donald trump's campaign made full use of the materials stolen by the

russians, the trump campaign is now urging news organizations not to report on any hacked documents. the trump campaign also reportedly did not contact the fbi about the hack right away, but i'm told the fbi is now talking to the campaign and to microsoft as part of the investigation, jose. >> ken dilanian, thank you very much. coming up, abortion is officially on the ballot in a key swing state, crucial to both donald trump and vice president harris. how it could shape the 2024 race. plus, usa gymnastics gears up for a major fight to try to stop team usa's jordan chiles will losing her bronze medal. why it could take years to resolve. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. the secret is the powerful ingredient, apoaequorin, originally discovered in jellyfish and found only in prevagen. in a clinical study, prevagen was shown to improve memory in subgroups of individuals who were cognitively normal

or mildly impaired. stay sharp and improve your memory with prevagen. prevagen. in stores everywhere without a prescription. ♪ ♪ not every decision you make will be as good as getting a volkswagen at the savvy vw summer sales event. 2024 volkswagen models cost less to maintain than honda. get 0.9% apr financing or a $3500 customer bonus on a new 2024 atlas or atlas cross sport. i'm trevor and i lost 132 pounds on golo. at 26 years old my doctor wanted to put me on medication and i wasn't having that. i tried other diets and they just didn't work didn't last. release worked fast. after a week i had more energy, mental clarity, and my cravings were gone.

i've lost 132 pounds and i will never, ever, gain that weight back. thanks to golo. we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands of people sell their policies for cash. even term policies. i can't believe they're just sitting up there! sitting on all this cash. if you own a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more, you can sell all or part of it to coventry. even a term policy. for cash, or a combination of cash and coverage, with no future premiums. someone needs to tell them, that they're sitting on a goldmine, and you have no idea! hey, guys! you're sitting on a goldmine! come on, guys! do you hear that? i don't hear anything anymore. find out if you're

sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. when migraine strikes ubrelvy is another option. it quickly eliminates migraine pain. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. allergic reactions to ubrelvy can happen. most common side effects were nausea and sleepiness. ask about ubrelvy — the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. i came to bayview hunter's point, the anytime, anywhere where there was only one pediatrician to serve more than 10,000 children. daniel lurie said, i'm going to help. we opened a clinic for our most vulnerable children. i have worked shoulder to shoulder with him as we have brought solutions where people

thought the problem was unsolvable. daniel doesn't take excuses. he holds himself accountable. and i know that he can do it for the city of san francisco. ryan t. writes, "moving is stressful. can you help me take one thing off of my to do list?” ugh, moving's the worst. with xfinity, you can transfer your internet in just a few taps. just a few easy moves. did somebody say “easy moves”? ♪ ♪ oh no. no, i was talking about moving your internet. this will move the internet. ♪ ♪ ooh, ooh. -let's keep it professional. professional dancers! -ok! stay connected during your move with the best in home wifi. easily transfer your services in the xfinity app. bring on the good stuff.

25 past the hour. voters are heading to the polls for primaries in wisconsin, minnesota, connecticut and vermont. today's primaries are crucial as democrats aim to protect their narrow majority and the republicans are defending their house majority. in minnesota, squad member democratic congresswoman ilhan omar faces multiple opponents. the primaries in the spotlight after two other squad members lost their primaries this election cycle. new developments in the swing state of arizona, this morning voters there woke up to news that abortion will be on the ballot this cycle. arizona's secretary of state's office certified the ballot

initiative, which would make abortion legal up to 24 weeks of fetal viability. arizona is the seventh state seeking to codify abortion access. joining us, georgetown law professor, host of "on the issues" podcast and democratic strategist and former republican congresswoman, barbara comstock from the swing state of virginia. yesterday the ap released an analysis finding more than 100 women in medical distress were turned away from ers since 2022. the report cites examples of women, quote, left to miscarry in public restrooms in arkansas. a woman went into septic shock and her fetus died after an er sent her home. what is causing all of this? >> this is the tragedy that has emerged in the wake of the 2022 dobbs decision where the united states supreme court overturned roe v. wade, which was a 7-2

decision in 1973, in a decision that was authored by the justice put on the court by richard nixon. in that time what we've seen is complete devastation across the country, where there are women who have had extopic pregnancies and not received care, girls have been raped and not been able to terminate the pregnancies. we've seen girls going into elementary school and middle school now as parents. we have seen women bleeding for days without their doctors being able to intervene under fear that they would lose their medical licenses to practice or be criminally punished. in texas a doctor could be punished, up to 99 years incarceration, a fine and also lose the medical license to practice if they violate texas' abortion ban, which is incredibly restrictive. so we've seen so many instances. and what's important for us to take away is that whenever we

hear that data, it doesn't even share the full picture. so what seems so horrific, what is horrific, where we should all pause and be empathetic, the reality is it's a fraction of the kind of terror that women and girls are experiencing in the post dobbs age. >> when you say it's just a fraction of it, where is the rest? how can we find out what the totality of it is? >> that is such an excellent question. and the reality is that we've lived within a space of unequal health care treatment in the united states. it's been well documented for decades. and that is to say there are poor women, who are women who live in rural areas, there are women of color who have had, unfortunately, challenging experiences within the medical realm. there are women who have died while trying to seek care. they become the invisible person. so if you even look at the stories that have captured the news, and they should, many of

those who have suffered have been white women. a number of those have been women of means, who would tell their stories and the media pick up on their stories. but there are the invisible women, the women who have never been seen before dobbs and are not seen after dobbs, but what we do know is there are high rates of maternal mortality and maternal morbidity. that data we do have, and we had that going into the dobbs decision. and, again, we're noting that in dobbs the supreme court ignored paying any attention to maternal mortality and morbidity. in fact, maternal morbidity is mentioned only once, despite the fact the united states is the only country in all of the industrialized world. >> thank you for shining a light on places and people that often live in the shadows. i think it's important that we always recognize that and the importance of shining that light. michelle goodwin, thanks for

being with us. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> and, tara, i want to ask you about the political ramifications. the arizona secretary of state's office says that supporters of abortion rights shattered the record for the number of valid signatures gathered for a ballot initiative in the state, over 577,000 signatures. how much energy does this add to democrats on election day? >> it adds a lot of energy. what we've seen is that this issue has been an animating factor in all of these special elections and legislative races. this has continued to be the reason why democrats are projected to perform at one level and they have exceeded the expectations. this has been the issue that has delivered victories, ongoing victories for democrats. and i think that the energy is evident in the fact that they nearly doubled the amount of signatures, ballot signatures

that were required for arizona. and i think michelle raised such excellent points, and one thing that's important to note about arizona and the current status of the law there, is that there is no exception for rape and incest in arizona after that 15-week period, there's no exception in the current law. and so that is something that women across this country recognize and is driving their support of democrats. >> barbara, meanwhile, last week trump told reporters abortion isn't a big factor anymore. is he living in a different parallel universe? >> oh, yes, donald trump likes to enter the room to this song, it's a man's world, they don't get it. and you see in states like texas, where ken paxton is the attorney general, they are

ignoring these health issues where women who have ectopic pregnancies aren't getting health treatment. so even pro life women who are concerned with why aren't women getting health treatment, they understand that just throwing this back to the states isn't working. and that's why whenever these issues have been on the ballot they are winning overwhelmingly. because at the state level these legislators and these attorney generals, largely being men in these southern states, they are not responding to this in a humane level. they don't get it, they don't often understand the health needs of women. certainly donald trump doesn't. and the only time he cares about it is when it's a swing state. that's why he said, oh, gee, i don't want to really deal with it in the swing state of arizona. he won't even say in florida how

he's going to vote on the initiative. he tries to have it both ways. but the real issue is he does not care about the health issues that impact women, no matter what side of the issue he tries to be on. but i think this will have a big impact, because since the dobbs decision no democrat incumbent has lost and democrats have over-performed and republicans have underperformed because republicans have not compassionately responded on this issue or really come to the table with good responses on this. >> thank you both so very much. appreciate it. coming up, we're tracking tropical storm ernesto, now churning toward puerto rico after drenching other parts of the caribbean today and yesterday as well. later, disgraced former congressman george santos is

back in court ahead of his upcoming fraud trial. we'll take you live outside the courthouse. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. s. it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's faster, bro! it's mom to you. astepro starts working in 30 minutes. astepro and go!

whoa! how'd you get your teeth so white? you gotta use the right toothpaste! dr. c?! ♪♪ not all toothpastes whiten the same. crest 3d white removes 100% more stains for a noticeably whiter smile. new personal best. crest.

why do couples choose a sleep number smart bed? can it keep me warm when i'm cold? wait, no, i'm always hot. sleep number does that. during our biggest sale of the year, save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed and free delivery when you add any base. t-mobile's 5g network connects a hundred thousand delta employees so they can make every customer feel like they've arrived before they've left the ground.

this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business.

39 past the hour. this morning, tropical storm ernesto is heading toward puerto rico, triggering hurricane watches as it gains strength in the atlantic. puerto rico has activated the national guard and canceled all classes as people prepare for a

dangerous storm surge and up to 10 inches of rain. meantime, dangerous heat continues to blanket the south, putting 38 million people under alerts today. nbc news meteorologist angie lassman is with us. great seeing you. so what are you looking at this morning? >> good morning, jose. always great to be with you. we've got tropical storm ernesto first we're going to talk about and the impacts it's bringing to folks across parts of the caribbean. the leeward islands are being impacted right now. you can see the outer bands extending all the way down into portions of the winward islands where things are starting to wind up. we've got 50-mile-per-hour winds and we're seeing the system become more organized and get its act together a little more. that being said, we're likely going to see this start to strengthen over the next 24 hours. notice we do have hurricane watches up for the virgin islands. that's who is next on deck to see impacts. down the line, it's puerto rico where we have a tropical storm warning in effect right now. here is the latest track. by later today we'll see the

virgin islands being impacted by the rain and wind. then the system passes just to the north and east of puerto rico, really impressive amounts of rain expected for folks there. down the line, at it takes its turn to the north, we'll see it likely becoming a category 1 hurricane just north of puerto rico and strengthening to category 2, and potentially by the weekend we could have a category 2 on the line. for united states, rough surf, rip currents. puerto ricans should gear up for heavy rain. we've got the potential for up to 10 inches of rain across the island. moving to the mainland, we've got the heat alerts, 38 million included in that. we don't see it letting up any time soon, we've got triple-digit feels-like temperatures, we've got a high of 97 in new orleans, you add in the humidity. we've got 104 for tallahassee, we've got feeling like 102 in augusta, not just today, but for tomorrow, too. that's going to continue across parts of the southern tier of the country. and, unfortunately, even as we

get into late week and into the weekend, those 100 plus heat index values are going to stick with us. if you live in parts of the northeast or midwest, it is milder and cooler and a little more comfortable for the rest of this week, jose. >> angie lassman, thank you so very much. this morning, southern california is bracing for potential aftershocks after a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit near pasadena yesterday. take a look at the images. the quake being captured by cameras and home surveillance videos. millions of people felt the ground rumbling for miles. it's the second quake to hit the region in the past week, after a 5.2 hit bakersfield last wednesday. no significant damage or injuries have been reported. meanwhile, in greece, hundreds of firefighters are battling a deadly wildfire spreading near athens. the blaze is moving fast due to strong winds and extreme hit. it sent flames shooting more

than 80 feet into the air, scorching homes and businesses, forcing hospitals and neighborhoods to evacuate. at least one person has died, more than a dozen others have been treated for burns and breathing problems. after a break, embattled former congressman george santos back in court today with less than four weeks until his major fraud trial. we'll get a live report from outside the courthouse. plus, what the federal reserve could take away from a brand new inflation report just released this morning. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. , help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity.

e*trade from morgan stanley ♪ or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. (man) oh, come on. ♪ (woman) ugh. (vo) trade in any phone, in any condition. guaranteed at verizon. and get $800 off the new galaxy z fold6. only on verizon.

>> at university of maryland global campus, getting a bachelor's degree doesn't have toean starting from scratch. here you can earn up to 90 undergraduate credits for relevant experience. what will your next success be? (♪♪) looking good, guys! haha! thanks! oh! hey pickle! hi dad! i brought mom's glasses from the hotel oh, great! she's in the ballroom. the big one. i'm coming up! vacations are better with the credit gods are on your side. rewards once available to the few are now accessible to the many. earn points for travel

with credit one bank, and live large. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now...

now available: boost max! 47 past the hour. moments ago in new york, disgraced former congressman george santos walked out of court after appearing before a federal judge for a pretrial hearing. santos is facing 23 federal charges, including wire fraud, making false statements to the fec, and aggravated identity theft. nbc news correspondent antonia hylton is outside the courthouse with more. what do we know about what happened today? >> reporter: hey, jose. well, a lot of this hearing today was about the jury selection process. the santos team had asked for two things. first, they wanted the jurors to be completely anonymous, their identities hidden, and the judge decided that the jurors will be partially anonymous. so known to the parties involved and then to the press. but then it was really the

second issue, this idea from the santos team of having the prospective jurors go through an extensive questionnaire process. that got knocked down. the concern was that would delay the trial which is set to start september 9th. also, the santos team had been worried about the media coverage and essentially the government had argued that, if their team is sad about the kind of media coverage he's received, that he has really nobody to blame but himself. the other major point of discussion was about his former campaign treasurer, nancy marks, who is facing charges of her own, and whether or not the government is going to call her as a witness. they have three dozen witnesses and the judge has asked them to consider streamlining that. that was the word they consistently used. so we're still heading toward a trial here. in the past there had been talks about a possible plea deal, but it looks like they are getting jurors ready to come on september 9th. as you spelled out at the top, he's facing incredibly serious charges here, conspiracy to commit offenses against the

u.s., wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, lying, essentially, to the fec, the federal election commission, and doing things like taking donors' credit cards and then transferring thousands of dollars in cash to himself, shopping at places like ferragamo and hermez and getting botox and other treatments for himself. so expect the government to be making an overwhelming case he tried to use his position in office to enrich himself. what we know is he's still pleading guilty to all of this and we are heading toward a trial in a couple of weeks, jose. >> antonia hylton, thank you so very much. this morning, new data on inflation. the producer price index, which shows the price producers pay g rose 0.1%. that's less than expected. exactly what does this mean? how does it play into the fed's

decision on interest rates? >> it's one of the reasons why markets are reacting positively to the numbers. that biz inflation coming in cooler than expected. the bigger drivers of the inflation were a gain in food and energy prices overall. if you take out or exclude food and energy prices, more volatile components of the ppi, the month over month reading was flat. no change. that brings us to a year over year change, if you include everything, that 2.2% higher. that's a notable drop from the 2.7% year over year increase that we saw in the month of june. of course, now the attention switches to the more high profile retail level or consumer price index, which is due out tomorrow morning. jose, all of this data is leading traders to believe the fed will start cutting interest rates at their policy meeting as early as september. >> dom, starbucks replaced the

ceo? >> it's getting a new ceo. chipotle needs to find a new one. starbucks' ceo is stepping down. the new permanent ceo is brian nickle, who will take over the reigns effective september 9. brian nickle is the ceo of chipotle and was the ceo of taco bell. this comes because starbucks has in the midst of a struggling sales profile here in the u.s. and also in china. those are its two biggest markets. because of that, the company has come under a lot of pressure from investors who have taken stakes in starbucks and are looking to push for change. jose, it's worth noting right now, that starbucks' stock could be on pace for the best percentage gain while shares of chipotle are taking a hit because of his departure. >> thank you very much.

appreciate it. coming up, olympic officials say gymnastics star jordan chiles must return her bronze medal. this fight might not be over just yet. we will break down where things stand after a short break. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... so my tech and my network 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. (aaron) so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. (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. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

57 past the hour. in the last segment, we

mistakenly reported former congressman george santos had pleaded guilty. to be clear, he has pleaded not guilty. turning now to new developments in the controversy over the olympic bronze medal revoked from jordan chiles. usa gymnastics is vowing to fight after an international court said it will not reopen the case. emily, what is the latest today? >> the latest development, unfortunately, a major blow to the fight to what they call the fight for justice for jordan. they have been tweeting about it. for some important context, after the international olympic committee ordered jordan chiles submit her bronze. usa submitted new evidence to reverse the decision. the court of arbitration said that procedurally it does not reopen cases after it hands down

its ruling unless all parties in the case agree to. we did reach out to romanian gymnastic officials who didn't reply for comment. usa gymnastics releasing a statement saying we are disappointed and will pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the swiss federal tribunal, a higher court. that's a process that many legal experts say could take months if not years. it's all over less than one-tenth of a point. if you look at the scores, jordan chiles fell in fifth place and then on your right you see after her coach appealed her difficulty score, judges agreed they under credited her appeal. >> thank you very much. before we go this morning,

some amazing news from space. new research suggests there may be water and lots of it beneath the surface of mars. the findings are based on seismic measurements from nasa's insight lander. researchers say there may be enough water in the cracks of underground rocks to form a global ocean. scientists say the water below the surface most likely would have seeped from the surface billions of years ago when mars had rivers, lakes, oceans, and what knows what else. it looks like there's a ton of water in mars. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," former president trump returns to x in a