(upbeat music) - [narrator] this is kate. she always wanted her smile to shine. now, she uses a capful of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. (crowd cheering) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores. before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new? -audrey's expecting... -twins! therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. ♪♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. as we come on the air, the biggest story in the world colliding with one of the most watched events in the world, the olympics opening ceremony happening now. more than 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries in one place, but even today, more than

a dozen new covid cases reported among athletes, with the pandemic not close to being over in tokyo. we are live there, going one on one with japan's prime minister in an exclusive, new interview on whether the games are worth the risk, and we're live here at home with health officials in overdrive coast to coast, breakthrough infections leading headlines, mixed mass messaging creating confusion and controversy and so is a new nfl rule. we're all over it this hour. the blockbuster case filing in front of the supreme court. mississippi formally asking justices to overturn roe v. wade, a case and a decision that could make abortion illegal nationwide less than a year from now. what you need to know, coming up. good morning, i'm hallie jackson in washington with our nbc news team starting us off. keir simmons in tokyo, cal perry outside los angeles, antonia hilton in provincetown, massachusetts and dr. natalie

azar. covid is the big story, it always has been, and today keir you are at the center of that international headline and the other big one the olympics beginning today, the opening ceremony happening as we speak on our sister network nbc news and a lot of frustration with japanese folks about these olympic games, not many people are vaccinated, businesses hit hard by covid restrictions, athletes, more today testing positive for covid and you're talking with the prime minister about all of it. >> that's right, hallie the opening ceremony celebrating the history of japan, like this amazing temple in kyoto. we've been out on the streets across japan talking to people. many folks telling us they felt like the olympics simply had to go ahead, in a way, japan had no choice, but the prime minister, when i sat down with him admitting that those polls suggested that many japanese folks have been against the

games, they've been started to move in his favor but admitting that has been really tough but at the same time saying that canceling would be the easy option. >> many japanese people are deeply worried that there will be a rise in infections. did you consider canceling the games? >> translator: i think canceling the games is very easy to do. however, as i have said before, while facing the coronavirus and also trying to hold a safe and secure olympics and paralympics, this will pose many difficult challenges. but japan made the bid and was awarded to be the host country and as the nation hosting the games, i believe we must fulfill our obligation to the rest of the world. >> we've been out on the streets of kyoto today, made here in japan today and yesterday to mark the opening of the olympics, hallie. there were many folks out on the streets not so many tonight,

they may be at home watching the opening ceremony with no small amount of pride. that is certainly what japan's prime minister will be hoping for. japan a key ally of the united states, the third largest economy in the world. the prime minister faces a test of his leadership immediately after the olympics, it will be crucial for him that these olympics go well. he'll hope it got started and the atmosphere will shift. >> that is for sure. keir simmons live in kyoto, not too far from tokyo in japan. thank you. we'll talk more about the olympics coming up in a little bit in the show. cal, let's stick on the issue of covid. you heard what's happening in japan. keir setting the scene and laying it out there. here at home where you are in los angeles county, hospitalizations doubled in the last month. you've got california struggling through this latest wave, with more than half the state's population vaccinated and where you are really is in many ways

the epicenter of this mask discussion that is now happening all across the country. should people who have the shot still wear masks inside? >> yes, and it's a discussion happening not only across the country but here in california, will the bay area follow, will sacramento follow? we heard from the top health official here in l.a. county, and we're talking about the break-through cases. we have some numbers in l.a. county, 20% of the new cases since the beginning of the year have happened in fully vaccinated individuals. it is why they are saying that the masks are necessary here in l.a. county, worth reminding our viewers that the vast majority of folks did find at home it was about 4% who ended up going to the hospital, a small percentage of those folks ended up dying in hospital. the vast majority of folks going to the hospital are unvaccinated but it shows you that we are seeing breakthrough cases here in l.a. county. we are seeing hospitals return unfortunately to the way that things were at least partly last winter. the hostel has 19 covid patients

in it. i spoke to a doctor a week ago said it was depressing that a few months ago there were no covid patients. now they're opening up another covid wing. it is that concern health officials have that they are pointing to for a reason the masks opening up a wider discussion in california and across the country, hallie. >> dr. azar, help us put this in perspective what is happening. i got back from a reporting trip to missouri where i was doing the show from yesterday and it is, the governor there providing new incentives for people to get vaccinated. others say the doom and gloom picture painted by members of the media. when you look at the numbers this week, they are legitimately concerned. more than 280,000 new covid cases in the last seven days, 1,500 deaths and dr. walensky saying this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated, that cannot be said enough. >> look, hallie, this is what we know about the delta variant.

it's about 50% more transmissible than the original variant. people infected shed more, produce more virus and become infectious more quickly than with the original strain. you put all of that together and say look, 50% of the population here in america is still unvaccinated, and both things can be true. you can be vaccinated and very well protected in an indoor space and you can still choose to mask up because especially if you're in an area that has high viral transmission and low vaccination rates and you're in a mixed group where you don't know the vaccination status of the people you're with, you're just putting on that extra layer of protection. i always want to drive home this point that if you are a fully vaccinated person in this country without any immunocompromising conditions, you can consider yourself well protected but we know the protection is not 100% and you do risk inadvertently transmitting to an elderly

person who can become sick and especially hallie like you, young children at home who are not vaccinated. >> that's right. >> we do all of these things with all of these different conditions in mind. >> right, it's sort of as you say literally an extra layer of protection. dr. azar, stand by for a second. breakthrough cases, antonia, that's something you're looking at, in p town, massachusetts. more than 63% of people in the state are fully vaccinated but they had a spike in cases over the last couple of weeks, a decent number are the so-called breakthrough infections, people getting sick who have already gotten the shot because of the reasons dr. azar laid out. >> that's right, hallie and that's causing a great amount of concern here in provincetown. there are about 256 cases of covid confirmed and officials have tied to parties and celebrations that happened here around the july 4th weekend, when there were large numbers of unvaccinated non-residents coming to provincetown and mixing in large numbers with

people who live and work here and people are frustrated. i've spoken to business owners, to people who live here who feel they went out and got their shot, they followed scientists, they listened to their doctors and then they were put at risk by people who came here and were not vaccinated, in fact i want to you take a listen to one of the business owners that i sat down with this morning, ken morgan, he owns the pilgrim house hotel and venue here and he has instituted a new policy where he says if you're not vaccinated, you're not going to be a guest at his hotel. take a listen. >> absolutely infuriating when we hear the number of cases here in town and you trace it back to people who are not vaccinated yet. put themselves in a crowded situation maskless. i could never do that, and i don't understand how people can. >> reporter: to put this all in context, business owners like ken just had to fight through an

incredibly difficult year to keep their businesses afloat. so they're really asking people if you're unvaccinated, consider not just the health effects but also the effect that you have on business owners, on people who live here, year-round and are trying to serve you and do the right thing and officials have put this mask advisory in place but business owners like ken say some cases they need to go a step further ensuring that people are vaccinated so they don't put their work, their businesses and the people who work for them at risk this summer. hallie? >> so dr. azar, you have what antonia is talking about here, business people in communities, others saying please, go and get the vaccine. go get the shot if you haven't had it already, right? you have two, we've been talking about this week, more and more conservatives over the last three, four days saying the same thing. but there isn't on the one hand, on the other hand thing about this. on the one hand i'll play what alabama's governor had to say about this. watch. >> almost 100% of the new hospitalizations are

unvaccinated folks and the deaths certainly occurring with unvaccinated folks. these folks are choosing a horrible lifestyle of self-inflicted pain. >> so she's being very, very clear about what you need to do. you've seen some members of conservative media, sean hannity, for example, made a big splash earlier this week when he seemingly said many americans should consider getting vaccinated, then last night, a real walk back on that front saying i never told -- corrupt media, i never said people should get vaccinated. so mixed messaging coming from some of these conservative leaders. i say that because politics as we know plays a part in what is happening as we see on a whole with vaccinations across the country. what needs to happen in your view? who is the onus on communities like alabama, state ranking last as it relates to vaccinations to get those numbers higher? >> i know, it's super frustrating for somebody who sees patients every day and i

counsel patients and i ask about the vax nation status of my patients every day and spend a great deal of time speaking to those who are reluctant to get vaccinated about the benefits versus the risks and i always make sure to ask them what sources they used to get their information, what sources are they relying on. i think that we have to really drive home the point that the decisions that we make as individuals don't just affect us, they affect literally everybody around us, our loved ones, our friends, businesses, we could spend an entire hour talking about the way social media and certain right wing media has really, really undermined the efforts in terms of communicating the science and all of our recommendations which from the very beginning have been evidence-based but as i said yesterday, we speak on our network to our audience who has been listening to us from the beginning. the challenge here is to reach those people who have been getting their sources elsewhere,

as you know. >> dr. natalie azar, thank you so much. keir simmons, cal perry, antonio hilton, thank you so much. keir as we mentioned in japan. coming up, more on the olympics, new protests plus extreme heat adding another challenge for those athletes and a look at what the first lady is up to there. also the new and very real push to overturn roe v. wade. could the supreme court strike down its own ruling? democrats blast the fbi saying the agency failed to fully investigate allegations against brett kavanaugh. now details on that next. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done.

so then i said to him, you oughta customize your car insurance with liberty mutual, flexible cancellation. so you only pay for what you need. hot dog or... chicken? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ just two pills for all day pain relief. aleve it, and see what's possible. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein.

boost® high protein also has key nutrients not all 5g networks are created equal. it's clear to see. t-mobile is the leader in 5g. t-mobile. america's largest, fastest, most reliable 5g network. show me the olympics. [ "bugler's dream" playing ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

democratic senators putting the fbi on blast today, a group of them releasing new details about the agency's investigation into brett kavanaugh when he was a supreme court nominee. the bureau acknowledging it received more than 4,500 tips but conducted just ten interviews. the agency says relevant tips

were forwarded to the white house counsel's office. what happened when they got to trump white house counsel and kavanaugh backer don mcbegan is a mystery. ken dilanian is covering the story. smooth it out. help us solve this mystery. what happened to all those tips? >> that is a great question, hallie and something that democratic senators want to know and they're going to try to find out. one that's not going to happen probably as a result is brett kavanaugh's removal from office. >> he's not getting pulled off the court, right. >> right. >> this is something the democrats want to know about just in the interests of it seems as they've been saying preventing something like this from happening again. that's the significance of this, right? >> right. both that and also what were these allegations against brett kavanaugh? some of them have been released through freedom of information but heavily redacted. so are they sitting now in the biden administration's white house counsel office? are there copies at the fbi? the senators want to know and

like to get the full copy of allegations and may want to investigate some of them themselves. not that it's going to remove him from office but senators feel like they were not given the full story. hallie, we reported at the time, because fbi officials were telling us privately this was a limited background investigation they were conducting at the behest of the white house. it wasn't a criminal investigation. they could only do the interviews the white house allowed them to do, the trump white house, right? so the question becomes now will the senate want to change that process? it's the senate's job to advise and consent on these supreme court nominations and they didn't get the information they wanted out of this. there were allegations floating around out there, that were not fully investigated by the fbi, and the senate is now in a position of wondering whether there should be procedures changed so this never happens again so a real investigation is conducted. they're also suggesting that chris ray misled the public. i'm not so sure about that. we reported at the time this was

a very limited investigation, but nonetheless, there are these allegations out there that senators would like to see and perhaps investigate, hallie. >> thank you very much for that. brett kavanaugh is one of nine people who will? n a matter of months decide the future of legal abortion in many states across the country, because the supreme court is now being asked to overturn roe v. wade, coming from a new filing from the state of mississippi justices agreeing to hear a case next term whether a law from that state that would ban abortions after 15 weeks is constitutional but the mississippi ag wants the court to go all the way and explicitly asking to overturn that landmark 1973 ruling. activists have been bracing for this one especially since the court's ideological balance shifted after appointments made by former president donald trump. i want to bring in nbc's justice correspondent pete williams, melissa murray, legal analyst and former clerk to sonia

sotomayor. pete, what would a ruling in favor of mississippi do as it relates to abortion in this country? >> it depends on what the court says. if the court finds a narrow way to uphold the mississippi law, which would ban abortion after 15 weeks without overturn roe v. wade, it would open the door to other states to try something similar. the mr. emis if you say well it's okay to ban abortion before viability, which is what roe and the follow-on case called casey basically said to the court you can't do that before viability. if the court says yes, you can, then what's the difference between 15 weeks and two weeks or zero weeks? if the court were to completely overturn roe v. wade those rulings say states can't ban it. if those decisions are off the books, states could if they wanted 24 states almost certainly would. 21 states almost certainly would not and would continue to allow

it, and then the question is what would happen in those other five. this has always been lurking in the background of this case, because what those two cases say is you can't ban abortion flat out. you could restrict it but you can't ban it before viability if the supreme court says well, yes, you can, then that's always been the issue lurking here. that's always been -- mississippi is basically just coming flat out saying what's always been the background issue here. >> quick time line wise, the justices will hear this next term. can we expect a decision next june kind of thing? >> yes. they'll hear the case in probably november or december. >> melissa, let me turn to you here. every supreme court justice's confirmation hearing they're asked repeatedly about their support for precedent. at every hearing they confirm their support. talk about the bar for, that would have to be met here to in fact do something like pete is talking about and potentially overturn roe like mississippi

wants. >> the bar isn't that high. they say they respect precedent. they have different views from stare decisis. justice thomas said the court is duty bound to overturn any precedent that is "egregiously wrong." the same words mississippi used in its filing yesterday so the real question is, how many votes are there on this court to say that roe and casey are egregiously wrong. i'm counting at least five, possibly six. >> how do you think it plays out, melissa? >> i think the real critical factor here is timing. this case will be decided likely in june of 2022, just months before the midterm elections that will send americans to the polls to decide, among other things, control of both houses of congress. i think john roberts, the chief justice of the supreme court, who sees himself as the institutional steward of the court's legitimacy does not want millions of american women

trooping to the polls with roe's demise on their list. that is a critical factor here whether or not the elections will make abortion a central issue and i think the court will try to avoid that. >> melissa murray, thank you. pete williams, thank you for your great reporting. happening now the opening ceremony of the olympics, looking and feeling very different under the shadow of covid. there's extreme heat and new protests. we take you live to tokyo for a look at all of it, right after the break. here in the u.s., a warning from the nfl, teams may be forced to forfeit games, players will not get paid if there are covid outbreaks among unvaccinated athletes. could this brain the mind of players who have not gotten their shots. breaking news coming in during this show as we're on the air on donald trump's inaugural chairman who was recently indicted. we'll tell you what it is, in a sec.

riders, the lone wolves of the great highway. all they need is a bike and a full tank of gas. their only friend? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. well, we're new friends. to be fair. eh, still. millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments. that's why i started medhaul. citi launched the impact fund to invest in both women and entrepreneurs of color like me, so i can realize my vision and give everything i've got

to my company, and my community. i got you. for the love of people. for the love of community. for the love of progress. citi. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ ♪all by yourself.♪ you look a little lost. i can't find my hotel. oh. oh! ♪♪ this is not normal. no. ♪♪ so? ♪♪

right? go with us and find millions of flexible options, all in our app. expedia. it matters who you travel with. expedia. -great idea. [gasps] look at the little cutie. -he's coming for a visit. -hi. [chuckles] aww! oh! he's leaving! -nice work, guys! -introducing togo's new cheese steak melt, featuring fresh artisan bread, layered with tender seasoned steak,

sautéed mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and smothered with melty american cheese. the new cheese steak melt, now at togo's. this is team usa we are about to see it walking in the parade of nations just a few minutes ago at the olympic opening ceremonies led by flag bearers basketball star and usa

fashion there, some using their scarves as head bands. even as the opening ceremonies are happening we talked about protesters on the ground. some japanese people say it's not too late to cancel the games even after they started? why? because covid cases are going up in the area. 12% of japan's population has received at least one shot of a vaccine. all of it against the backdrop of protests against racial inequality, some athletes planning on taking a knee and banning social media teams from posting athletes from doing that. stephanie gosk has a sweet assignment for the next couple of weeks in tokyo. tell us what it's like on the ground there especially some of the challenges facing athletes. >> reporter: yes, hallie, just for a moment, let's just think about those athletes and yes, there have been enormous challenges and there are legitimate concerns about covid and how they could affect these

games, the safety and security of not just people participating in the games but also the people who live in this country. but just look at the enthusiasm on the faces of those athletes. they marched in during the parade tonight basically to an empty stadium. you had a little less than a thousand officials and other sponsors who were in the stands but they were basically alone yet you still saw them so excited to be there and if you look at just the overall ceremony, the themes of the night, you will see an opening ceremony that was very different from a lot of the opening ceremonies we've sort of seen in our generation that have often focused on the country holding the games. this ceremony was very much about the athletes and you saw that in the very beginning when you saw these isolated athletes on treadmills, on bicycles and a group of athletes ready to compete last year. they had gone through all of that training, and then they were effectively put on ice and

told you have to train by yourselves. you can't compete. they then had to figure out how to train, how to get here, and really the ceremony was about honoring them and what they've done to get here and you could see on their faces tonight just that enthusiasm. but it is as you say worth mentioning what is going on in this country. as this ceremony was going on, there was a protest outside the doors of the ceremony, people who were saying that the international olympic committee has basically forced these games upon the country of japan and put them at risk as a result. the numbers are on the rise here especially in tokyo. you're seeing a spike. it could be potentially the worst wave of covid that they've seen. i want to point out something else, on another side of the said yum a group of people who just gathered to sit and listen to whatever they could hear, maybe see some fireworks. >> oh. >> and trying to enjoy a ceremony that they weren't

actually allowed to enter and see firsthand themselves and so you have those people connecting to this moment, the pride that their country is going forward with this, even amidst all of these challenges, hallie. >> so interesting, steph, and it speaks to what we heard from our colleague keir simmons, who sat down with the japanese prime minister, we played some of that at the top of the show, the pride that many japanese people feel and being able to host the games even with the protests happening. stephanie gosk, thank you so much. have fun tonight, overnight, we appreciate you staying up late for us, thanks. the nfl speaking of sports has a warning for players refusing to get the covid vaccine saying those athletes may force their teams to forfeit games if there are covid outbreaks among unvaccinated players, that means a game has to be canceled. that forfeit means a loss and in paychecks, a memo by nbc sports commissioner roger goodell says the team would have to forfeit if the team cannot find a suitable day to reschedule inside the regular season. at least 80% of players are

vaccinated on at least half its teams and more than 75% leaguewide are in the process of getting their shots. for more and other breaking sports news this morning, i bring in mike florio, "pro football talk" and has a book coming out next year "playmakers: how the nfl really works." as we get closer to football season we'll be talking about sports here and politics. walk through this decision by the nfl. what prompted it now? what was the trigger for it? >> well, hallie, i think what's going on is the nfl tried to create incentives, very subtly, and systematically, to persuade players to choose to get vaccinated. yesterday's memo was really the hammer, because it ties the notion of getting vaccinated to winning and losing football games like nothing else the nfl has done because an outbreak among vaccinated players isn't going to result in a forfeiture. it's an outbreak among unvaccinated players and staff that could lead to a forfeiture

and as clear as it could be. if you continue to refuse to get the vaccine, you are potentially going to cost your team a victory at some point down the road. so this is all about getting the remaining players who continue to refuse to get vaccinated to choose to go ahead and do it. >> so the player's reaction is super interesting, mike. you have some like deandre hopkins from the cardinals being in a position to hurt my team because i don't want to take the vaccine is making me question my future in the nfl. he since deleted that sweet. backlash from players. he's not the only one saying stuff like that but also the backlash to the backlash, which think some fans looking at these players going, are you serious, you're going to quit the nfl because of this? talk to us about what you're hearing. >> for players it's part of the process of coming to terms with

reality. hopkins realized yesterday if he would retire over this, he'd have to pay the cardinals back $22 million he's already received but not yet earned so that may be one of the reasons why he deleted that tweet but still, there will be like nothing that i can remember issues in the locker room among vaccinated players who think the rest of them should be vaccinated and the players who are staunchly unvaccinated, even though they now know there is a competitive advantage and disadvantage tied to it. there still will be players who say i'm not doing it. if some decide to retire the nfl 's attitude is fine. the supply far outweighs the demand with players. >> some breaking sports news happening this morning, mike, as we get our espn on a little bit here on the show. i live in washington, where there's the washington football team, right, changing its name. cleveland, the baseball team has now changed its name, we've learned just in the last hour not even that they will be the cleveland guardians, that is the

new cleveland team name. i wonder what the reaction is you've seen so far and what you make of this. it's a long time coming after cleveland officials wanted to change their former name because it many native americans think it was disrespectful and having real problems with it. >> and what's amazing, hallie s how quickly the cleveland baseball organization moved to adopt its new name. the washington football team continues to be the washington football team. >> tell me about it. >> more than a year later but vow to unveil their new name early next year. what really catches my eye here and did from the moment that cleveland announced its decision, the washington name was a dictionary defined racial slur. the cleveland name wasn't, and there are plenty of nfl fans and insiders who are watching what happens with the kansas city chiefs now, because that's not a dictionary defined slur but if indians doesn't work, you could make the argument chiefs doesn't

work and that could be the next one that people keep an eye on. >> there are plenty of people who find that incredibly offensive. cleveland guardians is what it is. mike florio, great to have you on. thank you for joining us. breaking news we told you about coming in a couple minutes ago. at 10:00 pacific time, 1:00 east coast time not too long from now, billionaire business nan and chairman of donald trump's inaugural committee, tom barrack, will have a bail hearing in federal court. that will happen today. initially had been scheduled for monday. it's been moved up. we're going to keep an eye on this, what it might mean potentially and bring you more updates as we get them. that is news to watch throughout the afternoon here on "msnbc reports." right here on this show, democrats hoping for more cash for public transit, republicans want to put the money towards highways. the last hold-up in the scramble for some kind of bipartisan senate infrastructure deal, talking about it live on capitol hill, next. business

uses unconventional thinking to help your business realize new possibilities. only one 5g partner offers unmatched network, support, and value-without any trade offs. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ light under control. ♪upbeat music♪ transitions™ signature gen 8™ available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. transitions™

- we're thrive cosmetics and our liquid lash available now, in 4 vibrant style colors. extension mascara creates showstopping lashes that won't clump, flake or smudge. our high-performance formula. there's a reason this mascara has over 275,000 five-star reviews. come discover why at thrivecosmetics.com think of what peanuts have given humanity! fuel for vast migrations! sustenance for mountaineering expeditions and long journeys across the world! but most importantly? they give us something to eat when we drink beer. planters. a nut above.

we've got new reporting this morning that senators are really close, really this time to finally closing that multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure deal, nearly a month after this moment, president biden walking out of the white house to announce there was a deal but there's still one thing putting on the breaks for now on the bipartisan talks and our team on capitol hill knows exactly what that is. we bring in nbc national political reporter sahil kapur with the latest. we have a deal with the senators, one months ago, and one last reported hangup. what is it and what's the time line for something to be finalized. >> senators on the brink of the infrastructure package and the one big hurdle that seems to be holding this up is the issue of money for public transit. there is traditional let me go

back 40 years of 80% to 20% of funding for highway money and transit. democrats want to keep the 20% for transit. republicans say the ratio is not fixed and want to drop that number below 20%, a problem for democrats because the issue of transit money relates to goals of equity and fights climate change. also an urban rural divide where democrats represent more urban areas and republicans more rural areas and want money for highways. labor provisions and as it relates to the davis bacon act that have yet to be resolved and unspent covid funds rescinded but those are less heated. transit money if they get through that they'll try to move forward next week. >> sahil, thank you. if you had the davis bacon on

your bingo card for msnbc card, congratulations to you. thanks. coming up, big concerns at the white house lifting covid restrictions, the mexico border could trigger an overwhelming surge in migration. hear what administration officials are telling nbc news, next. here we go. ♪♪ ♪ so i'd like to know where you got the notion ♪ ♪ to rock the boat don't rock the boat, baby ♪ ♪ rock the boat don't tip the boat over ♪ ♪ rock the boat don't rock the boat, baby ♪ ♪ rock the boat ♪ see disney's jungle cruise. it's time to rock the boat, america. limu emu... and doug. so then i said to him, you oughta customize your car insurance with liberty mutual, so you only pay for what you need. oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, it's the weekend.

yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or... chicken? [ squawk ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

well, would ya look at that! it was an accident. i was— speaking of accidents, we accidentally left you off the insurance policy during enrollment, and you're not covered. not even a little bit? mm-mmm. no insurance. no. when employees can't enter and manage their own benefits enrollment information, it can be a real pain. not even— nope! with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today.

the instant air purifier removes 99.9% of the virus that causes covid-19 from treated air. so you can breathe easier, knowing that you and your family have added protection. ♪ ♪ nope nope knowing that you and your family have added protection. c'mon him? oo, i like him! nooooo... noooo... noooo... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty picks up messes quicker and each sheet is 2x more absorbent , so you can use less. he's an eight he's a nine bounty, the quicker picker upper.

this morning, our team has new reporting first here to nbc news that the biden administration is concerned about lifting covid restrictions at the southern border partly because of fears it might lead to a bigger uptick in new cases on top of what we're already seeing. but our team reporting administration officials are worried it might lead to a different catastrophic surge. going up against a deadline, explain their thinking on this a bit. they targeted the end of this monday, july 31st as the day to lift these restrictions that were first imposed by the trump administration to stop immigration across the southern border, and claiming could you not make claims of asylum, be expelled back to mexico.

that date is in flux and not only is it in flux because of the rising delta variant, they're worried about a surge. last month they saw a 21-year high in illegal immigration crossings, a number of immigrants customs and border protection encountered and that could be so high, in fact, hallie, one official told me it could be catastrophic and overwhelm the system, the system that apprehends and processes sends the migrants to court to be overwhelmed at historic levels. officials say there's no reason to keep a public health order in place, should only be in place to stop the spread of covid and that epidemiologists have deemed it is not necessary to stop the spread of covid, and in fact, they are using this to try to tamp down the numbers unfairly and there's a lawsuit challenging it in court. >> julia ainsley, great reporting. great to see you, thank you.

coming up, the u.s. still on the offensive in afghanistan carrying out air strikes against the taliban. we're back with what our sources are saying on that and in our next hour, a former nba player and cannabis ceo on the pressures athletes are facing at the olympics. d america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according to j.d. power. number one in reliability, 16 times in a row. most awarded for network quality, 27 times in a row. proving once again that nobody builds networks like verizon. that's why we're building 5g right, that's why there's only one best network. (gong rings) - this is joe. (combative yelling) he used to have bad breath. now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. (combative yelling) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. at walmart, target and other fine stores.

my hygienist cleans therabreath, it's a with a round head. so does my oral-b my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day.

every day in business brings something new. so get the flexibility of the new mobile service designed for your small business. introducing comcast business mobile. you get the fastest, most reliable network with nationwide 5g included. and you can get unlimited data for just 30 dollars per line per month

when you get four lines- or mix and match data options. available now for comcast business internet customers with no line-activation fees or term contract required. see if you can save by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ back now with a double dose of sources say. the first coming from the pentagon detailing u.s. air

strike that's are still going on against taliban forces there. courtney kube breaking the story here. >> that's right the air strikes have been ongoing. and i guess we should start by saying where the u.s. military is in investigation right now. the vast majority of them was gone. the long time general there, scott miller, stepped down from u.s. forces afghanistan. but he maintained the authorities that he already had including the air strikes. so we have seen half a dozen air strikes, but there was two in the last few nights. that's where the u.s. military is right now and they're worried about a taliban offensive moving

into the city and that would be a very symbolic win for the taliban. so the question is will the u.s. military continue to take strikes against the taliban going fwaerd? the military presence there officially ends august 31st. what is unclear is after august 31st the u.s. military will maintain their capability to strike al qaeda and counter terrorism forces. that is the big question that we don't have an answer to at this point. >> live for us there at the pentagon. thank you for joining us. here in the dmv, president biden is turning his attention to november and virginia. terri mccaulaugh.

it is a clue to how the 2022 midterms may playout. so i know you're interested about what it means. what does it say that president biden is making this his first big campaign appearance since the end of last year? >> you're right this will be president biden's first campaign event for a candidate who is running for upcoming office since joe biden became president. and this is all an effort to show how muscular the biden white house is. thegubernatorial races included. since the 1970s the party that held the white house has always ended up losing this virginia governor's race but one

exception. and as we also know that incumbent white houses have a difficult time in midterm elections that end up coming. your base of voters after winning get complacent. and one of the reasons you have joe biden going to virginia to campaign is to get the base fired up. virginia is a democratic leaning state but if their democratic turnout is low, this could end up being a pretty close race between terry and glenn youngkin. >> and there is dynamics there for the republican party, right? you have president donald trump who seeks to be a king maker. there is reports about his team looking to shape that race against liz cheney in wyoming,

for example. and terry mccaliff is excited about that as well. >> yes, mcauliffe is running tv adds already. and he needs to win over biden voters that voted for joe biden in 2020 for the math to work out to be able to win. so that is a difficult situation. we have seen someone like larry hogan win an even bluer state, but he doesn't have to really walk that tight rope of winning over trump supporters are. it is a really tough ask for him to do it and so far he is running a lot of adds about his business background, about his basketball playing daying at rice university, but so far he

has not talked about being a republican or a trump supporter, and that is something that terry has been hammering home. i think that is something that you will hear tonight. >> i know you will be reaching that. mark murray, thank you so much. mark may be watching the biden campaign event. many of us will be watching the opening ceremony in prime time. here is a first look at the olympic culdron being lit, and look who is carrying the torch. that is naomi osaka. she is lighting the culdron marking out official start of the games. it is always such a cool moment. this is something a lot of folks watt for for a long time considering the postponement last year. we thank you for watching us. and instead of nbc news but we know you'll catch it on prime

time tonight. we'll see you back here on monday morning, for now we have a lot more with krs jansing picking up coverage right now. good morning, i'm in for craig melvin and right now in some areas the delta variant is unraveling months of progress we made in this pandemic. across the country cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all up. this virus is hitting everything from summer camps to hospitals. and the cdc director is calling this one of the most infectious respiratory viruses she has seen in her 20 year career. our reporters are spread across america and in tokyo. until the last minute we were not even sure would happen are officially getting under way. also we're staying on top of big developments on capitol hill. the new