family, to every survivor and family member and caregiver, this grateful nation owes you as well as the person you lost. we can never repay the sacrifice. but we will never stop trying. we'll never fail on our to remember. with their lives, they bought our freedom. and so with our lives, we must always live up to their example putting service before self, caring for our neighbors as ourselves, working fervently to bring our union just that much closer to fulfilling the founding creed that women and men are created equal. it's often said there was a nation we have many obligations. but the only one that is truly

sacred is to prepare and equip those women and men we send into harm's way and care for them and their families when they return home. and when they don't. it's ab obligation that unites americans. it brings us together to make sure the women and men who are willing to lay down their lives for us get the very best from us in return. i want to acknowledge we're making progress in key years like bipartisan legislation that's advancing in congress that would deliver health care services and benefits to rans and the survivors impacted by toxic exposures. we don't know how many died because of what they were exposed to on the battlefield.

burn pits that incinerated the waste of war and hazardous material, jet fuel and so much more. we have a duty to do right by them. and i'm determined to make sure that our brave service families and members that served aside them do not wait decades with the care and benefits that they deserve. that's why we're working so hard to find out the facts. we have to act. all of us also have a duty to renew our commitment to the foundational values of our nation. and their hoesh. for those are the values that inspire generation after generation to service. on friday i spoke to the graduation and commissioning

ceremony of the u.s. naval academy. and it was a remarkable experience again. an honor. looking out at those young men and women embarking on a life of service, they hold before them the example of the heroes who have gone before them, many of your family members. heroes who have answered duty's call and election and conquer and the battle of the bulge, vooet yam and afghanistan, iraq and so many other places around the world. so many who never returned home. including the legacy of prisoners of were or who are still missing in action. to be here today soon after that joyful celebration at the academy is a reminder of all that we ask of our service

members and their families. on the strong shoulders of noble spirits of our service members that our freedom is built, our democracy sustained. in this moment when a war of aggression is once more being waged by russia, to snuff out the freedom, the democracy, the very culture and identity of neighboring ukraine, we see so clearly all that's at stake. freedom is never been free democracy requires champions. and today for democracy and freedom, ukraine is its people are on the front lines fighting to save the nation. but it unites all people. it's a fight that so many of the patriots whose eternal vest here in these hallowed grounds were part of. a battle between democracy and

autocracy. between liberty and repression. between appetites and ambition of a few to forever seek to dominate the lives and liberties of many. a battle for essential democratic principles, the rule of law, free and fair elections, freedom to speak and write and assemble. the freedom to worship as one chooses. freedom of the press, principles that are essential for a free society. you heard this a lot. we have heard this a lot over the years. we're now realiing how real it is around the world with so many countries as i speak. these are the foundations of our great experiment. but they are never guaranteed even here in america. every generation has to defeat

democracy's mortal foes. into every generation, heroes are born willing to shed their blood that was they and we hold dear. ladies and gentlemen, today we remember and we reaffirm freedom is worth the sacrifice. democracy is not perfect. it's never been perfect. but it's worth fighting for. if necessary, worth dying for. it's more than just our form of government. it's part of the very soul of america. the soul of america. our democracy is our greatest gift as a nation. made holy by those we have lost along the way. our democracy is how we undertake the constant work of perfecting the uniton.

we have not perfected it, but we have never stopped trying. of opening the doors wider of opportunity and prosperity and justice for people everywhere. our democracy is how we endure through every challenge, overcome every obstacle through the last 246 years of self-government. and how we have come back stronger than before. we must never walk away from that. must never betray the lyes laid down make our nation a beacon to the world. liberty and justice for everyone. this is the mission of our time. our memorial to them. it must not just be a where we pause and pray. it must be a commitment to act, to come together, to be worthy of the price that was paid. may god bring comfort to all those who mourn. may god bless our gold star

families and survivors. and please, god, protect our troops. god bless america and all of you. thank you. [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the playing of taps and the benediction. ♪♪

♪♪ >> please join me in this -- >> thank you for staying us with. this is chris jansing. you saw president biden saying there is nothing low risk or low cost about war, but freedom, he said s worth the sacrifice delivering that memorial day message to the nation just moments ago. empathizing with families of the fallen by discussing the loss of his son beau seven years to the

day. and after laying a a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national cemetery. those remarks just now follow his emotional trip sunday to uvalde, texas, where they spent the day comforting families suffering through the pain of losing a third or fourth grader or beloved teacher ask and speaking with local officials about how to move forward a as a community and a nation. >> the president said i'm not leaving. let's work on it. my expectation is that we'll continue that dialogue with the president's office to make sure those things are taken care of. >> we have the latest from texas. and another big travel day at the airports and on the highways. today on this the unofficial kickoff of summer, but inflation and the rising cost of gas now averaging $4.62 a gallon is making families rethink some of their sumer plans. we have the latest on that as well.

so let's begin this hour with the latest on uvalde, texas. sam brock remains there for us. i spoke with state senator goout areas in the last hour. no surprise that the pain, the frustration still fresh for the community. what are you hearing from folks there after getting that visit from the president and what's the latest you're hearing on the investigation? >> reporter: they received consolation. what they want is accountability and answers. as you look around, not just this plaza, but the entire city of uvalde, you see flags everywhere. over pictures of high school student who is are high achievers and right across the street, pictures and crosses of the victims of the massacre. it cuts to the issue of what does it mean to be an american. should a gun lobby dictate gun policy in the country. are we willing to trade children's lives for power and money? but the parents i talked to also want to find out why a school resource officer was not on

campus when this all happened. why did it take more than an hour for law enforcement to go into a building and actually take out a gunman with their kids inside as 911 calls were pouring in. iers and viewed the family members of the grandfather of a girl who was 10 years old. she loved softball. she had just made an all-star team. she had a beautiful singing voice, according to her aunt. she will not see middle school. she will not see high school and have the rest of her life and the experiences she would have had with her grandfather and aunt. here's a portion of our conversation of what they want to see coming out of all of this. >> every question we ask is why. why did it take so long? >> it's hard to understand.

>> it's hard. >> the funny thing is when you read on the police car to serve the community, to protect and serve. >> what's the purpose of it? >> they did nothing. >> reporter: as president was laying flowers, the department of justice announced it is going to be conducting a critical incident review. you can count on one hand the number of times the federal government has done that in recent years. with san bernardino and the shooting in orlando with the most recent examples. they have to get to the bottom of what happened here. >> sam brok, thank you for your reporting there. joining me now is reuben giago. who doesn't understand their frustration or pain or that they have a right to get those answers. do you feel confident especially

given the fact so much misinformation came out in the early hours and days after the shooting that this justice department review will get to the bottom of what happened. >> i think the justice department review will get to the bottom of how the incident occurred and why people were not reacting the way they were supposed to react. and there was some strong training that should have been going into place right away and had they actually done that training, there's more kids that would have been saved. another question is why were the politicians engaging in this misinformation. because a lot of what we were hearing right away did not match the information being spread by local texas poll tugss. i think that's another question we have to ask. >> let's start with some of the things that you in congress are looking at one specific proposal, and it seems like there's some agreement on it, to address red flag laws. obviously, there are people who

are skeptical. republicans will get behind this or anything else. do you share that skepticism? if not, where else do you see the potential for the two sides to come together? >> i am skeptical. physical you get rid of the filibuster, republicans are going to use it as an opportunity to slow down any real gun safety regular laces. what i'm hearing is not red flag laws. i'm hearing they are going to give grants to states to establish red flag laws. so not going to do that. when there is some really good laws in the books in florida under republican governor state senate and house and now rick scott. they did institute red flag laws effective in stopping people from getting weapons. if you. ed to do something, there's no way a young man at the age of 18

should be able to get a weapon that we use in war. the fact that he was 18 to legal ly buy this and turn around and slaughter kids is something you can't stop by doing two things. number one, people under 21 should not be able to use those weapons. and universal background checks, they can't go through a back-door to get these weapons. those are the two things that can happen. until you have a senate to get rid of the filibuster woorks we're going to have piecemeal approaches and then we'll be talking about another school slaughter and massacre in another months. >> you mentioned rick scott. i wonder if there's something looking at what florida was able to do after the horrific shooting there. within of the things you hear is that republicans are worried about whether or not they will be able to keep their jobs. as an article in "the washington post" points out, scott went on to defeat nelson in 2018 after his nra rating was downgraded

from an a-plus to a c. do some members of congress believe too much about the power of the nra or what price they might have to pay if they vote for common sense legislation? >> some members of congress are too selfish. who cares about your nra rating. we have one job. that's to protect our constituents and to protect lives. we have an opportunity to do it. what else are you elected for? why else do you sacrifice time away from your family if you're not going to actually do your job to protect people. are you going to allow this to happen over and over and pretend there's nothing you can do about it. it doesn't have to be this way. we have to stop normalizing this. we're supposed to have better lives than what we grew up in. a lot of us can't say our kids

are going to have a better loif. i was yuck luky enough to graduate 1998. i don't remember any types of shoot grills, drills, but now children have to go through shooter drills. why are we doing that? this doesn't happen in any other part of the world. we don't have to accept this. we don't need poll tugss to worry about their career investigator us the life and career of the kids that are never going to experience it. >> congressman, thank you so much on this memorial day for talking with us. joining me now for more on what comes next after this tragedy in uvalde, shannon watts and abbi clemmons and co-founder of teachers unified to end gun violence. thank you for being here. this fight personal for you. as a former sandy hook teacher, i wonder what you're hearing from lawmakers, from activists

about the chances for reforms after this latest tragedy. do you share his possess hism? some would say realism, or do you think chris murphy is right, at least he's cautiously optimistic? >> look, who i'm hearing from, they are teachers. teachers, parents, former students, young people, we are outraged. and we have to demand that change happen. we're not going to wait around. we're organizing. we have teachers from every state who have joined teachers unified. and we are not going to accept that our schools have become unsafe working conditions for educators and students in school staff. >> it's interesting. you use the word demand. you obviously were one of the americans who grieve thes will of innocent children in newtown and moms demand action was born.

i have been thinking over the last week or so about mothers against drunk driving. they changed a culture about the way we think about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. and i wonder if you can help us understand the action immediately and the very real idea that this is a process where there is a cultural shift that needs to happen. >> that is exactly right. when i started doing this work a decade ago as full-time volume teerks i thought it would take weeks, maybe months to change the federal gun laws. what i realized very quickly is that congress is really where this work ends. it's not where it begins. i know we all want wholesale change overnight. unfortunately, that's not the way the system is set up. it's set up for incremental change. that's what leads to revelations and you have to show up at every hearing in your state, at your state houses, school boards, you

have to get off the sidelines and get involved. if you want to do that, text "act" to 64433. we will plug you in where you live. but i'm always hopeful that we will have that moment in congress we're all waiting for. even if it doesn't happen, elections are in 160 days. we will have to hold these lawmakers accountable for not acting. alice walker said activism is the rebt we pay to live on the planet. none of us in the wake of these horrific recent shooting tragedies in this country can afford to sit on the sidelines because if it hasn't come to your community yet, i promise you it will. >> i wonder what the conversations are like among teach thers week. normally they would be focused on wrapping up the school year, but now they have to look ahead. they have to deal with the reality of kids wherever they are who are aware of what has happened, but how the faculty

and staff come back from summer break, make their students feel safe after how this school year ended. tell me about those conversations. >> teachers around the country are sad. we're terrified. we're outraged after the news of uvalde, my colleagues in newtown, we were crying in the hallways. we had to run to the bathroom to get ourselves together before class. i had the honor of speaking along with many educators and activists a few days ago in houston where we gathered with the two largest teachers organizations, the nea and aft. and the palpable passion and fear and outrage was just resinating in the room. people are fed up and are going

to organize and we're not used to seeing teach thers that way, but we're doing it. and i don't think anybody should be complacent. poem are afraid for their children. they are afraid for their neighbors. where can you go that's safe? i heard president biden talking in a speech earlier about freedoms, about the freedom to live. gun vie slens a leading cause of death for our children. something must be done. we're going to keep fighting whether this is a long game or whether something will happen in congress. but we have to keep talking about this. don't be afraid to tell your story. don't be afraid to talk about the teachers you worry for. the children you're concerned about. we have to keep that conversation going. you're not alone in your fear and outrage. >> two women who have taken

action and are inspiring ores to do the same, thank you so much for being with us on this memorial day. we appreciate you. the price we pay a as millions are traveling for the holiday weekend. how will the high cost of everything from gas to groceries impact your summer plans? you're watching chris jansing reports on msnbc. you're watching chris jansing reports on msnbc miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. she's getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

right now, we're all feelin' the squeeze. we're having to get creative. find a new way. but birthdays still happen. fridays still call for s'mores. you have to make magic, and you're figuring out how to do that. what you don't have to figure out is where to shop. because while you're getting creative, walmart is doing what we always do. keeping prices low for you every day. so you can save money and live better. miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. ♪

she's getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

tense of millions of americans are traveling this weekend despite record gas prices and is veer weather in the middle part of the country. the national average for a gallon of gas hit $4.62 today. that's up almost 50 cents from a month ago. more than a $1.50 higher than aer year ago. it's not just gas prices breaking the bank. i'm sure you noticed the kos cost of your barbecue essentials, ground beef, condiments, all of that stuff spiking as well. here with me now is gadi schwartz and ron insana. i see you're at a gas station. what are you hearing from drivers this weekend?

>> reporter: a lot of complaints. here's why. $6.19. this isn't one of those outlier gas stations here in california that's much more, pence i-than the others. this is 4 or 5 cents higher than the entire average here in california. so it's very easy. that truck you saw just go by to come here with the 20 gallon tank and spend over $100 for a tank of gas. every time you talk to anybody at the pump, they say they are sick of it. >> very painful. definitely wouldn't be encouraging it to be taking any long road trips these days the price of gas is outrageous. >>. >> reporter: when you talk to people out here in california that are filling up, it's always but why? why is gas so expensive? why is the gas here in california is expensive? experts say there's a long list of reasons. it keeps getting longer and longer. here in california, about $1.50 of this high price of gas is for

regulations and for taxes. but elsewhere all across the country, we're seeing the biggest two reasons given is the war in ukraine as well as an increase in demand as more people are emerging from the worst of the pandemic and getting back on the road. >> when do you think americans will feel some relief from these soaring prices? do we have a gauge way of gauging that? >> we're starting to see some hopeful signs that inflation maybe rolling over. gasoline is a bit of a sticky wick et because there are other issues even beyond the war in ukraine. we also have a lack of refining capacity because we have not built new refiners for quite some time. that's constraining the ability to get crude oil turned into gasoline. we have seen a host saying inflation is peaking and possibly even starting to come down. we have to watch some of these indicators closely.

the cost of other inputs, as you suggested, the kansas of hot dogs or ground beef, that's a big issue. that's partly due to the war in ukraine with grains being held off the global market as ukraine and russia account for a third of all grain supply to the world. there's a ways to go. but we're starleting to see a few breaks on a variety of items that might start to bring costs down a little bit. >> if inflation might be easing, what about those wall street watchers who have been predicting 2023 recession? is that still on the table? >> it depends. it depends on how the fed views this. if we see inflation and coming down, the fed may not have to be as aggressive in raising interest rates. if that's the case, it reduces the likelihood of a recession and increases the likelihood of that soft landing where we continue to grow and inflation comes down for a variety of reasons having to do with supply chains. and china appears to be ready to open up too. and that also just moderation in

prices because they got so high. there's an expression on wall street. there's no cure for high prices, but high prices. we're starting to see that demand in a variety of areas including housing. >> it may eat into demand, but if any of my recent travel certainly flying is any indication, i think every flight i have been on literally every of flight has been full. the airports are full. so after being cooped up for a long time, people are feeling they have to get out. is everything busier this year than it was last year? in spite of covid surging? >> reporter: absolutely. so it's almost like comparing apples and orange when is we compare this year to last year. we're up a about 8% of traveling on the roads. airlines seeing a surge of people just like you said taking to the skies as well. so the last time we really saw this much travel was 2017, 2018, but back then, you didn't see

these high prices of gas. you saw gas prices a about $2 or $3 less. you didn't see that inflation or those planes packed quite as tightly as they are now. you didn't see the pilot shortage. so again, as we emerge from the worst of this pandemic, we're seeing people traveling almost as much as they did back in 2017, 2018 but with a long list of things they are having to deal with. and at the end of it all, it's just a lot more expensive. >> gadi schwartz, ron, thank you. i hope you joy the rest of your holiday. across the pond, the final preparations for queen elizabeth's platinum jubilee are underway. it's a four-day extravaganza to celebrate her 70 years on the britt herb tloen. it kicks off this coming thursday. but already check this out. pictures of her majesty displayed on stonehenge.

not shotgun you see every day. nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons has more from london. >> reporter: this morning final preparations after a weekend of rehearsals led by prince william to celebrate an icon and an historic milestone. queen elizabeth, the first british royal to reach a platinum jubilee, marking 70 years of service. but her first born son will share the spotlight. slowly, the public is being prepared for his ascension to the throne. so my new podcast, born to rule. >> it's about him becoming more than just an heir. it's a about him becomeing a monarch in waiting, about him looking like he's useful and purposeful and stands for

something. >> reporter: prince charles stepping in for her at the traditional opening of parliament earlier this month providing the world with a glimpse of what's to come. >> my lord, pray be seated. >> it's likely this the queen won't be able to do as many events as she has done in decades past, so we might see prince charles step in more and more. >> reporter: the queen is 96, experiencing moiblt issues, using a walking stick lately and riding a a queen mobile, an adapted vehicle for the first time last week. she will never step aside, but one day the world will witness a new monarch, king charles. what kind of king will he be? a question people are asking after an era comes to a close. >> who are we? what do we stand for? what is modern britain? what do we want now? do we want charles? do we want a monarchy?

all these questions are going to swirl around. >> reporter: the queen is cherished, charles is not the most beloved of royals. >> he's nowhere near as popular as his mother. >> he maybe best known around the world as the man who married princess dianna, a fairy tale wedding that may have been doom ed from the beginning. >> and i suppose in love. >> of course. >> and for their divorce. dianna's tragic death. ever since he's tried to improve his image ultimately marrying camilla, who the queen says will be queen bun day. they will stand with her majesty on the balcony this week. >> events like a platinum jubilee, they are publicity events, pr opportunities, an opportunity to remind the world that the royal family is still there, that the royal family has

a future. >> reporter: charles has been waiting to be king since most of us can remember. >> i charles, prince of wales, do become life and limb account. >> take his royal duties in 1969. now a at 73, he's the oldest and longest waiting heir apparent in british history. and yet there are still questions. >> when he has his moment, the public could really turn against him or they could say, actually, come in from the cold, all is forgiven. >> if nothing else, people could use a little something, a little pomp and circumstance to spliel smooil about in the coming days because we haven't had a lot of that. we're going to talk about the new focus on gun makers amid the mass shootings in america. keep it right here. id the mass shootings in america. keep it right here and hear thei.

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right now, the department of justice is beginning a review of the law enforcement response to the deadly mass shooting at robb elementary school. intense scrutiny for waiting is long to confront the gunman and then even longer term will there be a price to pay part lives lost? joining me now former u.s. attorney and prosecutor paul butler. paul, let's start with the critical incident review that is just getting underway. what will this entail? >> the justice department is looking to try to prevent this kind of breakdown in communications that apparently happened in texas from ever happening again. and their protocols in place that would suggest there's an active shooter that threat has to be eliminated immediately. so the sequence that happened in texas where they were trying to decide what to do, there was

already training in place that told them. there was a tragedy compounded by the failure of law enforcement. the justice department is going to do everything it can to make sure that the 18,000 local police departments this this country have the materials and resources they need to address these kinds of issues in the future. >> a lot of people will say and rightfully so this is on the gunman. this is the person who perpetrated it. and the gunman is dead. but as we search for justice, however that looks when you have something as horrific as this, we actually saw something pretty extraordinary after sandy hook. a $73 million settlement with the gun maker remington. is it likely there could be legal action in this case for people who are searching for whatever justice might look like, is there a place for them to go in the courts? >> i do. i think you're right. at the first instance that there's plenty of blame to go around. so often people want to push and

say the real culprit is this or that. there are many pull kul pretties here. one of them is the gun makers who are marketing their guns as weapons of war to young men who want these things to kill people. there are lots of guns used for sporting purposes. this is advertised the daniel defense company is deliberating marketing to people who want to use guns because it's exciting. they are appealing to the people who become mass the shooters. there's a lesson to be learned out of sandy hook. congress passed a law in 2005. we want them to ban certain weapons they passed a law that gave gun manufacturers immunity for crimes that are committed using their guns. but the sandy hook folks found a way around that. there was advertising that was directly marketed to the people

who become mass shooters. and i think that that theory is likely to be successful in this kals as well. >> we don't want to litigate that here, but the gun in the texas shooting came from the gun manufacturer and the week before the texas shooting, the company posted a picture on twitter and then depleted it. it shows a little boy with an saufl right on his lap along with the bible quote, train up a child in the way he should go. so there is that question. it did work for the sandy hook families about how a gun is marketed. >> sapdy hook was based on connecticut and texas law is a lot friendlier to the gun lobby. the defense that made the gun the shooter used is a small company doing this aggressive marketing to try to become the amazon of gun sales. so it first started selling to the military and now it's

marketing these military style weapons to private citizens. and it reportedly used some of the same video game references that helped the sandy hook families prevail. the owner has this radical approach of trying to expand sales and using images that appeal to children and teenagers. and finally, it's worth noting that the owner of this company served in this second coalition, which was a group of of guns industry officials who advise president trump. so it gives you a sense of the powerful forces that are aligned against holding gun manufacturers liable and accountable. >> apart from all of this specific to this tragedy, we're expecting a a decision from the supreme court this spring on its first major second amendment opinion in more than a decade involving that concealed carry law in new york that calls into question the definition of keep and bear arms. how important could this be and

what could its impact be overall on gun safety laws? >> i know we're all bracing ourselves, but this is a blockbuster as well. this case out of the supreme court is going to be coming down any week now. and it could tell the state of new york it is no longer permitted to issue licenses for concealed carrying of weapons. that could mean that the person next to you on subway has a gun, the person at times square has a gun. if you can't license people to carry guns, then anybody gets to have one. so i am hopeful that rather than going all the way toward bear and saying no restriction are permissible that they find a compromised position. i think as bad as gun laws are now, i think they are about to get worse. >> barbara, paul, thank you both. a day to remember on this

memorial day, we take a moment to think a about those who gave all in order for us to have so much. this is chris jansing reports on msnbc. s jansing reports on msnbc. ♪ ♪ aleve x. its revolutionary rollerball design delivers fast, powerful, long-lasting pain relief. aleve it, and see what's possible. ♪ ♪ ihoppy hour starting at $6 at 3pm only from ihop. download the app and join the rewards program today. miss allen over there isn't checking lesson plans. she's getting graded on her green investments with merrill. a-plus. still got it. (whistle blows) your money never stops working for you with merrill, a bank of america company.

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memorial day has become a day for barbecues and beach. but let's not forget the real reason for this holiday. to honor the americans who died serving our country. >> today as a nation, we undertake a sacred ritual. to reflect and remember because if we forget, the lives that each of those silent markers represent, mothers, fathers, siblings, spouses, children, if we forget what they sacrificed, when they made so that our nation might endure strong, free and united, then we forget who we are. >> today, by the way, marks the first memorial day in 20 years that our country is not at war.

joining me now is paul rite cough, host of the independent americans podcast. founder of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. paul, always a pleasure to have you on. let's start there. first time the u.s. is not at war in two decades. the first memorial day since we withdrew from afghanistan. how does that feel? >> respectfully, it's not true. measuring is still at war in many countries around the world. but the american public largely doesn't see it. we have troops in harm's way. we continue to be engaged with different types of enemies around the world. we may think we pulled the plug on afghanistan or moved on from iraq, but our military is still in less visible ways at war. that's part of the challenge of this holiday. we have a community of veterans and military folks that have been ebb gamged and the country has been disconnected. there's an opportunity here. there's a unique memorial day

because the whole country is really mourning. tragedy is our new normal. from covid to the shooting in texas to afghanistan to ukraine to buffalo, i think all of america is hurting right now. and we can now more powerfully relate to each other in a way we have never been able to on memorial day. i hope our community of survivors can be a source of strength, a source of learning and maybe even a guiding light on how to deal with tragedy. we have been dealing with it for 20 years. that can be a unity for the rest of the country dealing with so much too. >> it is important that you point out that even if we're not engaged in what we might consider a traditional war, every single day around the world american service members are putting themselves in harm's way to defend our freedoms. we talk a lot now in these last six days about what congress can do to change things in terms of gun violence. but what's out there at the top of the list in terms of what

veterans need? what congress should be looking at on this memorial day in terms of serving those who have served our country. >> it's focused on toxic exposures, cancer-inducing exposures that are impacting all generations and millions of veterans. it's gone through the house. we're hoping schumer will bring it for a vote before january 6th. he promised to do that. it looks like there's bipartisan support. there was a rally in washington, d.c. this weekend uniting all veterans organizations led by jon stewart. this might be a unique opportunity to be united and to get things done. the president supported it. his son may have been lost to cancer caused by burn pits. vietnam veterans fighting for compensation and health care for a generation. it's an opportunity to come

together, pass the pack act, get it done before congress goes on vacation. that's a way to really honor our community. >> in our last 30 seconds, what's your message to veterans right now? >> i love you all. this is a complicated time for all of us. reach out to your buddies. we're all going through this together in different ways. so we're always in this together, especially today. so i feel you. i'm with you. i encourage you to call your buddies that you serve with or the generations that came before us. we mourn the passing of the folks we serve and the folks we know, but we celebrate their life. that's part of what we can do is live on and do some good in the world. >> that's a wonderful message. thank you. and thank you to all the vet rans for those service. those are just words. maybe to do something in a positive way. that's going to do it for us this hour. join us for "chris jansing reports" right here on msnbc. have a great holiday weekend.

katy tur will pick up our coverage right after this break. coverage right after this break. with nucala. nucala is a once monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

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