vossoughian in for katy tur. today, new legal and ethical questions about whether former president trump's political organization and his allies are trying to influence witnesses talking to the house january 6th committee. "the new york times" reporting the trump save america political action committee as well as the people who run cpac are covering legal costs for more than a dozen witnesses according to financial disclosures. we have one of the reporters who broke that story, straight ahead. you don't want to miss that conversation. and those developments of course after committee vice chair liz cheney revealed that at least two witnesses were contacted by people connected to the former president attempting to influence and/or intimidate them. three sources familiar with the committee's work telling cnn one of the people contacted was in fact, you see her right there, cassidy hutchinson, the former top aide torump chief of staff mark meadows who testified, i'm sure many of you remember, on tuesday.

we should point out nbc news has not yet verified that reporting half what we do have this afternoon is new reaction from a spokesperson for mark meadows. joining me now, luke broad january broadwater, matt miller, and joyce vance. luke, who exactly could be picking up these legal fees for at least it seems a dozen witnesses testifying before the january 6th committee? >> well, there are two funds that are funding witnesses' lawyers. one is the save america pac which is run directly connected to donald trump. the other is the cpac first amendment fund which its director says consults with donald trump and donald trump's allies directly to decide which witnesses it will cover. so these are -- they offer both

free legal advice to the witnesses and then also will pay for their attorneys' fees if needed. this came to a head this week when cassidy hutchinson said she had to switch attorneys because she felt only with a new attorney could she be more forthright and testify publicly and testify to the wide range of details and explosive episodes that we all saw on tuesday. and so -- but we know that at least a dozen more witnesses have also had their legal fees covered or had lawyers suggested to them by trump and trump allies. so it does raise questions about what type of influence is on some of these witnesses and are they getting legal advice that is in the witnesses' interest or in president trump's interest.

so that's the question we're exploring in this story. >> right, and we're going to get into this a little later, i'll throw that to matt miller in just a moment, because it's not necessarily uncommon for a third party to pick up legal fees as they did here. the question is do those lawyers have an interest for the party that is actually paying those legal fees. and you bring up cassidy hutchinson and the fact that she changed representation, and this idea that she may have chosen to testify publicly and deliver her testimony because of the change in her representation. >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, you know, we know from cassidy hutchinson and people close to her that she felt that she wanted to tell the committee more than she had in the first previous interviews. her first attorney was recommended to her by trump allies and was paid for by the trump pac. and she wanted to go back. so a friend of hers, alissa farrah, got cassidy hutchinson

in touch with liz cheney and in the process of that they got her a new attorney or she got a new attorney and she felt much freer to give more wide-ranging testimony in her fourth deposition, publicly in front of the american people. that's one example of someone who felt constrained by the previous arrangement of having trump-recommended lawyers and lawyers paid for by donald trump. cassidy hutchinson of course also said that she felt that people connected to trump had tried to influence her in a negative way. >> i want to stay on this, but i do have to pivot for just a moment here, joyce, i'm going to need you to weigh in on this because we're getting some breaking news with regard to pat cipollone, former white house counsel who was subpoenaed by the january 6th committee after the testimony that we heard publicly from cassidy hutchinson. i'll read from the email i'm getting in right now. our own kristen welker has

found, whether or not he's going to testify, saying this, as we continue to track the hearings there is an update to former without counsel pat cipollone, that he will in fact probably agree to a transcribed interview with the january 6th committee. the interview would be limited to specific topics to avoid any privilege issues. it is worth noting there is no final agreement but this is the latest thinking between these two parties. joyce vance, there you have it, the big question regarding cipollone, as to whether he would claim attorney/client privilege plus executive privilege and try to dance around the subpoena, but in fact they may be inching towards an agreement for testimony. >> "inching" is right. there's absolutely no reason that pat cipollone, who was the white house counsel, that means he wasn't trump's lawyer, he was the people's lawyer, there's no reason he shouldn't come in, sit down and testify like others have.

but i think the committee is at the point where they would be willing to take a compromise, at least to get him started with testifying to hear some of what he has to say. is he inclined to support hutchinson, does he disagree with some of her testimony? it's important to get a baseline on that. but it shouldn't be lost with anyone that he occupies the same seat that john dean occupied in the nixon white house. he could be a key witness in this and he has an obligation to provide the truth, to tell the country what was going on in the white house where he served as counsel to the presidency. >> matt miller, weigh in as well, could cipollone really be connecting the dots here for a lot of folks, especially as we look towards next steps per the doj? >> he very much could be. but i think the important thing will be what he's not willing to testify about. if in fact he's going to try to cabin his conversations with the president as he has in his previous testimony, remember,

he's gone and talked to the committee already, just not in a transcribed interview. when he went previously he made clear the one thing he wasn't willing to talk about was any conversations he had directly with the president. of course his communications with the president is what's most relevant to the committee's inquiry. we heard cassidy hutchinson testify that pat cipollone told her that if the president went down and made some of the remarks that he planned to make, that he would put himself in potential legal jeopardy. well, it's very important to know, did he say that to the president as well? did he say that to other people around the president? i agree with joyce, the committee will take whatever they can get from them, because there's no time to take him to court and defeat the executive privilege claims. but we know it would take months and by the time they resolved it, the committee probably wouldn't be in existence anymore. so unfortunately he holds leverage and can resist when he wants to. but let's hope when he does come

talk, he will talk about communications with donald trump. >> something else we have breaking, a lot happening ahead of the 2:00 p.m. hour before the fourth of july holidays, that's how it usually happens. in terms of these text messages talked about in tuesday's testimony, one of the messages received by cassidy hutchinson, joyce, i want you to weigh in on this, referring to this specific text message in the beginning saying "a person," and that person being mark meadows, "let me know you have your deposition tomorrow, he wants me to let you know he's thinking about you, he knows you're loyal and you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition." i want to read the statement we have from the meadows camp before we got this reporting from our own hill time, meadows' camp saying no one from meadows' camp himself or otherwise has ever attempted to intimidate or shape ms. hutchinson's

committee. how do you reconcile the confirmation we're getting from our reporting, joyce, to the meadows' camp's statement that we have here? >> mark meadows should come and say that under oath to the committee. because until he does that, until he matches hutchinson's testimony under oath, this is just another statement from someone who has been a little bit frivolous with the truth in the past. you know, these statements, when you look at them, the reported threats, and i think they're very clearly threats that are made to cassidy hutchinson, they read like scenes from a part of the "godfather" franchise. these are the things, when you've agreed to testify and you're involved in organized crime. this isn't a friendly communication, it's a very clear threat that's been issued. the real question is how long it will take the justice department to open an investigation and

begin looking at this. doj has to take witness intimidation very seriously, because what we do as prosecutors, our ultimate goal is to figure out what the truth is so we can decide whether crimes have been committed and people need to be held accountable. if you have folks who are trying to keep witnesses from testifying, even if they're not successful, those are very serious crimes that doj investigates and prosecutors whenever it can. the real question is whether there's already a file someplace in the kennedy building at the justice department that's opening an investigation into this. >> i've got to say, matt miller, as we take a look at the possibility of a criminal referral here and whether or not the doj plans to open up a criminal investigation, especially as we're talking about witness intimidation, witness tampering, you look at this verbiage, now confirmed, sent to cassidy hutchinson, this person being mark meadows, there

is not a direct threat, right? it's not like witness intimidation is, if you don't say this, we will do this. but even just sending a text message like that one, saying he knows you're loyal and you're going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition, that in and of itself, and correct me if i'm wrong, is seen as intimidation. >> yeah, absolutely. it could be intimidation, it could also be seen as an inducement which is the other way to tamper with a witness, to offer them something in exchange for giving untruthful testimony. we've talked a lot about referrals from the committee to the justice department. i don't think it really makes much difference whether they refer donald trump for the underlying crimes of january 6th. but this is a clear example of someone actually tampering with the committee's inquiry, where the committee itself is the entity officially being obstructed. and so i would be very surprised if the committee doesn't make a referral here. the justice department expects to get referrals from committees

when this sort of thing happens and there's a long history of the justice department prosecuting not just witness tampering when it comes to justice department investigations, but witness tampering when it comes to congressional investigations. you might remember one of the things roger stone was convicted for was tampering with a congressional investigation. i would be very surprised if there is not a referral, i would be very surprised if the department of justice doesn't open an investigation. is this a text message or a phone call? did she tell anyone else about it at the time? who is it from and did that person talk to anyone else before he or she made the phone call? >> look, i want to bring this full circle in this conversation, because as we're getting this evidence, this confirmation of course of this witness tampering, identifying cassidy hutchinson as being one of the individuals that received these text messages from the meadows camp, we're obviously talking about this possible conflict of interest when it comes to attorney representation, who exactly is paying for it, and your

reporting, i know you spoke with a lawyer who is currently waiting on payment from the first amendment fund. talk to me about what that lawyer said to you. >> right, so they have a process where the lawyers or the witnesses can apply to get the payments covered. and as of right now, some of these payments have not gone out. and i think some of these lawyers are getting frustrated, they've been promised to have the legal funds paid for and they haven't come through yet. but this lawyer did say that he and his client had not been influenced unduly in any way. that was his perspective. you know, the witness influence that cassidy hutchinson received, the committee knows who those people are who made those calls to cassidy hutchinson. and she's described them to them. i think the people on the other end of those calls also know who they are. so we'll see, i think we're

going to see a lot more of that in the coming days. >> a lot more, it seems, of this kind of trickle of information coming out as it just did in the last nine minutes as we've been on the air together. luke broadwater, thank you. matt miller, joyce vance, thank you as well. ahead, wnba player brittney griner, the latest on her case. and the battle over abortion, the president meets with a group of democratic governors. north carolina governor roy cooper was one of them, he'll join me. a record setting number of americans are expected to travel this holiday weekend because why not, it's the fourth. what you need to know if you're one of them. we'll be right back. of them. we'lbel right back. like pulsi, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? it's how some people describe... shingles. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks.

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griner facing drug smuggling charges after she was arrested on suspicion of cannabis possession at a moscow airport in february. she's scheduled to make her next appearance on thursday. russian officials detained the 31-year-old american after authorities said they found cartridges with traces of hashish oil in her luggage. the state department classified griner as, quote, wrongfully detained. joining me is nbc news foreign correspondent meagan fitzgerald. meagan, thanks for joining us on this. we haven't seen a lot of brittany. what do we know about what actually happened in that courtroom today? >> reporter: you're absolutely right, we don't see much of her. today we saw her in court in handcuffs, she was accompanied by officials from the u.s. embassy. journalists weren't allowed inside the courtroom with the exception of two, and cameras weren't allowed inside either.

court got under way, it lasted 2 1/2 hours. she was officially read her charges against her. she did not enter a plea. we understand two people testified against her. these are officials, we understand, from the airport, as you mentioned, february 17th is when these airport officials claim that they found these vape cartridges filled with ash eesh oil hashish oil and she's been detained ever since. we've spoken with experts who say this is a show. she faces up to ten years in prison, which is why it's so important, what's happening at the highest levels of our government, the state department, what they're doing to try and secure her release. those u.s. embassy officials did speak to brittney griner earlier today, then spoke to the media and said she's doing as well as can be expected. and as you mentioned, this trial is expected to resume on july 7th. >> that's got to just be incredibly tough, though,

psychologically, for someone to be held in captivity for that long, not knowing what their future may hold. meagan fitzgerald, for now, we thank you for your reporting on that. evelyn farkas is a really good person to talk to in this moment, executive director of the mccain institute, she formerly served as assistant secretary of defense for russia, ukraine, and eurasia. the focus is on the state department, what can be done by the biden administration to bring brittney home. many people see this, as meagan said, as something of a political sham. the state department says they care deeply, shirelle griner, brittney's wife, said differently on television this morning. >> i don't think the maximum amount of effort is being done.

again, the rhetoric and the actions don't match. you know, when you have a situation where the kgb can call our government, the embassy, 11 times, and that phone call doesn't get answered? until i see actions that are in her best interests, it would have been in her best interests for those phone calls to be answered. until i see things like that, no. >> heart-wrenching to see your family member in captivity abroad, not knowing when they may if ever come home. their both emotional safety and physical safety. with all that in mind, how difficult is it, evelyn, to negotiate a situation like this to bring someone like brittney griner home, especially during wartimes? >> yasmin, thank you for having me on. it's incredibly difficult. i can't overstate it.

and, you know, my heart goes out to shirelle griner and brittney's friends and family. of course they know the whole system is rigged against her. this is not a fair trial, she doesn't have the regular right to produce her own evidence and have a lawyer argue for her. all they're going to do is parade these state officials out who are just going to make a case against her, they'll find her guilty and that's that. for the u.s. government, it is really difficult, because you have to have something that the russians want in exchange. now, there is this arms trafficker, victor boot, they can make an exchange there. it raises all kinds of issues, first of all, because paul whelan has been in captivity in russia, they cannot leave him behind, he's been there while trevor reed was there who was released earlier this year. i would argue that the government is in a tough situation because the families

now have seen a trade has been made for trevor reed, they want a trade for brittney and frankly for paul whelan, his family would like something done for him as well. if the u.s. government keeps doing these trades, they're only encouraging governments like russia, north korea, and iran, and pay attention, i'm putting russia in that category, to just take americans, you know, at airports, off the streets if they visit russia. >> and what do you do, though? if you are brittney griner's wife, as sherrell is, you think, something needs to be done to bring my wife home, what is then supposed to be done in the situation in which it seems like she is completely held unjustly? and may in fact be convicted? >> yasmin, if i were her, i would continue doing what she's doing, because there's a greater chance now. first of all, they're going to the court, they're moving her out of the detention phase to

the trial phase. there's a chance to make some deal. if you're the government, in addition to maybe trying to engineer this swap, the judge who sentenced victor boot, the arms dealer, the american judge, she actually says, he served part of his sentence. she made a statement to i think "the new york times" basically saying that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, he has served some time. and certainly if they add paul whelan to the equation, maybe it would be acceptable by people who look at these things in terms of legitimate justice from the u.s. perspective, because we would be making a concession. but again, it gets to the bigger question, there are people being held all over the world by all kinds of bad states and bad actors. austin tyus in syria, russia could help in that situation as well. you don't want to give these states an incentive to take more people. having said that, if i were the president, i would make the deal

on this one but get both prisoners back, and i'm calling them prisoners, they're prisoners and they're basically hostages, get our americans back. but the next step is difficult. we really need to dissuade, deter other states, including russia, from taking more americans. >> two points that i think are important to make, first and foremost, she is a gay black woman, i feel like that is something that adds a different kind of calculus to this equation, right, and her possible treatment while she's being held in captivity in russia, a. and b, if she is in fact convicted it doesn't necessarily mean that the possibility of a prisoner swap may still not happen in the future. it's happened before, after a conviction. >> that's correct. so she could be swapped at any point. it seems like the russians are pretty hell bent on finding her guilty, and they could do that

within the next six months, that's what we know. the bigger question, yeah, her treatment probably is influenced by the homophobia that's pretty prevalent in russia, also misogyny against women. but then i think the bigger reason why she's been regarded as a good target for them, and perhaps they may have intentionally taken her, was because of the scandal for the russians where their olympic athletes were found guilty of being part of a state-sponsored doping program, right? very different from this allegation against brittney griner. we don't even know if those vaping products were hers. >> right. but they take it personally, it seems. if you think about the timing, something like that would make sense. evelyn farkas, as always, thank you, good to talk to you. what democrats are doing to protect abortion access state by state. north carolina governor roy cooper just met with the president. he's going to join me.

one state has a proposal to help families with skyrocketing groceries. is it enough? we'll be right back.

so moments ago, the house

oversight committee announced a new hearing to look into the impact of the supreme court's decision to overturn roe. that hearing now slated for july 13th. money while, more focus and attention on state' ability to protect access to abortion for americans. the president hosting a virtual meeting today with democratic governors who are moving to enshrine the right to abortion in their state. >> ultimately congress is going to have to act to codify roe into federal law. there's a lot at stake here. meantime i want to hear what the governors are doing, talk about my plans, and discuss what we can do until congress acts. this is not over. >> joining me now is nbc news chief white correspondent peter alexander. i know a couple of democratic governors were missing from that meeting because of conflicts in their schedules. nonetheless, certainly i'm sure a very substantial meeting. what came out of it, anything

actionable? >> reporter: the president is trying to use these governors as examples, in hopes it can send a message around the country of this being in the hands of states to take action. the president has already directed his health and human services department to do more specifically as it relates to providing access to abortion medications, abortion pills. he's said he's going to focus with his administration on making sure women are able to travel to states where abortion is legal if they live in a state where it is now or soon to be prohibited. but the effort was to demonstrate what the states themselves need to be doing and that's why he heard from, among others, the governors of new york, colorado, and new mexico. president biden saying he shares the, quote, public outrage, over what he described as the decision of an extremist court, he's ramped up his language in recent days, yesterday complaining about the court's, quote, outrageous behavior, saying that the decision it made was destabilizing. the big takeaway in terms of

strategy going forward, yasmin, the president indicated what he is focused on from a federal level, which is to try to make that limited change to the senate rules as it relates to the filibuster. that means democrats need 50 votes to blow up the filibuster as it were, which would mean they alone could codify or guarantee the right to an abortion. but right now they're missing two votes of the 50 they have right now, kyrsten sinema and joe manchin oppose those changes. the president saying this november, during the midterms, if they can keep control of the house, they need to get two more democratic senators as well so they can overcome that opposition from the two, manchin and sinema, who oppose the idea. >> peter alexander for us, thank you, peter, good to see you. i want to bring in now a governor who participated in today's meeting with the president, north carolina's roy cooper. governor, thanks for joining us on this, we appreciate it. i know we just heard from peter kind of the tick-tock of that meeting just a bit. i guess i would like to hear from you, sir, what it is you heard in that meeting, what was your biggest kind of actionable

takeaway? >> your zip code shouldn't determine your rights. now we know that states are largely determinative of what's going to happen with women's reproductive freedom. i was there to tell the president that in north carolina, women's reproductive health is going to be protected, because i hold a veto even with a republican legislature. the president told us that he wanted to work with us to make sure that people can travel safely to get abortions in other states. in north carolina, we're going to be a place in the southeast where women can go, talking to planned parenthood just yesterday, they told me in the next week, 192 of their patients, almost a third of their patients, are from out of state. and when you extrapolate that, that's about 10,000 women coming to our state over the next year to get reproductive health care.

and that's just part of the trusted providers we have in north carolina. i want to make sure they have safe access, that they're protected, and that they can use these facilities. >> so you talk about obviously your republican legislature and your veto power. with that in mind, how are you planning on expanding access, when you talk about possible funding, you're talking about an influx of women having to come to a state like yours to seek abortion access because they cannot in their more conservative states, are you planning on bringing more clinics into your state, more health care providers, to handle this influx of patients in the coming years? >> we want to make sure that north carolina is a place where women can get health care. i'm looking at use of executive orders. we have a law in place that requires that law enforcement help people who are trying to get to clinics that they cannot be obstructed by someone.

we're going to work with the federal government to help provide access and support for women. i'll tell you too, i'm chairman of the democratic governors association this year, and governors really are the last line of defense here. they're also the first chance at progress. and so we're going to work to get more democratic governors elected. there are a number of governors out there who do have republican legislatures like i do, and it's much harder for us to expand access in these states. what we do is try to work to defend the access that we already have. and my vetoes have been able to do that. we're going to have states across the country like pennsylvania, like georgia, like michigan, like wisconsin, that have these republican legislatures. democratic governors can keep access legal in those states. and that's so important. >> so with the republican legislature in mind, is it hard

to think, impossible to think of making abortion access a part of your state constitution? >> not with the republican legislature in place. this is why november elections are so important. one of the things i want to make sure is that i continue to have enough democrats in my state legislature in order to be able to sustain my vetoes. it's very hard when you have a republican legislature. what they want to do is go backward. they want to ban access to abortion in northcarolina. what i can do as governor is veto that as long as i have enough democrats in the state legislature to sustain my veto. we have close margins in our state right now. so we are working to get legislators elected throughout north carolina. i think people need it pay attention to that. these midterm elections, yes, are important to make sure we can make gains in the u.s. senate and try to preserve the majority in congress. but it's also important who your

governor is and who your state legislators are, because of this outrageous decision from the supreme court and other decisions that they are making, i've got a clean energy plan in north carolina, and our law, we're going to require that we have a 70% reduction of carbon emissions by 2030 and to get to carbon zero by 2050. the states now are going to have to take action that has been -- when rights have been obliterated by the united states supreme court. they are not finished. and i think the stakes have never been higher here. but our resolve is clear. i'm determined to protect these rights. i know other governors are across the country. we want to work with the president to do everything we can to protect women's reproductive freedom, and we're going to do that. >> governor, we thank you. appreciate it. got to take a turn here, we're getting even more breaking news in this hour from

washington. another $800 million in aid just announced for ukraine. i wanted to get the details on all of this, we have courtney kube standing by at the pentagon. this was more aid for ukraine as they have been asking for more aid. my question is, when will they get it, what does it mean, what's inside the aid package? >> reporter: there's actually two packages that are being announced today. one is presidential authority, we've heard a lot about that in the last couple of months, the 14th pda announced by the biden administration since the invasion of ukraine by russia. this one is only $50 million, relatively small considering how some of the others have been. it's focused largely on ammunition for the mobility artillery rocket systems that we've heard a lot about. this is something that the biden administration has only recently started providing to ukraine as the fight in the east and the

southeast has become very close, as the russians and the ukrainians are literally fighting like block to block right now, these hymars are what the biden administration says will make the difference in this fight. the larger package, this one is significant because it provides a new capability. two of what the military calls national advanced surface to air missile systems, nasams, air defense systems that can take out aircraft, in some cases up to 100 miles away. this provides a very real, longer range air defense capability for the ukrainians. why this is critical on the timing, yasmin, is because under the usai, rather than the u.s. grabbing this stuff from military stockpiles that exist, the u.s. military stockpiles that exist, they're actually contracting with industry to

provide these things. so in many cases, it takes longer for the stuff, because in some cases it actually has to be built. and then sent over to ukraine. so rather than pulling it from military stockpiles, this could take a little bit longer. this usai announcement includes additional ammunition, 150,000 more rounds of 155 millimeter artillery ammo. they're coming up with 400,000 artillery rounds that the biden administration has provided to date. also counterartillery radar, which is critical because the russians are pounding the ukrainian military and ukrainian people with artillery right now. these radars allow the ukraine military to hone in on where the russian artillery is firing from and take out the actual artillery firing mechanisms or systems that will stop the russians from actually firing on the ukrainians.

>> wow. $800 million aid package from the united states going to ukraine, breaking news there from our courtney kube. thank you, my friend. the chilling effect florida's "don't say gay" law is already having on schoolteachers. that's coming up.

welcome back. after months of debate and protest, the controversial legislation known by critics as the "don't say gay" law officially takes effect today in the state of florida. the question is what will the law really mean for teachers, for students as well, who are back in session this fall. nbc's sam brock has the latest from florida. >> reporter: after months of heated protests in florida, a feud between the governor and the walt disney company, and a pending federal lawsuit, the parental rights and education bill, referred to by critics as "don't say gay," is in effect.

the law limits classroom instructions on sexual orientation or gender identity for kindergarten through third graders. the state says there is no merit to claims that the law prevents gay or lesbian teachers from putting a photo of family members. this teacher who is gay has spent 34 years in broward county schools. >> i absolutely feel that we are moving backward with regard to civil rights and social justice. it's frightening to be a citizen in florida. >> reporter: still, the idea of lgbtq issues in school has struck a controversial chord. >> these types of topics should be happening in our own home, at our own discretion, with beliefs of our own christian values. this is not for teachers to do. >> reporter: a series of polarizing meetings in jacksonville leading to

combustible confrontations and signs like this one. >> we will make sure parents send their kids to school to get an education, not an indoctrination. >> reporter: now several months after governor desantis signed the bill, many details remain unanswered. the florida department of education, noting that it's still working to develop age-appropriate rules for students in older grades. some high schoolers protesting the legislation in march were quickly swarmed by hundreds of detractors. >> we were protesting a bill that would make queer students feel unsafe and not accepted. the exact same thing we were trying to protest against was what we were facing. >> and our thanks to sam brock for that reporting. up next, everybody, inside one state's plan to fight rising costs at the grocery store. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

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all right.

welcome back. record high inflation is a noted hitting middle-class families across the nation, especially when it comes to their grocery bill. you have staples like eggs, meat, milk, totaling four dollars or more. you see it up a dollar and $.23. in illinois, a state lawmakers there, they are hoping to alleviate some of that pain by suspending the grocery tax. our nbc correspondent maggie vespa. >> kind of a good time to do something like this. we're only to our local country stores to stock up on things from barbecues to stock up for our families. we eat a lot during our holidays off. with all that being said, i am kind of wondering how long this is really going to go. how much money can this take off your grocery bill and how are they reacting? >> reporter: totally, man. this is our example. how much savings as well offer. we're kind of saving a barbecue.

we are having a classic fourth of july spread. 40 bucks spent on this. we are saving $.60 given the 1% grocery tax reduction here in illinois. that amounts to about 1%. people here in illinois, they cheer the grocery taxes going away, for a year, by the way. they get really excited about that. they think to themselves, okay, a little bit more of a mixed review. here's what we've heard today. take a look. >> it is a nice gesture, but i don't think will make that much of a difference. it did not make that much of a difference in my bill today. >> we appreciate all the help we can get. >> right now, it's going to go right back up. cannot you heard them. it will go up right back again. the ate of illino is also in conjunction with suspending an inflation adjustment for the gas tax. that sounds great as well. that amounts to about 2.2 cents

reduction per gallon. that will last six months. the governor implementing both of these things. what he can do to try to scroll inflation. who wouldn't try at this point? >> yeah. of course. maggie, have your cameraman zoom out on the grocery cart once again. i want to see what it is you are buying for this weekend. i hope you actually get to take it home and don't have to return it to the shelves. that looks like a good watermelon. >> you are so kind. this has been sitting out for long enough that i don't know. we will figure out. >> the diet coke will be just fine. take it from me. take it for me. maggie, thank you for that. we appreciate it. stick with me for the next hour on msnbc. staffing issues and what you could see traveling this holiday weekend. then of course the grinders

trial beginning in russia. the case against the wnba star. we will be right back. right b.

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welcome, everybody. nbc news has news on that mystery messages in the january

6 trials. two people called connected to former president trump. she said they were trying to influence and or impact them. our capitol hill team has just confirmed from two of those sources that one of the people contacted wasn't packed days who you see their -- cassidy hutchinson, the former top aide, mark meadows who testified on tuesday, and also just in a source familiar with hutchinson that said one of those messages resented by the committee came from someone connected to mark meadows. nbc news has just learned from a lawyer familiar with the matter that former white house trump attorney will agree to a transcribed interview. also, the new york times supporting the trump save america action committee covering the legal costs for more than a dozen witnesses. what this all means for the january 6th committee investigations. hey, everybody. good afternoon. back with you for another hour.

hallie jackson joined by allie on capitol hill. let me just start with you on this one. this is obviously breaking it for us in this last hour brought to us by of course your team. talking about this new report that we are hearing now. it was in fact cassidy hutchinson who received one of the text messages from meadows' camp. >> a lot of information we've got just over the last hour. at the end of the today's hearing, we heard the top republican liz cheney say the committee members asked these witnesses for all the testimonies whether they have been contacted or coerced in any way by former members of the trump administration, whether that is influence her testimony. she presented two text messages that witnesses said that they received. now we have two sources familiar saying that at least one of those text messages was received by cassidy hutchinson herself. one of these messages says

specifically quote a person let you know that you have your deposition tomorrow. we want to let you know that he is thinking about you. he knows you are loyal and you are going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition. a source familiar with the deposition on tuesday is telling us that the person referenced as the person is indeed hutchinson's former boss, mark meadows. mark meadows is denying that in a statement to nbc news, saying, quote, no one, himself, or otherwise has attempted to intimidate or shape miss hutchinson's testimony to the committee. we know committee members are taking this as extremely serious. they said that before. they latched on recently after tuesday's hearing. they're looking into whether there are more messages that could possibly be conversing. whether that could be the reason why some witnesses who don't want to talk and possibly be hesitant to do so.

one person we know is likely to do so is former white house counsel pat cipollone this week. we know from a lawyer familiar with the matter that he will likely give a written testimony similar to the topic that he is agreeing to talk about. executive and attorney-client privileges were concerned previously. nothing official as far as his testimony. we expect him to speak next week. that is where things lie right now. that is where it is standing right now according to the lawyers familiar with this matter. yes. >> i've got to say, allie, i am hearing some noise in your background. that is likely a tour group touring our nation's capital building where you stand. it must be pretty cool for those kids behind. i am assuming those are children. to see a reporter standing up talking about the news. what a cool thing for them.

hearing that voice behind you. >> yeah. >> quite a field trip for them. kyle, let's talk about some of your reporting on all of this. you are reporting on the intermediaries that was reaching out to hutchinson about meadows communication. talk about that. >> right. that is what the committee has right now. while the intermediary on behalf of mark meadows has heard this message, the committee has not had evidence showing that he has deputized them are past the person to send the message. so we are still awaiting more details on that. i suspect the committee does know obviously who this intermediary is. that is something they're not confirmed independently yet. i think, as we saw, this was a bit of a teaser from liz cheney. they know much more than they put out. it is kind of a warning shot to see what you're doing here. we don't want to see more of

this. especially influencing witnesses not to cooperate. >> i cannot help but think this can be the end of the whole thing. we obviously reached out to meadows' camp. they gave us a similar statement to which allie rough i just let to us. specifically about the messages sent to cassidy hutchinson. we know the january 6th committee actually wants to speak to meadows. they want that testimony. they've gotten messages. i've gotten over 1000 documents from trump's former chief of staff. they want testimony on the record. i imagine they want more now than ever after hearing what cassidy hutchinson had to say. >> i suspect though that they do not anticipate ever having a cooperative mark meadows to work with. when they referred him to the justice department for contempt, i think that was a sign debuted his testimony as unattainable. i'm sure they would love him to have an about face and say, i want to come in.

maybe some of the public testimony could have that effect. i think they sort of gave up on that realistically. >> got it. thank you guys both for your reporting. we appreciate it. breaking news from the pentagon, everybody. an additional $820 million in military resistance ukraine. i'm going go to courtney at the pentagon with us. we also have peter alexander with us at the white house. courtney, let me start with you on this one. talk about what is in this package and how soon this military aid could actually be on the battlefield. >> there are two packages here and they have very different timelines. the one is the presidential authority or pda that we talked about is actually number 14. is only $50 million. it is largely ammunition. so that one will likely be moved into ukraine. literally many of them are going in within days. to get to the front lines of the ukrainian military. the second one though is what called the crane security

military initiative u.s. ai. that is a group of materials that is actually pulled from industry. so the announcement today for 770 million so the announcement today for $770 million worth of equipment under the usia is actually the announcement of a contract that some industries will actually create or build this equipment before it even gets to ukraine. in some cases even weeks or months before it makes its way onto the battlefield. it is a significant announcement today though. is the first time that the u.s. is going to be providing the ukrainian military with medium to long-range air defense systems. so, in this case, it is a system that has the ability to reach up to 100 miles away anti- air, and take out aircraft. this could be another one of these game changing systems that the ukrainian military could use against the russian military. in addition to that, there is another part of this

announcement. more of the artillery ammunition that the ukrainians have been using -- russians have been pounding the acrylic carried military with it in the southeast right now. as part of that, the u.s. is also providing some more counter artillery radar to ukraine. that gives the ukrainians the ability so that as soon as artillery is filed on them, this radar is able to locate where the artillery is firing from, giving the ukrainian military the ability to actually take out the russian systems and stop them from coming under attack. >> so, peter, the president previewed this announcement when he was overseas. as courtney mentioned and talked through, this is one of several installments of aid to ukraine. my question here is, does the white house face this as an open-ended commitment? >> the president was asked about the very topic. this included it in the

overseas nato conference. he said the u.s. was prepared to stay in this posture of supporting ukraine as necessary. or in his words, as long as it takes, he would say. we will be there as long as it takes. to make sure that russia cannot infect defeat ukraine and move beyond ukraine. you're looking at pictures of the president from earlier this week. he is now departing for camp david where he will spend most of the weekend. but the president, you will remember, did sign off on an additional $40 million of economic and humanitarian aid for ukraine and support with conference about a month ago. but to courtney's point here, this is a continued effort. to talk about the artillery being sent and all the defensive context, we talk about hundred 50,000 or so they should hundred 55 million artillery ammunition. each is about a little bit more than a foot in size. it is a serious weaponry being sent that way. service to air missile systems, as the president said, remains committed. they toe with the addition of

finland and sweden looking increasingly likely. they have the support of turkey now. the president saying now that nato is together and growing -- exactly what vladimir putin did not want to have happen. >> yet. courtney, peter, thank you guys both. the president huddling with democratic governors to discuss protecting abortion rights. running for governor of ohio, we will talk more about that. and russian prosecutors begin laying out their case against wnba star brittney griner. what we know so far on the first day of trial. plus, what to expect if you're traveling this july 4 weekend. spoiler, it could get really messy. we will be right back. back. es. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways. if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor

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welcome back. fourth of july travel could be particularly messy this year. hundreds of lights have already been canceled or delayed in airports across the country. delta, american airlines, they

have the most cancellations as of today. it seems like the biggest problem here is a shortage of staff. specifically, pilots. as airline levels return to pre- pandemic levels, the rosters are not fixed. delta united announcing they will cut even more flights. starting today and through the entire summer. we speak to the editor at the point sky. as you can tell with my voice here, this is painful for me to talk about because it is just so awful at the airport. sitting on a tarmac for your flight to take off and then having to return to the gate as it happens. and then being told your flight is canceled. give us the tips for travelers as they are booking travel this entire summer along with his fourth of july holiday weekend to minimize any time of stress that might be had. >> my top tips if you have not booked yet is book the first flight of the day.

those flights are the least likely to be canceled or delayed. >> okay. >> and nonstop if at all possible. you do not want to add a connection into an already shaky foundation. try to book nonstop. first flight of the day. it is not likely to be thunderstorms. that is your best bet if you're not booked yet. if you have already booked, here are some tips to save you in case things go sideways for you. first of all, have the airlines app on your phone so you can rebook yourself if necessary. if the flight gets canceled, run to the customer service desk. try to be first in line. but also be on the airlines app trying to rebook yourself and be on the phone called the airline and be on social media reaching out to them via direct message on facebook or instagram. because you want to beat the crowd. everyone else on the plane is going to be trying to rebook themselves as well. you want to be the first in line when that happens. >> so here's my question. it is not like this surge and

travel happened overnight. right? it has been building for really the last year or so, as some of these covid restrictions have eased and people have started to be more comfortable traveling. why is there such a backlog? whites are such a shortage? we hear about airline crew -- why is this happening? >> you been reporting on it. staffing levels that's for everyone. whether it's not being able to get an uber to the airport or having chicken staff or security screening or hotel front desk people, or of course the big one right now is flight attendants. what happened is during the pandemic a lot of people took buyouts during the retirement. once the man returned a roaring back, there just has not been the pilots. they are hiring like crazy in the airlines' defense. it is just not enough profits to get them back in the planes to keep up with the demand we are currently seeing.

>> then why are these airlines even making some of these flights available? why do they have to cancel them? why not just not make them available to choose from? that is what does not make sense. >> that really is the thousand dollar question. you know, we bailed out the airlines with tens of billions of dollars we could partially avoid the situation and sure enough we are here. what is happening is partially it is the airlines trying to make up for lost time. they do not have any money coming in for a good chunk of time. so they ambitiously scheduled. now you are seeing them start to fall back because they've not been able to keep up. the airlines are not looking great here. even the faa is having trouble with holding turnover and things like that. it is across the board. you would think they would have it figured out by now. we have seen cancellations like this too many times. they have had six months to get their act together and they still haven't. >> yet. it has been ongoing. so when will it get better? >> i hope once the summer rush

is over, around september, october, summer rush we call it, they will finally be to catch their breath. hopefully things will go back to somewhat normal. that is because the man drops. it is not exactly giving them a bigger feather in their cap to say they can get operations together by september. but we shall see. >> exactly right. let's hope i am not interviewing you around christmas time. with the surge in holiday travel and christmas round the quarter, christmas is canceled. let's hope that is not the scenario. thank you for joining us. >> have a good day. goodbye. it is the worst. it is the worst. coming up a matter of life or death. what is it for ukrainian fighters in the lgbt plus community. then, brittney griner facing charges of up to 10 years. year.

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welcome back everybody. day two of the nba star brittney griner trial starts next thursday in russia. griner was in a lockout on drug smuggling charges. they said she found cartridges

with traces of sc soil in her luggage. they said they will continue to press for coroners release but offered no specific updates. earlier, shrill called the process disheartening. >> she was not walking into a situation where there is a balance. she is walking into a situation where their judicial system has 99% conviction rate. there is no innocent. there's just guilty. >> all right. joining me now is nbc correspondent macon. i know we spoke last hour as well. one will britney actually be able to come home? when will this be wrapped up? what is the department actually doing to make sure that happens? what do we learn in the courtroom today? >> yeah. you know? does a great question.

that is certainly the question that we all wanted to know. just if i could reference what britney said there. she is right. she was speaking with his foreign affairs experts. she says, look, you are not innocent until proven guilty into russia. that's not how it works. many of these experts are calling this a show. a sham. there is certainly a lot of concern around the situation. you can obviously hear from cherelle as she speaks there. what we know about this trial today is that it takes up this morning. it lasted about two and half hours. we saw brittney griner walk into the courtroom there with handcuffs. we know she was accompanied by officials from the u.s. embassy. inside the courtroom, she was read the charges that are against her. we understand that she did not enter a plea. there were two witnesses that were called from the airport. these airport officials -- as was mentioned -- it was

february 17 when they allegedly found these cartridges filled with the oil. of course, she has been obtained ever since. this is all the more important, what is happening behind the scenes here. as they try to work to secure her release. these experts are saying it is more than likely we are going to see a guilty verdict here. 99% -- i think she might be using the quote from the associated press. less than 1% are acquitted. acquittal can be overturned in russia. according to the u.s. ambassadors that were there, and state department officials that were there, they tell us that they talk to her. they're doing as well as can be expected. at this point, she will be still detained until we see her again for the trial when it resumes next week.

really disheartening to say the least. megan fitzgerald, we thank you. as the battle against russia stretches into its 120th day, for many lgbtq+ ukraine fighters, a slice of death. not just because they have joined the military force for their country, but by doing so openly. many where this patch on their uniforms of the ukrainian flag. it is unofficially known as the unicorn battalion. >> we are told for the community that we are fighting for ukraine on this side because we have no other choice. we can die on the battlefield until we are fighting for freedom or we can die in russian concentration camps. so i prefer to fight and have a chance for a good life after.

>> all right. joining me now, nbc news correspondent ellison barber. we just heard from a young soldier that you spoke with her there, knowing they would be treated worse by russia, but they refused to hide who they are. they want to live and fight openly. talk us through that. >> yeah. not only do they refuse to hide who they are, they are probably wearing it on the sleeve of their military uniforms. for them, they say this is an act of pride, an act of bravery, and also an act of defiance. listen to what the conversation we had with two different people, but one of them the one we heard from earlier. he's a combat medic and is been heard towards the front line in the east. listen. >> we're not a military unit. we are a rights for lgbtq+ people. basically, we are a community who created a safe space for

lgbt military. >> are you worried that if some reason your to be captured detained by russian forces that they would treat you differently? >> if it is happening, they will torture me and kill me. but i prefer to live it day by day because it is easier on your mental health. don't think about your future. >> for the lgbtq+ soldiers, we heard the fight is about so much more than just territory. they say that ukraine has a long ways to go when it comes to equal rights, but they say they have made a lot of progress in recent years and that once under russian occupation for them, it would not be a life at all. so they fight for their country, for a future where they feel they will be able to live exactly as they are. jasmine? >> i wonder, allison, as you

say, the fight for equal rights in the lgbtq+ community taste have a long way to go -- i would how prevalent these fighters are. these ukrainian fighters that are out there right now. and how they are treated also by the people they are fighting alongside. >> it was fascinating. in addition to that combat medic that you heard from, we also spoke with a woman who is on the front lines -- the southern front-line station and both of them told us that not only do they feel like they are accepted as they are serving openly in the ukrainian military, but they also say that they are welcomed and that they do not have any issues with her other comrades. they say, unlike united states, we have never had a policy like don't ask don't tell here. if you look at gay rights here in ukraine versus russia, it

just doesn't even compare. for them, they know the options on the other side. they know what is being implemented in russia. the torturing and putin turning a blind eye to gay and people suspected of being gay being bound up and forced into concentration camps. all of that makes them say they are convinced not only would they prefer to continue to fight but they are not going to pretend like they are something they are not, even if it potentially puts them where, god forbid, they were captured by russian forces they would probably be treated differently than their other comrades. but they are willing to take that risk because they're proud of who they are and they want to live in a future they can be proud of who they are and live in full equality as they are meant to live. catherine? >> all right. thank you, allison, as always. more than a month after 19 teachers and students were murdered at rob elementary, they are still looking for answers. first, the present meeting with

governors on abortion access. what will the party response be to the supreme court's reversal on row? we will be right back. right b.

we are going to do everything within the power of the federal government to make sure any attempt to obstruct anything from travel access to medicine does not occur. >> all right. so that was the president just moments ago about assuring access to abortion access across the country. it is coming as the patchwork of restrictions and bands are going across the country, including in the state of ohio. just today, the state's supreme court declined from abortions after six weeks. that went into law after the overturning of roe. we now speak to the governor of

ohio. talk to us. your reaction of course about the supreme court -- your state supreme court -- striking down this effort to block the six week abortion ban. two certainly we are disappointed with that decision. we are not too surprised. this abortion band is something that the extremists and mike dewine wanted to have their entire career. i put this in place because of roe last friday. at 5:00 on friday evening, it was law in ohio. >> what does this mean for abortion access for women in the state of ohio? >> we are seeing really tough stories, frankly. that means if you are pregnant but after six weeks -- which most most women do not know they are pregnant at six week station they cannot seek to terminate the pregnancy. we have seen some heartbreaking stories out of dayton, where

i'm living. there is a story about a 10- year-old who was abused that was six weeks and three days and had to go to indianapolis to terminate that pregnancy because it was not allowed under state law. or a woman on wednesday who found out she had cancer and needed to terminate the pregnancy to receive chemotherapy. she was unable to do that in ohio and had to do that in indiana to get that service done. this is the pain we are seeing. we are stigmatizing women every single day in ohio because we have an extremely governor and an extreme legislature. they have been very clear that they are not done. they want to come back and go even further. they have a bill in the state house right now that bans abortion of all kinds. even fertilization's and iuds. it is zirconium. it is mentioned hard to get worse in ohio.

>> i wonder about some polling numbers here. you have 53% of likely voters in fact saying they want to protect abortion rights in your state compared to 49% who want to restrict abortion. with that in mind, to secure abortion access in ohio, when you are taking a look at these numbers in your state of where people stand, do you think this is something that could actually get a crossed the finish line? >> absolutely. i believe ohio is a pro-choice state. we see numbers as high as 60% on supporting of roe in the state. you know, the numbers i think they should frankly -- they will continue to get higher when we see the heartbreaking stories of what this actually means on the ground. over and over again this past week, it is the topic of conversation. what i am talking to people

that were in the building trade or women in youngstown were all across the state of ohio. i think it has consequences that reverberate into families that were not considered because honestly i don't think people ever thought roe was going to be overturned. we are seeing those ramifications here in this state. the only way we will be able to get relief is to take it to the ballots. that's why i am supporting ballot initiatives. we need to take a trickle to the voters. i think that we will prevail. ohio is a commonsense state that once women to have rights over their body, and that is what will work and fight for through this governors race as governor, and the really following with the ballot initiative. >> thank you. by the way, we ask that republican governor mike dewine who is running for re-election to come on with us as well. he declined our request. so more than five weeks after the mass shooting and uvalde, the families of the 19, the families of the 1902

teachers who were murdered are still demanding answers. last night, they voiced those frustration to local leaders at city council. nbc has more on it. >> the aftermath of the uvalde massacre has brought many questions from anguished parents and residents as well as finger-pointing between state and local officials over what many law enforcement experts agree was a botched police response. now, that pension is boiling over. >> reporter: growing outrage in your baldy. >> i realize -- >> were talking about a massacre that happened. >> ma'am, let me tell you something. i feel your pain. we all do. >> no you don't, sir. >> reporter: frustration spilling over a city council meeting thursday. family members of the mass shooting victims at robb elementary demand investigation the police response more than a month after the massacre. >> you have no idea how

frustrating this is. no idea. and we are sitting here just listening to empty words. that is all it is. empty words. >> reporter: the sister of omar garcia, when the two teachers killed , not identified herself by name at the meeting, but expressing her pain. >> the kids were obliterated. my sister was obliterated. there in caskets. i cannot say my last goodbyes. cut report >> reporter: they cannot share anything with the public because the ongoing investigation. we're not trying to hide anything with you. we don't have anything. >> vps has their hands tied. >> reporter: but that does not ended for the public. >> as a parent, do what you can do as the mayor! go beyond that! go beyond that!

what if it was your kid! >> reporter: some family members also want to know what you are going to, the school district police chief was placed on a mission of leave last week was born into the city council just days after the shooting was noticeably absent after the second straight council meeting. the actions during the shooting have been highly criticized. >> were not here just to sit around. we are demanding answers. show your face! answer our questions now! >> reporter: the mayor says he is not heard since he requested a leave of absence last month. eric ando has testified before state lawmakers but behind closed doors he said that he did not think he would hear from the commander on the scene. back to you. >> thank you. that heartbreaking report. up next, everybody, as the price for everything from food to fuel is rising, american families are already

struggling. but if they were still yet to come? that conversation is coming up.

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the cost of the cookout is up 17%. the biggest increase, ground beef, up 36%. they are worried that inflation could lead to a recession, having a huge impact on wall street, of course. they are logging their worst start in more than half a century. join now by nbc news business jo ling kent an nbc editor jeff cox. let's talk first about inflation. what kind of predictions here? we are six months into this year. i can't even believe that, by the way. >> right. >> what are the predictors for inflation going ahead? where are we going from here? >> is hard to say exactly, but this is what we do know. there is that going rate of inflation which will continue to persist at high levels this year with the fed expecting to raise interest rates yet again later this year. then there are concerns of course that that could trigger a recession. we are making changes based on

market volatility. we are backing out of a deal to get acquired. as for what consumers are doing, and that is why i watch so closely is new data is now showing that household spending slow down the month of may. then we have levels in 16 months and as for actual predictions, the budget office did predict that u.s. inflation will cool off to 2.7% and not until the end of next year and 2.3% by the end of 2024 and the fed wants that 2% target yesterday. >> yeah. absolutely. so what we're considering here, jeff, inflation and joe's reporting on that and a lot of the folks are worried about their retirement savings and so many people have lost a heck of a lot of markets with the way things have been performing so far. what can we expect in the days to come? >> well, look, we did see the

worst first half of the stock market and inflation being the big worry and the subsequent to that, the policy response from the fed and the possibility that the economy could go into a recession. we saw an indicator from the atlanta federal reserve that indicated minus 2.1% growth in the second quarter and that would give us two consecutive quarters of negative growth and a technical recession. here's the good news. last time we had a start to the year the market rebounded sharply and gave 26% in the second half of the year. so what we're looking at here is the stock market trying to find a bottom and trying to find the right price point and the possibility that maybe history repeats itself and we get a nice rally in the back half of the year. so, jeff, what's a predictor of the possible rebound if we have a nice possible, back half of the year? >> you have to look at the fundamental parts of the

economy. you have to hope that the labor market stays strong. you just have to hope that what the fed is doing is having an impact. you know, we're still seeing those high inflation numbers and we've seen a number of indicators to show that at least inflation is starting to come off the plate a little bit and ultimately it will be directions from the fed, will the fed say at least we can start to pull back on our rate hikes a little bit and instead of going three-quarters of a point and they'll keep looking at the labor market with the supply chain pressures and what's happening in ukraine, as well. >> joe, what are the predictors of the possibility of us kind of facing down this recession especially as we're not necessarily slowing down as quickly. the economy slowing down as quickly as folks would like? >> i think when you look at consumer behavior, it typically lags at some of the data and if you look at gas prices, for example, people are paying so much money for gas right now

according to the eia and the national average right now is $4.87 a gallon and we don't expect significant relief in the coming months and so when you look at that bigger picture and you see the ongoing disruption of russian supply. that's really where people are going to be spending a larger amount of their paycheck and then wage growth continues to be relatively insignificant if you look at the bigger picture. so people are adjusting and umps can are adjusting and we haven't seen major layoffs yet, but we haven't seen minor downsizing and a few hundred jobs here and there at different companies and so that's where you start to see stress especially when you look at, like, the nasdaq, the tech-heavy nasdaq and companies like meta, facebook thinking, okay, what are we going to do? anticipating that our revenue is going to weaken or what they think will be a weaker second half? >> all right, jolene kent for us and jeff cox. thank you guys both.

>> so we are learning today that the president is going to award the presidential medal of freedom to 17 americans next week and it is the nation's highest civilian honor and what the white house says is both exemplary contributions and the values of security and other societal, public or private endeavors and the ceremony will take place on thursday and nbc's josh letterman is joining us from the white house. >> there are a lot of folks on this list, josh. a lot of people that we know, household names and by the way, the president himself also a recipient of this award. talk us through it. >> yeah. this list includes a really broad and bipartisan and cross section of american society. everyone from athletes and politicians to civil rights icons and folks from the entertainment and military world. the white house saying that america is embodied by the word opportunity and that these honorees really stand for our

values like hard work, faith and perseverance. so you have folks like olympian simone biles who has been outspoken to sexual assault and megan rapinoe, and denzel washington and denzel khan the gold star father who was so outspoken to president trump's muslim ban. you have politicians from both parties including gabby giffords, the former congresswoman who has become an outspoken advocate for gun violence in arizona. and john mccain who served for decades in the senate with joe biden and he will be honored, as well when president biden presents the medal of freedom a week from yesterday, this coming thursday, july 7th here at the white house. >> it's incredible, josh. you mentioned the late senator

john mccain and i believe steve job, a medal of honor posthumously and it is such a wide-ranging list of folks for this community and for this award, and again, the medal of freedom and again, to reiterate, the president himself being a recipient of this award. so i'm sure paying it forward for him will be an incredibly special moment and josh for us from the white house, we thank you. >> thanks for watching this hour of msnbc. "deadline: white house" starts after this very quick break. " ss after this very quick break.

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hi there, everyone. 4:00 in the east. witness tamperingsa the january 6th committee continue to unveil members of donald trump's inner circle to pressure and to influence witnesses to the events surrounding the coup attempt and the insurrection at the u.s. capitol. reporters from multiple outlets today working to reveal the recipients of those mystery text messages that have been turned over to the 1/6 committee warning them that trump was keeping a close eye on their testimony and encouraging them to remain loyal to the ex-president. today nbc news has confirmed that at least one of those messages was sent to cassidy hutchinson herself. two sources saying that hutchinson was contacted by someone attempting to influence her testimony which may not c