302 million. kerry sanders, you are more likely to get hit by a meteor than win. that doesn't mean you should try, which is what i'm going to do, head over to my closest deli and get myself a ticket. that wraps it up for me. catch me on weekends from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. andrea mitchell picks things up right now. ♪♪ good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. for the first time since he lifted off from the south lawn on joe biden's inauguration, donald j. trump is returning to the capital today. >> i don't know that our movement is that divided.

i don't know that the president and i differ on issues. but we may differ on focus. i truly do believe that elections are about the future. it is absolutely essential at a time when so many americans are hurting, so many families are struggling that we don't give way to the temptation to look back. >> mike pence just spoke about an hour or so ago. the former president himself is speaking this afternoon to a crowd of loyal supporters one day after president biden slammed his predecessor for his actions on january 6. >> for three hours, the defeated former president of the united states watched it all happen as he sat in the comfort of the private dining room next to the oval office. while he was doing that, brave law enforcement officers were

subject to the medieval hell for three hours, dripping in blood, surrounded by carnage, face to face with crazed mob that believes the lies of the defeated president. the police were heroes that day. donald trump lacked the courage to act. >> in the strongest sign yet that the federal government is expanding its january 6 investigations, former top pence aide mark short was seen leaving the federal courthouse after testifying under subpoena as a cooperative witness to a federal grand jury last friday. joining me now, kristin welker, chuck rosenberg, susan page and vaughan hillyard. i want to play more of president biden's condemnation of president trump in the pre-recorded remarks monday, unusual for him. >> the capitol police, d.c.

metropolitan police, other law enforcement agencies were attacked and assaulted before our very eyes, brutalized and lives were lost. you can't be pro-insurrection and pro-cop. you can't be pro-insurrection and pro-democracy. you can't be pro-insurrection and pro-american. >> you cover the white house every day. you know that this was an unusual speech. it was hours later than we expected, put into another event and from his covid quarantine. talk to me about the context of what he said about donald trump. >> reporter: it was remarkable. you are right, it's very rare that we hear president biden take on his predecessor directly and rarer still that we hear him mention january 6. in fact, we looked back at our files. the last mention we saw from this president was on the anniversary of january 6. what you see here are a couple

of things at play. one, president biden trying to pre-butt the remarks of president trump today. when he speaks, he is going to talk about the fact that he is a law and order former president. this was something that was, of course, a key part of his messaging when he occupied the white house. that's why you hear president biden saying, you can't make that argument when you fail to take action on january 6. we're seeing a potential preview of what a rematch could look like between president biden and former president trump. republicans, former president trump think crime is an issue to zero in on right now with crime rates increasing, given the pandemic and large cities across the country. president biden speaking to that law enforcement organization yesterday saying, you can't make that case. given what happened on january 6. of course, it does come on the heels of a number of hearings on capitol hill by the january 6 committee in which they laid out the ways in which the former

president failed to take action. and they argued really energized that riot, that attack against the capitol that we all witnessed unfold on january 6 of 2021. you have this president seizing on the findings by the january 6 committee to really try to make his case as he anticipates a potential announcement by his predecessor he is running again. of course, i have been talking to republican sources. i will let vaughan delve into this more deeply. i can tell you, there are a number of jitters within the republican party that mr. trump is going to announce his candidacy for re-election before the midterms. then instead of focusing on issues like crime and inflation, all of the focus will be on trump, had is exactly what we saw unfold yesterday and again today, frankly, andrea. >> we will pick it up there. what should we expect, vaughan, to hear from president trump today, the former president? how is vice president pence also

trying to balance building republican support for himself without losing those trump voters? >> reporter: i think that she set it up well here. that is the exact distinction that former vice president mike pence just earlier this morning, one mile from where we are, where donald trump is set to speak this afternoon, he gave his own speech in washington, d.c. that is the exact focus of the distension between him and former president trump that he is laying down for republican voters as he molds his own potential 2024 bid. take a listen to the vice president. >> in order to win conservatives need to do more than criticize and complain. we must unite our movement behind a bold, optimistic agenda. some people may folk ounce the past. elections are about the future. i believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back america. [ applause ]

>> reporter: yet, we are just under three hours now, andrea, from when the former president is supposed to speak here in washington, d.c. for the first time in 522 days when he departed on marine one from the south lawn of the white house, skipping the inauguration ceremony in protest of joe biden. this is a group made up of dozens of former trump administration senior officials as well as cabinet members, the likes of kevin mccarthy, speaking just before former president trump here today, steve scalise just walked by, multiple u.s. senators, senator cruz, kellyanne conway was speaking. this is very much a gathering here of trump allies as the republican party works its way in towards not only the 2022 midterms but also the 2024 presidential nomination period. >> this is all against the context of the january 6

hearings. we had more information in the final hearing for now until september was last thursday night. susan page, you have new polling from usa today. it's not having an impact on republican voters. >> yes, andrea. we just posted this new survey. what it shows is that these hears have been explosive and historic. but they are mostly reinforcing the views that voters already hold about january 6 and about president trump. 69% of republicans say it hasn't changed their views at all. of those who say it has changed their views, they are more likely to say it made they think the event was less serious rather than more serious. it doesn't mean the hearings aren't important or historic. it doesn't mean those looking for some big impact on the november midterms, no evidence of that so far. >> of course, it is having an

impact on independent voters, arguably, correct? >> that's right. 60% of independent voters say it's not having an impact on their views. but 30% say it made them think the events of january 6 were more serious than they had thought before. some impact there. we also see that who is listening to the hearings? three out of four republicans are not listening to the hearings. three out of four democrats are listening to the hears and independents down the middle on whether they are paying attention to the hearings. >> i want to get to some of the real substance here of what's going on. as a result of january 6. what the investigations might be turning to. chuck rosenberg, we know the federal jury had an appearance by mark short. he was cooperative. he was testifying on friday. we have a picture of him coming out as we were -- our camera crews were waiting for bannon to come out.

mark short just came out almost unnoticed until we went back and looked at the videotape. let's talk about what we can infer at all, if anything, about how the justice department grand jury, this grand jury at least might be expanding its investigation beyond the immediate perpetrators. we certainly know that mark short was questioned by the committee about john eastman and his fake electors plan. that's something that could certainly be one issue that they could be looking at, if they're looking at john eastman, correct in. >> that's right. we know a couple of things. we know the grand jury is active. that's important. it's not all that surprising. but it's important. we can presume that they are looking at the fake elector scheme among other things. there's a few things we don't know. we don't know who the subjects are of the investigation. that's a term of art, at the department of justice. it means it's somebody within the scope of the federal

criminal investigation. your viewers may be interested to know why federal prosecutors summon people to the grand jury. they are permitted to talk to these witnesses outside of the grand jury. they are not required to summon them to the grand jury. federal prosecutors like to lock down testimony. so if someone changes their story between their grand jury testimony and a trial at some future date, prosecutors can rely on the original grand jury testimony as substantive evidence of what happened. that's really important. it's not to impugn mr. short or anyone else who has testified. but people forget over time. or in the worst case scenario, they change their story. prosecutors like to use a grand jury to lock in testimony, to preserve evidence in case there's a trial one day. we just need to figure out precisely if we can who the subjects are of this investigation.

>> one clue, another clue about all of this is the former pence counsel greg jacob who told the committee during his life testimony last month about debates that he had with john eastman in the days leading up to the insurrection. let's watch. >> we had an extended discussion, an hour and a half to to hours on january 5th. when i pressed him on the point, i said, john, if the vice president did what you are asking him to do, we would lose 9-0 in the supreme court, wouldn't we? he initially started, well, i think, maybe you would lose 7-2. after some further discussion, acknowledged, well, yeah, you are right, we would lose 9-0. >> jacobs involved. john eastman and the fake elector issue and what mike pence might know about it could certainly be what they are looking at or one of the things they are looking at, to be very

careful about this, chuck. >> that's right, i think it's a fair presumption they're looking at the fake elector theme. if they signed to represent the vote total and they weren't certified, that could be a false statement. that could be simply put a fraud. a subject in doj parlance, lingo, is somebody within the scope of an investigation. i would assume mr. eastman is among the subjects. we should learn more in the coming months. >> we do have breaking news now. kristin welker, bring us up to date. the president's doctor, who has not appeared in the briefing room, that is protocol when the president is ill with anything in the past, but in any case, he issued another update. talk to me about that. this is in letter form. >> reporter: that's right. he has been issuing these daily

letters to update people on the status of the president. let me read this to you. there are a couple of significant developments. president biden he says completed his five-day course of paxlovid last night. to break that down, when you take paxlovid, you take it for five days. the president has now completed the entire course. according to the doctor, his symptoms have now almost completely resolved. his pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remain absolutely normal. his oxygen saturation continues to be excellent on room air. his lungs remain clear. this is significant as well, andrea. the doctor goes on to say the president now feels well enough to resume his physical exercise regimen. he will continue his isolation as his day five. the president continues here in isolation. we anticipate until he gets that negative test. we are going to get a briefing later today from the press secretary. we will not hear from the doctor

as we have in recent days to address the president's health. undoubt undoubtedly, there will be questions. the president will be in two virtual events. we will try to get questions to him. we will try. >> i know you will. thanks so much. chuck, susan and vaughan, thanks to all of you. deeply sorry. pope francis on an unprecedented apology tour, begging forgiveness for the abuse against indigenous children by the catholic church in canada. anne thompson is there and joins us next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. us formula can help reduce the risk of dry amd progression. ask your doctor now about an areds 2 supplement. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

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more than 17,000 acres burned. it's over half the size of paris with authorities saying it is only 16% contained. in dallas, a grass fire destroyed nine homes, possibly damaging up to a dozen more. amid sweltering hot conditions. joining us now is antonia hylton in hot dollar. this community coping with multiple homes last forever. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. it has been incredibly devastating. several families have been left homeless after this fire that destroyed nine homes and has damaged dozens of others. those families last night were saying they were in some cases just looking for a place to stay. it couldn't have come at a more difficult time. a drought here, but also these extreme temperatures. it's going to stay in three digits until friday when people here are praying for a little bit of relief in the form of rain. for now, people are coming to sites like the one behind me

here trying to cool off. splash around with kids and relax.relentless. in the northeast area where the fire happened, it has been reeling. it happened after a group of workers hit a rock while mowing. it sparked and it turned into this grass fire that devastated this large neighborhood. listen to a conversation that a telemundo reporter, some of our colleagues there, had with one of the residents. >> they did tell us to leave. we needed to leave. we were trying to water down the trees, the house. everything has been so dry. then they have it blocked off. we came back because we wanted to check to make sure it was okay. we're just here trying to comfort those who have been affected. >> reporter: in that part of the city, people are picking up the pieces. all around dallas, people are trying to keep an eye out on each other, particularly for

neighbors, elderly to make sure they are safe as this heat continues. the city has sites like this but designated cooling center if they don't have water, ac to keep cool. >> thanks so much, antonia hylton. pope francis speaking at his first outdoor mass in edmonton, canada. he is on an apology trip to the indigenous people for what he called the evil committed by the church. taking 150,000 of their children, stripping them of their culture in residential church-run schools from the 1870s to 1996, with 3,000 or more dying. anne thompson is there. >> reporter: on the canadian prairie, powerful words from pope francis. i am sorry. i ask forgiveness. francis applauded as he spoke near a former residential school where indigenous children were

abused, forced by the government to attend, the children stripped i have their cultures and identities. policies the pope called catastrophic. what's it like to be back here? >> the memories. there's a lot of little spirits. >> reporter: this woman went to the school the pope visited. the gymnasium is all that remains. >> there was a lot of abuse. >> reporter: she was physically and sexually abused at the school. this other women are daughters of abuse victims. the pope praying today at the graves of some 6,000 children who died. >> our people have called for the releasing of the records and also the repatriation of the babies. bring them home. >> reporter: ancestors to be remembered, even in our interview. why is that chair here? >> for the ones that can't be here. for the ones that suffered the most, that still to this day cannot talk about it. >> reporter: francis initially

apologize at the vatican in april. another father was there. what difference does it make it happens in canada? >> people are going to be opening their heart for consolation and healing because he is going to be speaking on soil of this land. >> reporter: francis welcomed with a headdress but not everyone is ready to forgive. >> saying i'm sorry, but show you are sorry. >> anne thompson joins us now. your reporting is heartbreaking. are people there somewhat accepting of his apology? what do they want to see? what more do they want to see? >> reporter: we're getting a mixed reaction, andrea. some people are just so happy that he came here to deliver the apology. it means so much more to them that he is here on their land where these crimes happened. others say, they want much more

than words. they want actions. kara talked about some of the actions in the piece that you ran. they want all the records released so they can find out what really happened to their relatives. they want artifacts that they say were taken from indigenous people here in canada and brought over to rome. they want those returned. most of all, they want a papal decree that was signed in 1493 that permitted the colonization of land and peoples. they say that decree turned them into second class citizens then and still makes them second class citizens today. andrea? >> anne thompson, grateful to you for being on this trip. thank you. applying the brakes. the federal reserve getting ready to raise interest rates again tomorrow to curb inflation, which is shaking americans' confidence in the economy according to new data today. that's next. you are watching "andrea

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two days of meetings ahead of another expected interest rate hike. the fed trying to slow the economy without pushing it off a cliff. record high inflation has 58% of americans living paycheck to paycheck. appearing virtually yesterday, president biden trying to temper recession fears talking about the jobs numbers. >> we're not committed to a recession in my view. we are -- the employment rate is one of the lowest we have had in history. we will see some coming down. but i don't think we're going to, god willing, see recession. >> god willing. joining me now, steve leaseman and robert gibbs. steve, how should we read this later consumer confidence report? it's over 90. the economy is still healthy. but the numbers, mostly dropped this year. >> yeah. i mean, the country is in a foul mood. i think the way to think about it. high prices, inflation have

really soured people on both the current state of the economy and the economic outlook. whether or not numbers like this are going to determine outcomes is a different question. we have seen americans be in lousy moods before and go out and spend. if you look at the consumer confidence numbers after 9/11, they were buying a lot of cars but in a lousy mood. right now, the real issue is what's happening with american pocketbooks. for low and moderate income americans, prices are rising faster than wages and ability to keep up. that's a big part of what's happening. there's a certain political element to this. for that i would go to another survey. it finds that republicans think the economy is poor by eight to three measure than democrats or 80% to 30%. they think the economy will get worse seven to three. there's a certain political aspect to this. right now, americans are in a foul mood. the concern is that that foul mood will lead to lower spending

and exacerbate economic downturn we experience. >> i want to question you about something that janet yellen said on "meet the press" to chuck on sunday. a prepre-butt after to the this. take a look. >> a common definition of recession is two negative quarters of gdp growth, or at least that's something that's been true in past recessions when we have seen that. there has usually been a recession. i do want to emphasize what a recession really means is a broad-based contraction in the economy. even if that number is negative, we are not in a recession now. i would warn that we should be

not characterizing that as a recession. >> i understand that. >> is it going to be -- if it's two consecutive quarters of contraction, will it be a recession technically? >> not really. that's a common rule of thumb. of course, the treasury secretary is correct, when you have two quarters almost all the time it means we were in recession. the trouble gets complicated. we had a negative first quarter because we have this huge influx of goods from abroad that were held up by the supply chain problems with the pandemic. it was negative because of trade and because of inventories. if you welcome at things that mattered in the economy if the first quarter, consumer spending and businesses, they were up 3%. that was pretty healthy. i don't think i would count the first quarter as a negative because of those outstanding issues. i think we're going to be very close to being negative or zero this quarter.

that does have me concerned. that could come from reduced consumer spending and reduced business spending. those are the things that you want to look out for and be concerned about in terms of the economy. consumers pull back and do businesses pull back? that didn't happen in the first quarter. it could be happening in the second. >> so we get to the political impact, robert gibbs. none of this is great for the president. he keeps pointing to the fact that gas prices have dropped recently. maybe that big impact, the fuel economy, is beginning to improve. what about the midterms and how this is playing? >> the challenge, andrea, is consumer confidence is a lagging indicator. right? just as we have seen more than a month of declining gas prices, consumer confidence isn't likely to reflect that for some time. i think what steve is talking about, the electorate, the

people of the country are in a foul mood. my question based on what happens with these numbers, what we see out of the fed tomorrow and then thursday with the gdp numbers is, does it start a larger conversation? are we in a recession? are we not? that has the effect of making more foul the mood that people are already in exacerbated fears. does that lead people to start beginning to pull back in a greater way and deepen what might be coming? i think consumer confidence gives us a pretty good sense of the environment with which the next 100 or so days before this election are going to be played out. >> steve, robert, we will have to obviously watch all the data coming in this week. there's going to be a lot of negative information for the

white house to rebut. thank you so much. extreme politics. why pennsylvania's republican nominee for governor is turning to a site known for anti-semitism and conspiracy theories to rally his base. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. is "andrea ml is "andrea ml reports" on msnbc. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis persists... put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable,... i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. check. when uc held me back... i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq.

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in the insurrection march. he insists he never entered the capitol. joining me now is jonathan greenblatt. jonathan, i watched this last night. the details were just astounding. he is a republican nominee for governor in the state. there's a four point differential in the polling with josh shapiro, jewish american, the elected democratic attorney general, incumbent attorney general. here is a sample of whatgab ceo said. >> we don't want people who are age atheist, jewish. this is a christian movement. this is an explicitly christian country. >> he went on to say that jewish people will not be expelled,

they won't be exiled, but they will have to live in a christian nationalist country. your reaction to this? >> look, andrew torba is one of the most toxic people in public life right now. the idea that anyone running for elected office would associate themselves with him, would use gab as a launching pad and a platform for their politics, that in and of itself, in normal times, literally would be prohibitive. it's a frightening moment when we see this kind of outright christian nationalism, an undisguisedd hostility towards jews. elected officials who engage in this rhetoric aren't just flirting with fascism, they are

bringing it to the forefront of their political argument. that's, i think, a terrifying thing for all americans. >> apparently, when you go to the site, it links you to the mastriano campaign. he is gaining followers and supporters by being connected to this toxic site. >> these are not the kind of supporters that we think about in any mainstream sort of way. his politicsly teeter on edge of extremism that has never been this close to a statehouse, let alone any credible elected office. gab is a cesspool of anti-semitism and racism. what you find on there is the kind of unvarnished ugliness that's been ushered into the public conversation over the last few years. we have talked about it on your show before. it should have no place in american politics. this isn't about right or left.

this is right and wrong. these kinds of ideas that jews or hindus or muslims don't belong in public life, that's wrong, plain and simple. >> josh shapiro did respond on the show last night. let's watch. >> this is who doug mastriano is. he is so dangerous. this site, this gab site, is a haven for white supremacy. this is where he believes he needs to go for support. this is not normal. >> the question is, jonathan, is it becoming normalized in this country to have this kind of white spremacy and as part of the republican campaign. >> josh is right. no one knows this better than he when a state attorney general dealt with the aftermath of the massacre in pittsburgh. it's becoming more normal. let's be clear, this is abnormal

by any measure. it's unamerican. the idea that christian nationalism is a thing. marjorie taylor greene can talk about it and others might choose to, but this has been promoted by nazi sympathizers for decades. we have been fighting it in this country before any of us were born. we will continue to fight against this exclusionary and extreist ideology that has no place in our discourse. >> thanks to you, jonathan. our thanks to rachel. i was not aware of it. i've been covering this campaign. it's a little bit under the radar, but not any longer. >> thank you for giving it attention. >> you bet. playing defense. wnba superstar brittney griner preparing to make her case nay russian courtroom tomorrow. this is "andrea mitchell reports." you are watching msnbc. is "andl

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arrived in russia. her defense attorney stressed she accidentally brought vape cartridges containing the oil into russia. >> she was in a rush, she said, packing. this medication, she just forgot to take it out of her luggage. that's it. the russian public has to know and russian court, first place, has to know it was not used for recreational purpopurposes. in the united states, it was prescribed by doctor and used in according with. >> she was this court today but was not speaking. she is expected to take the stand tomorrow when her trial in moscow continues. her attorneys say she will testify in her defense and also be cross examined. joining us now is the former u.s. ambassador to russia michael mcfaul. you have dealt with these issues when you were ambassador. we talked about this quite a bit. do you think that this defense, that it was not only accidental

but that they didn't properly measure the cannabis oil, that it was medicinal, prescribed by doctors back home, is that going to help her at all within the russian system? >> andrea, i don't know. maybe. probably not. i think it's a wise strategy. it's worth trying. i think they have great arguments. but i also know the russian system is stacked against her. she's pleaded guilty, which speeds up the process. that's proper strategy, but i'm not optimistic she's going to get some lenient sentencing. i think it will be shocking to us because they want to do a deal. they want to trade nee brittney griner for a russian. because they are motivated for that trade, i fear for the worst. >> there are in russia in the legal system.

especially against gays going back to a law that was passed around the time of the olympics. tell me more about what she faces as an openly gay woman, a black woman, an american even though she was a celebrated athlete, she's been playing there seven years on a team there. >> you're right about their draconian laws that limit lgbtq rights. it was part of the sochi olympics. we sent delegations to make a statement about that. and as a result, created real tensions with the putin administration. i was part of those delegations. that said, i haven't seen any evidence yet that this is part of the deliberations about her trial so far. but if she spends time in jail, it will be a very difficult time. it's a difficult place for anybody. a russian white male to spend time in russian jails, let alone brit nee griner. >> she's already been there

since february 17th. is it going to work? is the the same time, we see russia right after agreed to a deal to finally let 20 million tons wait ngt harbor in the black sea to get out. to do people starving around the world and live most notably in africa. the very next day, they bombed one the port cities. how do we trust the russians? >> you can't trust putin. and i hope this is a lesson for our european colleagues.

i hope it's a lesson for the rest of the world. he will use whatever means necessary to advance what he thinks are his interests. and i think with with respect to energy, i think we ought to be tough. it's hard. it's easy for me to say sitting in america, but this is the moment where europe finally reduces its dependency on russia. i was in that obama transition team back in 2008. and we wrote the memo back then we should do it then. finally, we should do it now. with respect to the what's happening in odesa, it's classic putin. on the one hand he agrees and then he attacks. we have to move forward. it's very difficult to negotiate anything. >> mike mcfall, thank you. now to a high-tech line of artificial intelligence in china. nbc's janis mackey frayer finished the research base of giant panda in the country to

see how facial recognition is being used to track panda populations in captivity and in the wild. >> most of them live here in china. about 1,80 are in the wild and more than 600 in captivity where they have a rock star sort of popularity. >> it's very cute. >> reporter: they look adorable and pretty much everything they do is cute. >> there's a mother and baby here. >> but to the human eye, telling those furry faces apart, it's not so black and white. to know which panda might be bebe. >> is this the same panda? >> no, a different one. >> reporter: so researchers at the panda base are looking deeper developing facial recognition technology for pandas. the researcher behind a

degreeing database of panda images and videos using computers to analyze slight slight differences in how they work. their mouth, nose, markings and ears, we can distinguish their features through deep learning. being able to recognize each bear can help with kobs vags because they can no panda populations better, their habitats, health and how they live in the wild where two-thirds of the giant pandas roam, hundreds of remote and infrared cameras can watch for threats. using artificial intelligence for pandas is deferent from ai used on humans and nowhere more than here in china because pandas aren't covered in fur and don't have facial expressions beyond this or this or this. the pans did are most active in the morning before it gets too hot. then they just want to go inside

and sleep. getting a portrait isn't easy. it can take hours for photographers to get usable images, including of pandas living at zoos in the u.s. soon fans will be able to use their phones to scan their favorite faces and get details about who's who. they have lovely ears and little feet, she says. while giant pandas are no longer classed as endangered, they are still vulnerable. ai could ensure they are better protected. or at least never called by the wrong name. >> lovely ears and little feet. visitors and researchers will be able to identify their favorite pandas. i love them all. tonight on "nbc nightly news," join lester holt, who will discuss the january 6th attack, the investigation and much more in an exclusive interview with attorney general merrick garland. "chris jansing reports" starts right after this. w with attorney general merrick attorney general merrick garland.

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and manage all your sales from one place. because if you've got it, we've got you. start for free at godaddy.com/startfree [whistling] with technology that can scale across all your clouds... it's easier to do more innovative things. [whistling] good afternoon, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. the big story at this hour, the former running mates turned republican rivals. donald trump, mike pence, both in washington, d.c. today. their appearances a lens to the future of the republican party and potentially the future of the country.