when you have technology that's easier to control... that can scale across all your clouds... we got that right? yeah, we got that. it's easier to be an innovator. so you can do more incredible things. [whistling] ♪♪ good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. president biden is cleared from covid isolation after completing five full days in quarantine. his doctors say he tested negative last night and this morning after taking a full course of the anti-viral drug paxlovid and appearing in the

rose garden. >> your wishes, your prayers over this past week and the calls i have gotten. i also want to thank the medical team here at the white house for the incredible care they gave me. fortunately, god thankfully, thank god willing, my symptoms were mild, my recovery was quick and i'm feeling great. the reality is that ba.5 means many of us are still going to get covid, even if we take the precautions. that doesn't mean we are doing anything wrong. unfortunately, this covid is still with us. as it has been for 2 1/2 years. >> the president's doctor says his patient will wear a well-fitting mask indoors for the next ten days and increase his testing to protect those around him. we have new reaction to the bombshell news from the justice department first reported by "the washington post" that the doj is investigating former president trump's actions leading up to the january 6th insurrection as part of its

criminal probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. the reporting released hours after lester holt's exclusive interview with attorney general garland, who addressed concerns about the pace of the investigation and questions about whether a presidential candidate, which we expect mr. trump to become, could be indicted. >> if donald trump were to become a candidate for president, that would not change your schedule or how you move forward or don't move forward? >> i will say again that we will hold accountable anyone who is criminally responsible for attempting to interfere with the transfer -- legitimate and lawful transfer of power from one administration to the next. >> the latest updates from moss do you where wnba star brittney griner testified for the first time today and was cross examined by russian prosecutors and questioned about what she says was medical cannabis oil

which she mistakenly included in her leggage. the judge did not let her testify outside her cage, which is too small to stand, but did allow her to testify seated in the cage. >> my rights were never read to me. no one explained any of it to me. at that point, i got on my phone and i contacted my spouse, my sports agent and my club team's translator. that flight was gone. i knew i was being detained. i kept asking if i could leave or what's next. but it just was wait, wait for results. >> we will look ahead to jerome powell's expected announcement this afternoon of another big interest rate hike as consumers continue to struggle with rising prices on goods and recession fears persist. gas prices continue a steady decline.

joining us now for this, nbc chief white house correspondent kristin welker, pete williams, to confirm the breaking news, phil rucker, and jonathan lemire, host of "way too early" and author of "the big lie, election chaos, the state of american politics after 2020." well-timed, jonathan. kristin welker, the president went straight back to work and seemed happy to be back. he seemed energized. sort of a victory lap for paxlovid and getting the shots and boosters. >> reporter: it was a victory lap that we witnessed in the rose garden. there's no doubt about that. stage craft was at work as well. president biden emerging from the residence where he has been in isolation for the past five days. then walking out to the rose garden, making his remarks and

then walking back into the oval office underscoring that he is getting back to work. officials who are gathered in the rose garden with him with the media all applauded as he walked back in. putting the focus on his message, he used this as a teachable moment. frankly, as a chance to tout his administration's response to covid-19. the fact that hospitalizations are down 90%, he said. he talked about three main pillars of the administration's response. testing as well as vaccines. he underscored the fact he is vaccinated and twice boosted. he used his remarks for that reason as well. then he talked about the fact that he used paxlovid, the anti-viral. he has taken that for five days, likely the reason why he tested negative so quickly and why his doctor is saying he will continue to test regularly at a more increased pace than before.

to monitor. because some small cases do see a recurrence when they take paxlovid. i just want to make one more point, which is that the president also used this as a chance to talk about how different his response was than his predecessor, former president trump. he said who got sick and who ended up in walter reed. he said, the difference is vaccines. of course, the political backdrop is lost on no one here, andrea. as the event wrapped up, we shouted questions about the economy, the other big issue you will talk about today. he didn't take any of our questions. >> no. it would be very dangerous to talk about that before the fed makes its move at 2:00, indeed. rare sense of discipline. very good discipline from the white house in the way they orchestrated this today. thanks to kristin welker. i want to turn to the doj and play a clip of, phil, your colleague detailing her reporting, exclusive reporting, which broke this wide open last night.

>> at least starting in early spring, the department of justice started to swing its attention fairly forcefully towards team trump. in april, the department of justice obtained -- sought and obtained phone records, call data logs, if you will, for a series of trump aides, allies and senior officials in the white house, people with him and overhearing what he was saying and taking orders from him after the election until january 6th. and also include his chief of staff, mark meadows. >> phil, the reporting goes into detail on two tracks. the doj could talk to the witnesses about this. they seem to be talking to them. clearly, there's information coming from somewhere, not from the doj. we know that meadows' phone records have been obtained as

long ago as april by the justice department. phil? >> that's right, andrea. those are the phone recorders of mark meadows who was around the president in those days, including on january 6th, and who played his own role in trying to move to overturn the election, flying to georgia, trying to pressure officials in that state to overturn the results. that's an important part of this inquiry. my colleagues at "the post" are reporting that prosecutors at the justice department are focusing on former president trump's actions, his conduct, the things he was telling his lawyers, his advisers and others around him about this fake elector scheme. the campaign to overturn the results of the election in the run-up to january 6th, that this has become a part of the focus of the criminal probe. that doesn't necessarily mean that they are seeking to charge the former president. but it does mean that the

emphasis of their investigation now includes the former president himself and is not limited to those around the former president. >> barbara, the january 6th committee has not revealed any direct lines of communication from the former president to those extremist groups, the proud boys, oath keepers. although, it did reveal connections between those groups and the planning. does the justice department have a better ability, certainly the subpoena ability and enforce subpoenas, to get to that kind of information? what more could they be doing? >> yes, andrea. in addition subpoena power, they have real teeth with the judge able to hold people in contempt if they refuse to comply. the justice department also has the power to use search warrants. that's something the committee does not v. the report we heard that doj obtained the call log

data. typically, that's a first step to finding out who called whom. then using the search warrant to get the messages and text or email messages. that can be a treasure trove. that can confront witnesses. sometimes you can find damning admissions. that's one tool the committee lacked. >> pete williams, we have seen they went -- they used search warrants with jeffrey clark and john eastman. >> yes. i think the real lesson of the story is how much the justice department is doing that we just don't know about. we get these glimpses when there is something like this where somebody is called before a grand jury and what they said that eventually comes out. witnesses can talk about what they say to a grand jury. it's the government officials who can't. i'm not sure exactly how this story got to "the post." i think the justice department, while not commenting on it, doesn't mind the fact that it's out there. there's been this criticism that, you know, the january 6

committee is running the show and you are not doing anything. i think this is a lesson that there's a lot more that goes on that -- for example, april, in april they were getting phone logs. they consider clearly doing a lot we don't know about. i think as phil rightly points out, you had this expanding circle. they start -- or a contracting circle, i should say. starts out with rioters, then people leading the rioters. then the phony election slates, looking into people who thought that up, then the people advising the president. sort of narrowing the circle. eventually you have to ask what the president was doing. that appears what's happening. >> in fact, just hours before carol broke the story and her colleagues and others in "the washington post," lester holt sat down with merrick garland. you and i were struck by how intentional and emphatic he was in the responses. of course, later we realized, they were clearly aware that "the post" was coming down with

this. this is part of what that exchange between lester holt and merrick garland. his first big interview. >> there's been a lot of criticism, pressure, that the doj is behind the power curve, behind the committee, not moving quickly enough on what appears to be solid evidence in some cases. >> as i said, we havemove moveing urgently. we have prosecutors working on the cases. it's what we do, do it outside of the public eye. >> making that point entirely. i noticed lawrence tribe, who was garland's law professor at harvard, among law professor for so many others. he said that he has been among one of the critics. he said, it was very reassuring to see that interview. it was very pointed in the way merrick garland answered lester about what they are doing behind the scenes, as you point out,

pete. >> it doesn't mean we know where they are going to end up. it does mean we know more about what the questions and what they are looking at. >> jonathan lemire, congratulations. the focus of your new book is about president trump's false claims about the election, he continues to peddle on social media and in his speech yesterday afternoon. talk to me about the tone he took. overlooked somewhat in some of the top lines out of his speech here was just how dark and how -- how he was emphasizing the worst aspects of individual incidents on crime and other things, drugs in this country. then going on to attack transgender athletes. hitting these cultural hot buttons. >> yeah, the tone was reminiscent of his first -- his inauguration address, the american carnage speech that

struck so many as being dark and got a colorful response from george w. bush in the audience, that i can't repeat here. certainly, he was unrelenting in his false claims of election fraud. that's what the book does, it traces the origin there, dating back from 2016. this was not something that happened in 2020. january 6 was not something that just occurred. trump methodically lies, big and small, hijacked the republican party, hijacked the conservative media to go along with him and amplify them. we saw, of course, how he used the powers of government to try to push on his own agenda and make those around him skirt closely and perhaps cross the line of legality to do so. of course, after the election, refusing to concede and convincing his supporters that the election had been stolen from him. the book also doesn't culminate with january 6. it's a midway point. it demonstrates how with new reporting and analysis, how the big lie also shapes our politics

today. how it challenged the biden white house. how it has given cover to republican state legislatures looking to restrict access of ballots across the country and how it's a litmus test for republicans will be a defining issue for the 2022 and 2024 elections. >> jonathan, it's a great victory for you to get this out "the big lie. "continues on and on. phil, pete, barbara, jonathan, thank you to. coming up, the price you pay as the federal reserve prepares to do what it can do to slow inflation. concerns over a recession grow. what it all means for you. that's coming up. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. thisa critical piece. preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by

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the federal reserve likely to raise the interest rate by three quarters of a point this

afternoon to try and tackle record high inflation and fight sagging consumer confidence. president biden is waiving off concerns about a recession. he has been touting low unemployment numbers and strong job growth. he didn't talk about it today. gas prices are coming down. they are nearly 60% higher than last year. americans are paying more for food and housing. costello spoke to a california woman evicted after losing her job. >> i don't see that there's a light at the end of the tunnel yet. i'm just struggling to get by. it's hard to stay positive. >> tom joins us now from the newsroom. along with jason fuhrman, former tom economic advisor, who is teaching at the harvard kennedy school. what does this mean in practical terms? >> my cameraman says he wishes he had a dime for every live shot he did. you need more than a dime with

the inflation picture we're in. 9.1%. you need to ask for $1.50 for every live shot. the bottom line here is the fed is expected to hike rates today, three-quarters of a point. they have telegraphed that. they don't like to surprise the market. we expect that's what they will do. as a result, credit cards will be more expensive, a new car loan will be more expensive. mortgages are influenced. so, yeah, mortgage rates can move based on what the fed does. we just today got new numbers on pending home sales. they are rather discouraging right now. down 20% in june compared to a year ago, because mortgage rates have almost doubled since the first of the year, based on what the fed has done this year and what the market expects the fed to do. as these rates continue to move higher, the hope, according to most economists, is that that would slow the economic activity, slow inflation and

hopefully, they can get the inflation under control. can i make the point? we are in an environment in which we have 50-year low unemployment right now. we have seen wage gains, not keeping up with inflation, but still gains. more jobs than people. it's a real strange economy as the fed is right now trying to bring inflation down despite the fact that they do have still more job creation and unemployment is low. >> to jason, this is a complicated economy, as tom just pointed out. janet yellen was on with chuck todd trying to pre-butt the numbers that might come out tomorrow, because it could be two consecutive quarters down in growth. that has in the past indicated a recession. she's saying it's not a recession because of the great job numbers and wage earnings and others. these are mixed data. it's not fair to even call it a recession at this point. accurate?

>> she was 100% right. i find the whole semantic debate over a recession missing the point. it's not two negative quarters. it's when the national bureau of economic research says it's a recession. they do that based on a wide variety of data. right now, some of the key inputs into that determination, most important one being jobs, are going up, not going down. but just because we're not calling it a recession doesn't mean it's great. if we get a negative gdp tomorrow, that's going to indicate a lot of weakness in the economy. that's going to be consistent with what families have been feeling as their pay has not kept up with inflation. there's a lot to be worried about in the second half of this year from a global economy to developments in the u.s. >> jason, can it be turned around so that people feel that

it's better in time, no matter what -- depending on what the fed does and whether they put on the brakes too hard, but can it be turned around to be of political benefit to the president who is struggling with pole numbers going into a midterm? >> you know, i think what matters is how people feel, not whether people are calling it a recession or not calling it a recession. the next inflation number should be one of the better ones we have had in a while, at least of monthly number for july should be quite low given what we know happened with gasoline prices falling. i think that's going to be some relief from the headline inflation. hopefully, we're going to continue to add jobs. it really is a very, very impressive job market in terms of employment. there's some good things there. some things are getting better. we're still in a very difficult situation.

>> jason, tom, thanks to both of you. tom, you should get more and more for every live shot, which would make you a very -- >> your lips to the boss's ears. >> i'll work on that. joining me now is president biden's top economic advisor, cecilia roust, chair of the council of economic advisors. thanks for being with us today. what are you hoping the fed rate increase can accomplish here? >> well, the federal reserve has as its mandate to control inflation while maintaining maximum employment. what we hope is that by doing this series of increases in interest rates, the fed is able to achieve that. we know we have a strong labor market, as jason just highlighted in the last segment. we hope the fed can bring down the inflation rate without costing too much in terms of labor market gains. >> when do you think we can start seeing that people who are living paycheck to paycheck can start seeing some better outlook

for inflation as jason did point out, the gas prices are down, that doesn't affect the core inflation as much as one would hope, but it might have some impact. >> the federal reserve and economists focus encore inflation because that's more stable. it reflects many of the goods and services that the federal reserve's monetary policy can have a direct impact on. we know that for families, energy and food are really very salient and are very important components to their monthly expenditures. as jason pointed out, we have had 43 days of decreasing gasoline prices at the pump. we know that many food commodities have stabilized. we are hopeful that headline inflation will come down. we understand that inflation is unacceptably high. i personally looking at the data see signs that the federal reserve's actions are starting to take root. we know that mortgage rates are rising. we are seeing softening in terms of home sales. we are seeing a little bit of

softening in terms of consumer expenditures. it's not -- hasn't gone negative. it's not a recession. we see easing. that's what the fed is hoping for. hopefully, the fed is able to achieve what it is setting out to do, which is to bring down inflation and generate what they call a soft landing. >> some people have suggested that lifting those tariffs on china would have some impact down the road. the president is going to speak to president xi as early as tomorrow. is there any decision made on those chinese tariffs? >> the president is aware. we are aware of the potential impact of the tariffs on inflation and other economic factors. but those tariffs are part of a geopolitical context. the president has yet to make a decision. he will make a decision. it will be from that broader context. i have nothing for you on that. we are aware of the potential impact of the tariffs.

>> what further concerns might you have about this ongoing war in ukraine, which is really stuck in we consider a horrible war of attrition, both sides taking terrible losses and putin showing no sign of backing down and it being so important for president zelenskyy to regain some of the land -- some of the territory they have lost in the south before even considering negotiations? >> look, russia's unprovoked war on ukraine is causing economic devastation here in the united states, but more importantly worldwide. we know that it is causing an energy crisis in europe where they are so concerned about not only addressing a heat wave, that are unprecedented, but going into winter as well. they are going to depend heavily on the energy that they receive from russia.

we know that many parts of the world depend on the exports from the bread basket, ukraine and russia. this war is causing a worldwide economic -- and humanitarian hardship. i hope that the war ends as soon as possible. but putin did declare on an independent country. that is -- if we want to think about the future of our way of life and the future of democracy, it's important that he be held accountable for that. >> madam chair, great to see you. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you. on trial. wnba superstar, brittney griner, telling her side of the story for the first time. the latest on her case, her defense and what's next. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week,

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they didn't write it for the tribes or the homeless. they wrote it for themselves. your shipping manager left to “find themself.” leaving you lost. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire wnba superstar brittney griner testified in her own defense for the first time today in a russian courtroom and was cross examined by prosecutors and questioned by the judge. she was questioned about what happened when she was stopped on arrival in february after russian authorities found vape canisters containing cannabis

oil in her luggage. >> we had to use my phone and google translate for him to be able to tell me a little bit. there was a lady that was there that they said was an interpreter. it was more just her telling me, sign, really short words. she didn't explain the content of the paper. i didn't know exactly what i was signing. i had rights were never read to me. no one explained any of it to me. >> griner has pleaded guilty to drug charges and could face ten years in prison. joining me now is former under. >> dale: secretary of state richard stengle. since february, she has been locked up. she can't preserve her physical training. she's missing the season. she's 31 years old.

her lawyers have said this could go on until august, even though she pleaded guilty. what do we know about the russian court system? we understand that the secretary of state blinken will have a news conference at 2:00 today. i'm going to be there. there's a question as to whether there's something on the table now for any kind of a prisoner swap. >> yes, andrea. the russian court system is a draconian system. it's based on roman law, unlike our system. it's seen as an arm of the state. they have a 99% conviction rate. that means of all the defendants, 1% go free and are not convicted. that's one reason that it was smart of miss griner to plead guilty. the russian court system doesn't like it when you try to defend yourself.

obviously, she will be sentenced. whether that is harsh or lighter will be a signal of what the russians see her as. she's a bargaining chip to them. the steeper the sentence, the more they feel they could probably get leverage for her. they see her as a negotiating tool. i'm sympathetic to her position. it's an awful position to be in, as is any american who is unfairly imprisoned abroad. >> there are more than 50 americans, between iran and turkey and other countries, who are imprisoned abroad. paul whelan and mark fogle in russia. paul is considered wrongfully detained as is griner. it's not clear why fogle has not gotten this attention from the hostage negotiators at the state department. >> yes. i did a little work with hostage negotiation when i was at the state department.

i just want to be clear. the u.s. government spends incredible amounts of time and money worrying and working on this. for each person who is unfairly imprisoned or is a hostage abroad, they are the focus of their family's interest and love and care. to each of those families, their husband, daughter, wife is the most important person. the u.s. government has to represent all of them. sometimes all of this publicity that we give to this -- i'm not saying we shouldn't -- it doesn't necessarily help people who are behind bars over there. it gives the person who is holding them, in this case russia, more incentive to hold them. they feel they have more bargaining power. that's a contradiction and sad irony of the situation that most of them are in. >> she's in a particular situation because in the year of sochi olympics, they passed a law against lgbtq athletes.

there was a mess about that. mike mcfaul had to negotiate that on behalf of the american athletes and some of the others around the world who are in the same category. she has a particular also burden potentially in their legal system. she made it clear today that she would never take medical cannabis during a competition, because she would be disqualified. she said, your career would be over. it was a mistake it was in there. she had covid. she had a 102 fever. she was not physically fit coming out of that. there were other extenuating circumstances that she's trying to persuade the court of. could that be helpful in trying to get leniency? >> yes. it might be. as they say in law school, every crime is based on a bad act and criminal intent. that's true in the russian court

system. she's saying, she didn't have criminal intent. it was an accident. she was packing quickly. they did bring out the fact that it was -- she had a medical prescription for it for pain relief. that's not legal in russia. but that may be mitigating circumstances. i'm glad you mentioned the lgbt issues. maybe i'm going far afield here, but russia is this sort of white nationalist state that people on the far right of the united states seem to want, where people of color, people of different sexual persuasions do not have the same rights as other people. it's a really autocratic, authoritarian state. she right now is a victim of that. i hope we figure out a way to get her back as well as the other americans who are being held hostage. >> rick, thank you. i'm very glad you did venture into that, because that's one of the continuing issues we have been facing and confronting every day on this program as

well. >> absolutely. >> at home as well as abroad. thank you, rick. facing questions. congress grilling firearms ceos over how much responsibility they should share for the mass shootings in america, because of the way they sell and market and publicize their ar-15-type weapons. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. e was 'bout that little ♪ get a dozen shrimp for only one dollar with any steak entrée. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. [whistling] "andrea when you have technology that's easier to control... that can scale across all your clouds... we got that right? mitchell reports" on msnbc that. it's easier to be an innovator. so you can do more incredible things.

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uvalde? >> chair woman, these acts are committed by murderers. the murderers are responsible. >> we claiming my time. how about you, will you apologize? >> with all due respect, while i grieve like all americans at these tragic incidences, again, to blame the firearm, the particular firearm in use here that we are talking about -- >> thank you. thank you. >> to blame the firearm is an inanimate object. >> the answer is no, ali. ali vitali on capitol hill. the victis of the gun violence are asking the ceo -- what are they doing to stop the violence? did we get an answer during the hearing to the victims? >> reporter: no. you hit the nail on the head. there was no answer. you see the way that they have been turning these questions

both when the families asked them in a taped video played at the top of the hearing and then again when the chairwoman and others pressed them on the role of the people who are making these weapons in these weapons being used to murder children in schools, people in churches, people in movie theaters, all of the places we have seen mass shootings, even in the last few months, let alone over the course of the last few decades. but, of course, we are seeing the way the gun manufacturers are answering those questions, which is saying these are inanimate objects and speaking to the frame that we have heard repeatedly when these moments come up, which is that guns don't kill people, people kill people. of course, that is the very opposite view taken by people in this building, especially house democrats who are trying to push for codifications for gun violence prevention. we're seeing them, for example, in the rules committee today, take up for the first time in almost 30 years an assault weapons ban that has been pushed by joe biden but also nancy

pelosi and others. there's legislation they're trying to work through from adam schiff that would unshield some of the companies that are currently protected from civil liabilities claims after their guns are used to kill people. those are some of the pushes that we are seeing from the house right now. we know, andrea, they're on a time crunch. they are getting out of town for august. that's the plan right now. unclear we will see house democrats move forward on a vote this week. that was the plan at the start of the week as they try to push a continued focus on gun violence prevention in the aftermath of the last few months of shootings in uvalde and buffalo and other places. >> ali, isn't this really political theater or symbolism? they know the senate is not going to take up the assault weapon ban. it's never going to get passed. it's not going to become law. >> reporter: that's right. it's always been the reality in this building. you and i covered just about a month ago now when the senate was able to negotiate a very

narrow bipartisan package that many of the gun violence prevention advocates that you and i talk to regularly were disappointed with, because of the way that it was so narrow in its focus. but nevertheless, that was still some of the most significant legislation that we had seen on this issue in decades. so people like senator chris murphy, who was leading the charge on the democratic side, a senator from connecticut who was so moved by what happened in new town, has been trying to push forward on this legislation in bipartisan fashion where it's possible. we saw the fruits of that labor. now it is seeming like even though the house democrats are moving forward on this, just as they do on every other issue, because their margins are slim but bigger than what democrats have in the senate, they are able to push through kind of legislation. it continuously runs into a brick wall. not just on guns but also on reproductive rights and other issues that democrats are trying to push forward on ahead of the midterms. >> ali vitali, thank you so much. exactly on point. a prominent journalist

killed. the family of the palestinian american journalist meets with the top u.s. diplomat as they call for a stronger response from washington to her killing. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. this homegrown toma is "andrea mis it's more treatable. i'm cologuard. i'm noninvasive and i detect altered dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers, even in early stages. reports" on msnbc. early stages? yep, it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. consider it done. new astepro allergy. ask your provider if co now available withoutou. a prescription.

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and then we have some breaking news from iraq. take a look, these are stunning images in baghdad. hundreds of iraqi citizens breaching the nation's parliament, an escalation of a protest against a political nominee supported by an iranian-backed coalition. there are apparently no iraqi lawmakers present inside the building. this is the first instability of this nature that we have seen in years and years. i've never seen them breach the parliament. these are live pictures, by the way. extraordinary. shireen abu akleh's family is demanding justice for the iconic journalist, a palestinian-american journalist killed in may during an israeli raid during the west bank. she was wearing a protect i have vest with the word "press" on it as you can see when testifies shot and killed. her funeral procession was

disrupted ben israeli police clashed with mourners. the state department says the al jazeera reporter was likely killed by israeli gunfire but added there was no reason to believe the shooting was intentional. that is a point of dispute. her family frustrated with the u.s. government's response. they did meet with secretary of state blinken yesterday, we can see that picture. joining me now is lena abu akleh. thank you very much. our condolences, our sympathy doesn't express the loss that you have experienced and the loss that the international world has experienced with not having her journalism and her unique voice. so thank you for being here. >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you, andrea, for having me. i appreciate it. >> of course. i want to ask you about your meeting with secretary blinken. what do you want, what more do you want from him? what are you asking for? >> all that we are asking for is

accountability and justice, simply put, this is what we want as a family and it's the least thing the u.s. administration can do, starting with carrying out u.s.-led independent investigation into the murder of one of their own citizens, a u.s. citizen, who was killed by the israeli forces while she was doing her job, simply reporting, being a journalist. she was wearing her press vest, as you just stated. that's all that we're asking for. we are asking for accountability. we want answers to our questions and until today i feel we left that meeting yesterday with a lot of our questions still unanswered. >> do you feel it was an intentional killing, not -- >> yes. >> -- in the cross-fire, not an accident. and do you think it was ordered by the people in the field or do you think it went all the way to

the top of the idf or perhaps even higher? >> definitely. i feel it was intentional, of course it was, considering how they continued to shoot towards her even while she was on the floor bleeding. they continued to shoot towards the young man who was trying to help her. there's so many evidence that clearly points towards that direction and a soldier, i'm sure, did not pull the trigger without receiving orders. there is a chain of command that clearly ordered the shooting to take place. that's why we are calling for the u.s. to investigate and to hold the israeli soldiers accountable, to hold the israeli government accountable. >> have you gotten any answers via the state department from the defense minister and the israeli government, of course, isn't -- has fallen and you've got a coalition now, a caretaker government, so assigning

responsibility is going to be even more difficult, right? >> yeah, well, we haven't received any answers. we haven't received any support in that matter. we are still waiting for -- to see the report. we're still waiting to see the details of the so-called investigation that u.s. department conducted. for us that was not an investigation, that was merely a report summarizing analysis. so definitely we want to see more. we want to see meaningful action. at this point it's important to move past statements and to seek concrete action taking place to ensure accountability. >> thank you very much, lena abu akleh. thank you. we will of course follow up and stay in touch with us as well. into thank you. >> as we try to investigate this case. >> thank you for having me. >> absolutely. >> thank you. and turning now to some breaking news out of st. paul, minnesota, where we have just learned the fate of another

minneapolis police officer involved in george floyd's murder in may of 2020. jay alexander king was sentenced to three years in prison and at any minute now too tau is set to receive his sentencing. both officers were found guilty in february for violating floyd's civil rights by denying his right to medical care and failing to interview to stop former officer derek chauvin in the killing. floyd's death sparked international upheaval and calls for police reform. legislation in his name remains stalled on capitol hill. and so that does it for this busy addition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us online on facebook and twitter on mitchell reports, we will say up to speed on the griner case throughout the day. chris jansing reports starts right after this. the day the day chri but if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage,

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