good morning. i'm jose diaz-balart, here for another busy hour, including a historic scene in taiwan where we just saw house speaker pelosi arrive on a widely anticipated trip that has infuriated the chinese regime. there you see her walking down the stairs, getting off the plane in the light pink suit. she was greeted by a large group of taiwanese officials. this trip makes pelosi the highest-ranking u.s. official to visit taiwan since newt gingrich went there in 1997 when he was

speaker. at home we're watching a major test of former president trump's influence over the republican party. in the five states where voters are headed to the polls today to vote in primary elections, all eyes will be on the slate of candidates who the former president endorsed and have embraced the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen. will that message resonate with republican primary voters? today will also be a big test for these three house republicans who were among the ten who voted to impeach the former president. will they survive after taking a critical stand? one of today's biggest tests will happen in kansas where abortion rights are on the ballot for the first time since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. we'll have the latest into the massive implications of that vote. let's get right into it with nbc's steve kornacki at the big board. steve, what are you looking for this morning? >> a couple things, jose, you touched on. i think this referendum in kansas on abortion has the

potential to be very interesting to watch. this is the first time since the overturning of roe v. wade that you have a referendum on a ballot statewide. it's fascinating to see the result come in in kansas. what this would be is a constitutional amendment that would say the state constitutional does not formally allow for the protection of abortion. so if it passes, it would then open the door to laws passing in kansas to ban abortion. what's interesting is you look at kansas, you know it to be a red state. trump won this state big. if your expectation is that means this is going to pass automatically, we did get a poll on this referendum in the last couple weeks. it actually showed a pretty close race here, 47/43 yes/no on this referendum. this could be very interesting to watch. polls close 8:00 p.m. eastern in kansas. i think we'll spend a lot of

time watching that result come in. could be entering story lines to develop there. as you mentioned, arizona, we see mark kelly, the democratic incumbent senator, unopposed for renomination. he's going to run for re-election in november. this is critical to democrats and their chances of trying to hang on to the senate. can they get mark kelly re-elected? the question is twofold in arizona. number one, who will mark kelly's republican opponent be? blake masters is running with the endorsement of donald trump. he has been leading in the polls. so masters come into today's primary as the favorite. but the other dynamic in arizona that's interesting here is there are several other trump aligned candidates. kari lake has backed trump's claims about the 2020 elections. she's led in the polling in advance of this primary. she well could be the republican nominee for governor of arizona. also, the race for secretary of

state, the chief election official in arizona. we usually don't cover these too much in primaries. obviously, in the wake of the 2020 election, we have seen secretary of state's offices are very important. here is mark finchem, state legislature, running for republican nomination for secretary of state in arizona. he, too, has echoed trump's claims about the 2020 election and has trump's endorsement. it raises the possibility you could have three trump-backed candidates running on the ticket in arizona this november. it could be the most pro-trump -- trump's claim of the 2020 election slate of republican candidates in any swing state. we show you mark kelly trying to survive in that senate race, trying to survive and keep the democratic majority in the senate. if that trump aligned slate represents the republican party in arizona, would that hurt republican chances in the general election in arizona?

that's something that could emerge. here is a list of ten republican members of congress, the ten who voted to impeach donald trump following january 6th last year. we've been tracking what happened to them in 2022. you had one, david valadao who won his primary in california. donald trump didn't weigh in in that primary. he did weigh in in tom rice's primary and he was soundly defeated in that primary. here today you have three republican -- i think you showed their pictures there, three republican, peter meyer in michigan, jamie herrera beutler. trump has endorsed opponents of them in all these races. keeping a very close eye on all three of those tonight. once tonight isover, there is only one more republican who voted to impeach trump left to

face republican voters. that will be the big one. liz cheney in wyoming two weeks from now. obviously she'll be watching with particular interest how those three republicans fare tonight. >> back to the kansas issue, such an important one, especially since the supreme court's decision on roe v. wade. it seems as though the latest polls show there's almost like a 10% undecided vote right now. >> there's a lot of variables here. what's weird about this, i think, is most referendums, statewide referendums on passing constitutional amendments, they're usually held in the general election in november. this one is being held on primary day in kansas. there's a real variable here about who is going to actually show up and vote for this, because i think there's a lot more -- generally when you look at the primaries in kansas, there's more action in the republican primaries than there is in the democratic primaries. it's a question here of would the presence of this referendum

on the ballot motivate more democratic voters to get out to the polls. also, you've got the independent voters in kansas who can't vote in either party's primary, but they could go to the polls today and vote in this referendum. how many of them who would have had no interest in voting in one of the party's primaries, how many will show up to vote on this referendum. there are x factors, variables in terms of who is going to make up the electorate in kansas tonight. we could get a little test here of what side debate gets more motivated by this, if one side gets more motivated. we could see that in some of the turnout patterns. this will be an interesting one to follow. it's a little tricky because it's unusual to have a referendum being voted on in a primary and not a general election. >> steve kornacki, thank you very much for that explanation. so the big question tonight, will former president trump's endorsement matter, and will it matter in a big way?

in missouri it matters so much that two candidates claim to be endorsed by him. trump didn't specify which eric he was endorsing. in arizona, the republican race for governor is a similar referendum between carry lake and roberson who was endorsed by trump's vice president mike pence. vaughn hillyard is in arizona this morning. vaughn, you caught up with carry lake in arizona? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. i think steve laid out the states of these races here. you're looking at not only u.s. senate, governor, secretary of state, attorney general as well. these trump loyalists that could represent the republican party as their nominees to take on democrats in what each of those races would be, likely a competitive general election here. yet, when you're looking at these primaries here, the republican strategists that are

working not only with these campaigns but also watching from the outside these early ballots come in, each are telling me this is really still up in the air. this is a situation here where kari lake has been led to suggest that there are, quote, irregularities and fraud. this is essentially echoing what donald trump did ahead of the 2020 election in which they throw out this idea that there's fraud. when it comes to election night, which will be later today, and if karen taylor robeson is competitive in this or leading, one can make the case that they were sounding the alarm bells ahead of polls closing. the issue for kari lake is she has refused to identify any specific allegation. that is where last night i tried repeatedly, as you're about to see, to ask her to provide any evidence of fraud. she's unwilling to do so. take a look. >> you're contending there's irregularities and there's fraud

in this election. at what point does kari lake say i'm undermining americans in our election -- >> -- >> you haven't laid out any fraud or irregularity -- >> -- one america. >> what fraud is there, kari? what fraud is there? this is serious. >> you want do make this about you? >> this is about arizona voters. >> the last person on this planet earth i would tell -- is you and ms -- >> you know about a crime and you're not reporting it to authorities? when are you going to report it to authorities. >> you are against america. >> why not provide that -- >> we talk about faith in american elections, jose, it goes beyond the 2020 presidential election. kari lake laid it out there, contending she knows about fraud

yet is unwilling to say what or report it to authorities here. that's why tonight the election may go well beyond, into the wee hours of the morning, if not days or weeks, and we can very well have a republican candidate, if she's not the outright winner herself, contesting the legitimacy, not a general election against a democrat, but one against a republican opponent in a primary. >> vaughn, i couldn't really hear what she was saying. the bottom line is that she had no concrete evidence or fgs she could point to. >> reporter: and she told me that i would not be the person she would tell which is why i followed up with the question, why not go to authorities if you're aware of irregularities and fraud. that's where she said -- i think had no response is a better way to put it, instead of saying i'm trying to destroy america, which in this wing of the republican party today, that's an easy go-to when you don't have a

legitimate offer. joining me, senior national political reporter mark caputo. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> let's talk about the vaughn hillyard encounter, where you didn't have to hear exactly what words were used, but a clear indication she didn't have anything concrete to go on. she continues to repeat that mantra which is somewhat popular with some. >> it's not just somewhat popular, it's an article of faith thanks to donald trump. it's 2022. this has been going on since november of 2020. a group called cyber ninjas, whoever the hell they r hired by arizona to do a conspiratorial ballot review. they didn't find any. they claim they found 270 dead voters who voted. the attorney general in arizona reviewed the claims. he said no, i have found one. there's a russian nesting doll of deceit and claims.

you open up one doll, it's another claim and then you open up that one. it's false claim after false claim after false claim. kari lake is a good example of that. i was a reporter in arizona, i have family who live there. it's fascinating a tv figure, one who, from what we understand in the republican primary which has been disclosed supported barack obama, now supporting republican party. >> it seems as though the kansas vote is really kind of important. it's certainly the first one since roe v. wade was set back by the supreme court. arizona. kelly, for example, he shouldn't have a problem. >> in the primary, no. in the general election, most of the polling i've seen both public and private usually

doesn't have mark kelly above 50. that can be a trouble side. blake masters is probably favored to win the republican spot for senate. that will likely be the match-up. there has been a shift in the mood of the electorate to be a little more republican, especially with latino, hispanic voters, a lot of them in arizona. it's something to pay attention to. >> let's talk about missouri. trump endorsing eric. >> correct. >> that's a great example, eric greitens, a sex scandal, allegedly blackmailed his mistress. his ex-wife claims he beat her and their kid. he nevertheless has that maga style that trump likes, aside from those accusations. in tend what happened there is trump couldn't endorse him. the people i talked to talked to trump, he couldn't endorse him. he had two camps in trump world. trump decided to troll his own

people and say yes, i endorse the erics in this case. >> back to the governor's race in arizona. kari lake, an anchor there for many, many years, has name recognition, et cetera. how significant is this race for the republicans? >> it's very significant. as you said in this intro, this is a test of trump's power. karen hobson is the main opponent from the republican primary. mike pence decided to endorse her, so did governor doug ducey who trump didn't like because he didn't support trump's false claims of a stolen election. as you mentioned, kari lake is breaking ahead. the republican party in arizona saying this is the direction we want to go. as far as the future of trumpism in the republican party, he's still very much part of its dna. anyone who says donald trump is over in the republican party should look at what's going to

happen in arizona. >> what do you say we coin [ speaking foreign language ] as the mantra? >> i like it. up next, taking out one of the world's most wanted terrorists. the details of how u.s. forces tracked down al qaeda leader ayman al zawahri inside afghanistan, and his significance in the tear gore group for decades. back at home, more extreme weather expected in kentucky as the death toll continues to rise from the massive floods there. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." riders! let your queries be known. uh, how come we don't call ourselves bikers anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool, but "bikers"...is really cool. -seriously? -denied. can we go back to meeting at the rec center? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote to see if we can save with america's

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than anyone else. call and start saving today. comcast business. powering possibilities. 20 past the hour. we're learning more about how the decades' long manhunt for one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, a man involved in the planning of the 9/11 attacks finally ended with his death. president biden announcing last

night that al qaeda leader ayman al zawahri was killed over the weekend in a drone strike in kabul, afghanistan, where he had been living and hiding. this video from an afghan news agency shows smoke rising from the area where the attack occurred sunday morning local time. this morning the white house released this picture of the president meeting with his national security team on july 1st to discuss the operation. the wooden box you see at the center of the photo is apparently a model of the safe house where he was hiding. with us now to take a closer look at this, "washington post" national security reporter joe warrick and retired general of the u.s. european command and msnbc military analyst. you watch "the washington post" obituary of ayman al zawahri. he's not a household name for many. tell us what his death means? >> he's been a big deal for a very long time. if anything, he was the brains

behind al qaeda -- the one we know so well, bin laden, was the charismatic leader, the guy always on tv. al zawahri was the guy behind the scenes planning some of the most audacious attacks we've seen in the last 30 years of al qaeda history, going back to his days in egypt where he did things like slaughtering buses filled with tourists. now he's off the battlefield, as they say. >> so general, what does this tell us about how -- it seems as though this guy was living in a diplomatic area of the afghan capital. it's difficult to think that no one knew he was there. >> yeah, i would agree with you there. what i will tell you is the taliban, as well as the haqqani network, they're complicit in

harboring this particular terrorist. what i will tell you is there are probably morale kai da operatives that operate throughout the entire country. >> you say they're complicit in it, both haqqani and the taliban. how do you think that is represented? how were they complicit? >> yeah, well, if you've been to kabul, there are certain places where you have folks living, particularly the drug lords, and this is the neighborhood where the drug lords, we know, this is a very prominent neighborhood, drug lords hang there. we also know the taliban recently took over that location as well. it is very close to the u.s. embassy, very nice homes and so forth. so there's no doubt in my mind that the taliban did not -- that the taliban knew that we had the terrorists living in this

particular home. >> al qaeda has evolved, changed over the past 20 years or so. what does that terror group look like in 2022? >> well, it's certainly dispersed. we as a country have been very successful since 9/11 really and especially in the last ten years in keeping this group off balance, keeping them on their heels. what was left of the original group is really zawahri, sort of the leader, and a few others. the successor is perhaps in iran these days. there's difficulty communicating with their rank and file. there was disillusionment with the leadership because they didn't seem to be doing much, hadn't had a major attack in many years. the guy at the top was a very boring guy who liked to write long books, wasn't a man of the

internet age. now it will be interesting to see what happens next. there's a void and somebody has to step into it. it could be someone with talent and energy. or it could be what we've seen recently, which is a scattered, disbursed organization without strong leadership. it remains to be seen. >> general, according to initial reports there was no collateral damage, a semantic way of saying innocent people killed in an attack. it seems as though these hell fire missiles, they didn't have an explosive head on it. it seems as though there's high-tech weaponry being used to take out these people. >> the sophistication of this particular operation cannot be understated. so when you take a look at in the past where you had u.s. special forces going in or other

military on the ground, as you know, we've mate mistakes and had casualties and so forth. in this particular operation, the president went to great lengths to ensure that there were no casualties. he used the right weapon system for the particular target, and the end result we have one terrorist killed with a family that survived and no civilian casualties. so good operation all around from what i can see. >> lieutenant general steph twitty and joby, thank you for being with us. the heroic efforts to get people to safety after the horrific floods in kentucky. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." by treating my skin and joints. along with significantly clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after two starter doses.

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30 past the hour, breaking news. just moments ago the chinese embassy responded to speaker nancy pelosi's arrival in taiwan. the chinese embassy in the u.s. called pelosi's visit a serious violation of the one china principle. the ministry of foreign affairs goes on to say the visit has a severe impact on the political foundation of china-u.s.

relations and seriously infringes upon china's sovereignty and territorial integrity. pelosi's stop on the island comes after specific warnings from beijing not to do so, as china claims it is part of its territory. meanwhile, back here in the united states kentucky will open eight cooling centers as the state braces for rising temperatures as they recover from devastating floods. the death toll at 37, but still expected to climb. neighbor helping neighbor. this dramatic video showing an unidentified man coming to the rescue of a 98-year-old grandmother and her family. take a look at these images. the national guard reporting over 1,000 airlift rescues since the flooding began and working to deliver supplies to areas cut off by floodwaters. joining us now from jackson, nbc's george solis. what are things like on the

ground this morning? >> reporter: jose, it's going to be a long road to recovery for the people of eastern kentucky. there is so much heartbreak and devastation, understandably, over the flooding here. behind me you can see the river. we've been watching debris flow from up stream, people's belongings, personal effects, fridges, things that were in homes, now gone forever. people here, as you mentioned, contending with the heat as the waters recede, making things that much worse as people begin the cleanup. as you mentioned, also, hundreds are still unaccounted for. we still don't have an exact number. today the governor here surveying some of the worst of the damage, trying to hopefully give us a better sense of how many people are still out there, offering a little glimmer of hope here, cell phone service virtually restored in a lot of the region, although there are still pockets where people may not be able to get in touch with a loved one, but presumably as more cell phone service picks

up, those reunions will be more feasible. with the heat, you have cooling centers which are crucial, especially for the seniors who may be out of the home. and on the subject of neighbors helping neighbors, we've seen story after story of pop-up groups, volunteers handing out food and water to people, giving people a chance to speak and share their story. we talked with one grandmother yesterday who was so grateful to get a bite to eat after she lost everything in her apartment. luckily she made it out with her two grandchildren. the other part is the assistance. fema grants are being granted which is great news for the people in the most impacted areas. rescues continue. even though the waters are receding, there are still areas impacted by water. more than 1,300 rescues conducted so far. that number is only expected to increase as long as the weather cooperates. there's certainly a valiant effort here, a lot of moving parts for the people of eastern kentucky and the resill genesee

of these people. many of them thanking us for sharing their stories and keeping them in the spotlight, letting people know they are not forgotten. again, just hoping that more reunions are possible in the coming days. jose. >> george solis in jackson, kentucky, thank you very much. turning now to an nbc news exclusive report. the biden administration has now reunited 400 children with their parents after they were separated while crossing the border into the united states under the trump administration according to the executive director of the family reunification task force. most of these parents were deported while the children remained in the united states. joining us now with the very latest is nbc news homeland security correspondent julia ainsley. this is good news for 400 families. >> that's right, jose. this reunification began a little over a year ago in may, that was after president biden signed an executive order establishing this task force to identify and reunite those 5,000

families separated under trump. some had found each other and reunited. oftentimes they found, though, the families were faced with the very difficult decision of either bringing a child back to a country where they felt their lives were in danger or remaining separated. that was because the parents had been deported and they didn't have a way to get back to the united states. now we understand in the case of 400 families, those parents have been able to come to the united states, reunite with their children, have the opportunity to live and work here for three members and bring other family members. if they had a child or spouse in their home country, they could bring them as well so they wouldn't have to decide which part of the family to live with. lawyers representing the family say there's still work to be done, still possibly as many as a thousand who still need to be identified and reunited. they say these families deserve permanent status to be able to stay here in the united states, not just a three-year guarantee. >> it's important to say, 5,000

families originally. this is a three-year program, julia? >> yeah, that's right. that's as much as they're giving them right now, it's parole, humanitarian parole very similar to what an afghan refugee would have here or people coming from ukraine. it's a temporary work authorization just for three years. while they're here, they can apply for other things like asylum and reapply after three years. there's still an ongoing court settlement. the biden administration hasn't given lawyers everything they want yet. in fact, they've also walked away from giving them a big settlement. back in december justice department lawyers walked away from a plan to give the families about $450,000 each for the trauma they went through. now there's somewhat of a victory lap we're getting from this task force saying they've reached 400 and have 250 more in the pipeline. another big challenge is just finding some families that could be separated because the trump

administration did nothing to track down who they were separating and where they were sending these children. >> julia ainsley, i thank you for that report. jailed wnba star brittney griner was back in a russian courtroom today for the first time since secretary of state blinken revealed he's been talking to the russians about a possible prisoner swap. what's next in her case? you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." i can finally put some names to those faces... it's like i'm back there at 39 elmhurst with all these folks. ancestry can guide you to family discoveries in the 1950 census. ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. that's why we build technology that helps everyone come to the table and do more incredible things. ♪ ♪

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41 past the hour. we're following growing calls for congress to pass legislation to expand medical coverage to millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. joining us is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. ali. >> reporter: jose we have been out here the last few days with veteran advocates including jon stewart standing next to me, trying to pressure the senate to take a vote on the pac act to

extend ben facilities to veterans affected by toxic burn pits. last week you were expecting a celebration. the vote fell apart. what is your message to lawmakers? >> the message is simply this. to chuck schumer, put it on the floor. these people -- they can't keep this up. these people went through' oh sorry about that. knocked over a tripod. they can't keep it up. how much more? this is cruel and unusual punishment. the rug got pulled out by 25 republicans who switched their votes in july. i ask you to go up to the republican lunch today, they're having their launch caucus and get any of them you can get and say, can you show me in the bill what changed from january 16th when you voted 84-14 to when you

voted it down. point to what changed because they can't because nothing was added. one sentence was removed about taxation for rural providers. that is it. it's not mandatory discretionary didn't change, some crazy pork thing didn't get inserted and didn't change. this is misinformation and it's beginning to take a toll. >> reporter: even yesterday as you guys were out here on the steps of the capitol -- again, veterans have been sleeping here. one of the senators i saw, senator rick scott, one of the 25 republicans that flipped their vote. when you spoke with him yesterday he seemed to say he was on board for this. did you get any sense from him of what changed? the mechanics of this didn't. >> we still don't know why this happened, honestly. like, we've heard so many different things. one thing we heard was they were promised two amendments and that didn't happen. one thing we heard was mandatory was changed to discretionary. but that's just factually

incorrect. another thing we heard was they were angry some other bill snuck around. we can't get a straight answer of what the path forward is. the last i've heard was they've offered the amendments, the amendments that were demanded have been offered. whether that goes down -- and now all we care about is put it on the floor today. we tried to get it yesterday. they said, well, nobody gets back really on monday. we don't have much time because they're all leaving on thursday. what about tuesday? well, republican lunch and the democratic lunch is at 12:00. then the nap probably around 1:30. and then they all watch "people's court." that takes them until 4:00. what is happening here? >> reporter: what if there is no vote today? what's the reaction of these folks out here? >> i think they're fraying in terms of their ability to

withstand this. i think this is cruel and unusual punishment. they've got to end this. >> thank you for taking the time. jose, as i've been talking with veterans out here, there's so much passion. you have mothers, people who are part of this veterans community, who even if they haven't been impacted by the burn pits, they're here to stand up for the members of their community. these people need the money and funding for the health care they need. jose. >> ali vitali live with jon stewart. appreciate both of you being on with us this morning. joining us to continue our discussion on the latest on these burn pit is matt zeller, a former cia analyst and former combat vet. matt, when you're hearing jon explain to ali what is going on, it just seems like it's one sentence being taken out, and

then, oh, we can't do mondays, let's do tuesdays. matt, you've been out there, outside the capitol with federal vets. what's going on? >> simply put, we're getting a raw deal. we have been politicized yet again. veterans shouldn't have to be in this position. i have been on here on and off since friday night pulling shifts of around 36-plus hours each time. there were 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits during our service. we've come home from asthmas, with cancers. when we go to private doctors, they have no idea how to treat it because they're not specialists in these diseases. when we finally find the treatments, it turns out they're not covered by the va and people often have to mortgage their home to get the health care that

they were provided. we're out here because people already died, because people are dying and because people will die again unless we don't do something right now. >> matt, i just want to take a second to pause and underline something you said. it's 3.5 million patriots, heroes, people who took it upon themselves to serve our nation. i'm wondering, matt, from your discussions with lawmakers you've been visiting with, what's your sense of how this issue has become and why it's become politicized? >> we've had members of the united states senate stopping by to visit us all morning now, republicans and democrats. senator moran stopped by on his morning run and spent a good 30 minutes with us. there's clearly a bipartisan majority to get this done. we're wondering what the delay is. we keep hearing it might not be

until tomorrow. roll the cots out. let's get this done. how long does it take to get sick veterans the care they were promised because they were injured in the line of duty? this is borderline ridiculous that we have to go to these levels. it's fine. we're going to continue to stand fire watch. it's something we all have done as veterans. one of the very first things you do, you're taught at night someone stands watch for both incoming enemy fire and to literally tend the fires to keep them warm so there's a place of refuge. well, that's why we're here. this isn't a protest. it isn't a demonstration. it's a fire watch. we're here to make sure there's accountability and the job gets done. that's it. once they have voted this, we all can't wait to go home. i cannot wait to be able to shower and sleep in a bed on a regular occasion. we're not leaving until they get the job done. >> matt, thank you for being with us. thank you for your voice. appreciate your time.

matt zeller, thanks. >> thanks for having me. the latest on wnba star brittney griner detained in russia. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." we'll get the latest in just a second. ted to tell my doctor my heart was racing just making spaghetti... but i didn't wait. i could've delayed telling my doctor i was short of breath just reading a book... but i didn't wait. they told their doctors. and found out they had... atrial fibrillation. a condition which makes it about five times more likely to have a stroke. if you have one or more of these symptoms irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue or lightheadedness, contact your doctor. this is no time to wait. [sfx: stomach gurgling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, ♪ ♪ upset stomach, diarrhea. ♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief... when you need it most.

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52 past the hour, turning now to wnba star brittney griner, who appeared back in russian court earlier today as she awaits her fate on drug charges. prosecutors called a narcotics expert to analyze the cannabis oil that was found in vape canisters in her luggage in february. griner pleaded guilty to the drug charges last month, but argues it was for medical use. the kremlin, meanwhile, criticized, quote, megaphone diplomacy by the united states in regards to a possible prisoner exchange for griner. nbc correspondent matt bradley joins us this morning. matt, what was said in the courtroom today? >> reporter: we didn't hear from brittney griner herself, the wnba star, but we did hear from her attorneys and we did hear kind of as you mentioned sort of dual testimony. one from the government lawyer, who -- or government expert who was testifying about the hashish

oil that was found inside those vape canisters that were found with brittney griner at the moscow airport back in february when she was first detained. and then an opposing expert called by the defense who disputed the sort of of chemical analysis that was presented by the state. but really, you know, jose, the real issue here and the one that everybody is looking forward to is what the verdict will be and what the sentencing will be. we know that the verdict is going to be guilty on some level because of course brittney griner has already pled guilty. the big question is going to be what is the sentencing? she faces a maximum of ten years. again, this is for less than a gram of hashish oil that was found inside some of those vape cartridges in her luggage. but she does also face a minimum of five years. that's a very, very serious punishment if she gets that minimum for what is considered in the united states to be a very minor crime. but the fact is that once she's sentenced that means that she's going to be eligible to then be the subject of a prisoner swap. and that's what everybody sees

really on the diplomatic soid as her true salvation, that she's going to somehow be free in an upcoming prisoner swap, and we could hear that verdict, that sentencing in the next week or two p. we're starting to hear final arguments by both attorneys on thursday, day after tomorrow. jose? >> matt bradley in london, i thank you for that. still ahead, the first grain shipment to leave a ukrainian port since the war began is reaching turkey today. what it says about the progress of the war. next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections,

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26,000 tons of corn from ukraine is expected to reach istanbul later today. this is the first shipment to leave the country's port since russia's invasion began in february. nbc correspondent morgan chesky is live in kyiv with more. morgan, what's the latest on that shipment? >> reporter: yeah, jose, good afternoon. this is a trial shipment that is expected to arrive in istanbul later today where this ship will be inspected by u.n., turkish, russian and ukrainian inspectors making sure that the only thing on board is in fact that grain before it sets sail for its final destination in the port city of tripoli, lebanon. but as you mentioned, this is the first ship. there are hopefully many more to follow. ukraine officials say that they plan on having about three ships depart daily from the port city at odesa. and what makes it so remarkable is this in fact is kind of a

symbolic first step in allowing some much-needed aid to go through the black sea, which had been blockaded by the russians since the start of this war. and had also been mined by the militaries of -- by both navies. so should this hopefully keep going, it should last for the next several months and then they would potentially have to renegotiate another safe passage agreement. in the meantime, here in ukraine there are growing calls and protests to have russia investigated for potential war crimes after a prisoner of war camp was struck over the weekend, leaving at least 50 ukrainian soldiers dead, wounding 75 others. important to note here, jose, that some of those soldiers killed were members of the azov regiment. those were the soldiers that many here call heroes because they were the fighters that held out for weeks against the russian military in that besieged steel plant in mariupol. right now we're told that russia says that u.n. inspectors should have access to it, but no

confirmation at this point in time that they've physically been able to look at it themselves and determine what exactly happened that led to the deaths of so many soldiers. jose? >> morgan chesky in kyiv, ukraine. thank you. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can always reach me on twitter and instagram @jdbalart. thank you for the privilege of your time. up next, andrea mitchell will interview west virginia senator joe manchin. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington where president biden has taken a key figure in the war on terror off the battlefield, announcing in an address to the nation on monday night al qaeda leader ayman al zawahiri was killed over the weekend. nbc news has learned in an unmanned cia drone strike. >> now justice has bn