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 been

delivered and this terrorist leader is no more. people around the world no longer need to fear the vicious and determined killer. >> al zawahiri, the second in command to osama bin laden during the 9/11 attacks as well as the attack on u.s. embassies in kenya and tanzania in 1998 and the "uss cole" in 2000, killing 17 service members, took over the terrorist organization after bin laden's death in 2011 and was killed on the balcony of a taliban-linked safehouse in kabul, afghanistan. >> to those around the world who continue to seek to harm the united states, hear me now. we will always remain vigilant and we will act and we will always do what is necessary to ensure the safety and security of americans at home and around the globe. >> i'll be joined this hour by white house homeland security adviser elizabeth sherwood randall and intelligence committee chairman senator mark warner for more on this major national security development and the future of al qaeda and

the taliban. and more breaking news overseas. house speaker nancy pelosi dismissing threats from chinese leaders and arriving in taiwan just over an hour ago, kicking off a controversial leg of her asia trip. the white house officials hope will not spark a military conflict. >> nobody has an interest in escalation in this situation and china should think very carefully about that as they consider their next steps. >> jake sullivan speaking earlier on "today." of course to savannah guthrie. abortion rights, meanwhile, on the ballot in kansas today. the first major political test of the issue since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade in june is an amendment that would strip the state's constitution of language protecting a woman's reproductive rights. i'll speak with west virginia senator joe manchin today to find out if his colleague kyrsten sinema is any closer to supporting a democratic spending package that will lower health care costs while boosting energy and climate initiatives. but we begin with the u.s. operation to take out ayman al

zawahiri. joining me now, nbc chief white house correspondent peter alexander and former cia director john brennan. peter, first to you, the white house releasing a picture this morning of the president meeting with his national security team more than a month ago on this mission, showing the time and the detail that went into this operation and highlight that box right in front of the president, in front of william burns, the cia director, because inside that box, peter, as we've been reporting, that is the model of the house, the safehouse, the hackney network that he was hiding in for months right there in downtown kabul. >> right there in the center of kabul not far away from the presidential palace. as you know that box, there has the model inside it on the left of the screen. you see the cia director william burns on the right, far right. that's jake sullivan the national security adviser. this took place on july 1st where the president was briefed about this operation. really shows the precision of the effort that they have constructed that model to present to the president.

the president ultimately would make his final decision, give the green light, the go-ahead just a week ago. this operation went down late saturday night, just shy of 10:00 eastern time early in the morning sunday morning in kabul there. senior taliban officials tell -- -- we should say senior taliban officials and u.s. officials as well say that zwoo heri had moved to this safe house with his family earlier this year, living there with his wife, their daughter as well as her children. zawahiri had moved into afghanistan. and the white house is touting this effort just a year shy of its departure from afghanistan as evidence it doesn't need to have american troops on the ground in afghanistan to be able to use its over the horizon as you describe it capabilities to the use of drones. this was a hellfire missile as

part of an unmanned drone that targeted zawahiri on that balcony. that they don't need that because they have these drones and they have intelligence so they can do this from afar. separately, though, it raises new questions about the fact that an al qaeda leader, the top leader, the successor to osama bin laden, one of the architects, andrea, of nchb.95 as you noted would be living in the very center of afghanistan. so that raises new questions because of course in the words of antony blinken they grossly, the taliban grossly violated the agreement they made with the u.s. not to harbor terrorists, andrea. >> peter alexander, who's been reporting on this all yesterday and today, thank you so much. and john brennan, so you were in the situation room famously during the 2011 operation which killed osama bin laden. were you surprised by the level of precision here? the cia's extraordinary operation to take out al zawahiri. they had eyes on him on the balcony and they apparently using an unmanned drone, we're

told, a cia drone and hellfire missiles that did not blow up the building, the president apparently according to all the briefing we got was determined that his family survive this and that there be no civilian casualties. >> well, quite frankly, andrea, i'm not surprised at how well this operation was executed. the u.s. intelligence community, cia analysts and others, really have great skills in terms of collecting intelligence and doing the analysis that is needed to determine that there was someone like zawahiri at the building. but also there have been tremendous technological advancements in terms of trying to ensure that the munition that they would use, the missile that was used off of the predator or the drone, drone platform, was sized in a manner that was going to ensure a successful strike without harming anybody else in the building or compromising the integrity of the building. that's why i think president biden was looking at that model at the situation room of the building and with bill burns and

others there he will probably be trying to determine exactly what was the appropriate approach as far as the type of missile that was going to be used, the size of the munition and when it would actually take place. >> how could he have been hiding in the home of the interior ministry -- the interior minister of the taliban, this haqqani figure, without first of all the taliban knowing and right near the presidential palace in downtown kabul? and without the pakistan intelligence service, the i.s.i. knowing. >> certainly there were senior members of the taliban, particularly the haqqani, and saraj meddin al haqqani is the minister of the interior. they were clearly providing safety to zawahiri and facilitated his departure from northern pakistan across the border into afghanistan and kabul and a safe house that was basically owned and operated by

taliban elements. so the big question is whether or not the pakistani government did also facilitate that because one of the he coo concerns the u.s. intelligence community has is zawahiri really has not been involved in operational activities over the past number of years because he's been in relative seclusion and isolation in northern pakistan. he hasn't been able to communicate on a regular basis with al qaeda operatives. being in kabul greatly facilitates that type of communication. and so the question is whether or not he was there as a way to reconstitute al qaeda's presence in afghanistan and use it as a springboard to carry out terrorist operations beyond afghanistan's border, particularly against u.s. interests because zawahiri was one of the individuals, the principal individual who encouraged bin laden to take his jihad beyond the region of afghanistan and the middle east and south asia and to make sure that he was able to carry out these activities abroad including the devastating attacks of 9/11. >> john brennan, thank you so much. the former cia director of

course. and joining us now is white house homeland security adviser liz sherwood randall. thank you very much for being with us. first of all, this clearly was extraordinary work from the intelligence community and the white house. there have to be some feelings of real congratulations among yourselves for this kind of precision work. including the photo we were just referring to. yes, ma'am. >> yes, i was going to say that really the appreciation goes to those who have made this possible, the counterterrorism community across our federal enterprise who have worked so hard to deliver this result to the american people and the world. >> talk to me about the precision that was possible to avoid as you've said, the white house has said, avoiding civilian deaths, preserving the life of his family, and being able to take him out on a balcony with hellfire missiles that apparently didn't explode the house. >> well, the president set a very high bar for this.

first the intelligence had to be developed that confirmed with high confidence that the person on that balcony was ayman al zawahiri. second, an operation had to be planned and tested to ensure that we could achieve our objectives without civilian casualties. and importantly, that involved ensuring that the house would not collapse with the impact of the weapons used. we also had to do it with no boots on the ground because the president maifd the decision correctly to withdraw from afghanistan after 20 years of fighting there. so importantly, all of those goals had to be met under time constraints that were extraordinary and with complete secrecy to make sure we can effectively achieve our objective last saturday morning. last sunday morning in kabul, saturday night, washington time. >> how concerned are you that competing elements, terror groups will now be with this leadership change, will now be

trying to prove themselves, outdo each other to try to attack america successfully? >> look, i think that every terrorist in the world has to see what happened last weekend. ayman al zawahiri is dead. afghanistan is obviously not a safe haven for terrorists, and the united states has the kaep capability from over the horizon to develop an operation and to execute it flawlessly. >> john brennan just emphasized that sarajadin haqqani, the man in charge of all the security for the taliban, owns that safehouse. so clearly the taliban -- the haqqani network in pakistan helped get him from pakistan into kabul where he could communicate more effectively, send out these videos that he's been sending out. >> andrea, we're fully aware

that the senior taliban haqqani leadership knew of the presence of and enabled the presence of the leader of al qaeda in afghanistan. that's why the president took the decision to take the strike in kabul, because the taliban were not living up to the terms of the doha agreement and because the president made a commitment to the american people to ensure that afghanistan would never again become a safe haven for terrorists plotting against the united states. >> you are probably the best expert in this government on nuclear threats as the former deputy energy secretary under president obama. responsible for the upkeep of our nuclear arsenal. what are the implications of pakistan harboring terrorists or helping the haqqani network move this man from one country to another? a country with more than 100 nuclear weapons that we know of. >> you know, andrea, we've worked for decades to ensure that we do not allow nuclear materials to proliferate around the world. we continue to work aggressively

on that front today. but these are quite distinct lines of effort. and in this particular case we are working with the pakistanis to ensure that we do everything we can to prevent terrorists from being located in this region and creating threats to the united states and that is part of the ongoing effort that we have to maintain in the region where there are so many challenges. >> this morning national security adviser jake sullivan told savannah guthrie that he'd already been in touch with the taliban leadership, engaged with them over their clear violation of the doha agreement that said they would not be harboring -- giving safe haven to terrorists. what do you want to see from the taliban? what assurances could we ever believe from them? >> well, importantly, the taliban have a lot on the table that they need. they want to be recognized. they want access to the kind of financing that would enable their country to function. they want embassies in kabul from countries around the world. when the world sees that they

actually made the decision to allow the leader of al qaeda to be resident in the skrernt of kabul and the diplomatic compound, that would cause them to be at risk of losing the very things they are seeking. first of all, in the dialogue with the taliban they need to be held accountable. that's why we took this strike. and they need to come clean on what they're doing about it. we have work we need to do with them as well with respect to the release of mark frerichs. work with the afghan partners who are seeking to leave afghanistan. so we will continue that dialogue. but first and foremost we're holding them accountable for a violation of the doha agreement. >> and just finally, any message that you have as part of the national security team to beijing today about their really aggressive threats and reports of live fire exercises and cyber attacks against taiwan?

>> we've been very clear with the chinese. we're not seeking escalation. but we'll do everything that we need to do to ensure the safety of the speaker of the house and also to uphold the one china policy. >> ms. sherwood-randall, thank you very much from the white house. i know it's a busy day. thanks for taking time for us. >> thanks very much, andrea. and house speaker pelosi, as we say, arriving in taiwan today on a blue and white military jet from the fleet at joint base andrews with a group of fellow democratic members. republicans were invited. all declined. in a statement issued by her office as she was walking across the tarmac just after 10:30 in taiwan, 10:30 a.m. here this morning, the speaker wrote "america's solidarity with the 23 million people of taiwan is more important today than ever as the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy." she added that the visit in no way contradicts long-standing united states policy. now all eyes are on beijing with china already launching the most

aggressive military exercises in 25 years in response -- in advance of the trip. and the u.s. reiterating that policy remains unchanged. >> yeah, i hear you fine, erin. >> i think we've got some audio problems here, if the control room could just clear that up. okay. thank you. taiwan, we should point out, is self-governed but china claims it as part of its own territory. joining us now is ed louis, financial columnist at the "financial times" and richard haass, the president of the council on foreign relations. gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us. i should point out that dan sullivan and mitch mcconnell and a group of senate republicans have put out a statement just now saluting this trip and endorsing what the speaker is doing. in contrast to the house republicans who all declined this invitation to join this congressional delegation, which was intended to be bipartisan. so pelosi, as you know, the speaker's been a hawk on taiwan for decades. even tweeting -- let me show you this. three years ago she tweeted

video of her in tiananmen square back in 1991, where she was confronted by police. i think we've got that video which we can show you in a moment. so you're sharply critical of her for taking this trip. why? >> well, she's right that, you know, it's entirely within her power and her decision to go. and she will get the protection of the u.s. military. she's got i think eight f-15s that accompanied her plane. she's right that it's entirely her choice. but when your president, president biden, and his national security team gently suggesting that this might not be such a good idea, that this will heighten tensions at a moment when the administration doesn't want to see them heightened, when there isn't much dialogue, routine or otherwise, going on between the united states and china, then this very symbolic act, you

know, isn't very helpful to the biden administration. so that would be my first, primary concern, is it's not her foreign policy to make. it's the administration's. and she is intruding on it against their wishes. >> richard, you disagree. you say that there's no evidence that taiwan is moving toward independence, that this is a crisis manufactured by beijing. but are you concerned about the possibility of miscalculation by any of the sides, taiwan, beijing, even some u.s. mishap leading to military confrontation? >> andrea, history teaches us always to be concerned about unplanned crises, particularly when you have forces operating in proximity with one another. so that could happen. china's already taking steps, economic steps, military steps vis-a-vis taiwan. again, my guess is they would have found some other pretext to

do many of the same things in the run-up to the fall's party congress when xi jinping wants an unprecedented third term. but the challenge here is to keep a lid on things, to manage that, and more broadly once we get through this, and we will get through this, is to establish much more serious sustained private dialogue between the u.s. and chinese governments. these are the two most important countries in the world right now. a lot of the 21st century, how it goes, will depend upon this bilateral relationship. and the relative lack, the real paucity of serious private communication between the two governments is something that's in the interest of both sides to fix. >> and to ed, the cia director william burns told me in aspen that it isn't a question of whether xi will try to control taiwan, it's only a question of when. he did not think it's going to happen between now and the party congress. but should the u.s. just stand idly by? isn't the biggest change the

change in the aggressiveness by china under president xi? >> sure. china has gotten considerably more aggressive under president xi. there's no doubt about that. there's been more intrusion into chinese air identification zone. there's been more chinese military exercises. more quite sort of chilling rhetoric from across the taiwan strait. there's no doubt about that. the chinese see the united states as hollowing out -- it's a term they keep using. hollowing out the one china policy. since trump became president. there have been a lot more high-level codels, congressional delegation visitors. but particularly during the trump years by republican senators and indeed by a cabinet secretary, alex azar, in 2020. so both sides are accusing the other of escalating it. i have no doubt that china is more responsible for the escalation. and i have no doubt that xi

jinping, when people say that xi jinping wants to resolve taiwan on his watch, peacefully preferably but if not by force, that that's an accurate reading of what he's capable of doing. so we're in a situation, and here is wfr i agree with richard, where there is not really a dialogue to the death, there's not much dialogue at all. there's escalating tensions. very close proximity between u.s. naval assets and chinese. scope for miscalculation is huge. and after this party conference, after xi has crowned himself for this third term, i suspect china's going to get more robust on this. so we're entering very, very dangerous waters.

>> and with economic impacts, to ed and richard. you know, the markets are reacting because of the huge amount of trade with taiwan as the largest -- the world's largest producer of sophisticated semiconductors, critical commodity right now of course. ed luce, richard haass, thank you very much for this civilized debate over china and taiwan. and abortion on the ballot. primary day in kansas putting women's health care front and center. but first, the energy boost, the role that clean energy is playing and the big deal being struck on capitol hill. can it survive? senator joe manchin, a key player in those efforts, joining us next. this is "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. reports," only on msnbc. [ marcia ] my dental health was not good. i had periodontal disease, and i just didn't feel well. but then i found clearchoice. [ forde ] replacing marcia's teeth with dental implants at clearchoice was going to afford her

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care bill before the next recess next week. but senator krirs ten sinema has yet to say whether she would vote yes. the so-called deal by senator schumer and manchin would need the backing of all 50 democrats. joining us now is senator manchin of with of with of. senator, thank you very much for being with us. congratulations on coming up with a deal. there's a lot in this package which can explore. with you have you spoken with your colleague senator sinema and can you shed any light on whether she's going to back it? >> we'll be speaking this afternoon. she's contributed so much to a lot in this piece of legislation, you know, when it comes to reducing prices, letting medicare negotiate for lower drug prices that reduces prices to drugs across the board for medicare and also putting caps on life-saving insulin. she was very much instrumental in that. and so there's a lot of things in here she's worked on and i would like to think that she would be very positive on the things we've been able to do. and we're going to be talking

this afternoon. everyone makes their own mind up and that's the responsibility of every senator. >> i know you're respectful of her role, although she was not part of these individual negotiations. but you did expect to speak to her yesterday and i'm told she sort of fled the floor before anyone else could speak with her. so -- >> that was -- i left quickly too because we all have appointments. i understand that. so she contacted me this morning. she says we'll meet this afternoon. i said that's great, can't wait to sit down and talk and everything. but like i said, everyone had a lot of input on this bill. and reen the people, basically my republican friends who had a lot of objections to the bill build back better which i had objections to and couldn't support it. we looked at all of those things. when you think of what's in this bill, we're going to have more energy production. we're going to produce more oil. we're going to make more gasoline, have more supply to bring the prices down. we're going to have lower prices as far as by building more pipelines, to have lower natural gas prices so that we can bring our energy prices down. and energy has been driving

inflation. but on top of that we're going to have tremendous amount of investments in energy for the future. so it's a balanced energy security bill. and what we've talked about, if you can pay down on your debt $300 billion, if you can accelerate permitting so we can do things better and quicker and meet the market demands and the challenges we have and if you can produce more energy, which is all of the things my republican friends have wanted, it's in this bill. so we're hopeful that rather than playing politics, andrea, people would just look at this. this is an american bill. it's not a democrat bill or republican bill. it's definitely not a green deal. it's a red, white and blue deal. that's what they should be looking for. >> well, that's a question for senator sinema, though. do you expect that she will continue to oppose a key provision that would eliminate tax breaks for fund managers known as carried interest, the loophole that is allowing major corporations to get away without paying any taxes, not even the 15% minimum tax? will she finally agree to that?

she's been very hard on not going along with that. >> well, you know, we haven't talked about that, but we will. she can give me her concerns about that. we neff got into it before. i thought everyone agreed to the 15% minimum tax. you know, we have 55% of the wealthiest corporations in america that pay zero. and all we're saying is at one point the tax rate was extremely high. the corporate net was at 35%. in 2017 the republicans took it down to 21. that was a 14% savings. you would have thought that would have been great. but i guess it wasn't enough. so we set a 15% minimum all corporations -- and these are only corporations that have a billion dollars of revenue or greater. the biggest and largest in the country. and they enjoy the fruits of the protection of the military that we have, the rule of law, the ability they have to operate in a free society. surely the goodness they should be supporting. i would think most people say

yeah, i'm paying 21%, everyone i know in corporate world is paying 21, how come they get away with not? that's all we've done. so we're not taxing anybody. we're just saying closing the loophole and pay your fair share at 15%. and the rate's at 21. >> let me ask you to expand on something you were discussing with chuck todd on "meet the press" on sunday where you said -- you did not say whether you would back democrats in the midterms. you said you would decide based on individual candidates i think. would you support joe biden in he's on the ticket in 2024 as the democratic president seeking re-election? >> let me make it very, very clear. this is the most -- one of the most important pieces of legislation in my lifetime that we've ever done, to have energy security, to fight inflation, to help our geopolitical -- >> and you've worked with a democratic white house on it. >> that's exactly -- i'm working with them on it. i'm very appreciative. but for me to bring the politics

into it, oh, this is a democrat bill, this is a republican bill, this is not. i'm not talking about the 2022 election and 2024. i have no control over those elections. and i'm not going to talk about them that will skew one of the greatest pieces of legislation, and i'm very appreciative that the president has seen it, he's approved it, he supports it. god bless him for that. it's great for america. can't we do something for our country without having to bring politics into it? that's all i want to talk about. >> you're a democratic senator. >> i'm not going to talk about it. >> whether you're going to support the leader of your own party. >> i'm supporting this bill, andrea. it's the american bill. it's the red, white and blue american bill. it's the bill that we need to fight inflation, to have more energy to do the job we were sent here to do. every time you talk about politics it gets people fired up. i'm not going to go down that path. >> i'm not fired up, senator. but i appreciate the work you've put in on the bill and we can

talk about how much inflation it would bring down and whether or not it would actually raise taxes on the middle class, which some analysis say would happen because those corporations would pass on their tax increases to middle-class consumers. >> andrea, let's make sure that everyone understands that the joint tax committee, it's made up of democrat and a democrat staff and republican and republican. when it's a joint statement, they both agree on everything. this statement and this evaluation was only put out by the republican side. these are my friends. i know them. but i understand this is a political dialogue that's happening and it came from one side. so don't give it credibility that it came from the joint tax committee by both sides agreeing. that didn't happen. so let's be honest with what we have. how in the world can you say we're raising taxes when we're not raising one iota of taxes anywhere? anywhere. except we're making people, corporations of a billion dollars of revenue every year,

pay at least 15% to this great country. now, if you're opposed to these corporations paying a fair share at 15% when everyone else is still paying 21%, then you're not going to be supportive of this bill. but trying to malign it by saying oh, by doing this you're going to raise taxes, i'm sorry, i guarantee you the people that are making 100, 200, 300 -- whatever they may be making. they're paying their fair share. they would like for the corporations, the largest of the country, to do the same. that's so wrong, that analogy. and all these other things. there were 17 nobel laureates back in -- a year ago, andrea, when i said that inflation is real, it's here to stay and it's going to hurt us tremendously, they said oh, no. the 17 brilliant people said oh, no, it's going to be transitory. well, it was not transitory and it's very harmful. let's fight inflation. and this is the bill that fights inflation. and we took $3.5 trillion of

spending that the build back better was going to do. now we have a bill in front of us that gives us energy security and we invest $400 billion to make sure we can produce the energy we need today and invest in energy we're going to need tomorrow. that's what it does. >> and as you pointed out, it was your republican colleagues who put out that tax analysis. and i'll be fascinated to see what your conversation with senator sinema produces later today. >> well, she's my friend and we -- she's my friend, andrea and we get along great. she's very bright and she'll make her own decision. i know that. and she'll look at the facts. she always does. thank you. >> thank you very much for being with us today. >> thank you. >> appreciate it. and it's primary day in six states today. and election-denying republicans are on the ballot in two battlegrounds, arizona and michigan. and in missouri a messy endorsement by donald trump is kagz lot of confusion. deliberately.

the former president backed eric in the senate primary, a deliberate decision, a trump source said. there are three erics running and the two leading erics are now both saying they have trump's blessing and thanking him for it. and in kansas a ballot measure challenging abortion rights in the state's constitution after roe was overturned and allowing the republican legislature to potentially put a ban in place is being voted on today. nbc news correspondent dasha burns is on the ground in kansas for us speaking to the voters. dasha, there's a lot of confusion, as you've been pointing out, there's been a lot of deliberate misleading. we don't know where it's coming from. so that voters don't know whether a no vote is supporting abortion rights or it's a yes vote that's supporting abortion rights. >> reporter: and yea, that's exactly right. the folks i've been talking to today say it's been a pretty complicated process to navigate. they've had to do a lot of of research to make sure they understand what exactly they're voting for when they vote yes and when they vote no. in a final push for that yes

vote as you mentioned there yesterday, kansasns received misleading text messages that claimed a yes vote would protect a woman's right to choose when in fact a yes vote on the amendment the voters behind me are voting on right now, would strip the kansas state constitution of protections for abortion rights. the power to make decisions on the abortion issue would then go to the state legislature, which is heavily conservative, a republican super majority there. and it could open the door, as you said, to restrictions and potentially as many activists fear a ban. still, a lot of voters here realize that the stakes are incredibly high as those folks behind me here are among some of the first in the nation to actually cast a ballot on this issue. and they are passionate on both sides about making their voices heard. take a listen to some of what we heard today. >> what do you think is at stake here today? >> my daughters, their lives,

their choices. >> i want the country to make sure that women have the right to make a choice and that they are able to work with their doctors to make the right medical decision for themselves. >> lives are at stake here. i am totally for the amendment. i voted yes. i want babies' lives to be saved. >> i voted yes. i just want my children to always value life. >> and andrea, what kansans do today, how they vote and how many show up is going to be a bellwether for what we're going to see in the midterms in november. and i'll tell you just in ermz it of turnout at this polling location i'm told that on a typical primary election they see about 300 or so people. they've really had that number and it is not even noon central time here yet, andrea. >> and we don't know which way they're going. so we're going to have to watch that. and it could be a late count, we understand, too. dasha burns, thank you. just moments ago the justice department saying the attorney general, merrick garland, will

hold a press conference next hour announcing the first affirmative litigation to protect access to reproductive health care. it's unclear what exactly the details are but this could be part of the doj's task force to push back on state restrictions. we'll be right back. restrictio. we'll be right back. utual custos your home insurance, here's a pool party. look what i brought! liberty mutual! they customize your home insurance... so you only pay for what you need! ♪young people having a good time with insurance.♪ ♪young people.♪ ♪good times.♪ ♪insurance!♪ only pay for what you need. ♪liberty liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

we have breaking news from the white house where the president's physician says mr. biden continues to feel well but is experiencing a bit of return of a loose cough.

his vital signs do remain normal although his covid test from this morning is positive. the drone strike the u.s. says killed ayman al zawahiri is a political win for the white house and a significant accomplishment for the u.s. intelligence officials who located the al qaeda leader, planned what was described as a meticulous operation over a period of months. they say avoiding injury to his family or other civilians. virginia democratic senator mark warner chairs the senate intelligence committee and joins me now. so senator, i assume you were briefed before the strike. do you have any concerns it could lead to competition among other terror groups or factions to target other americans? >> i was appropriately briefed, and i think your description was dead on. i think it was a win for the american intelligence community in terms of pursuing and monitoring zawahiri. i think it was executed with, as pointed out, no collateral damage. and i think it sends a strong

signal, as the president said last night, if you come after and advocate violence, enact violence on americans and candidly zawahiri did it not just against americans but against civilized nations everywhere. we're going to go after you and ultimately take you out. and i don't think we can be intimidated that somehow this is going to throw the jihadist networks into turmoil and that create additional threats down the line. these are people who are against democracies. they are against the education of women. they have a vehement hatred of americans and the west writ large. and again, i think in some small way the world is a safer place due to our action. >> what about the taliban and their leadership? clearly knew he was there. it was one of their homes, one of their safe houses. they helped get him there from pakistan. most likely with the cooperation of pakistan. at least pakistani intelligence.

>> well, we've known the taliban are not trusted partners in any way. it's one of the reasons why america and frankly most other -- many other western nations do not recognize the taliban regime. we've seen how they have shut down any freedom for women, cutting off education for women, terrorizing many communities. i still hope in terms of pakistan who's been an ally on many fronts but has an intelligence service that candidly plays both sides time and again, i don't want to give up on pakistan, but they in many ways have not always been a reliable partner, as we all know. >> i want to talk to you about a domestic issue which has huge implications for our veterans. and you have so many veterans in virginia. the burn pits legislation. stalled in the senate. majority leader schumer says there's going to be a vote this week, but we are told that pat toomey is sticking by his guns

on his amendment. how do you see this playing out? >> listen, i don't agree with senator toomey. but at least i will grant him a consistent opinion. you know, he was against the bill when it got 84 votes. he was one of the 16 senators who voted against it. he may have changed his argument, but as i think i saw in your programming earlier, jon tester who's chaired the veterans committee, this bill has not changed at all. it was a minor sentence to make sure that we didn't violate some of the house procedural rules that was changed that have nothing to do with the kind of mandatory spending that this bill requires to make sure that veterans get what is owed to them. this was i think a sense of anger that republicans had because of the legislation, and i saw joe manchin on earlier today, the legislation that joe manchin and chuck schumer put

forward last wednesday afternoon i guess it was. i think in a spat of fury they decided to vote down that legislation and now are paying the price as veterans groups and americans are just frankly astonished that, you know, internal partisan politics is going to suddenly hold up a veterans bill. i think the -- you're basically seeing the republicans race and beg to get this bill back on the floor so they can show their support, get it through, but it was, again, a political fumble at best by some of my friends on the other side. >> well, senator mark warner, thank you very much for being with us on a day where certainly u.s. intelligence has a lot to be proud of. thank you. >> thank you, andrea. thanks so much. and getting close. the lawyer from wnba star brittney griner seems to indicate her ordeal in russia could come to an end soon. at least the trial phase.

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speaking but prosecutors and defense lawyers were arguing over the amount of cannabis oil found in her luggage. with closing arguments expected this thursday, her russian attorney said the end of the trial is near. the u.s. is offering a swap. to swap convicted russian arms dealer viktor bout for griner and american businessman paul whelan. joining me now is steve zissou, the attorney for viktor bout. thank you very much, mr. zissou, for joining us. what is the state of the negotiation as you understand it on this prisoner swap? >> well, it's a pleasure to be here today. so we thank you. i just wanted to let you know my wife sally and daughter casey are big fans of yours, and so we're honored to be here today and i'm privileged to represent viktor bout. where we are i think is -- this is about to come to an end. hopefully the sentence will be announced soon. if not this thursday at the very least we'll hear arguments about what the sentence should be. and then i'm not sure that the

judge will actually impose a sentence. if the judge does, then both sides will have an opportunity to appeal. if they don't, then i think we're very near to a resolution of this matter. miss griner can go home and hopefully viktor bout will be reunited with his family after being in custody for more than 15 years -- or i should say almost 15 years. >> now, you're close to these negotiations. do you think it's coming together or do you think this russian offer which the u.s. side has said is a non-starter for a man, a convicted murderer held in germany with ties to russian intelligence apparently, that that is going to sour the deal? >> look, i don't think -- i don't think anything will sour the deal. but i think you know, you're an experienced correspondent, journalist. you know that during these exchanges and discussions there are always names that are put on the table. i don't know for a fact that that name was thrown out there. i do know that regretfully folks

on the u.s. side continue what i have described as megaphone diplomacy. it's just not a good thing. i think that's the only thing that's going to slow this down. you know, i've been hearing that this is offensive to the russian side. and that may very well increase the length of detention for some time. but i don't think it's going to put an end to reaching a reasonable agreement here. >> and as far as you understand the deal right now, is it just mark whelan and brittney griner for viktor bout? paul whelan, excuse me. but not mark fogle is what i was trying to say, who is another american held on very similar charges as brittney griner. >> well, look, again, i don't want to speculate as to who else it might include. and you know, look, andrea, what happens here is that when -- the mistake the u.s. made in

announcing what their proposal was, it really does create a problem. folks don't realize that the legislatures, folks in government on the russian side, face the same kind of pressure that our politicians face here. you announce this deal and then it marks from being quiet to going nuclear. the same thing happens in russia. you hear a proposed exchange announced by the secretary of state and folk in russia who have their family members held hostage and they want to know why their family members aren't included. the easiest thing to do is quietly get the deal done and keep working toward the release of other people in each country. >> do you think it can be done this month? how soon to you think this could be accomplished? >> if both sides go on radio

silence and they stop talking about what's being discussed, yeah, then i think it could be done this month. if you continue to get this sort of mega phone diplomacy with folks speaking out of their you know what, then it could linger. but both sides stay quiet, keep working, folks are going to get reunited with their families. >> thank you very much. thanks for being with us today. >> my pleasure to be here. joining us now is the former u.s. ambassador to russia michael mcfall. well, i still have not gotten an answer from the the state department as to why mark foeg the, who was a teacher of your children and other embassy children and diplomats, who is not an employee, why he is not also being considered for any kind of trade.

>> mike, i think you maybe muted. if you could just check. there you are. if you could check your mute. >> i don't think -- we're going to come right back. stay with us. e right back stay with us it's a beautiful wo. neighborhoods "open". businesses "open". fields "open". who doesn't love "open"? offices. homes. stages. possibilities. your world. open. and you can help keep it that way. ♪♪ when pain says, “it's time to go home” “i say, “not yet”.

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former ambassador to russia mike mcfall is back with us. we apologize for the audio problems i was asking first about why not mark fogel in this swap? i can't get an answer from anyone in the u.s. government. what do you think is going on there? >> i honestly don't know. from the surface it looks like his case is exactly the same as brittney griner. he was unjustly sentenced to 14 years in prison. he's somebody, like you impied before the break, that taught many americans diplomats kids, taught our soldier's kids, including people that worked at the embassy. i know mark. he's a pate yoot yoth. he does not deserve to die in russia. >> so what's your reaction to bout's attorney and everyone should be quiet and let it happen. that seems to imitate when the

kremlin has been saying about not using a mega phone. >> many things about when he said is wrong. first of all, we're not supposed to be using a a mega phone, why is he on television today. he's saying we shouldn't be talking about this yet he's on tv all the time. number two, i really want to underscore nobody should have any illusions about the false equivalency about bout, somebody who was convicted in a court of law for running arms around the world ask threatening americans. he's a real criminal, none of the americans are. and you were talking about him, who killed the german. so please do not whatever his name was the lawyer, do not draw

any conclusions. their politics are not our politics. it's a dictatorship. poout season not being pressured because we're talking about it. it's just the opposite. the fact a that brittney griner's people have talked so loudly has created momentum for getting this it deal done. i just hope it's for three americans, not two. >> it's hard to imagine that it would be since they haven't even mentioned mark. you mentioned an assassin working for some intelligence. i don't which branch of the russian spy industry he's working for, but how did he get into this deal. did he see this as a deal breaker? >> again, it's just the russians, the state-controlled media, let's be clear who is doing this. channels controlled by vladimir putin directly. they are throwing this out there as a way to try to expand the deal. i think remember he's in

germany. he's not in the united states. i think it's very unreasonable to think he should be part of this deal. i suspect he will not be. >> do you think it's possible if there is a decision from the court this week, final arguments, that then that would clear the way for some kind of prisoner swap soon? >> that's most certainly what i hope. and again, i hope for three americans, not two. but i hope the two americans being considered might be part of that deal. at the same time, i need to tell you i have dealt and negotiated with the russians for many, many years. i am always worried until the deal is done. i worry that they might change their minds. you'll notice that they have not spoken very clearly at the senior level about this swap. it's been us speculating and the russian press and the american media. so i worry that maybe this is not as sealed a deal in terms of a completed swap as we might

suspect. fds. >> mike, thank you very much. thank you for your patience today. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember follow the show online on facebook and on twitter. "chris jansing reports" live from kansas city, missouri, right now. good afternoon, i'm chris jansing live in a beautiful but sweltering kansas city, missouri, where the polls have been open for six hours already on this huge primary day. voters casting ballots feet from where i'm sitting. crucial elections on both sides of the state line. here in missouri, it's the senate race featuring the attorney general, a disgraced former governor, and one of the most confusing endorsements you'll ever see. and in kansas, we're watching in realtime as abortion rights are on the ballot for the