and there is some outstanding work going which is very important for the agencies iaea, so we'll continue. thank you so much. >> ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, please remain in your seats until the official delegations have departed. >> president joe biden, president emanuel macron of france, in the first time at the white house, the first time that the white house is hosting a state dinner yet this term, because of covid, and president biden chose to bring in the french president. we have a long-standing relationship with the french. it goes back, it's a friendship that goes back many, many years. many, many, many years. and again, it is a strong relationship. and there have been some stumbles. they came out there and addressed one of them, that's the inflation reduction act, which macron had called

aggressive. well today, he said he didn't come to ask for an exception for france, but they talked about it in detail, and he said that it's time to resynchronize on their trade agreements, on their relationship, we'll find out what exactly resynchronized means in just a moment. we also talked a lot about ukraine. obviously, that is the biggest topic in europe right now. that is the biggest challenge europe has faced. keeping nato together in the face of russia's aggression toward ukraine. macron has been a big ally of the president on that. he called him, president joe biden called macron his closer, a number of times, and macron called biden his dear friend, this was in many ways a sign to the rest of the world that these two powers will still stand side by side. joining me from the white house is nbc's peter alexander who is in that room, still in that room, and political reporter and msnbc contributor eugene daniels

and former assistant defense secretary for europe and nato under president obama, jim townsend. so peter, you were in the room. it did seem very much like these two men were trying to bend over backwards to be nice to each other, and to show the world that this aligns, despite the recent stumbles, the alliance is still quite strong. >> i think that's right. obviously we heard from the president as the french president first arrived here describe described this unwavering friendship between the two and that was on display in the course of the conversation as they appeared to nod in agreement with other answers throughout the news conference as it happened here. obviously the headline sert focus on ukraine right now. it was the first item that they mentioned in the joint statement that the two presidents shared in advance of their arrival here, president biden closing this news conference, by saying he has no plans to meet with vladimir putin, who emanuel macron has met with on several occasions and reportedly expected to meet with again in person soon. the president said he would be open to meeting with putin if he showed a sincere interest in

putting an end to this war. so that's one key place where there is wide agreement among the two countries about the path forward here, even if there is sort of a difference in the way that they have handled efforts at diplomacy there. a couple of diplomatic, i sh say domestic headlines as well, specifically as it relates to the rail strike and the concerns that as the president said, more than 700,000 american workers could be laid off out of a job, if the strike is to go forward on december 9th which is next friday, the senate could vote, as early as this afternoon, to support the deal, and approving the deal that the president had first brokered, a matter of weeks ago, the one that was turned down, that was rejected by four of the 12 unions. the president is saying among other things basically that he doesn't make any apologies for it, that he has been working very hard to get paid sick leave for those workers, not just for them, but for american workers broadly, touting some of the benefits he saw existing for the rail workers here, including a 24% raise.

he said it was a 40-percent raise, it was 24% raise for the workers over the next five years. and one other place of tension between the two countries and it relates to the reduction, inflation reduction act and president biden one of his primary domestic policies was the passage of that effort to invest tens of billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in u.s. clean energy. his effort to invest tens of billions of dollars in semiconductor production here at home, the president making no apologies for his desire to focus on american manufacturing, american production, as well, and acknowledging there have been some glitches as he described it, in the way that this came together and promising, as you noted, that they would work together going forward. president macron referred to it as a resix nyization. he said there will be strong integration going forward to maintain what is a strong partnership as the two men have indicated today. >> he talked about paid sick leave for all americans and that's something he would be working on going forward.

it is obviously something that the democrats have been, some democrats at least have been working on for many years now, and it is still, it keeps failing, is still doesn't get included in these big must-pass bills. it's the thing that gets cut first. did any details on what he meant by that, whether there's more of an effort under way to pass paid sick leave, for not just these rail workers but for all americans as the president said? >> he didn't detail any specific way, any path forward to that effort. he did take a swipe at the republicans who opposed that effort every step of the way. he said the effort to provide paid sick leave not just the rail workers but americans at large. the deal that was brokered here, doesn't just provide that pay hike and gives some flexibility in the schedule for those union rail workers, more than 100,000 of them in the country, and it does give them just one day of paid sick leave. there certainly have been some progressive democrats for bernie sanders, elizabeth warren among them, who have been saying that's simply not enough, which

is why you're likely to see an amendment vote take place as early as this afternoon. the house passed it yesterday. an additional seven days of paid sick leave for those rail workers. but there is, there's certainly some opposition on the senate side, which is why the white house has said its primary desire right now is that you avoid a strike over the course of the next seven to ten days and make sure that the initial deal that was brokered before they further pursue efforts to provide more paid sick leave. >> peter, before i let you go, what is next on the agenda for president macron and president biden. >> president macron has a visit for the state department. everything is a bit behind because of the one-on-one meeting they easted earlier in the oval office, it went longer than expected and then tonight, the highlight, as it were, the headliner of this visit, the first state visit of the biden administration, which will be the state dinner, it is a zinner that is going to celebrate the relationship between the two country, even as you walked into the building today, you could

smell the poached lobster, as you arrived here today, they will have some american cheeses on display, and the 2019, 2020 world champion of cheese, notably not from france but from oregon, will be provided as a part of the cheese plate as well as some wine amend champagne they're certain to share as well. in an effort really to celebrate this relationship between the two and notably, katy, it is the second consecutive state visit where emanuel macron has been honored here, the last one obviously under very different circumstances in terms of the relationship with the former president donald trump. >> it has to be torturous to walk into the white house and smell poached lobster and know that you're not getting a plate. i'm sorry. >> that's right. peter alexander, thank you very much for sticking around for us. eugene and jim, let's talk a little bit more in detail about this meeting. when president macron says they need to resynchronize on trade and the inflation reduction act, and what he calls in the past

aggressive toward europe, what does he mean by that? >> that's a great question. and you also heard president biden say that really he needs to tweak some of the legislation, and there was no intent to do harm to european industries, so whether it is a tweak or a resynchronization, the key is to figure out how to you mesh making sure the american industry and the european industry remains strong and not competing with one another and losing jobs. the resynchronization could be a cooperation, and because we're trying to deal with climate change, that together, if we work toward things like the batteries and the electric vehicles, we do it together in a synchronized fashion. perhaps that is something where both sides of the atlantic can gain something with this and not come out competing with another one. >> president macron, part of it is he believes all of the subsidies for green technology and green business that president biden is giving here

as part of that bill will take business away from europe? >> that's right. with these subsidies, and the incentives, both for mexico as well as canada, the united states, that that is going to not to have a level playing field, that the industry in europe should be able to have some type of cutout as well. so that it is not going to be a disadvantage to them. as they give incentive to american industry and the industry here is strengthened and there is more jobs and more progress, macron says that will come at our expense, because we can't do that here the way you can. you're too strong of an industrial presence, and he wants to level it out somehow. >> you know, it wasn't too long ago, eugene, that president macron recalled his ambassador, the french ambassador, back to france, because of anger over the united states making a nuclear submarine deal with australia. ha was a pretty low point in our

relationship. what do you make of the two men meeting today and just the body language between the two, given that that anger only happened a few months ago. >> it hasn't been that long, that dust-up happened, and obviously the tension between the two countries, but as you saw all day long today, including the very beginning this morning, when they welcomed the delegation to the white house, there was a touching, hand holding for a long time, to signify that these two relationships, this relationship is strong, that these two leaders are going to continue to work together moving forward. it seemed like, you know, the people i talked to in the white house say this is about showing folks that they are moving fron some of those dust-ups and trying to resynchronize as the french president put it today and i think that is something that for a lot of reasons why it has been happening. one, we have ukraine, where

america and france have to continue to work together along with other european countries, nato countries, in the fight against russia and climate change is what they brought up and you also have china, and this is something that they didn't talk a lot about it in this press conference but there are also concerns about how does the rest of the western world come together to counter-act some of the aggressions china might do against taiwan for example. and these are two leaders who are in charge of countries where the right wing has power, and that is another part of it, to show that the rest of the world, president biden talked about this today, talking about how democracies deliver, and talking to both countries, and the rest of the world saying, this is how we do these things, this is important, come to the more liberal access, and facets of both of those countries, that this is not how things work, and how they're going to work, so there is a lot in kind of the

body language and the fact that this is the first time that there is a state dinner at this white house. >> and france has fought back against that right wing, or macron has at least, italy has now succumbed to it, there is now a right wing leader of italy right now. on that note, can we read into why it was an invitation to president macron, eugene, today? why it wasn't an invitation to another ally? he was here a few years ago, for, it was the last state dinner, as peter alexander just mentioned under state obama so for him, for the last one and then the first one, under president trump, excuse me, not to mix those up. the last one, and the first one, and why not branch out? >> well, one of the reasons is the french and the relationship under trump, as we all know, was very different. and a lot more tense. so i think it is repairing the relationship from that point, repairing the relationship over

the nuclear submarines and anyone in the white house will tell you the president said today that this is the longest relationship that the united states has when it comes to international relations. and so that is obviously a part of it. but also, you know, this is someone who, the two men are, when you look at when the leaders began to meet when covid was over and they spent a lot of time together, they spent quite a bit of time on the phone talking, as emanuel ma crone was having his own solo conversations with the russian president, the two leaders we saw today coming together and having conversations about ukraine and russia, so that relationship is stronger, and that's what this is, this is a president who is much older than macron, so he sees this as kind of putting this young leader under his wing, as the rest of the world continues to look for what's the next leader, who could be the next leader of democracies in the western world, and i think kind of cultivating that relationship, and most importantly, putting

macron up a little bit is something that this white house and this -- >> i feel like macron feels like he is already very much up there, and right not -- >> he does for sure. >> and i want to talk about ukraine and russia, and play a little bit about what president biden said about the challenge there. >> i knew russia was, but i didn't anticipate they would be as brutal as they have been. 's not going to succeed. president macron and i have resolved that we will continue to work together to hold russia accountable for their actions and to mitigate the global impacts of putin's war on the rest of the world oochs. the united states is helping to diversify away from natural gas from russia in the median term and then accelerating our partnership in europe as we move forward. >> talking about energy, and energy is a big problem for europe right now. and it's one of the things that could potentially break up this nato alliance, this unified

front, when it comes to pushing back against russia. what did you read into what you heard today? >> it was very interesting, when he mentioned the nursery, what he was talking about, when he was talking about some of the targets that the russians hit, and if you remember, that killed a young child, two days old, and it was just a horrible tragedy, and i think that has really had an impact on him, and seeing that, you could see in him the anger coming from the brutality that we're seeing, and that anger is something that i think he wants to transmit to the house of representatives, too, as we have a new crop of maga republicans who are coming in, and aren't so sold on giving assistance to ukraine, so i think you saw with him, and with president macron, this unity that will survive whatever comes their way in the winter time.

you're absolutely right about energy. ukraine is going to really have it tough. europe is, too. europe is having a shortage. they're going to have it tough. i think though that the politics right now in the european capitals and among the leaders is pretty strong, you saw that in the foreign ministers meeting at nato a few days ago and seeing it today with macron, i think the u.k. as well, the new leadership there, they're strong on this, too. so they're going to survive this winter, and the more brutality we see, the tougher i think we're going to be on russia. >> do you think that there is going to be a push to get president zelenskyy to negotiate a settlement? >> i don't think so. over the past couple of weeks, there's been that rumor, jay sullivan, others, were trying to push zelenskyy, at least to be open to negotiations. well, you know, i think that, yeah, at some point, we're going to have to negotiations, but we're not there now. and there's a lot more fighting,

unfortunately, that's going to have to happen in ukraine, and there's going to be more tragedy that we're going to to see, with the civilian population, we're not at a point yet where we can be twisting arms in kyiv about negotiating. they're going to have to get russia to the point where they're going to sit down at the table and talk. and that point is, i'm afraid it is going to be many, many months outs from where we are today. >> jim townsend, eugene daniels, gentlemen, thank you very much. still ahead, where is herschel walker? what walker did not do that is frustrating republicans in the final stretch before the runoff. and it looks like they're going to have a deal. what chuck schumer just said about the rail vote. plus, after years of legal wrangling, house democrats finally have their hands on donald trump's tax returns. but with only weeks until they seize control, to republicans,

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where was herschel walker, for five days over the holiday break, the republican candidate disappeared from the campaign trail, all but ceding the air waves to warnock and the barrage of attack ads the democrats have released, including this one where georgians are asked to react to some speeches where walker talks about bones impregnating cows and werewolves killing vampires. the lack of urgency, you're laughing, it's true, is' what they reacted to, the lack of urgency from walker has led republicans to grumble to the "new york times" and "atlanta journal constitution" that walker's campaign hasn't gained enough momentum to keep up. and while a number of high profile republicans are pitching walker to georgians, including nikki haley and the state's governor brian kemp, he is purposefully not getting an assist from former president trump. to tell us what is happening in georgia tonight, let's go to

atlanta, and nbc's vaughn hillyard. all right, let's start with warnock. who is showing up for him tonight in georgia? >> reporter: barack obama is, katy. we're at a moment of time in which, a former democratic president in the united states, coming into georgia is better for a candidate statewide than to have a former republican president of the united states coming to georgia and this is where we are in 2022. >> there is talk about walker and him going off the campaign trail, a shortened period for the runoff, what you are hearing about his presence, his sense of urgency, going into next tuesday? >> reporter: well right now, i was talking to a top republican official in the state and he was expressing to me frustration, every time you turn on the tv, essentially it is a back-to-back to back attack ad against herschel walker. and that is where you have seen democrats really try to hone in on, and raphael warnock has

used, as part of his closing message, that this is a race about character and competency. and you know, as barack obama, who was actually here just before the general election, when he held another rally here in georgia, in which he hit on the idea that herschel walker may have been a great football player here in the state of georgia, but the folks in the country and here in georgia have seen the repercussions of choosing a celebrity for major federal public service positions in the past here, obviously a reference to donald trump. and donald trump's approval ratings here are tanked. this is a place that is completely, has completely rejected donald trump. if you go back to that primary back in may, who brian kemp who stood his ground against donald trump, won against trump-backed david perdue for 15 points and it is good for herschel walker that he is not coming to town and it is worth noting that brian kemp is on the tv air waves trying to tout herschel walker's candidacy, because

frankly, he is going to need it, not only on the conservative credentials but also somebody there to make the pitch and to thank him, an individual who has only had mounting questions about his character and his background. >> the character and the background, where he lives, all of the stuff is still very much out there, and there's another ad again talking about the way that he treated his family, that democrats are looking at that, in support of warnock, or against walker. are you seeing that everywhere? tell me about it. >> there is actually a new story from the daily beast here that was published today, reaching out to a particular woman who is going on the record, and she dated herschel walker she said for five years, the daily beast has photos of the two of them in which she chronicled beginning back in 2005 detailed notes about her relationship, in which she said that she was physically attacked once by herschel walker, and this is notable because this woman has put her name out there on the record here, and this is just part of

those, those mounting stories here that have called into question herschel walker's time since his playing days in georgia here, and when you're talking about the number of women who have come forward alleging that he urged them to have abortions, after carrying his child, this is a tough situation in which republicans, like brian kemp, have been tasked with trying to answer and justify a vote up on capitol hill with an "r" next to them, is worthy despite the legitimate character questions and serious questions about an individual's past that are not necessarily reflective of the family values that republicans like to espouse. it's as tough for republicans and the question here is, are there going to be enough conservatives that get out to the polls over the course of the next couple of days to close what was a 38,000 advantage for raphael warnock just three weeks ago, and herschel walker,

despite all of these questions to convince enough republicans to get out there on this upcoming tuesday. >> it is not just the values that republicans like to espouse, values that everyone likes to espouse, not being violent and being truworthy and all of that. vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. kendra cotton joins us now. thank you for being here. and vaughn just laid out all of the issues that face walker, all of these ads, the questions about his character, the times where he hasn't been truthful, questions about even where he lives, where he calls home, whether it's georgia or texas that have come out. why is it still so close? why are they, these two men in a runoff? >> thank you for having me, katy. i appreciate it. i'm very excited to be here. i want to stress, i think it is a misnomer out here, and i know folks who live outgeorgia's 159 counties, georgia is a purple state or a blue state and

georgia is really red inside of these 159 counties and georgia turned blue in 020 and the 2021 runoff fall federally and why it is so close because you still have a lot of folks out here who believe in conservative values. the georgia project fund and other groups in the progressive ecosystem in the state have worked tirelessly to whittle that number down, and we're excited about the fact that it is a runoff. we're excited about the fact that we're still in this game. and we are working to leave no stone unturned. because at this juncture, it really is simply a turnout game. it is not about persuasion. that's why you see president obama coming down, the last time he came down right before the general election, 7,000 georgians turned out to come and see him. so it is a win. so yes, it kind of stinks if you will that we're in this kind of a dog fight with someone as unqualified as herschel walker, but we again feel very confident leading up until tuesday. >> do you think that the republicans had a stronger candidate, that this would maybe not be in a runoff right now,

that you guys would be on the losing end of things? >> well, given how the midterms turned out for us, you know, i don't know, you know, hindsight is 20/20. what i can say is if there was a stronger candidate, i don't think that, i don't know that the margin of reverend warnock's, you know, vote tally above walker's would have been as robust. i do think it would have been very difficult for even another candidate to get to that 50% plus one threshold here in georgia that is needed to avoid a runoff, but like i'm saying, i do think it would have been a tighter race. >> let me ask you about turnout. i mean you've seen record numbers for early voters, democrats are obviously really pushing early voting, getting as much banked before election day. are you happy with what you've seen or do you believe you still need to push a little harder that you guys will be able to walk away with this? >> of course we're going to push a little harder. here in georgia, i want to make sure all of the viewer hes

understand, sb 202 was a voter suppression bill that was enacted post 2021 runoff, and what that did was it truncated the amount of time between the general election and the runoff that we're seeing on december 6th. and so we've lost about four weeks that we could have really kind of been pushing to get our voters out to the polls. in addition to that, we weren't able to register folks to vote for this runoff election. even though it is a new election. and let me explain to you why that is so nefarious. the fact is, you have folks who probably are new voters, who either moved into the state, who would be eligible to vote in this election, or folks who turned 18 who would be eligible to vote in this election, but they cannot, because they made the voter registration deadline for this election november 7th. the day before the november 8th general. the day before we even knew we were going to have a runoff. so we weren't even able to register people to vote in this election, who should be able to do so. and so yes, we're out here

really pushing, early vote ends on friday, we are on campuses right now, we're orchestrating pseudo campus walkouts where we're encouraging students to leave their class or their dorm or what have you and go directly to the polls that's closest to their universities, so that we can get them, you know, those votes banked. it is super important. since november 14th, we've knocked on almost 600,000 doors. we've had about 300,000 conversations with georgians. we have a goal of hitting about 300,000 more doors before the december 6th election. we're sending out four to 500 people canvassers, to knock on these doors on a daily basis. >> get your knuckles ready for that. those door knocks. kendra cotton, thank you so much. appreciate your time. good luck out there. and we've got some breaking news on capitol hill. senator majority leader chuck schumer has locked in the votes to pass the rail zeal, designed to avert a major railway strike. we are expected the vote

sometime today. joining me from capitol hill is nbc's ryan nobles. what part of the deal is this? is this the deal without the paid sick leave or is it the deal with the paid sick leave? >> reporter: great question, katy. that still remains to be seen. what chuck schumer has done is strike an agreement with his senate colleagues to basically speed up this process. basically, any member of the senate can slow down a legislative process all by themselves. and what he has done is gotten unanimous consent to move this process forward in a much rapid clip. what he did in order to get that agreement is to allow two different votes to come to the floor that will answer those very questions that you just asked. the first is a vote on what they're calling a 60-day cooling off period that would allow the two sides more time to negotiate to try and come to a better deal. this is something that the unions aren't really in favor of, and the rail companies might prefer, and republicans prefer that measure is likely to fail. they are actually voting ton right now. the second piece of legislation they will vote on is a

resolution that would extend seven days of paid sick leave to the rail workers, and the outcome of that is still very much in doubt. there is probably enough of a majority of votes but not the 60 votes necessary for it to pass, and then the third and final vote will be the big one, and that will be the vote that ratifies this agreement between the two sides, and that is expected to pass here, in the next hour or so. so this, there is quite a bit of horse trading between members of the senate in the last couple of hours to try to get this over the finish line. and to do it in a timely fashion. because there was the concern that if it wasn't done today, it would extend into the weekend, and then into next week, and then the whole thing could fall apart. schumer was able to bring all of the sides together to get it moving quickly and we expect it to be wrapped up by the end of the day. >> any changes? is this going to have to go back to the house? or go straight to the president's desk? >> that's a great question, and that is a really important part of this. now, if for some reason they do pass this section having to do with the 60 day cooling off period, that would hav

isn't a version of that in the house. but the version they have on the floor having to do with the paid sick leave and with the agreement itself, they are identical to the legislation in the house, by design, so that the second it gets passed here, it can go right to the president's desk. so this legislative process can sometimes be like a yo-yo going back and forth. that is not the case this time. should they have the votes to have it passed and at least in terms of the agreement, it will go right to the president's desk. >> thank you very much. joining me is the democratic congressman representing the fifth district of new jersey, scott gothimer, the problem solvers caucus. this looks like a problem that has been solved. how do you see what chuck schumer said that he has the votes to get this done. >> i think it is good news. ideally, we get this done quickly and get this deal agreed to, i'm hoping of course, that the paid leave portion passes, out of the senate and goes to the president's desk. we can avert a strike, keep the

country moving, economy moving, people and their jobs and there would be a great outcome here. >> president biden a moment ago when he was talking with president macron talked about paid sick leave and he wants it in the deal and he wants it largely for the american public and he is still working on that. you only have a few weeks left before congress turns over, so unlikely that any sort of paid sick leave deal is going to pop up and get passed in the next couple of weeks. in the next session, democrats will control the senate, potentially by one more senator, we'll see what happens on tuesday. do you think that there is any sort of deal that the house can come to, that the problem solvers caucus might be able to lead, to get paid sick leave for all americans? >> well, you know, when you have a very tight majority, like we're going to have in the house, right, republicans will have a four-seat majority, just like right now, the democrats have a four-seat majority, lots of things can happen when you need to make a deal. we've seen that over this congress, on infrastructure, on chip, on the health act of

veterans, and supporting law enforcement. these deals come together, and that's when of course you get to sit down at the table and push for things that you care about, priorities like paid leave, so i think anything is on the table, the real question that i'm hoping is that republican leadership wants to sit at the table and willing to come to gleams and i think that's how we're going to have to govern to get things done for folks. >> i think you hit the nail on the head. republican leadership has to come to the table. and before the bills come to the floor, you have to have buy-in from kevin mccarthy, steve solis scalise, we don't know yet, do you see any way to work with the republican party and the speakerer of the house, when they're under such pressure from the tea party caucus, the most right-ward flank of the republican party, which right now is holding kevin mccarthy's chances to be speakership, speaker hostage. >> i do know that these next weeks will be hairy for republican leadership to work out their business. but you know, we come back in january, and with a new speaker,

they will have to actually, where there are things that have to get done, there are things a we have to pass, just like right now we have to fund the government. there are things we're going to have to do. we will vote next ween on the same-sex marriage that came over from the senate. so there is plenty that will be on the table for them that they have to do, and in order to get those things across the finish line, they're going to have to vote the coalition that includes democrats, because they will have to deal with their far extreme right which clearly the country doesn't want. they want common sense. they want unity. and for republicans leadership, if they want to govern success tall tally -- successfly, they will have to work for that. and as you pointed out, what will be the appetite, and what will that leader face from his far right? >> it is a crazy question to ask in these very divided times but i'll ask it of you because you're part of the problem solvers caucus. is there any world, any scenario, or is it ludicrous to even ask this, where democrats

say hey, i'll vote for you kevin mccarthy to get you the speakership, he doesn't need just republicans, he needs the majority of the house, correct me if i'm wrong on that, if you promise to work with us on x, y, or z. >> i think that is really tough. that would not be a very popular thing to do. and beyond that, i think that would cause ruptures and fissions within the republican caucus. i think the bigger thing that we can hope for is making sure that come when the vote, after the vote happens, that we're able to actually sit down, and i think that's going to be necessary, putting country first, looking for the places where we can work together, right? on affordability issues and health and immigration and issues standing up to china and domestic manufacturing. the places where we really can find common ground. again, that's going to take courage from lots of people. but we did it this past congress on so many instances, we were able to get that done, beginning with the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

and the problem solvers caucus was very involved. and listen, that gets very contentious, people get set on both sides, and at the end of the day, you get it done and move the country forward with an historic accomplishment. i'm hoping that is the approach the republican leadership takes. >> and some of the craziest questions get the most interesting answers. thank you very much. >> good talking to you. and six years of donald trump's tax returns are now in house democrats' hands. what are they going to do with them? and we're going to go live to downtown new york city, where the trump organization's tax fraud trial, speaking of taxes, the tax fraud trial is wrapping up. what the defense just said to deflect blame. ves the scent of n so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice and long lasting gain scent beads. try spring daydream, part of our irresistible scent collection.

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today, lawyers for the trump organization made closing arguments in the company's tax fraud trial. the company is accused of conducting an organized scheme

to avoid taxes, carried out by some of the hot executives. two of those executives testified during the trial. allen weisselberg, who admitted to accepting off the books perks in lieu of his full salary avoided more than a million in taxes. and jeffery mcconney, who was aware of weisselberg's actions. but in order for prosecutors to prove the trump organization is guilty as a business, they need to prove that weisselberg was acting on behalf of the company and not just for personal gain. and that right there was what the closing arguments focused on today, if you were the defense team. joining me from outside the new york city courtroom is nbc's tom winter. so the defense really laid in to allen weisselberg today. tell me what happened. >> reporter: yes, to say the least, calling it his personal greed, katy, was the reason why he did that, and that's the reason why we're here, according

to the trump corporation's attorney, the real focus to this she says is what weisselberg was doing to get those off the books perks that you described, we're talking about an apartment, we're talking about a car, tuition, for his grandkids to be able to go to school, and all of that would have been perfectly legal had he paid the taxes on it. but of course, as you said, this case is not about allen weisselberg. that's not his charge here. facing a 15-count indictment is the trump organization and the subsidiary companies, the trump corporation and the trump payroll corporation, the defense for the trump payroll corporation, still bringing forth their closing arguments as we speak. but the core of this is this idea that look, allen weisselberg had his hands on the controls of the trump organization finances. he did what he did for his personal benefit. and the defense attorneys have come out here today and said look, the trump family, and the broader trump organization, and certainly the former president,

hired lazard usa for $2.5 million a year, had an accountant there who testified for the defense, donald bender, who was supposed to be on top of, this and making sure there was nothing untoward that was happening here. and they pointed to allen weisselberg's only statements when he said, own statements that he said it was a betrayal and he felt like he let down the trump family, describing and actually showing his testimony in the form of transcripts before the jury this morning. . so jurors appear to be taking notes. katy, as you can well appreciate, the courthouse here, not exactly a very modern one, so they're tempering the heat with opening up the windows, and bringing in the, i would say the low 40 degree temperatures that we're having here, so the jury is certainly awake for no other reason than that. but definitely paying attention and writing down some of the court documents, some of the emails borth and forth. it will be up to the prosecution who should at least start their closing argument this afternoon

to try to get to this idea that weisselberg, in this whole scheme, had some benefit. that's the key phrase. some benefit for the trump organization. and it was weisselberg's actions as its cfo that gave him that benefit. that was really the hurdle that they have to across here and we'll see how they do, and we'll see how the verdict, how the jury rather, when they get charged, what verdict they come to, katy. >> it is an old building. and the radiators, it is a delicate alchemy to figure out how to maintain a comfortable temperature there. tom winter, thank you very much. we'll watch out for a verdict. speaking of taxes, donald trump's tax returns, six of them, six years of them, are finally in the hands of lawmakers on the house ways and means committee after a long legal battle that went all the way to the supreme court. the question now is what happens next. will those tax returns contain new revelations about the

ex-president's finances and will the public ever be able to see any of them? joining me now is nbc's ali vitali. so tell me. >> reporter: that's what we're trying to figure out, too. yes, the committee is likely now able to access them. the treasury department saying that they abided by the request which is to give the committee the six years of federal returns and what the committee is able it do with them, there is the function of the strings attached if they were to try to release the returns and then there is also the question of the ticking clock. they've got just a few weeks left of democrats being in the majority and being in control of the ways and means committee. the chairman yesterday was pretty much on the details mostly because he has to be legally, and also because he says he is committed to seeing this through. other members are pressuring him to release these records but they're going to be meeting at some point today, and they'll have that conversation. but the clock is ticking. they have to do it quickly. >> they got together quickly when the treasury decision went down. and let me ask about what kevin

mccarthy said about the january 6th committee. he said obviously as we all knew it would dissolve once the new congress comes in but asking chairman bennie thompson in the letter for something specific. what is that, ali? >> to preserve all records which thompson was very clear with us yesterday, that was their plan anyway, and going further than that, and also their plan to release all of their findings publicly, and that's what they're trying to do right now, put the pen down, finish writing that final report, and then figuring out, a, the narrative that they are going to weave of all of their findings and all of their interviews and even since they stopped doing public hearings and also what they're going to include in the append sys and are they going to put them online and what is the public able to access. there is a real big push for transparency here and what thompson said, throwing shade at kevin mccarthy, i plan to release all of this including the subpoena i signed for kevin mccarthy to appear before the committee which he has not done. >> thank you very much. it has been 18 years and

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almost three weeks almost three weeks since four university of idaho students were found stabbed to death in a home near campus and police now say they do not know if the victims were specifically targeted. which is not what they had been saying. authorities investigating the killings previously said one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted. and just days after the bodies were found, moscow idaho police described the attack as a, quote, targeted attack. joins me from moscow, idaho is nbc news correspondent morgan chesky, so morgan, why the apparent reversal? >> reporter: there has been some confusion about the use of word target and it was exacerbated by the fact that a prosecutor here had said that this may have been a targeted attack on the house location and not necessarily an individual itself. i had a chance to speak to a spokesman for idaho state police, and i asked him

pointblank, is the word targeted accurate? he said that they do believe this was a targeted attack, but it is too early in this investigation to say whether or not the target was the home, itself, or specific individuals inside. however, he added they are continuing to gather evidence, speak to people, and they believe pertinent to this investigation, and in hopes of learning more. katy? >> morgan, i'm sorry, i'm a little confused and i'm wondering if you can get more from them, targeting the home, not targeting the people? i don't get it. >> reporter: right, it is certainly a question that a lot of people are asking here in moscow. it was inferred rather that it may have been a specific location that could have been staked out by this potential suspect, or killer, and that going inside, they took advantage, i guess, of the situation with the people there, instead of targeting specific

individuals. admittedly, investigators have said that they are not able to say a lot right now, because they are trying to build out a significant detailed time line here. i want you to hear what the spokesperson had to say about this ongoing investigation and how they're trying to move forward as best as possible. take a listen. >> one of the ways to be really helpful is the fraternity house, it would be nice to know maybe who they interacted with, and maybe what routes they took to get home and what time specifically that they left, information that friends and people at that location would have, that would help us. >> reporter: so they are calling on the public right now to try to fill in those gaps. they say anything, however insignificant it may seem, could be pivotal in this case. the fbi working with idaho state police and moscow police, and they call this a 24/7 operation, they do tell me they're making progress, but understandably, it is frustrating for a lot of people in the community with no suspect name, and no description

given, and not each a person of interest acknowledged by authorities right now. >> so strange. and to think they would have been able to talk to the fraternity house, it has been many weeks since this happened. good to know the fbi is involved. maybe it will get closer to getting resolved soon. morgan, thank you very much. i know it is a hard question, what do they mean by targeting the house, and it is just a weird answer. morgan, thanks so much. that will do it for me today. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. like dave was in his happy place - the massage chair at the mall. [ping] but... he wasn't. gain flings with oxi boost and febreze. bye bye tough odors, try gain odor defense. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you.

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