sky visible for miles.

the fear is the toxic chemicals being released into the air, the ground water prompting urgent evacuation orders. and newly released body cam video from the mass shooting at a louisville bank showing the moments police officers put an end to a gunman's reign of terror >> i think i got him down. i think he's down! >> plus, new details about how police say the shooter was able to legally purchase an ar-15 style rifle just case before his rampage. and a highly anticipated vote in memphis in just hours now over whether to reinstate the second black tennessee lawmaker ousted from his seat for protesting gun violence. will justin pearson join his colleague who made his triumphant return to the capitol days after their dramatic expulsion. just in on the u.s. economy, inflation dropping to the lowest level in nearly two years, but are any of us feeling it yet

first, the breaking news unfolding in indiana at this hour, take a lack at this, that plume of black smoke from this massive fire burning at a plastics recycling plant in east central indiana this morning people who live within a half mile are now under evacuation orders over concerns this fire is sending toxic fumes into the air. nbc's ron allen is covering the fire for us. ron, the pictures there are just stunning how bad is it? and what are the health concerns >> it's still burning and it is a massive sight. some 14 acres, officials describe the buildings there, fiver or six of them as packed wall to wall ceiling to floor with minneplastics and they expt this to burn for several days. the fire department is having difficulty getting to the fire because there's only one way to get near it they're saying, and they're hoping that they can solve that problem people, we think there are as many as 2,000 people who have been evacuated, and officials have said it is definitely toxic

air because it's plastics burning and plastics give off those kinds of toxic chemicals when they burn there was an official at the press conference talking, and she said that she was beginning to feel her throat, soreness in her throat while she was standing there talking about this they've urged residents to evacuate it appears that most are complying with that. they're also concerned about debris flying from this place to the nearby residential areas some residents have reported that they're finding debris in their yards. the officials revealed that some of that could contain asbestos because of the age of this facility it's a place called my way trading, and it stores and recycles plastic it's, again, a huge, huge facility, and it's now been burning for about 20 hours or so the expectation is it will continue to burn schools are closed in the area they are saying that they may adjust the evacuation area, widen it perhaps, or adjust it

depending upon which way the wind blows the expectation is that this fire is going to burn for several days this threat, this obviously dangerous toxic cloud is going to be with this community for some time to come. >> we know you'll stay on top of it thank you for that reporting now let's head to louisville and that jaw dropping new video from that deadly mass shooting at a bank on monday i should warn you it's upsetting. it shows the intense moment two police officers approached the scene before you hear gunshots, and one of those officers jumps behind cover to return fire. nbc's morgan chesky takes us through this dramatic video moment by moment >> reporter: as chilling as these videos are, police say they show these two officers doing exactly what they were trained to do, engage the gunman to eliminate that threat these videos have been edited by the louisville police department they capture that four-minute video from the moment the police arrived to when that gunman was

taken down intense new two louisville officers rushing towards the gunman hidden inside old national bank. one bullet grazing officer corey galloway, who scrambled to take cover and return fire after his rookie partner, nicholas wilt was shot in the head >> i think i got him down. i think he's down! >> reporter: authorities say the suspect, 25-year-old connor sturgeon was in an ambush position shooting from behind the lobby's reflective glass until officer galloway fired the fatal shot >> suspect down! get the officer! >> reporter: these new images show the shooter inside the bank armed with an ar-15, investigators say he purchased legally less than a week earlier from a louisville gun store. sturgeon waited for police shooting at bystanders before striking officer wilt who remains in critical by stable

condition. >> this young man went back in to the line of fire in order to protect others >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news overnight, the shooter's family writing in part their son had mental health challenges which we as a family were actively addressing there were never any warning signs or indications he was capable of this shocking act dr. jason smith who treated the victims getting emotional and pleading for action. >> to everyone who helps make policy both at state, city, federal, i would simply ask you to do something because doing nothing, which is what we've been doing is not working. >> reporter: we're also learning more about the five lives lost james tutt had just celebrated his 64th birthday. those who knew him called him a finance genius with a heart of gold 63-year-old thomas elliott, a beloved mentor to many friends 40-year-old joshua barick, a husband and father of two was an active church member >> the last thing he said to me

was i'll do whatever you need me to do. >> reporter: 45-year-old juliana farmer had moved to louisville to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren. >> my grief is that i can't hear her voice anymore. i can't tell her how much i love her. >> reporter: regarding the family of the gunman acknowledging some existing mental health issues, there are no laws in kentucky outside of federal laws that would prohibit someone with a felony conviction from purchasing a firearm that would keep someone with a mental health disorder or substance abuse disorder from being able to go out and legally purchase a gun. not only that but the mayor is outraged because under existing law, this very rifle won't be destroyed but auctioned off and could potentially end up back on the streets. in the meantime, in neighboring tennessee, republican governor bill lee just signed an executive order that would strengthen background checks and red flag laws for anyone looking to purchase a firearm. we'll send it back to you. >> our thanks to morgan chesky

reporting there in louisville. for more now i want to bring in nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian ken, we're also learning a lot more about what led up to the shooting including when this gunman purchased the weapon. what more can you tell us there? >> that's right, ana, police are saying he purchased the weapon legally at a local gun store just last week you saw there that his family is saying in a statement he had mental health challenges what's not clear is who knew about those mental health challenges as you heard morgan chesky say, there were no red flag laws that would have prohibited the purchase, but a local member of congress was saying yesterday there were warning signs he disclosed that this gunman left a voice mail with a friend just before the incident saying he was going to go commit violence at the bank, and also left a note which police have not disclosed. air force nicholas wilt who is struggling for his life in the hospital having been shot in the head is being hailed as a hero

this was just his fourth shift on the job having just graduated from the police academy, but he had a history of working in other public service jobs. he was a certified emergency medic. he was a firefighter, had devoted his young life to public service. now struggling in the hospital. >> what a courageous amazing person he is, thank you so much, ken dilanian for that update. much more ahead in 60 seconds, including the new report out this morning showing inflation at its lowest level in two years, but when will we feel it. plus, could the other black lawm lawmaker expelled in tennessee be headed back to the state house, the key vote happening in just hours. a dire race against time for doctors and cancer patients due to a shortage of cancer drugs. stay with us this is ana cabrera reports. even deeper into parking spaces so people think they're open. surprise. [ laughs ] [ horn honks, muffled talking ]

-can't hear you, jerry. -sorry. uh, yeah, can we get a system where when someone's bike is in the shop, then we could borrow someone else's? -no! -no! or you can get a quote with america's number-one motorcycle insurer and maybe save some money while you're at it. all in favor of that. [ horn honking ] there's a lot of buttons and knobs in here. we're back with breaking economic news. new data out just this morning

showing inflation has dropped to the lowest level in nearly two years, even if prices still feel high, the consumer price index report for march shows inflation was up 5% compared to last year. the biggest drivers of inflation are still food and shelter meaning people are still facing those higher grocery bills, more for housing, for rent, for your mortgage nbc's tom costello is here to help us break all this down. the numbers say inflation is cooling. that's good news we know normal levels are really about 2% instead of 5% when will people really start to feel, you know, the ease, the reprieve >> yeah, listen, i think the short answer is people are starting to feel it because the rate of increase is coming down, but you're right, we're still up 5% year-over-year. so we're paying 5% more than a year ago keep in mind, last june we were paying 9% in just a year so the rate is, in fact, coming down, and the fed's target is

about 2.1% as you suggested. what we have seen also, housing is a big factor right now. rents up 5/10 of a percent car insurance, anybody written a check lately air fare's up 4% however, energy costs are coming down remember, we paid $5 a gallon back in june now we're at about $3.60 or so a gallon medical costs are going down, and groceries, which as you know have been skyrocketing, they were flat month over month so there is some hope that maybe, in fact, inflation is starting to cool the fed, as you know, has been hiking rates rather dramaticall to tame inflation. they're meeting again in may the expectation is that they may have to hike rates another quarter point, but the federal reserve president of the bank of chicago, i should say, is suggesting maybe it's time to hit the pause button on the rate hikes, and he is a pretty influential voice. so we will see whether the fed

decides it can hit the pause button for now, take in more data to see if, in fact, this trend continues and the economy continues to slow down you know, ana, they're looking for that goldilocks economy, right? not too hot, not too cold. they want to avoid the recession that everyone thinks is potentially imminent we have unemployment levels unbelievably sitting at 50-year lows when people are laid off, they seem to be getting a job it is really a strange economy, and the fed is trying to do a high wire balancing act. >> i'm more of a glass half full person i'm a glad we started with the positive news. it's easy to get down on the economy, especially recently i want to get to one thing that's hurting people's budget, that's the cost of housing why why are those costs still so high >> i think that's a very good question there is certainly a shortage of inventory.

we've heard that repeatedly. there aren't enough apartments there aren't enough houses supply and demand has contributed to the increase in rent and the increase in buying a new home, and then keep in mind, when it comes to buying a new home, first of all, not only are you going to be paying more for a mortgage than you were a year or two ago. in addition, because of the supply chain glictches we've ha for the last couple of years, that has led to inflation for raw materials, everything is more expensive, the nails, the dry wall, the cement, everything is more expensive, and that has helped drive up the cost of a new home. >> tom costello, thank you so much nice to see you. the suspense is palpable in tennessee ahead of a highly anticipated vote over reinstating a second black lawmaker expelled from the state legislature. the shelby county commission in memphis will hold a vote just hours from now on filling justin pearson's seat look for that vote to happen at 2:30 eastern his colleague justin jones just returned to work monday after

the nashville metropolitan council voted unanimously to send him back to the state house. this after the republican super majority in the state legislature voted to expel both men for protesting gun violence reforms specifically on the state house floor last week. they're pushing for reforms and the gop said no thank you. nbc's blayne alexander is in memphis ahead of today's vote. walk us through what we're expecting there. >> reporter: well, ana, we're going to see this entire thing get underway in a little more than four hours. one commissioner does believe pearson will have the votes to be reinstated to his former site we're going to see this get underway at 2:30 eastern time. that's when the 13-member board of commissioners meet. pearson needs seven of those votes in order to be reinstated. already a couple of commissioners have come out and publicly said they do plan to support him. we're going to be watching for that he's also going to be walking

into that meeting with a good deal of external support that's because about 90 minutes before that meeting gets underway, there's going to be a rally nearby at the civil rights museum here in memphis that's where a number of supporters are going to gather they're then going to march over, walk over to attend the commission meeting together. there's also a possibility that we could see some segments of public comment during that meeting. we'll certainly be watching for that as well now, of course the big question in all of this, if he is reinstated, what does it look like when will the swearing in happen he and jones have a special election that they also need to win in order to be fully reinstated to those seats. anna. up next, more bad news for fox news the new lawsuit filed by an investor just as the company gears up for a big defamation trial monday plus, if his legal troubles mount, would donald trump drop out of the 2024 presidential race his answer next.

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more legal headaches, another lawsuit for fox this morning, a fox corporation shareholder is now suing rupert murdoch and four other board members alleging they violated their fiduciary responsibility to the company by allowing the network to air 2020 election expe conspiracy theories. shareholder robert schwartz argued the board knew it was airing false and dangerous

misinformation, which opened up the network to two defamation cases potentially worth a combined $4 billion in damages this comes just before the trial in that lawsuit filed by dominion voting systems, which is set to begin on monday. and joining us now is nbc news senior reporter jane trem. how is fox responding to this new lawsuit? >> reporter: you know, fox is not responding to me about this new lawsuit. i think we have to say they knew this was coming. derivative action brought by shareholders against a company they say has harmed them as shareholders were expected the sheer amount of sort of damaging internal communications that were released as part of dominion's discovery and the evidence and all of these internal documents that people like rupert murdoch saying crazy stuff, this is damaging to us, you know, these emails that we've seen suggested that this kind of action was likely to come, and it may not be the last this is one shareholder who brought this challenge we may see others with other

firms. >> and jane, the dominion trial begins on monday there were hearings this week. what do we know about what evidence will and won't be allowed in that courtroom? >> reporter: yeah, so they're still hammering out some of the final motions about the different evidence, but we do know that references to january 6th and riots at the capitol will not be permitted in the courtroom. the judge signaled early in some of these early hearings that he didn't see a place for that discussion in this case in this courtroom. dominion's lawyers argued against that they wanted to be able to reference it the judge believes it's prejudicial in this case it will not be mentioned in this case they're still hammering out some of the final details jury selection begins tomorrow i'm heading down there tonight and opening arguments tomorrow morning. >> jane timm, thank you so much. apologies for saying trem on the front end. great to see you, and great to have you on the show. a new front in the legal fight between the manhattan district attorney and one of

former president donald trump's biggest defenders in congress. d.a. alvin bragg has now filed a lawsuit against republican house judiciary committee chairman jim jordan to try to stop the committee's investigation into his trump investigation. in his suit, bragg called jordan's probe an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack on an ongoing investigation. joining us to discuss all this and more msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin and former florida republican congressman david jolly who's also an msnbc political analyst. so lisa, let me start with you and just the legal aspect here have you ever seen a suit like this >> no, i haven't i mean, there is one possible analog here, but this suit flips it on its head when trump initially saw demands from the district attorney's office in 2019 for his tax and financial information, you might recall that he sued the then district attorney cyrus vance in manhattan federal court.

that was a suit that made its way up and back to the supreme court twice before the d.a.'s office eventually got the information they had subpoenaed. to see it in reverse as d.a. bragg's office has done here is wh wholly novel as far as i know. let me bring in the argument from jordan hear david, i'll put this to you. he responded on twitter, the congressman arguing the suit is intended to, quote, block congressional oversight. is that how you see it >> well, no, not at all. foundationally what's happening is jim jordan and house republicans are desperate to pull this case into the court of public opinion, and what alvin bragg is saying is this case resides in a court of law, and there is no position for politicians to interfere and so he's asking for a judge's assistance look, jim jordan wants this to be about stormy daniels and about hush money, about the 2016 election, maybe even the 2024 election alvin bragg is saying we have charged the defendant in manhattan with 34 counts of business fraud, and should he be

convicted, his liberty will be in jeopardy, and so he is asking a judge to allow him to present the evidence, to allow the defendant to present their case as well. what we know of jim jordan is he is a remarkable bad faith actor who has already coordinated with trump's counsel going back about six weeks ago, and i imagine what bragg will say to the judge is, look, in an environment in where jim jordan gets to subpoena either a former prosecutor or anybody related to my office, i am confident jordan would be in a position of sharing work product with the defendant. it's unprecedented and bragg is trying to shut it down. >> lisa, what are the legal merits of each side here, and is there any impact on the criminal investigation with this lawsuit now in the mix >> i don't think there's an impact on the criminal investigation. i heard somebody say either our network or another last night that they thought this would distract d.a. bragg. and make no mistake, the d.a.'s office isn't litigating this case they are represented by a law firm here with some input from

their general counsel, but let's go back to the legal merits here of both sides. one of the things that jim jordan is likely to say is that his subpoena has a legitimate legislative purpose. all they have to show is that the information that they get from d.a. bragg's office could lead them to legislation, that the research would be helpful. d.a. bragg has two things on the other side one is notions of federalism, right? this is a state actor, not a coordinate federal branch. it is unprecedented for congress to try and interfere with an ongoing state criminal investigation. and then the second part is it's an ongoing criminal investigation, and the information that they seek here would cause the district attorney's office to violate new york law with respect to grand jury secrecy new york law is even more stringent than federal law with respect to the secrecy of grand jury materials there's no way the d.a.'s office or mark pomerantz could comply

without violating new york law at the same time. >> let's remind our viewers that the next court hearing in the criminal case that has been brought by the manhattan district attorney's office isn't until december, which is getting much closer to a presidential election year. i want you both to take a listen to donald trump last night when asked if he would drop out of the race if convicted. >> is there anything they could throw at you legally that would convince you to drop out of the race, if you get convicted in this case in new york? >> no, i'd never drop out. it's not my thing. i wouldn't do it. >> david, he says he would never drop out what does that mean for the gop and the prospect of 2024 >> donald trump's not going anywhere i know this sounds like hyperbole. i think he could get the nomination sitting in jail i mean, we learned a lot in the last three weeks about the permanency of the trump effect on the party he does get indicted his numbers go up. the delta between he and desantis continues to grow wider. this is donald trump's race. i don't suspect he'll go

anywhere for the other candidates in the race, whiat they are doing is building the infrastructure to be an off ramp the only person who could ruin donald trump in the race is donald trump if that happens, they want to be in position to be the next choice >> okay, we talked a lot about the district attorney's case, but there's still the ongoing special counsel probes as well this week we reported that former president trump tried to block testimony of mike pence before the grand jury there. he's tried to block others, hasn't worked. in fact, we saw stephen miller now sit before that grand jury who was a former trump aide just yesterday. how do you see him being useful to this investigation. stephen miller >> yes >> stephen miller on the morning of the 6th he and his speech writing team were involved in edits back and forth about reinserting certain lines that the president made at the ellipsement some of those lines among the most incendiary and may be the most inciting of

violence that day. stephen miller clearly a useful witness with respect to that he also likely participated in other conversations with the president about the fake elector strategy, for example. he went on fox in mid-december to talk about how they were going to send competing slates of electors to congress. i think stephen miller has a lot to contribute to this conversation, and the fact that executive privilege doesn't bar him is all the more helpful to the department of justice and the special counsel. >> lisa rubin, thank you, my thanks to former congressman david jolly as well. really appreciate you both there's another republican in the 2024 race for the president icy as of this mornin, sort of. south carolina senator tim scott announced a presidential exploratory committee today ahead of stops in the caucus state of iowa. if he officially jumps in he'll join a field that includes fellow south carolina republican nikki haley and former president donald trump. still ahead, some states are stockpiling the abortion drug at the center of a major legal

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taking you live right to ireland right now, president biden just arrived he just got in the car at the airport. we brought you, you know, his little transition from the airplane to car right before the break. he has been busy today he had events in northern ireland earlier including a meeting with the british prime minister to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday peace agreement. now the president is on his way for a visit to trace his irish roots with a castle tour this afternoon. let's get to nbc e's mike memoli live from dundalk this morning it was official business in northern ireland what are we expecting now in the irish republic >> reporter: well, ana, we just saw the president get a typically warm irish welcome from the prime ministers, some other dignitaries as he touched down in dublin becoming the 8th u.s. president to visit ireland. he's also getting typically

cold, typically rainy irish weather on his first full day. the president is coming to here in dundalk where he's going to be spending time reconnecting with distant relatives we expect he's going to spend time with his fifth cousin once removed. he's a rugby star by the name of rob carney some others as well. the president's also building a castle this is one of the counties where the president does trace his roots. as you mentioned, the real important diplomatic business of the president's trip was undertaken this morning as he did his level best to really try to give momentum to an effort to keep the northern ireland's good friday agreement on track at a time when it's really at its most tenuous the president making clear the u.s. commitment to seeing this through. let's listen to part of the president's remarks earlier today. >> this place is transformed by peace, made technicolor by peace, made whole by peace

so today i come to belfast to pledge to all the people of northern ireland, the united states of america will continue to be your partner in building the future the young people of our world deserve. >> reporter: now, ana, this was an important moment for the president. as he indicated in those remarks, the good friday accord is a real cause for celebration. it was a major diplomatic breakthrough as part of the president's visit, he was meeting with the leaders of the different political parties in northern ireland to try to get them back to the table to get the government in northern ireland back up and running, some complications from the brexit, the separation from the european union that are particularly acute in northern ire ireland. the president made a reference to january 6th and a very interesting moment talking about he knows better than anybody perhaps the challenges of a democracy, but he said this is a time for leaders to step up. >> mike memoli, thank you for that reporting from ireland following the president's visit there. more now on the president's trip

and the challenges facing the white house while he's overseas. i want to bring in jen psaki, host of msnbc's "inside with jen psaki" every sunday, and former white house press secretary for president biden. let's just start big picture here what are you watching for on this trip? >> well, first of all, welcome, and congratulations on your first week so happy to be working with you. >> back at you >> i'm really watching, ana, i mean, this is a really important marking point diplomatically because it has been 25 years since the good friday agreement was put into place the 30 years before that there was a lot of blood, a lot of fighting between all of the different factions so that is important now, what is a challenge for the white house and for the president is that he is very closely tied to his irish roots. he's very proud of them, and that has prompted a little bit of skepticism on the ground about whether he can be a fair arbiter. but the white house has effectively pushed back on that and basically said, look, he has

been a defender of the united kin kingdom. he has also been something who's been involved and supportive of peace and prosperity, which has been one of the things that has come out of the good friday agreement, but he has to be pretty careful there in not kind of toppling what as mike memoli said is a bit of a precarious situation on the ground in the years post-brexit. >> as we take a look at some of these images from his visit so far, this is a celebration of sorts. we're seeing smiles. of course they're the remembering the u.s. brokered peace deal and honoring that the president obviously proud of his irish heritage, but we're dealing with some very serious issues here at home and with allies, including the news of those intel leaks. would you expect that to have come up in his meetings with the british prime minister this morning, for example, or irish officials and the rest of the week >> certainly, ana, i mean, i think that the united kingdom and the relationship between the united states and the united kingdom is one that is special

as it's always called, but what that really means is that there's intelligence shared, that you work in partnership when you're on the diplomatic side either in the united kingdom or in the united states. that relationship is far more expansive than discussion of the good friday agreement accord and the anniversary of that, and i would expect that issues like the war in ukraine, the intel leaks potentially, the challenges with china, those could all be part of that conversation because that relationship is so expansive, they could actually probably spend hours talking about all the issues that the two countries worked together on. >> you also have an american journalist, evang gershkovich detained in russia right now the state department officially designating him as wrongfully detained earlier on the "today" show, the special president envoy for hostage affairs gave this update let's listen. >> we're trying to bring all element os of this government, we're trying to partner with members on capitol hill, members

of the media frankly, third-party intermediaries, nonprofits, n fgos and also the family to bring evan home. >> what are your thoughts on how the administration is handling the situation? >> well, one, this is an incredibly difficult -- and i don't think anybody should sugar coat this -- russian authorities, the kremlin has not accused a journalist of espionage since the cold war so this is significant and serious, and i think the government, the u.s. government is taking it with that approach. what i heard from roger there, who by the way, is an incredibly effective person at his job and has helped bring a lot of people home throughout his tenure, is that they are tapping into every resource they know it may not be a u.s. official who is the right person to be negotiating this or on the front lines of this. they will be a part of it, but ngos, outside groups, other countries where there may be closer relationships with russia, they may all play a role

in helping bring evan home, and they're going to use every resource they can to do exactly that, but it is challenging, an difficult but no better person than roger carsons to be on the case. >> great to have your voice and perspective on this. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. more news now from overseas, plans of a royal home coming, buckingham palace confirming this morning prince harry will be back in london next month to attend the coronation of his father king charles. that's on may 6th. however, his wife meghan markle and their children won't make the trip they'll stay in california for the big event. coming up, a few states have taken action on guns quite like connecticut did after the tragedy sandy hook shooting, and connecticut's governor will join us to talk about the state of new actions that he's calling for as our country enters a renewed debate about gun reform. plus, difficult decisions for cancer patients and doctors nationwide due to a dire shortage of cancer drugs

stay with us, you're watching "anna cabrera reports" a cabrera"

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liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. i think i've got it! doggy-paddle! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ . welcome back, a federal appeals court could decide as soon as today whether to let that texas judge's ruling to block fda approval of a widely used abortion pill after that, the issue could be fast-tracked to the supreme court. joining us now is democratic governor from connecticut ned lamont governor, great to have you here you've taken a lot of action when it comes to this issue of

abortion riots i do want to bring up just the latest polling on this issue, give a pulse on how the public feels about this a majority of americans, 53% say medication abortion should be legal with 22% saying it should be illegal this is the latest pew research center poll. how concerned are you right now about the appeals court siding with the texas judge here? >> great to see you, ana and we're very concerned i mean, where are those small government republican conservatives who don't want judges legislating for the bench. i've been hearing about that for 50 years now you've got a judge in amarillo, texas, who wants to outlaw pharmaceutical abortions across the country, the most popular way that women have control over their own reproductive health. we're doing everything we can in the state of connecticut obviously in terms of dobbs, we've got the right to an abortion established, but if the federal government comes in and tries to take that away through the judge's ruling, we've got

some issues. right now nothing's going to change i want to give young people that sense of confidence. >> so what are you doing right now, though, to protect access to these abortion pills, this particular one >> i can tell you attorney general william tung is getting together all the attorneys general, getting right at this rule which he considers really fallacious i'm working with my congressional team to make sure this can never happen again. in the state of connecticut, we've done everything we can as a state starting with the fact that abortion is established by law in our state nothing's going to change as long as i'm there. >> some states have been stockpiling this pill. you guys haven't moved that direction yet. why not? >> i don't think it makes a difference the problem is not going to be access to the pill there will be plenty of access, but if the courts say pharmacies can't prescribe it, then you've got a problem. >> governor, let's switch to the other major issues we're focusing on right now in this country, and that is guns.

connecticut has really led the way when it comes to gun reforms, especially at the state level following the tragedy we all remember still seared into our souls what happened at sandy hook elementary. you've expanded an assaults weapon ban, background checks, that all happened almost a decade ago how effective have those measures been? >> i think it helps. i think it really helps. when it comes to gun-related crimes, not to mention suicide, we are much less, dramatically less,less than half of what you see in those states that have more permissive gun laws i want to send that message around the country it makes a difference. it keeps your communities safer, keeps your schools safer, but there's a lot of -- you got to be conscious every -- you got to pay attention. >> the gifford law center research connecticut, seventh lowest rate of crimes, credit a lot of the

gun reforms that have taken place in your state. yesterday, the tennessee governor issued a executive order trying to strengthen background checks and called on lawmakers to pass an order of protection law are you surprised by this move by governor lee and is there more you think needs to happen in that state especially in the wake of this latest shootings in nashville? >> i think there's a sea change going on you've seen the number of these mass shootings and group shootings over the last six months, not to mention it's been accelerating hats off to governor lee i think he's doing the right thing in state where it's complicate zbld i wonder if it will actually push through given the political layout there in tennessee, which is heavily

republican >> look, the politics there is really tough, i get it, i think if the governor wants to say i'm doing everything i can to keep my community safer, i hope he sends that message. >> governor lamont, thank you very much for joining us here. appreciate >> it nice to see you. it's a nightmare scenario for people fighting cancer, a growing shortage of the drugs they need. we're digging into this problem and according to the fda the shortage includes a drug used to treat prostate cancer. dr. natalie azar, nbc medical contributor, why do we have these cancer drugs shortages >> so first of all, to put this

into context, this isn't a new problem, we have had for decades shortages of different medications but really unprecedented in the last couple of years experts point to three main reasons. one, has to do with the generic markets. pharmaceutical companies have very little incentive to put a lot of money into generics the other issue, anas consolidation in the market, you may only have one pharmaceutical company making one particular drug such as bcg, if they have issue with labor or manufacturing limitation they're going to run into problems finally, supply, about 80% of the active ingredients that go into a lot of these drugs are sourced from international places and so if there's a logjam somewhere else it's going to clog up the supply chain here as well. >> do you have any idea how long these shortages could last

what are the options for people who need to take one of these drugs, are there alternatives? >> the alternatives aren't great. the first part of your question, on average a drug shortage will typically last about one and a half years, there's always going to be small number of shortages that are quite critical. what are doctors and hospitals doing? usingless effective drugs, which isn't ideal. what's upsetting to hear, patients will undergo chemotherapy prior to having surgery to shrink their tumors, their outcomes may not be as successful the downstream effect and the consequences of these shortages, ana, across the board for cancer care >> dr. natalie azar, really

appreciate your expertise. up next, a rare phenomenon sprung from a winter of wild weather in california. look at that, the superbloom when we come back. iness, you can make it even smarter. now ports can know where every piece of cargo is. and where it's going. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) robots can predict breakdowns and order their own replacement parts. (foreman) nice work. (vo) and retailers can get ahead of the fashion trend of the day with a new line tomorrow. with a verizon private 5g network, you can get more agility and security. giving you more control of your business. we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on. you need to deliver new apps fast using the services you want in the clouds of your choice. with flexible multi-cloud services that enable digital innovation and enterprise control, vmware helps you innovate and grow.

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now, they'll require as many as two-thirds of the new vehicles sold in the u.s. to be electric by the year 2032 now critics in the auto industry call this proposal aggressive. actually exceeds the biden administration's goal by 2030. automakers have the technology and the infrastructure to achieve this new target. the proposal is expected to be finalized next year. well this winter was just brutal for california with record-breaking rain and snow and now we're seeing a breathtaking result, a superbloom of wildflowers blanketing the state nbc's jacob soboroff has a look at this phenomenon >> reporter: north of los angeles the hills are alive. literally bursting with color. poppies, lilies, sunflowers and

more >> it looks really cool. >> reporter: it's known as a superbloom, a rare unpredictable outpouring of nature's beauty. >> the only thing we do artificially is manage the species. >> reporter: a dry years followed by a very wet one you got seeds that don't germinate and when we get the rain like we did this year creates the perfect conditions for a superbloom thousands of visitors from all over the world are coming to experience the magic it's absolutely amazing. >> reporter: anyone dreaming of rolling into the flower beds for a selfie should reconsider park rangers say this needs to be protected for people who are watching us and thinking about coming out and walking through the fields and taking a selfie, your

message to them is >> don't doom the bloom. if that's an official hashtag. >> reporter: during the 2019 superbloom, the poppy apocalypse, theme park-style crowds forced officials to limit the number of visitors you don't want to cross the sergeant if you want to take selfies. you can get a ticket. >> yes. >> don't worry the superbloom is happening all over the state from northern california to the desert >> when you see it ablaze in color like this it reminds you of just how beautiful and important it is. >> reporter: the golden tate in rare spring form after a wild winter >> how beautiful is that, thank you for joining us, thanks to nbc's jacob soboroff for that. until