♪♪ a very good afternoon to all of you, i'm alex witt. no sign of pulling punches, any minute now former president donald trump is expected to speak on the trail in iowa. one of the campaign's main focuses, the former president's prosecution directly going after the legal system and those in charge of enforcing those laws. now it comes as "the washington post" is reporting prosecutors involved in the trump classified documents case are now being harassed. they're facing threats as well. also this hour, inside the new jobs report, we're going to take a look at what it means for everyday americans as well as wall street. plus, 100 days behind bars in russia. wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich's family is not losing hope relying on president biden's promise for the return

of their son. we're going to talk to evan gershkovich's freshman year college roommate in just a few minutes. we'll talk about the person he calls a, quote, exceptional friend and journalist. plus, we have breaking news to share. the man accused of shooting and killing 23 people at an el paso, texas, walmart in 2019 has just been sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences on federal charges and that is just his first round of sentencing. we're going to have the very latest for you any moment when we get our nbc news reporter who's there on site for us. we begin this hour at the site where republican primary race begins, that being iowa. right now former president donald trump is hitting the campaign trail in council bluffs as he continues to campaign and fund-raise. the republican leader writing in a lengthy statement last night that the doj is going after him and claiming that special

counsel jack smith, quote, purposefully omitted the presidential records act. are quote, facing substantial harassment and threats online and elsewhere, according to extremism experts and a government official familiar with the matter. so with no signs of trump abandoning the topic anytime soon, what does his rhetoric mean for this case as well as his run for the presidency in 2024? i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard. he is following the trump campaign for us in iowa. also, former federal prosecutor carol lam, and joining us as well, former republican congressman carlos curbelo, both are msnbc contributors. big welcome to you all, vaughn, you first here. what has former president donald trump been saying out there on the campaign trail? >> reporter: yeah, alex, actually donald trump's plane, the former president's plane is descending here in omaha, nebraska, which is just across the river from council bluffs iowa for a stop in front of a couple thousand. for donald trump, he has used the campaign trail as a way to

galvanize support around his own legal defense. not only in fund-raising to help pay for his actual legal bills but also in galvanizing the masses of americans that he is innocent of the charges that have been presented by the department of justice against him. it is in his words an effort to undermine the 2024 election by interfering with the man he contends will be the 2024 nominee for president. this is a way to undercut his presidential candidacy. over the course of the last 24 hours, he's put out numerous social media posts, one of them, i'll just let you look at. >> so let's keep that up there for a moment, shall we? i'm going to read what vaughn probably would have been referencing. deranged jack smith knows this but refuses to even mention the words presidential records act in his scam indictment of biden's political opponent, who is leading by a lot, in the

middle of a campaign. a no-no! you also have to love capitalization of all those words in there. vaughn, i understand you're back with us. i just read donald trump's statement, but you can take it away from there. >> reporter: right, thanks for picking it up there, we've seen numerous social media posts from donald trump like that over the last 24 hours. we expect a similar sentiment here from the stage. what we have heard from voters is largely an echoing of his defenses. his major claim is that he had the right as president to take whatever he wanted to mar-a-lago or bedminster with him. and so the fact that he perhaps misled prosecutors and the department of justice and did not comply with the subpoena, even obstructed justice, he has made the case to voters across the country that none of that mattered because as president when he was leaving the white house it was within his prerogative to choose what he took with him. and we have largely heard that from voters, that sentiment, that main defense that he has really struck, and the question

is now whether his actual legal counsel takes the same argument to the courts. >> perfect set up, right now i'm bringing in carol and let's move to "the washington post" report, which says, quote, far right trump supporters are posting the names of prosecutors and government workers online and yelling at them at demonstrations, threatening them, and sometimes revealing details about their personal lives. so putting this all together, carol, given trump's rhetoric and these growing threats, does this impact the legal case to vaughn's question? >> yeah, i'm so glad that you're bringing attention to this particular phenomenon, which is a fairly new phenomenon given the rise in social media. it can impact his federal case in the sense that a judge may finally say enough. i'm going to impose a limited gag order on you because you are now endangering -- you are not only -- you are not only attempting to influence the jury pool, but you are actually endangering the lives of the

prosecutors, and this is just such an important point to bring out that these are -- these are career professionals. they have choices in their lives. they don't have to do this line of work. they do it because they believe in it. they do it because they think it's for the good of the country, and trump is now using that against them as a tool to try to not only influence the potential jurors in the case, but also his presidential election. it's completely inappropriate. i think judges have pulled their purges because they have not wanted to be influencing the political election, but it may just be a bridge too far. >> yeah, this trial for the case, as you know, could get pushed deeper into the republican primary calendar. does that raise any legal red flags? does the merging of court cases and primaries, the politics there, does it complicate things legally? >> well, you know, the department of justice to the extent we're talking about the federal cases, the department of

justice does have a policy, and it's only a policy to refrain from bringing any actions that will -- or doing anything that will potentially influence an election. here the indictment has already been brought. it is somewhat in the judge's hands to decide how quickly those indictments -- those trials move. of course there's still a pending potential indictment in the january 6th case, but the mar-a-lago case is out there. the prosecutors have asked for a december trial date. they are trying to stay as far away from the election as possible while still leave sufficient time for all of the discovery and all the pretrial motions that have to take place. but it is getting fraught. it is getting to a place where trump is going to start alleging that they are trying to interfere with his election. >> mm-hmm. i'm curious, congressman, what are the challenges for the other gop candidates? they have to get through not only trump's rhetoric out there, which can be pretty harsh at times, particularly when

directed at them, right? but also the legal challenges. do their messages risk getting lost? >> well, alex, i think their greatest challenge is their unwillingness or their timidness about leading. they are not going to defeat donald trump by being timid about his candidacy. they are not going to defeat donald trump by refusing to tell republican primary voters the truth about donald trump and about donald trump's movement. donald trump's movement has lost three national elections in a row. so what some of these republican challengers need to do is step up and step out and take this message straight to republican primary voters. understanding that at first, it might get rejected because, yes, donald trump is popular, but their only hope if they want to breakthrough, if they actually want to defeat donald trump in this primary is to challenge him, and to take voters and

tell them the republican party needs a different direction if they want to win. >> guess who's doing that big time, that being chris christie. he recently weighed in on former president trump's mind-set. here's what he said that he wants to pretend he's still president, that he takes these boxes to new jersey now as if he still had them. they're going to be in new jersey because they go on summer vacation with them. he wants to pretend he was president and show these things to people and say, hey, look wa what i still have. is that going to work for him? >> well, alex, chris christie has decided to take the full anti-trump lane, and certainly there's a value to that because he's telling the truth, and he's putting it out there, and we're talking about it. but there are other approaches. i mean, you can challenge donald trump without being explicitly anti-trump. you can explain to the voters the damage that the maga movement has done to the republican party and to the country and show them a better way. some of these other candidates that have been timid that have

wanted to try to stay in this race by following donald trump, even excusing or supporting some of his conduct, that leads to a dead end. they have to shift strategy here pretty soon if their goal is to win. >> okay, and vaughn, quickly, when's trump supposed to get to where you are now. you said he'd recently landed, right? it was on approach. >> reporter: right, he's slated to speak here about 40 minutes from here. it's a matter of how the landing into omaha went and how his travels across the missouri river here into iowa go. >> okay, we'll check in with you next here and see what he's saying there behind you. appreciate all of you, vaughn hillyard, carol lam and carlos curbelo. carlos, i've got more questions for you later on this hour about ron desantis. the breaking news we referenced at the top of the hour, the shooter who killed 23 people at a texas walmart in 2019 has just been sentenced. he's got a heavy sentence to face right now. let's bring in nbc's guad

venegas who's following this situation. talk about what was thrown at him and the reaction, guad. >> reporter: it's a sentence of 90 consecutive life sentences, very symbolic. this was a three-day sentencing hearing. we know that he pled guilty to the charges. it was a very emotional hearing. those who lost loved ones in the shooting were able to speak to the shooter in the courtroom, look at him directly in the eyes and were very emotional. a 13-year-old girl who lost her grandfather talked about what it was like being inside the store the day of the shooting, seeing her grandfather being killed. and accused shooter of rolling his eyes. living her life with a fear of going into public spaces. many spoke and got opportunity

at the end of the legal process. we have the 90 consecutive life sentences that have been issued by this judge during the sentencing hearing. let's keep in mind that there's a separate case. it's a state against him. he is facing capital murder charges of multiple persons. we still don't have an initial date for that trial. but we do know the district attorney's office is asking for a death sentence. there's still more legal proceedings to go. this is happening as we hit almost -- we're very close to the four-year mark since the shooting happened. it's going to be a very emotional time for the relatives and for those that lost loved ones. next august it will be four years since the shooting the took place in el paso, texas. >> 90 consecutive years he's facing in prison, potential death penalty in the state case, we'll see how that plays out. meantime, more than 200,000

jobs were added last month according to this morning's jobs report, but the new numbers, what they mean for inflation and your wallet when we're back in 60 seconds. ds smell clean? downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. i won't let me moderate to severe plaque psoriasis symptoms define me... emerge as you. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 4 months... ...and the majority stayed clearer, at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms

or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you. emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. toe to share on sunday's mass shooting in baltimore. police this morning arrested a 17-year-old male in connection to the shooting that killed two and injured at least 28 others. he faces three gun charges as well as a fourth charge of reckless endangerment. police are saying that three victims are still in the hospital right now, and the investigation is not over. we'll stay up to date on that. we also have breaking news to share about the job numbers that came out today for the month of june. the u.s. added 209,000 of them last month bringing the unemployment rate down just slightly, just 0.1% to 3.6%. it is, though, the 30th month in a row of gains, but the numbers

were below both estimate as well as last month's gains. let's go right to cnbc's brian cheung, what say you about all this? >> there's a lot of context that's needed when we're throwing all these numbers out there. as you mentioned, 209,000 jobs, that's how many were added in the month of june. that is a slower pace than 306,000 that we saw in may and also this was below what wall street economists had expected. but look, the unemployment rate was still at 3.6%. that's essentially near 50-year lows, which is encouraging. now, where do we see the job gains in the month? we saw it specifically if i go back to my slides in the leisure and hospitality areas as well as in professional and business services. they add about 21,000 in each of those categories. retail trade, though did contract. these are jobs at the mall by about 11,000. those are the federal reserve. they've been raising interest rates to deliberate ri slow this economy. average hourly earnings, how much higher did our wages go.

it raised by 4.4% from june of this year to june of last year. that's a faster pace than we saw in the may to may period, 4.3%. do the employers then pass those costs on to consumers? that could support the inflation environment we're talking about. again, encouraging to see that workers are getting paid more. so very much an encouraging sign in this report, alex, that broadly speaking people are gaining jobs in this economy. >> speaking of that, the report also showed the participation rate for women between the ages of 25 and 54, that increased again last month. it now stands at 77.8%. what does that tell you? >> that 77.8% for what they call the prime age labor force participation rate for women, that's a record. that's really encouraging to see women coming back into the labor force. i want to point out it's not all good for all demographics. the black unemployment rate rose to 6%. if we're talking about the national average of 3.6%, you can see that black unemployment rate is almost double that, so something we're going to have to couldn't to watch in the jobs

reports in the coming months, alex. >> appreciate you, brian cheung, for that. and as we see another positive jobs report, is the pandemic's great resignation finally coming to an end? "new york times" economics writer ben castleman will join me on the current pace of job switching and what that means for wage growth. up next, a look inside the former military base in belarus that y yevgeny prigozhin was gog to make his new home. and a breakthrough alzheimer's treatment, what this could mean for the millions suffering from the disease and how much it's going to cost. easd how much it's going to cost. so you only pay for what you need. you could save $700 dollars just by switching. ooooh, let me put a reminder on my phone. on the top of the pile! oh. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ feeling... ughh ...from a backed up gut? miralax works naturally with the water in your body to help you go.

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and i know what it means if the nazis have a bomb. today an historic heat wave is still scorching this planet, already shattering worldwide records this week. scientists sounding the alarm that this is just likely the beginning of months of relentless climbing temperatures. let's go to nbc's marissa parra who's sweating it out in washington, d.c., 97 degrees there, storms are heading that way, and yet, you look calm, cool, and collected. how does that work? >> reporter: well, first of all, i have a handy dandy fan here to keep me cool when i'm doing live reports in the heat. that helps a lot, and you probably can't see, but it's been raining off and on. we're getting a break from it right now, but you'll probably hear a crack of thunder not too far from town. those storms are definitely hitting over here in d.c., but really those oppressive temperatures are being felt the worst over in places like tucson

and phoenix, arizona, where today it's supposed to be upwards of 110 degrees. now, we talk about how inconvenient the heat is, but it's also dangerous. we know that there were two hikers in arizona that had to be rescued due to heat stress within the last couple of days, and then more nationally. we see at least three different deaths related to heat this week. so over 90 million americans expected to feel temps over 90 degrees. but then we talk about the other impact. you mentioned the storms. i mean, heat and humidity create this perfect recipe, if you will, for storms, and so we're seeing severe storm threats over colorado, kansas, oklahoma, texas, eight million people under a severe storm watch. so there's concerns of winds. there's concerns of hail, but even concerns of possible tornados. so we know that there's a lot of eyes on those areas, and then as the wind moves everything east, tomorrow those threats and concerns will move over states like tennessee.

and then on sunday, it will move further east to areas like ours. so alex, when it comes to staying safe in the heat, remember there are a lot of concerns when it comes to not just storms but also the concerns over heat and what that can do to your body if you're not taking proper precautions, if you're not taking cover. also not great for the hair. in a lot of ways, it's a hair up kind of week, but be safe, stay cool how you can, how you need to, and of course we'll be keeping you updated here with what happens throughout the weekend. >> and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, i appreciate that and your fan and hair up looks great. we're going to have more for you in our next hour, meteorologist bill karins will be joining me, and he'll give us an update on where it's going to get really bad. we are back also a with a growing mystery around yevgeny prigozhin and his army of mercenaries who were reportedly exiles to belarus after calling off their armed mutiny in russia. yesterday, the belarus president said prigozhin was not in the country after all. in fact, he was back in his

hometown st. petersburg while he has -- his men returned to field camps in russian-occupied areas of ukraine. keir simmons got an inside look at the military base that was expected to house thousands of wagner group fighters. >> reporter: this is one of the military bases in belarus where it's been reported yevgeny prigozhin's wagner fighters would be redeployed. once again with russia, things seem to have turned upside down. take a look through the fencing there, you can see makeshift military tents. but the belarus authorities have brought us here to try to show us there's no wagner and no prigozhin. >> reporter: these images released by "associated press" appear to show a camp being built at a former military base hear, the suggestion the camp would be used to house prigozhin's wagner fighters. this morning we drove to the former base. nbc news joining a small number

of news organizations shown around. >> there are no wagner here? >> reporter: wagner could come here the general minister of defense told me, but they are not here now. it seems like the plans keep changing. >> your u.s. military, our strength is to act in a changing environment. these empty tents they insist are for local forces. >> reporter: there are enough of these makeshift wooden beds for 5,000 troops belarus officials tell us, but wagner may never be here. president lukashenko told us that on the day of the mutiny, he says there were seven russian military planes here in belarus ready to transport troops to moscow to defend that city. those plans changed, he says, and now they appear to have changed again. what does that tell us for president putin? the implications of that day are still unresolved. >> okay, our thanks to keir simmons for that report.

today marks 100 days since wall street journal reporter evan gershkovich was detained in russia, a detention the u.s. has condemned as wrongful. the journal dedicated its front page to gershkovich, highlights his work, and launching a social media campaign to rally support. #istandwithevan. there is no trial date for gershkovich who has pleaded not guilty to espionage charges. this week for only the second time since his arrest, the u.s. ambassador was allowed to visit him in prison. also this week, the kremlin confirmed there have been some talks between moscow and washington about a potential prisoner swap. they've insisted that work is going to take place out of the public eye. nbc's ali arouzi is covering this story for us, and also with us here in studio is sam silverman, he's a personal friend of gershkovich. thank you for being here.

what do we know about gershkovich, what he's doing right now and the status of these talks for his release? >> hey, alex, the only pertinent information we have is from the consular visits he got from lynn tracy, the u.s. ambassador to russia. ambassador tracy met him only for the second time earlier this month at the notorious prison in moscow. let's make no mistake, the circumstances of languishing in a russian prison would test the metal of the strongest people. it's got to be a very difficult, very lonely, isolated and incredibly unpredictable place to be. as for the status of this possible release, prisoner swap, even those very early days, there seems to be a glimmer of hope. one question we were all asking ourselves is the u.s. holding any high profile russians that might be part of a swap, and nothing obvious popped out. now a name is being bandied

about, a guy called vladimir da nigh ev who's detained on charges. russia says it has had contacts with the u.s. over evan's case, suggesting the possibility of a prisoner exchange. and when kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov was asked about the timing of these meetings and the possibility of an exchange, he said that there are certain contacts on this matter, but he doesn't want to make it public. but even if something was in the pipeline, alex, it's are probably going to not happen with a lot of speed. if we look at how the russians have handled previous cases like that of brittney griner or trevor reed, they seem to follow a pattern. the kremlin says it doesn't interfere in the judicial process of its courts. the courts find the person that they've arrested guilty. they hand down a harsh sentence. they spend some time in a penal colony, and then they're exchanged. it took ten months to get griner

back and almost three years to get reed back. so although there is a small glimmer of hope, you know, the past track record shows this can be a lengthy process even if it does happen. >> ali arouzi, thank you for that. we're going to turn our attention to you, sam. i know you're a good buddy of evan's. it was high school? is that where you guys met? >> bodien college. >> a great place. >> we were roommate there is when you hear about brittney griner's situation, the fact that there are some talks that they believe are going on, how much does that inspire hope for you? >> i mean, we're hopeful. as just reported, we know this is going to be a long, drawn out process, and so we just want to make sure that evan remains strong, healthy throughout this, and we hope it happens as expeditiously as possible, but we're preparing to be in this for the long haul. >> i know you've started a letter writing campaign. you've been writing to him. has he been writing back to you. >> yes, he has. >> can you tell us what he's been saying in. >> i can't share the specifics

of what he shared. i can say that he's remained humorous, witty. >> amazing. >> bantering, he sounds just like himself. he sounds strong. he sounds like evan. >> when you say that, does he describe at all -- and i know you can't give details, but did he describe the circumstances of how he's living, how he's being treated at all? it sounds like he's almost inspiring you guys. like i'm trying to be positive so you're positive as well. >> he is very much. i mean, we're sharing information about what's going on in the world, in his world that he should be in right now, and he's responding to that stuff. and in classic evan fashion, he's providing us strength and support when it really should be the opposite. >> yeah. are you able to write anything about what you are being told, or is that privileged? do you think that even gets to him? >> you know, we're writing whatever we would like to write and what gets through, gets through. we're not sure what's, you know, being censored, but we're writing freely, and he's writing back, so that's a great sign. >> it is a good sign.

have you given any thought thousand you want to celebrate when he comes home, and if so, what would you guys want to do? >> we're going to throw a huge party. i mean, evan is one of the most extroverted, social, gregarious people you'll ever meet. he's built so many relationships, so many bridges across various communities throughout high school, college, his professional life, and i can't wait for us to all get together and welcome him home. >> listen, i've got to tell you, i'm sensing so much positivity from all of you, and it sounds like from evan as well. we're 100 days in. but here's the reality, it could go 200. it could go 300. do you worries at all about his ability to sustain a positive attitude? >> of course. it's hard not to. this could go on indefinitely. and so we're doing everything that we can to help prevent, you know, anything from happening, and the main thing that we're doing is writing these letters because those are getting through to him. that's his only connection to the outside world right now. i know it makes a world of

difference. >> i'm hoping that on occasion you throw in one of your crazy bodien college roommate stories. that's going to bring laughter i'm sure. keep the faith. >> thanks so much, alex. still ahead for us, republican presidential candidate ron desantis explains defense, how he's explaining new poll numbers putting him 30 points behind donald trump. i'm your overly competitive brother. check. psych! and i'm about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. you got no game dude, that's a foul! and now you're ready to settle the score. game over. and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, well, you could end up paying for all this yourself. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem,

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between governors of two of the

country's largest states as california governor gavin newsom calls for a federal investigation into ron desantis's controversial program of transporting migrants to blue states. this comes as the florida governor insists he'll be on the stage for next month's first republican debate, even if donald trump chooses to skip it. in an interview last night, desantis was asked about his inabilities to gain in the polls which show him today lagging further behind trump by over 30 points now. here's how he explained it. >> i've also been attacked more than anybody, as you know, will. donald trump has spent over 20 million attacking me. that's more than he spent supporting republican candidates in last year's midterm elections. >> so we're going to discuss this with former republican congressman carlos curbelo an msnbc political analyst. thank you for sticking around. look, here's the deal. he's falling behind however and for whatever reason, he says the reason is he's lagging because he's being attacked more than anyone else. do you agree?

i mean, could it be that people just aren't supporting his candidacy as well? >> alex, maybe that's a part of it. the fact is that ron desantis isn't gaining traction in this republican primary, at least not as much as he would like to because he has run a copycat campaign of donald trump. by the way, this is how he got to the governor's mansion in 2018. he followed the trump playbook to the tee. the problem this year is that trump is standing in his way. it's very hard to use someone's playbook against them. that's what he's trying to do. it isn't working. the best path for desantis is to distinguish himself from donald trump. he should focus on his leadership during the pandemic, which was rewarded here in the state of florida in his re-election campaign. he got reelected by a very wide margin with a lot of independent support and even some democratic support. he should talk to republican voters about how donald trump is very likely unelectable and about how his movement has lost

three general elections in a row in the united states. but a lot of these candidates don't want to do that, alex. they want to have it both ways. >> and why? why not? >> because they want to have it both ways. they think that they can steal trump's base by imitating trump, and that's just not how things work. i mean, if people have a choice between the real thing and an imitation, they're usually going to go with the real thing. i think desantis has made a big mistake with a lot of these hard line immigration policies. he's trying to outdo trump on immigration. that's just not a realistic goal. donald trump has a lot of credibility with republican primary voters on the immigration issue, and perhaps what desantis should try to do is explain why a different approach would be better and more effective at solving the immigration situation in our country. >> yeah. as i mentioned, gavin newsom is calling for a federal investigation into desantis for his transporting of migrants to sacramento. i'm curious why newsom is not

also calling for an investigation into greg abbott who has bragged about busing far more migrants than desantis. do you have any idea why abbott isn't being targeted? >> well, i would assume, alex, because ron desantis is running for president and newsom views that as an opportunity to gain more attention on this issue and to criticize desantis, and there's also been a pretty aggressive rivalry between desantis and newsom. we know desantis has shown up a few times in california and bad mouthed the state there. i'm sure part of this is personal, and part of it is just the fact that ron desantis is a far more prominent figure in the republican party right now than governor abbott is in texas. >> look, though desantis's focus on divisive cultural issues suggests that he's running to trump's right, last night he highlighted what he says is the importance of appealing to a broader set of voters. take a listen to what he said. >> you can't win with just republican voters. i think we showed in florida,

you know, if you want a big victory, you got to win independent voters. you've got to win people who haven't voted for our party in the last several cycles. i've shown i can do that, and i think we can do it nationally. >> and clearly he's talking about the general election there, and we know that to be true, but have you seen anything in his campaign suggesting that he is appealing to non-republican voters? >> well, i think that's the problem that governor desantis is having right now, what he said is absolutely true, and again, he was able to achieve that in the state of florida. he had a big win here last year. however, since then, he has tried to outdo trump on every issue, and a lot of people think, alex, that that actually will make it harder for him to win a general election if he can get around donald trump. perfect example is the abortion issue. even donald trump has criticized the six-week abortion ban in the state of florida because trump knows that it's not popular in swing districts and swing states. desantis has doubled down on that policy, so some republicans

are starting to worry, even republicans who don't want donald trump to carry the banner for the party next year, that even if desantis gets past donald trump, can he win a general election? >> yeah, okay, carlos curbelo, always good to talk with you, thank you so much. up next, fda approval for a breakthrough alzheimer's drug, the impact, the risks and the cost. and in our next hour, the house oversight committee's demands over cocaine found in the white house. the committee's chair calling it a shameful moment in the building's history. ent in the building's history depression ss were in my way. i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant... ...is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts.

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try new mirafiber gummies. well, the fda just approved the first drug to slow the progression of alzheimer's in what could be a major breakthrough for the nearly 7 million adults suffering from the degenerative disease here in the u.s., but the listed price tag, it is a hefty -- you ready for it? $26,000 before insurance, and some experts have concerns about side effects as well. so here to discuss all this with us is nbc news senior medical correspondent, dr. john torres. a lot of people are going to say this is great news. first of all, tell me how this works and how you think it will impact the slowing of alzheimer's? >> so the drug is called leqembi, lecanemab is the generic name. that mab is monoclonal antibodies. it essentially is using your immune system, think about the

monoclonal antibodies during covid, they get rid of blacks, which are the buildup inside the brain which are partially responsible for alzheimer's. other drugs have gotten rid of those plaques. this is the first drug to actually show a slow in the decline of the cognition. in other words, it's not stopping it. it's not reversing it. it's just slowing that decline, 27% over 18 months, which is essentially the equivalent of giving them five months more of having that memory. >> okay. that's very important but you heard me mention the cost. enormous before insurance could come in and help pick up some of it. but it has to make you wonder about accessibility. do you have concerns about that. >> one is the cost and how it's administered. it's an iv infusion every two or three weeks. you have to get to the clinic, you have to get back home. some of this age group don't drive, they're going to have to rely on somebody to take them. the cost, cms who runs medicare came out with a statement saying if you meet three criteria,

we're go ahead and cover it. you're on medicare, that you have mild cognition, not more advanced cognition decline, and that you have to do a testing and mris to look at your brain and make sure you have amyloid plaques, and the third one is your doctor has to register you in a national registry so you can track the drug and its and national registry they're trying hard to tell doctors it's easy to do. we'll see what happens with time. >> any side effects you're concerned about? >> the side effects, brain swelling and brain bleeding. it was around 14%. >> that's not minor. >> 14% of adverse side effects in the trials that came up. some experts are saying with the side effects and mild improvement, then, you know, is it worth taking, but you talk to patients and they have nothing right now. patients' families have nothing, and they're saying this is better nan nothing and it's pushing research forward. >> it offers hope at the minimum. that is wonderful.

dr. john torres, thank you for weighing in on all of this. a former interpreter who fled has become the latest victim of gun violence. a father of four was fatally shot this week while working as a ride share driver. the 31 initially started his life in philadelphia and felt it was too dangerous there so he moved to northern virginia. it is still unclear what exactly unfolded in the lead up to the shooting. he was driving in the early hours to make a bit of extra money to help pay rent. that is a tragic story. meantime, new data from the nypd says the city saw a drop in violent crime the first half of this year. shootings in the nation's largest city are down by 25% over the last six months, with the acting police commissioner

telling the "new york times" he expects the drop to hold during the summer. murders, rapes and burglaries were down 10%, robberies fell by 5%. however, the month of june did see increases in subway crime as well as an 18% jump in car thefts. well, an iowa teenager has been sentenced to life in prison for beating his high school spanish teacher to death with a bat. prosecutors say he did it because he didn't like the bad grade she gave him. it included this apology to the family of the victim, 66-year-old, nahema graber. >> i would like to apologize for my actions, first and foremost to my family. i'm sorry for the distress i called you. >> acknowledging your youth and developing brain, i find that your intent and actions were sinister and evil. >> officials say that miller and another 16-year-old attacked

graber in a park where she routinely went for walks after school and hid her body over a tarp. he was frustrated by the way graber taught spanish and how the grade was lowering his gpa. missing man mystery, houston police say a man who disappeared eight years ago was actually home the whole time. what we're learning about the bizarre case. learning about th bizarre case heartburn all day and all night. prilosec otc reduces excess acid for 24 hours, blocking heartburn before it starts. one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

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. let's go now to the very latest on a missing persons mystery. a houston man found sleeping outside of a church turned out

to be someone reported eight years ago. here's the puzzling part. apparently he had been living with his mother all along. here's nbc's priscilla thompson. >> reporter: draped in a towel but alive, new images of rudy farias, as the mystery around his disappearance deepens. the 25-year-old was allegedly found last week outside a church and unresponsive, his family says. eight years after he allegedly vanished without a trace while walking his dogs. his mother, janie santana reported the then 17-year-ooaec >> at this hour, a tech rivalry heats up. twitter accuses meta of stealing trade secrets for a new app and threatens to take mark zuckerberg to court. mending ties, treasury secretary janet yellen begins a high stakes trip telling china the u.s. isn't looking for a winner take all fight. the fallout over crack cocaine -- cocaine found at the white house. calling it a shameful moment in history. >> and millions of americans sweltering under triple digit temperatures as one city cease a week-long streak of 110 degrees. our nbc news reporters are following the latest developments for us, and we do begin with that sizzling heat that's baking parts of this country. nbc meteorologist bill karins is here with me. i mean, look at all the red there and the hot pink. it looks like the entire country is being impacted and for how ng