chief of staff john kelly is saying, plus new insight into mar-a-lago after a new version of the affidavit was released. i will speak with a reporter who wrote a book about donald trump's florida home, and that is coming up. is coming up >> as i bid you all good day from msnbc world headquarters here in new york, welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with a new affidavits filed by john kelly, and yet another lawsuit involving donald trump. the former white house chief of staff telling the court that trump asked about using the irs, in other federal agencies, to investigate fbi agents into looking into the trump 2016 campaign ties to russia. a judge has cleared the way for trump to sit for a deposition in that case. ukraine is marking the 500th day of war, and president zelenskyy paid tribute to ukrainian guards who refused to surrender in those first hours of russia's invasion. matt moment celebrated in a

stamp. in terms of ending the war, nbc news is reporting on secret talks between former u.s. officials and prominent russians to lay the groundwork for potential negotiations. while the post reports ukrainian officials say they are confident in their aim to retake substantial territory by the fall, and forced russia to negotiate. meanwhile, the white house -- >> the uk is a signatory to a convention, which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use. we will continue to do our part to support ukraine. >> all right, there was rishi sunak there, the prime minister of great britain, jumping into the conversation. but to that point, while the white house is defending us and then cluster shells to ukraine, with president biden saying ukrainian forces are running out of ammunition. it is still turning out to be an unpopular decision at home and abroad, as biden plans to travel to europe to tomorrow, and millions of americans remain under potentially deadly heat advisories across the

southwest and the south. real temperatures could put things in the triple digits. wow? look at that! we've got a lot of reporters out on the trail for you, allie raffa, who is with the president in rehoboth beach, delaware. let's talk about the decision to send a cluster bomb to ukraine. what say you, what is the white house saying? >> yeah, the president is saying he made this decision after speaking with allies, after speaking with lawmakers on capitol hill, and he defended it by saying ukraine needed these ammunitions because they needed leverage in their war and their counteroffensive against russia, as russia continues using these cluster munitions against ukraine. listen to more of his justification in an interview he did with cnn here. >> it was not an easy decision, and we're not signatories of that agreement, but it took me a while to be convinced to do it. the main thing is they either

have the weapons to stop the russians now, or stopping the ukrainian offensive to serious, or they don't. and i think they needed it. >> alex, but president there referring to an international treaty that was signed by more than 100 countries. many of them nato allies, back in 2008, that bans the use of these cluster munitions because of the threat they pose to civilians. that's because of something called the done right, essentially, the number of smaller bombs or bomb lets that are released when these bigger bombs go off, that go immediately explode sometimes for days, weeks, months, potentially even years. obviously a threat to civilian areas, civilians that stumble upon these later on. but despite what we're seeing from the top democrats, this rare active push back against the precedents moves, the president, again it's, defending this decision. he says he put it off for as long as possible, but it needed to be made. he says these cluster ammunitions that will be sent

by the u.s. will have a lower dud rate that will be set down in battleground areas, areas civilians are not exposed to, but this will no doubt be a precedent on the president heads to the nato summit in lithuania in just a few days. it's going to be very interesting to see if we see any pushback from leaders of those nato ally countries that have banned these cluster munitions, alex. >> okay, allie raffa, thank you so much from oka beach, delaware. joining me right now is congressman connecticut congressman jim hines, democratic wrecking never of the senate intelligence committee. great to see you as always. let's dig into things here. do you support the decision on cluster bombs and what impact could it have? >> i do, alex, and the president is right on this one. look, there is a moral case to be made against the use of cluster munitions anytime, any place, and they do hope someday, in the world, just were re-agreed to not use chemical weapons or biological weapons,

we agree to not use cluster weapons, because these two things hang around civilians if they pick them up. here's the thing, alison, here's where the president is right. the russians if you've been using cluster munitions on ukrainian soil for years. ukraine's polluted with unexploded cluster munitions, so, for us, to see in air conditioned comfort, thousands of miles away from the battlefield and say we would rather have to run out of munition, with all of the moral implications of that, the -- all russians and what they did when they took territory from the ukrainian people, to arrive to sit at a distance many thousands of miles to say we're going to take the moral high ground to an already polluted country is just, i think, untenable. so the president is right on this one, and i think at the nato summit, the allies will recognize that even though they may be ahead of us in -- finding the convention, the president is the right thing there. >> what do you think that nbc news exclusive reporting that former u.s. officials have been holding secret talks with russians believed to be close to the kremlin? these discussions, of course,

aimed to lay the groundwork to end the war. but then yesterday, ukraine responded, expressing concern over the move. do you, sir, have any insight into these meetings? does the fact that russian officials are even involved indicate that this back channel type diplomacy could be effective? >> well, it's important to make sure we know what we're talking about here, alex. it's not a back channel diplomacy, these are retired former national security people, richard haass, who most recently runs the council on foreign relations at the, if the stories are to be believed. look, it's always good to have conversations going on between antagonists. during the cold war, we had all sorts of people talking to the soviets. as you know, the director of the cia has made visits to russia, has made visits to china. talking is always good, so long as there's not misunderstanding. obviously, none of the -- official speak for the united states, and most importantly, alex, this is really the critical element here.

the united states is not the one that makes peace in ukraine. the ukrainians make peace in ukraine. >> you make a very good point there. we should say apparently, the biden administration is aware of these talks, but in no way sanctions at them. or, ask for them to be held. so, let's keep that point as well. let me ask about the new fallout from the failed rebellion. belarus's president says wagner chief, yevgeny prigozhin, is in russia, despite being exiled by the kremlin. so, do you have any concrete information on his whereabouts? and what might it mean if he is in russia? the rebellion still be percolating, or could he be back on good terms with putin? >> well, that's a really interesting question. you know, prigozhin has become kind of a hospitality 04, two reasons. number one, he's got thousands of armed men without any moral compass whatsoever, as we've seen over the course of the last year at the half. if i were the leader of belarus, i wouldn't want him hanging around in my territory, either. and of course, he's on the outs with vladimir putin, and patents are likely to happen to

those associated with prigozhin overtime. i don't know if we know exactly if we know where he is. could it happen again? i mean, you know, that's a really interesting question. it was fascinating to see how easily he got to rostov, a couple hundred miles, were apparently, he was not opposed. apparently, he was welcomed. if i were vladimir putin, i would be really worried about that fact, because that's a lot of people -- will see ever going to make it to moscow? not a chance. aircraft armed with munitions and can, and we're going to pretty quickly and precautions -- on his way to moscow. what this is indicative of a lot of dissent, a lot of anger at vladimir putin. a lot of sense that this whole misadventure over 500 days has shown to the world and made russia -- and of course, that instinct among the elites, amongst a senior army officers or whatever, is going to be a huge problem for vladimir putin going forward. >> okay, let's go state that's

a gather us quoting the new york times in this new reporting, former chief of staff, john kelly, under oath said that donald trump discussed having the irs and other federal agencies investigate two fbi officials involved in the russia probe. this allegation was disclosed in a statement filed in connection with lawsuits from those two, being peter -- and lisa page. voice your reaction to this? should this concern republicans who continue standing by donald trump? >> [laughter] one interesting question,. alex number one, my reaction is i can't believe this is news! of course donald trump wanted peter -- and lisa page, and hillary clinton and joe biden, we impeach the man because he asked president dylan ski for dirt on his political opponent and held up military aid! this is so not a surprise for donald trump that did this. what's ironic to me is i work in the place, the house of representatives, alex, if you know, where jim jordan and others have set up special committees to investigate the weaponization of the government. and in right-wing maga stores

are goals, the story is the fbi in the cia and the deep state and the mainstream media are all working against donald trump and conservatives, when the exact opposite is true. donald trump got elected saying lock her up, lock her, up and of course you got the irs to investigate his political opponents, people he didn't like. the weaponization committee in the house of representatives is turning out precisely, i think, the technical term is bogus in terms of the weaponization by the government, by joe biden. but you know, is this going to cause republicans to -- with donald trump? you and i know the answer to that question, alex, which is there is nothing that will cause maga adherence on par with donald trump. >> i love that answer. can i just say? one more question. this week, a judge and sealed more details on the affidavit used in the mar-a-lago investigation. i'm curious, your biggest take away from the search warrant, and what more does the intel committee still want to learn about the classified documents? >> well, alex, i've had an opportunity to look at this

most of the classified documents that were recovered from mar-a-lago, from the residences of vice president pence, and then vice president biden. and i can't get into the details around back, but i can tell you that no one should minimize the seriousness of any of this stuff, i heard my republican colleagues say oh, maybe it was old information so it wasn't that dangerous. first of all, no, it wasn't old information. and therefore -- second of all, there's no category of not that dangerous, not secret information, that could be disposed. so, again, the wheels of justice will grind on this, other republicans, regardless of the evidence or the facts, or the fact that rulings will be made by trump appointed judges will continue to say that this is a -- trump, because again, there is absolutely nothing that donald trump can do to call some depart from their cult like adherence to this man. >> all, right connecticut

congressman jim himes, always good to have you on the show. thank you so much. the big surprise donald trump got yesterday out of all places, dairy queen. we're back in 60 seconds. 60 seconds ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. >> now, to a new nbc's news

so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ report that roger stone, the controversial political strategist tied to extremist groups, joined donald trump yesterday to campaign stop in iowa and traveled on trump's plane to las vegas. trump also engaged in some retail politics at a dairy queen in iowa, handing out ice cream while declaring he knew nothing about blizzards. >> everybody wants a blizzard. what the hell is a blizzard? take care of the people, okay, can you take care of him for me? get them the blizzard. >> it's only the classic dairy queen thing! but anyway, let's go to nbc's vaughn hillyard, joining me from vegas, where donald trump is certainly scheduled to speak

coming up. but don, before we get to the, i heard you had some news about the iowa caucus? >> right. the days focus is on the vada. his first visit to this state of his 2024 presidential run, but iowa is the breaking news in the last few minutes, because we have a game schedule. the iowa caucus, it's going to be on january 15th, 2024. we've been waiting for when the republican party was going to roll out the state, and now, there is a timeline. 191 days. it's really not that many days. 194 days ago was december 29th, think about what we're doing. they're especially wrong desantis, vicky haley, mike pence, isa hutchinson, 191 days to close that distinct gap with donald trump to somehow pull off an iowa caucus victory that you should expect across the states 99 counties across among, as they tried to correct the front nine right now,. alex >> okay, six months and

one week. you see it in the numbers. what's the next, saturday will be the 15th. so, we've got six months and one week until that happens. very quickly, the blizzard thing and dairy queen. really? he didn't know what a blizzard was? >> if he spends enough days among vegas this summer, alex, i hope that he would know what blizzard was. it's going to be 110 degrees are here today, so, i've had a couple blizzards but hey, we do know he's a big mcdonald's fan. maybe there's just a distinction on what his favorite festered restaurants are. but we should note, the blizzard has been around since 1985, but god bless the man, clearly, he's been laying off ice from here if he does inevitably service. >> okay, vaughn hillyard, thank you so much for all of. that coming up next, the new health scare in florida. re in florida. 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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tulsa, oklahoma. things looked calm now, but it's just one of the cities where millions of americans are facing severe storms today. flash flooding, strong winds and hail are expected throughout the middle of the country. some tornadoes possible. meanwhile, millions of others sweltering in the heat. this is phoenix, where it's already 99 degrees. 18 million people are under heat advisories today across the southwest and the south, with the heat index expected to climb into the triple digits in some places. joining me now is nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman. who has the unfortunate duty of talking about all of this heat. how long is it going to last? it's going to go through the entire weekend? where is it the worst? >> yeah, alex, we've been

talking about this for weeks and weeks. it is soggy, stormy, we are watching records fall pretty much every single day. whether it's temperature, hike temperature that falls, and that's not just in the u.s.. that's globally. we'll get to those numbers,. to also, rainfall rates. denver sought more rainfall this year than they do typically in just a few days. this is what we're looking at in terms of the heat, because it is dangerously hot so many places. 19 million americans, some sort of heat alert, whether it's in the southwest, pacific northwest, into the south central east. -- we get the trouble digits once again, it's going to be so hot. there you want to he all the warnings, if you can, drink a lot of water, find chain if you have to be outdoors. take a look at some of these numbers. las vegas, 100, six 109 in phoenix, 97 in albuquerque. yes, it's dry, heat but it's still really high. then, working at the south central states in the southeast, into the 90s, mid, 90s you factor in that humidity, it's going to be like 110 corpus christi, 104 in new orleans

today. feeling like 104 in jacksonville. so, getting into some of these numbers, there is no end in sight, unfortunately. we're looking for monday and tuesday, still in the triple digits in las vegas and phoenix end of hershey. 101 on tuesday, midland, texas, we're looking at 105 and houston, you're gonna be warm,. two to, state your 100 degrees. it's not just a southern parts of this country. we are looking at really warm conditions in the northeast, to. that's going to help spark some storms, especially tomorrow, and that's going to lead to the chance of some flash flooding it's heavy, heavy rainfall. but right now, we're looking at temperatures today into the 90s in baltimore, roanoke, and -- 90 degrees. and your combat heat indices into the 90s in so, so many spots. so we broke records globally. this is a big weather headline. july 3rd, fourth, fifth, and six, probably going to break more records as we go throughout the summer with this el niño in place. that is a warming up of the pacific, so it tends to put war warm air into an already warming atmosphere. we're at 70% of the country or the world, excuse me, it's covered by ocean. so the ocean waters are warming,

and that's adding to these numbers. look at these globally. we're looking at so many records that felt globally as well. so, in portions of peru, we have the hottest july day. in parts of iran, 122. that is really hot. and the earliest on record, right? 110 in parts of china, philippines and australia. so, we're not the only ones suffering. there's somebody out there suffering. that is the heat story. now, we're talking about severe weather threat. 10 million people at risk. we have been talking about a severe weather risk pretty much every day for the past four weeks. it's just pretty unusual. and that is a climate connection. we're seeing that kind of blocking atmosphere, things are sticking around a little longer, and they're a little stronger. so, looking at winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. could see some hail, couple of tornadoes, too. so shyann, down to lamar, over to oklahoma city, little rock, national, you're under the gun for some really strong storms as we go through the afternoon and evening hours. and then it's going to be the same story tomorrow, but watch how that number grows. 46 million at risk tomorrow, once, again with winds gusting out of 60 miles per hour.

what does that mean? that could bring down some trees, and break down some power lines leading to some power outages, somehow, also an isolated tornado, but look how many people are involved. we're talking to portions of the mississippi valley, into the south central states, southeast, carolinas, into the mid-atlantic. big cities along i-95, d.c., down to raleigh, charleston, a win. so, it's going to be some import impacts as well, as we head out tomorrow. that's going to be a big. story and alex, will end up here, because we're looking at a lot of rainfall and a lot of spots. we're talking about that moisture in the atmosphere. it's sort of like a sponge that gets squeezed out. we're looking at a chance for flash flooding throughout today, also, tomorrow to the northeast, we could see over five inches of rain. that's going to cause some problems, to. back to you. >> wow! what a report! i could just sit here and take it all in, there's a lot of trouble, spots, okay, michelle grossman, thank you for the heads up. let's go to florida now, where in addition to the blistering heat there, there are new health concerns. two more cases of malaria reported in the state this week. it is the first time that there has been a local spread of the disease in the u.s., and in two

decades. joining me now is nbc's vaughn vinegars from coral gables, florida. vaughn, what my friend. so, what are health officials saying about this uptick in cases? how concerned are they about a potential launcher outbreak? >> alex, there is concern, but no need to panic. a place like florida is humid and it is used to dealing with mosquitoes. it's really, mosquitoes that need to be attacked back and throw this situation. so, malaria was actually considered eliminated in the united states since the 1950s, but with these two new cases, we now have seven local contractions or locally contracted cases of malaria and the united states this summer, so as i mentioned, public health officials are concerned when they're currently on the weather. >> florida residents facing a new health scare brought tonight mosquitoes. health authorities in sarasota county confirming to new cases of locally contracted malaria. this, after a statewide health advisory was issued in late june.

>> this is likely going to be a cluster of cases in sarasota county. the mosquito has to buy a human that's infected, and go off and bite another human, less than a mile away. so, mosquitoes travel long distances. >> but the disease is caused by a parasite, which spreads the disease to the affected humans. it is expected that the u.s. sees about 2000 cases annually, nearly all from people who had acquired the disease abroad before entering the country. unlike these new cases, contracted locally from infected mosquitoes. >> this is an unusual headline, not something we typically see here in the united states. this is really going to require this vigilance on the part of health officials. >> for those who get sick, the flu-like symptoms can include a notoriously high fever, body aches, chills, headaches, and nausea. doctor ghouta says that cases shouldn't create panic, with medical centers in the u.s. prepared to test and treat the deceased. while public health authorities carry aggressive vector control

efforts near the areas where the cases emerge. >> for trying to knock out any of those adult mosquitoes that might be carrying that agent. >> a challenge for the sunshine state, after two of the top public health officials responsible for tracking and preventing the spread of communicable diseases left their jobs under ron desantis's administration in recent months. >> now, it's important to keep in mind that malaria does exist in tropical and subtropical countries. millions of people get it every year. so, here in florida, there is that public health advisory, and there are some tips for people in florida to make sure to follow when they go outside. one of those is to wear long sleeves, when if you can, when you go outside, but it is really how. i'm not wearing long sleeves. but we can use epa approved mosquito repellant, which is very important, of course, to keep mosquitoes away, and also people of to keep in mind that standing water can attract mosquitoes. they love laying their eggs and standing water. get rid of any standing water

inside or outside the house. all of these things can help as this health advisory continues here in florida, alex. >> okay, good advice. thank you so much. guad when they get. why we now have a clearer sense of where those secret documents were found at mar-a-lago, that's coming your way, next. but first, take a look at the waterfalls in yosemite national park. surging after record-breaking rain and snow. if you want to see them for yourself, you may have to wait hours just to enter the park, especially on weekends. officials are looking at different ways to try to manage those crowds.

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new, let's redacted version of the affidavit used to search mar-a-lago for lots of documents, including a somewhat clearer sense of where documents were found. in the bathroom near lake room, spilling out of bankers boxes in a storage area, on a evolving stage, and have these locations relate to the trump residence. joining me now, sadie gurman, who has been all over this story as justice department reporter with the wall street journal, and nicolas nima's, campaign reporter with the new york times and coauthor of the grifters club, trump, mar-a-lago, and that selling of the presidency. welcome to you both, say, do you first, because you wrote about this affidavit. what stands out about the moving of these bacchus boxes

and what may be -- >> to be clear, i think the most interesting parts of the death of david remain blacked out, redacted, out of public view. but we did learn a couple of things from the release of the official details, namely, just that investigators have amassed quite a bit of evidence by the site they reflect search. mainly, that surveillance footage that you mentioned, which shows pretty clearly one of trump's aides, walt nauta, moving boxes in and out of the storage room. we've known for a while that walt has been the focus of this investigation, and we've seen from the indictment of him and trump path, you, now he was moving boxes. he was accused of lying to investigators about the moving of boxes, but with this newly-released affidavit or nearly unseal portions of the affidavit show it is that investigators had already collected all of that evidence before the august 2020 to search. >> so, we know that attorney

general merrick garland had deliberated over whether to search the property for sometime, and, now we have a better sense of why the fbi ultimately decided to go in. >> yeah. >> nicholas, you and i are familiar with the layout of mar-a-lago. what can you tell us about the locations where the boxes were found in the people who were likely coming and going in the area? >> i mean, it's really important to note that although it was used during the trump administration as a de facto government facility, mar-a-lago is not a government facility. it is a social club for the world's wealthiest people, and that gets of mar-a-lago did not want to feel like they were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay in a fortress. so, this is a place where club members, staff, guests, can wander in and out. i've been in that room myself, not that i saw the boxes at the

time, it was during the presidency, but except for the presidents office, which is more secure, you can have anyone wandering in and out of this club, as long as they have permission to be there, and as we saw in several cases, people who didn't have permission to be that we're able to gain access to the grounds. >> yeah, that's a good point. sadie, you have written this. in one previously redacted portion, the agent addresses the handoff of documents to justice smart men had subpoenaed in may 2022. when a trump lawyer turned over subpoena documents, including some marked confidential, secret, and top secret, he did not assert of the former president had declassified them. tell me the significance of that? >> so, trump has, at times, in his own defense, argue that he had the power to declassify these documents and that he did the classify them. but that's not something that his lawyers have asserted, and court documents or anywhere else, and that's probably because that didn't come up in

the course of the investigation. so, that was not something that they thought of, until this investigation was well underway, this was not something that trump asserted until the archives on the justice department came looking for these documents. so, it's telling that that might not be a defense that holds up in court. >> and nicholas, the affidavits it lofts for secret and top secret information out like this, that it must be in a tsa approved container, a specially built vault or storage area, requiring periodic inspection and used of an intrusion detection system. have you seen any space at mar-a-lago that meets these requirements in any way? >> the spaces that these documents were stored in, certainly, are not up to those standards. and you know, i think the other thing that's important to consider about mar-a-lago is that we were writing the book, we talked to several counter intelligence analysts, and they pointed out that mar-a-lago not

only has all these guests coming in from around the world, it relies on foreign workers, and their point was any foreign intelligence service, that did not have people on its payroll, either visiting or working, at mar-a-lago, was committing counter intelligence or intelligence malpractice. so, i think it's just a reminder, you know, how vulnerable classified materials could have been when they were stored in these kind of situations. >> yeah. and you mentioned walt nauta, sadie, this is really zeroing in on him, the way he's move these boxes even after his interview with the fbi. tell me the significance of unredacted least tails. what does it mean, now, four nauta and a c, or should, he see himself in a precarious position? >> well, he is charged alongside trump in this investigation. one of the big outstanding questions is whether people plead guilty and cooperate with the government in provide

additional details about trump. people that we've talked to, close aides, people who have worked with walt have said they don't think that's likely. he is somebody who is exceedingly loyal to the president, the former president. somebody who went from the white house with him to mar-a-lago, you know, a former navy military valet who, you know, that sort of sense of loyalty is ingrained in his character, and he is unlikely to turn, at least, that is what people are speculating on the streets, in terms of walls. but you know, he is one of the big open questions, here how is he going to proceed with this case? he just pleaded not guilty during his hearing this past week. and so things are still in the very early stages, but i think it unsealing this information, prosecutors have just sort of underscored the other evidence they have in the case against him. >> yeah, it's also so interesting that these two co defendants, they're still working together. walt nauta it's still by donald

trump's side all the time. so, it's quite a fascinating element to think about as well. nicholas, your book was published in august of 2020, when you are an investigative reporter for the miami herald. what can you tell us about trump's vibe? when he's inside mar-a-lago, compared to his public persona, and how does that facilitates the stuff that's coming back to haunt him now? >> well, that's a great question. i mean, trump is, in many ways, he is like the grand maître d'of the club. he works the room. he's not that different from the way he is a lot of ways. heat works the room, he quizzes members about, you know, did they like the dinner tonight? did they? not if they did it, he will go and personally talk to the chef. and it's very similar to the way that he kind of tested out lines during his campaign, at his rallies. or just the other day, you know, we heard him talk about the issue of transgender rights a

couple of weeks ago, and he said you, know five, years ago, no one knew what transgender rights were. now, you applaud like crazy, addressing the rally at his audience. so, i don't think he's actually that different behind the scenes at mar-a-lago, but he's certainly relishes the attention of owning this historic home, of having turned it into arguably palm beach's most popular social club, and i think the fact that, and this didn't happen at mar-a-lago, of course, that we know, about the fact that he was showing off these documents to people at bedminster in new jersey, plays exactly into the way that he sells himself. he is a salesman, and he has something valuable, whether it's an exclusive social club or a classified document. -- >> i'm just gonna share quickly, anecdotally, i've been told from someone who has been there that he chooses to wait until the dining area is the most

crowded, and then he comes down, makes his grand entrance to thunderous applause by those people who are there, that's part of the nighttime dinner routine. it all sort of plays into your description as well. sadie gurman, i want to thank you so much. nick, i know you're coming back to talk about the unforced errors that have been made by the rhonda sanchez campaign, but first, why american might be seeing a once in a lifetime opportunity to recruit spies. y to recruit spies fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. get back to better breathing. ask your doctor about fasenra.

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allies and adversaries following the biden administration's decision to send cluster munitions to ukraine. the kremlin in a statement just a few minutes ago in that, calling the position a blatant manifestations of the u.s.'s aggressive anti russian chorus aimed at prolonging the conflict in ukraine and creating a war to the last ukrainian. a move by the biden administration comes amid concern of the slow pace of kyiv's counter offensive. joining me now is former and i officer and -- mark polley ruffle us, good friend to us. , markle comeback. so, what is about these weapons that makes them so controversial, and why do you think the u.s. decided to send them now? do you think it's the right move? >> well, it is the right move, because the bottom line is that ukraine is running low on ammunition. and so the department of defense provided a recommendation to president biden that this is something the ukrainians need and they need very quickly. not something in several weeks,

months, four years, but right now, because of the counteroffensive is being launched. so, you know, it's a tough call. obviously, there's some flak from our allies in england and in germany, but look. the president makes these hard decisions. it's necessary for the battlefield, and you know, the ukrainians want them. don't forget, these aren't musicians that the ukrainians want to use on their own soil, so let's trust them to use them responsibly. >> yes, it's gonna make the case, for this in the summit, no doubt this next week. the leader of the wagner group, yevgeny prigozhin, is in russia. that's according to belarusian president. and b news has not yet verified his whereabouts, but -- reporting him in st. petersburg, his hometown. so, if prigozhin is back in russia, mark, what does that suggest about this deal that he did with vladimir putin to stay in exile? might the kremlin see him as a threats? right they want to keep him within reach? >> well you know, first of all, i think it's okay to say, as a

former intelligence officer, ethan national security analyst, we don't know a lot of what's happening. it's okay to say that, because the story changes every day. every day is a new chapter. , now one of the things that we have to keep in mind is that prigozhin is deeply entrenched within the russian national security apparatus. so while he's certainly betrayed vladimir putin, the wagner group was an arm of the kremlin overseas. you, know they were operating globally, they were providing resources, minerals, and gold, and it was an extension of russian foreign policy in places like africa and syria. so, putin needs him, prigozhin also has betrayed putin. it is something that every day is a new chapter. one thing we do know is that vladimir putin does have some problems under his own roof. >> that's for sure. let me have my director, adam, put up a statement from the cia director, william burns. he recently called the war a once in a generation opportunity to recruit spies, and specifically, you said they recently used social media to let brave russians know how to

contact the safely on the dark web. two and a half million views in the first week, and were very much open for business. so, the question is, what are the challenges and the dangers of recruiting russians to provide information? you know, we're kind of hanging out the welcome mat. u.s. embassies overseas, it's the right thing to do. let me add, bill burns statements here and that kind of social media posts that the cia put out is viciously trolling the russians. i love it. but the bottom line is if you are a russian in some kind of position, whether it's government, or any other white you have access to information, you're going to be thinking about your future. you know, what motivates someone to spy against our government? well, it's the spare. sometimes, ideological, but russians a pariah state now. so, we are looking for russians who kind of want to do the right thing, work against their government, but not against their country. i think trying to access

individuals over social media, over the dark web, is the right thing to do. it will provide the protocols, it could be done safely, but this is -- in the russians -- and i think a lot of us intelligence professionals kind of smile when we see burns statement and what the agency does. >> such an interesting distinction as i wrap this up that you're asking them to go against their government, but not against their country. i see there is a distinction between the two. okay, mark, good to see you my friend. thank you very much. regrets he might have more than a few, that's the trouble with ron desantis running his campaign his way. campaign his way

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- [speaker] at first, just leaving the house was hard. - [speaker] but wounded warrior project helps you realize it's possible to get out there - [speaker] to feel sense of camaraderie again. - [speaker] to find the tools to live life better. - [narrator] through generous community support, we've connected warriors and their families with no cost physical and mental health services, legislative advocacy, career assistance, and life skill training for 20 years, and we are just getting started. >> we are back with an nbc news exclusive. we are now learning florida governor ron desantis bragged about sending help to iowa last month, even though the state said they didn't need it. public records show that more than ten hours before sending assistance for the building collapse, iowa had officially told the desantis administration it's help us no longer needed.

in fact, the mission had been canceled. that revelation comes as my next guest reports the desantis campaign is struggling to find its footing, and joining me again is nicholas and hamas, the campaign reporter for the new york times. so, welcome back. let me read your reporting, nick. it takes a number of the desantis missteps, including a recent ad slammed as homophobic. in fact, a spokesman for the super pacs as he faces an uphill battle, amid his lagging poll numbers. where does this new nbc report fit into this picture? is there a connection? is there a common thread among these blunders? >> i think what you are saying is that my governor keeps a very small circle of council. they have a strategy. it's this kind of slow roll out. they started by having the governor give speeches in the early nominating states. then, doing some town halls with voters. now, they're in the state towards the gradually rolling

out his policy announcements. and it also seems like the governor is starting to take on former president trump more directly, which is something that he hasn't done, he hasn't mentioned him by name very much in the past. so, that's their strategy. they're sticking to it. but they say is that it's going to be a different race, come the fall and winter. when it really matters. so, well i think you are saying is this is not a governor. his super pac is named never back down. he doesn't apologize. he doesn't change direction, and they believe this is the strategy that we'll get them closer to president trump. >> speaking of going after the former president, a controversial video that does just that over lgbtq rights, it was your by the census campaign. as you know, it now appears to have been removed by twitter. do you have any insight, nick, into why it would be taken down? and how is desantis's stance on

lgbtq issues playing with voters? >> so, the suggestion is actually that this was a copyright issue. rather than any kind of hate speech or anything like that, but the video relied on this really obscure right-wing meme, from the serial killer movie american psycho, and the netflix show picky blinders, and people indoors especially was unhappy that the footage from their show -- >> yeah. >> was used. so, what's so striking about that ad as the campaign did not respond to any questions about it. and we could not get governor desantis to comment on it until he did an interview with a right wing website, and he defended the video. he said it was fair game to go after president trump for his views on lgbtq people. i think what was so striking do the sources i talked to about

that video is it condemns president trump support for lgbtq people by quoting him talking about the pulse nightclub shooting, which killed 49 people in florida. so, i think the question, i at least, would like to ask governor, does he think it was appropriate to pull president trump's words, talking about that horrendous shooting? >> yeah, interesting. this is also interesting. desantis's wife, casey, has made her first solo campaign appearance in iowa. she was joined by the governor, kim reynolds, as she has launched mamas for desantis. can casey fix her husbands image problem? ken a spouse ever do that effectively? >> well, my colleague, lisa narrowest there in iowa, and she pointed out that this has been done before, certainly, by mitt romney and many others, but it's very early in the campaign, and the argument that

desantis people would make is miss desantis is a crucial part of the strategy, and always has been, and her going for mama's is what they were going to do. >> giving her fair do. nicholas mohammad, thank you so much from the new york times. that's going to do it to me on alex witt reports also. at one pm reports. yes and vossoughian kicks up our coverage, right now. right now. good afternoon. gia good to see you. i'm yasmin essig. in the -- explaining a controversial decision to send cluster bombs to ukraine. >> the ukrainians are running out of ammunition. i'm -- eternally awhile to be convinced to do it. either they have the weapons to stop the russians now from there -- keep them