instagram. you can now listen to every episode of the show as a podcast for free. search for inside with jen psaki wherever you get your podcasts to follow the show and listen anytime on the go. we'll be back next sunday at noon eastern. stay right where you are because there is much more news on msnbc ahead. >> a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we have breaking news. president biden is heading to europe for a week of key meetings including nato summit. the war on ukraine will be at the top of the agenda. today, president biden responded to questions of whether ukraine is ready to join the alliance. >> i don't think it is ready for membership in nato. holding nato together is critical. i don't think there is unanimity in nato whether or

not to bring ukraine into the nato family now at this moment in the middle of the war. >> ukraine now promises it will not use the american supplied cluster munitions in russia. it comes as the controversial weapons divided congress. >> they want these as self-defense to use against russians in their own country of ukraine. i don't see anything wrong with the, these weapons would be a game-changer. >> cluster bombs should never be used. that is crossing a line. we would risk losing our moral leadership. >> also new today, treasury secretary janet yellen returns from china after a weekend of high stakes meetings. the secretary is optimistic progress is being made to shore up tense relations. >> i had a very construct a visit. i received a warm welcome and had a very substantial series of meetings.

an objective of my trip was to explain the national security is something that we can't compromise on and we will protect. >> capitol hill is bracing for a potential far-right feud as marjorie taylor greene will find out. nbc news reports they voted to oust her as hosts familiar with her thinking say no one from the caucus has reached out to say that they voted her out. president trump attends a ufc fight in las vegas last night as his legal team faces a major deadline of this week. trump's senior advisor jason miller posted this video there on twitter of crowds cheering the former president. tomorrow, it's the deadline to respond. we have several correspondents in place covering the headlines from london to washington to

right here in new york and we're going to begin with josh lederman in london ahead of the arrival of the president there. josh, a long distance welcome to you, my friend. what does the president hope to accomplish during the big trip to europe? >>, well, alex on, his first stop, president biden will aim to really show u.s. already with its closest ally, the united kingdom, including with a meeting at downing street tomorrow morning with prime minister rishi sunak. at windsor castle, president biden will have an opportunity to hold his first meeting with king charles since the new king was coronated. during that nato summit in lithuania, president biden really has a difficult task ahead of him to try to show the ukrainians that this western alliance has won supporting ukraine is really standing just as strongly as it has just as the war has surpassed 500 days with the ukrainians very concerned that the western support is eroding. you heard how the ukrainians are very upset about the fact that they are insistent that they should be admitted to nato

immediately that it is not going to be -- other countries have made clear they are not ready to allow ukraine in the short term into the nato alliance. that ukrainians are also very upset about some very reporting that we have exclusively at nbc news about meetings that took place secretly between former u.s. officials and russians. sergey lavrov met with these former u.s. officials in a new york in april. we are hearing this morning from john kirby, spokesman for the national security council, responding to our reporting about that meeting as well as the fact that the white house was briefed about the congress of what was going on between former u.s. officials on the russian government. take a listen. >> we whirl where that discussions were happening at a private level. we were not passing messages through them. we were not encouraging --

the president has been clear that we will have no discussions with the russia about negotiating an end to the war without ukraine at the table. >> the other difficult backdrop for president biden is that decision by the u.s. to provide cluster munitions to ukraine to defend its territory against russia. you played a little bit of the back and forth domestically between democrats and republicans over that. we are also seeing that issue play out internationally with many of the countries that are in a nato that will be meeting with president biden being signatories to an international rule against using cluster bombs because of the risk of injuring and killing civilians. many have expressed it's not something they want to see. they don't want to see innocent people killed as a result of cluster munitions being used. president biden may have explaining to do as far as why the united states described at this point that they were going

to provide weaponry to ukrainians. >> thank you very much. i'm going to pick right up with that last point. we're going to take it now to get new reactions from capitol hill where members of congress are returning from recess to a pretty stacked legislative agenda. to that last point, give me your read today on congressional support for the cluster munitions being sent to ukraine. >> yeah, our viewers will be forgiven if they didn't know exactly what cluster munitions are. it's a bomb that explodes midair. when it does, dozens of a little bomb let's expand down before it. it's really controversial because they are not perfect. the pentagon says they have a 3% doug rate on these things. three out of every 100 that are dropped might not detonate four hours or days after they are actually detonated. that causes harm to people around on the ground. republicans seem to think this is a good idea to send cluster

munitions to ukraine. the democrats are very unhappy with that. let's listen to barbara lee. >> all the ukrainians and zelenskyy are asking for is to give them the same weapons the russians have to use in their own country against russians who are into their own country. they don't want days to be used in russia. they want them as self-defense in their own country of ukraine. i don't see anything wrong with that. >> we risk losing our moral leadership. when you look at the fact that over 120 countries have signed the convention on cluster munitions saying they should never be used, they should never be used. in fact, many of us have urged the administration to sign off to this convention. i am hoping they could

reconsider this. these are very dangerous bombs. this is a line that i don't believe we should cross. >> in addition to this topic, when congress comes back on tuesday, they have a lot on their plate before they head out for recess in august. senator chuck schumer sent out a list of priorities this morning to his members. they include funding the government, which is never something that's easy to do, the nba, always a controversial topic, and then a number of priorities as it relates to policy areas which includes prescription drugs, fentanyl, the online and rail safety, and foreign policy, there is the big issue as it relates to scotus ethics reform. that is something that both sides want to see something done about. no one is necessarily going to agree on what could get down there. >> exactly. thank you very much. i appreciate that. gary grumbach. joining me now, a democratic member of the armed services

committee. welcome back to the broadcast. let's talk ammunition bombs. nearly two dozen congressional democrats, barbara lee included, who we just heard from, urging the president not to send them to ukraine for concerns about civilians. t not to send ukraine's defenses the weapons are not going to be used in russia nor in urban areas. where do you stand on this? send them or don't send them? >> alex, i say to get those cluster munitions over to the ukraine as quickly as well as -able. the russians are already using these cluster munitions. they've use them at about ten out of the 24 regions in ukraine. you reporter mentioned about the doug rate. i will tell you that the doug rate of u.s. munitions are going to be much lower than the ones that the russians are using. the cluster munitions have already killed 216 civilians. i was in vancouver, canada this

past weekend. i'm on the helsinki commission. i spoke with members of parliament from the ukraine. they said that they absolutely need these munitions in order to be able to stave off the russians and push them back further. >> okay, poet well taken. thank you for giving us your perspective on that. we know the president is heading to lithuania where russia's war will certainly be a major focus. how critical could the meetings be in efforts to end this conflict? what are your expectations? >> i am glad that we are having discussions particularly way other states from around that region. i think they want to hear from us. they are looking towards our leadership particularly when you consider the absence of leadership that was exhibit exhibited under the trump administration. it's good that we are having those. as far as actually ending this conflict, i think that only

putin knows when this is going to end. that remains to be seen. it's just important for us as members of congress that we continue to pay close attention and help the ukrainians in any way that we can. at the end of the day, i think that the ukrainians being effective as what is going to ultimately made putin decide, hey, this is not worth it and he needs to move on. >> speaking of putin, we are just learning today that russian jets harassed american drones over syria for three days in a row last week. the u.s. military says this latest incident lasted about two hours. the u.s. drones were targeting and i.s.i.s. later. how do you interpret these dangerous behaviors? how do you think the u.s. should respond? >> oh, i think that putin wants people to think, hey, business as usual. i am not feeling any stressed over ukraine. he wants to being provocative in these sorts of ways just to

show a little bit of a bravado. it is very dangerous, particularly when you think about the fact that we were trying to use these drones again to target extremists in the middle east. who needs to back down. i think we have to be firm with him to let him know that this is not acceptable behavior. regardless of whatever he does, we are still going to be 100% behind ukraine in their efforts to get the russians out of the country. >> let me focus on a big issue domestically. this week, the country faced several mass shootings including one close to home for you in texas where you grew up. as president biden calls on congress and states to take action on gun violence, the vice president of policy, the brady campaign, says the views of urban women are weighing on republican lawmakers and a gun violence policy is a top issue for young voters. do you think a shift could change the tide and bring republicans to the table? >> well, first, alex, let me

tell you that that shooting and those killings hit me heavy. that is the neighborhood that my mom grew up in. my grandparents lived in fort worth and corsicana, texas. my mom is the seventh out of nine kids. she was actually born in a house in that community. they all went to the high schooler. that hurt me when i saw what happened. that time, the 3rd of july the day before the fourth, that is the time for the community to get together and barbecue and people shoot fireworks and have a good time. it is unfortunate that that happened. that being said, i don't think that republicans are going to be willing to work with us. the problem with the current reckless radical republican majority that we have in congress right now is that their republican primary voters just don't want there to be any

action at all when it comes to safety, for individuals that committed these murders and these shootings on july the 4th, we need to make it harder for people like that to get guns. why can't we do expanded background checks? why can't we raise the age to 21? why can't we do something about making private sales of guns much more safe? it just doesn't make any sense, alex. i don't think they are going to budge at all on this issue. that's really unfortunate. >> i've been shaking my head through all of this. it doesn't make any sense. . your darn right on that. thank you so much for your time, mark veasey. still to come, the big date this week and the mar-a-lago documents case. plus, an nbc report. later this hour, stalling, struggling, trying to shift the narrative -- the rough time ron desantis is

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suspected a deadly rampage across new york city is under arrest. the 25-year-old opened fire five separate times across to burrows while riding a scooter. it happened on saturday. let's bring in george soliz. welcome. how police identified a motive? >> not yet, alex. here's what we know. a 25-year-old man was taken into custody without incident. authorities have not reveal the name of the suspect. investigators say they recovered a nine millimeter handgun with an extended magazine from an illegal scooter without a license plate. here is a timeline. it began after 11 am when police got the call from a man who was shot in the left shoulder. less than 20 minutes later, police got a call from an 86-year-old man who had been shot in the back in queens. he was rushed to the hospital

where he later died. that followed a third shooting were fortunately no one was struck the witnesses reported seeing a man on a scooter randomly firing at people. two more shootings within two minutes of each other. another man was shot in the face and is considered critical. a fourth man was shot in the shoulder. here is what police have said about the ongoing investigation. >> at this time, we don't know the motive. it seems it is at random. if you look at the pedigree of the victims, they are all different after this time. video shows that he is not targeting anyone as he is driving on his scooter. he's randomly shooting people. we haven't found a serial number on the gun and we're trying to determine whether it is the face or a ghost gun. we don't have that at this time. that will come out later on in the investigation. >> alex, authorities say they sent an image of the suspect every officer on the street to identify him as quickly as possible. police say he has one prior

arrest but this investigation is still ongoing. alex? >> scary looking at that video. thank you for that, george. we're bringing you live pictures of philadelphia and raleigh, north carolina. both are looking kind of cloudy, just two of the cities where millions of americans are facing severe storms today. there is heavy rain and flash flooding expected throughout the northeast with up to four inches of rain possible in some areas. overnight, severe winds and flooding swept through oklahoma. some areas are in several feet of water. temperatures remain a scorching and much of the southern u.s.. there is a heat advisory in effect in south florida. temperatures are going to feel like triple digits for the next couple of days. coming, up to close for anyone 's comfort -- who is harassing u.s. military drones in the air? first, a decision by president biden that has left democrats divided. my guest says it is a smart move. guest says it is a smar move

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a very accelerated rate. many thousands of rounds per day. this is literally a gunfight all along from the donbas all the way down toward zaporizhzhia and kherson. they are running out of inventory. we're going to send additional artillery shells of which have cluster bomb bullets in them to bridge the gap as we ramp up production of artillery shells. >> new today, the administration is defending president biden's call to send controversial weapons to ukraine. it comes as the president is flying to europe right now to boost nato countries against russia as the war continues into its second year. amid concerns about kyiv's liking counteroffensive, chief international analyst and former supreme allied commander of nato james trivia joins me now. it's a pleasure to have you on, particularly right now. i want to ask you about president biden who in an interview this morning that

aired has again defended his decision to send closer you nations to ukraine. i want to play part of that for you. here it is. >> they are running out of those. we are low on ammunition. what i finally did, i took the recommendation of the defense department to not permanently but allow for in this transition period where we have more 155 weapons with seashells for ukrainians to provide them with something that is a very low doug rate. i think it is 150 which is the least likely to be blown. it's not used in certain areas. >> give me your calculus on this. if you were in this position, what would you recommend and why? >> i would recommend sending the cluster munitions to ukraine, alex. i will give you three reasons. number one, they need them. you heard the president articulate that. i get that from my successor. the supreme allied commander of

nato, chris coli. i get it at every level. you saw john kirby talking about it. the ukrainians need it. it is a military imperative at this point. number two, where we are going to use these, there is already multiple unexploded ordinance is on the ground. it's away from civilian areas. these have low doug rates. we can use them. at the end of the conflict, believe me, we're going to be demining that area working with ukraine. i think the risk to civilians is a very low. the russians are using them. we have to respond to that. for those three reasons, i would say to go ahead and send the cluster munitions. it's a close call but it's the right call. >> i'm guessing you my dad the fact that they are running out of artillery as well, regular artillery. >> absolutely.

i think that is folded into a juror number one, if you will, the military utility here. by the way, as you heard both from admiral kirby and from the president, there is more howitzer and munition which is the round in this battlefield. it's on the way. the cluster will fill in. >> okay, the nato summit, as you are aware, is the centerpiece of the president's european trip this week. nato faces many challenges right now, chief among them how ukraine should be east into the block. what do you see as the biggest challenge around the president's visit? >> i think you put your finger on it, alex. it's going to be threading the needle between those nations -- dystonia, lot via, with 20, uphold and, eastern europe -- they really want ukraine in this alliance yesterday. the more western european nations are taking a more let's wait a bit longer. the u.s. will be looked to as we always are in these

deliberations as supreme allied commander. i attended the summit for four years. people look to us. that's going to be the crucial issue. the second big issue which you did not ask about what i will mention is, will we get sweden into the alliance? this is going to be based on some last-minute conversations between president erdogan of turkey, an opposite member of sweden. i am better than chance that sweden will join as part of this summit. that is a dagger to the heart to vladimir putin if it happens and it would be a very good thing. >> let me ask you to interpret what the president was saying in the sound but we played earlier. in the last part of it, he said they're bringing ukraine into nato at this moment in the middle of the war is something we are not prepared to do right now. as we have educated about that particular clause in the nato

charter, it says an attack on one is an attack on all. the president is trying to at all costs avoid world war iii. >> yeah, you articulated it perfectly. this is article five of the nato treaty. it says an attack on one is an attack on all. if we brought ukraine into the alliance today, we are by definition in a state of a war with russia. therefore, i don't think it is a good idea at this moment. what we should do instead is give ukraine additional security guarantees, increase the level of armaments we are sending to them, and all of this comes from the combined u.s. european economies. that's 50% of the world's gross domestic product. we can afford to do this in a very reasonable way. we need to keep that flowing and finally give ukraine a date

in the next year or two when that membership action plan will kick in and we can then bring them in the after putin and his attack minions have collapsed which i think is coming over the next year or so. >> well said. last quick question for you, we have learned about the russian fighter jets over syria in three times as many days this week. what is going on here? how dangerous are these attacks? >> they are a very dangerous. this is a u.s. drone and has no military personnel up there. the potential for a collision between one of our drones which can be as big as a fighter aircraft would immediately escalate in already very tense situations. this is bad airmen ship on the part of the russians. it is illegal. we are operating in international airspace and have every right to be there.

it's extremely provocative. the y is simply putin attempting to show his allies and partners internationally that he isn't afraid to continue to poke at the united states of america. this will not end well for russia if that kind of behavior continues. >> always an honor, admiral james stavridis. it is new and we are talking about it next. nbc reporting on the dozens of witnesses testifying as the grand jury investigates donald trump's attempts to stop the transfer of power after his 2020 election loss. power after hi 2020 eleioctn loss 2020 eleioctn loss what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i brought in ensure max protein with 30g of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uh... here i'll take that. -everyone: woo hoo! ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein,

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preparing for the first pretrial conference that is set for friday. the hearing will consider how classified information will be handled in the courtroom. the latest unredacted affidavits offer more details of how exactly those boxes of documents were moved around on trump's mar-a-lago compound. joining me now, eric talker, associated press fbi and justice department reporter, and lisa rubin, msnbc legal analyst. welcome to you both. eric, i want to bring up the point that trump doesn't have to attend this on friday. give me your expectation for friday's hearing. >> i think, alex, it's fairly significant because this is the first time we're going to hear discussions about the parameters of how the case is going to move forward in terms

of the handling of classified information. that's significant because classified information is at the root of the prosecution. there is going to be discussion on both sides in front of the judge about how that's going to play out. >> lisa, the search warrant affidavit suggests the classified information is going to come up. much of it remains heavily redacted, as you know, but it clearly lays out the law for storage of secret and top secret information. it outlines the movement of boxes in and out of a storage room. who is going to be allowed to see classified information during the trial. what are the rules they are going to ask for? >> alex, one of the rules is that the jury can see classified information regardless of if they have clearances are not. the same is true for the defendants themselves. the other issue, however, is that the defense council needs security clearances.

they can submit essentially all of their paperwork and follow all of the steps that the department of justice requires by thursday so that they can have this hearing on friday. one of the big developments this week is going to be the response that is due tomorrow by lawyers for trump as to how the trial should even take place. the department of justice has pushed back against the august 14th trial date that judge cannon set, saying they need until december because of the complexities given the classified information in the case. it will be interesting to see whether trump and adam agree with that, believe acacia tried sooner, or what more people think is likely, believe it should be pushed after primary season or perhaps even later. when donald trump says the department of justice has weaponized against me, it will be interesting to see whether he wants to allow that to take place in a timely way so he can get behind him. >> in a poll of americans of this week, it was clearly stated that they want this taking care of before the

election if not before the primaries. that being said, there's a new nbc analysis today showing dozens of witnesses have testified before january 6th focused granary. they've indicated they are focused on the fake electorate scheme in a total of 84 fake electors signed documents falsely declaring trump the winner, eric. i know you've been writing about talks with rudy giuliani's team. what is your sense of where the investigation is now? >> it's much broader than the mar-a-lago investigation which from the beginning was centered on donald trump and -- when they were indicted. there have been months of ominous foreboding that lead people to understand that that could be an outcome. the january 6th investigation is so wide ranging that it is sort of challenging to get a real sense as to what the underlying theory is. clearly, fake electors are a big part of it. there will be fundraising off the quote unquote big lie.

that's another part of it. regionally on a voluntarily appeared before jacks mitt steam. it's different than being subpoenaed before a grand jury. it underscores the extent to which the legal advice that is being given about the avenues of trying to overturn the election results is a central focal point of the investigation. >> to that end -- [inaudible] [silence] >> i think the fake electors -- to eric's point, i agree that the fake electors prong to the investigation. it is a prong. it all goes back to a variety of different mechanisms by which donald trump and his allies tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election and or capitalize or defraud the american public based on

their theory of fraud. i believe the fake elector scheme will be part of charges if the department of justice brings charges. i don't think it will be the totality here. with respect to rudy, one of the things i find so interesting both about the fact that rudy went in analysts that nbc news put out this morning a folks who have given grandeur testimony is who is not on it and who rudy had contact with. that's event i again with significant overlap. the folks who are not on it include mark meadows, sydney powell, patrick byrne, mike flynn, folks who were giving trump advice to continue perpetrating and investigating the big lie and who themselves might be in the crosshairs of the criminal investigation. >> absolutely stunning. lisa reuben, i will see you again, no doubt. eric, come see me again. thank you. it is their caucus and they will kick her out if they want to. why we are going to make new clarity in the saga of marjorie taylor greene and the freedom caucus.

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house floor in a tense exchange with lauren boebert. that may have been the final straw. joining me now is don calloway, democratic strategist and founder of the national voter protection action fund, susan presale, republican strategist, and david jolly, former republican congressman from florida. they are both msnbc political analysts. i like to introduce you guys as my sunday family. genuine think marjorie taylor greene has blocked scott perry so we can reassure together the news. i'm just thinking it could be a possibility. anyway, if that's not the answer, david, do expect her to get more clarity this week? what's your interpretation of what is going on between green and the freedom caucus? >> i don't know if we will get clarity from the freedom caucus. they don't like to speak a lot about their own internal membership. it's like the rules a fight club. marjorie taylor greene loves to grab headlines. we might get her side of the story. based on my experience in the house, i think this is about

one thing. marjorie taylor greene's relationship with kevin mccarthy -- she decided to go all in with mccarthy to help him become speaker. mccarthy has used marjorie taylor greene as a bit of a tool within the caucus to be able to lever the freedom caucus and the harder right members. that is anathema to the entire existence of the freedom caucus. the freedom caucus exists because they are interested in hard ideology, not governing. they exist because of an innate destruct stove leadership whether was john boehner, paul ryan, or kevin mccarthy. they don't trust mccarthy today. therefore, i think this is about marjorie taylor greene being too cozy with the speaker. the freedom caucus no longer trusts her to be a member. >> back in this up, susan, the new article in the atlantic, here's what that says. marjorie taylor greene is no longer radical enough for the gop's radical fringe. is that how you interpret the vote?

what does it say about where the far right wing of the republican party is? >> well, in part, it is right, but it at least used to be a little bit more serious about being conservative, something along those lines. i think she has gotten too loud for the freedom caucus. they don't like that she is comfortable with speaker mccarthy and what it represents. i think that puts kevin mccarthy in a very precarious situation. five votes is what prevents him from being speaker. it is a very curious thing that he has to be aware of. it's bad politics for republicans in general to have marjorie taylor greene now considered the moderate mainstream republican. >> please -- >> that is a really frightening thought.

>> one hunted percent. biden has called out marjorie taylor greene well promoting his infrastructure plan. take a listen to what he said. >> we've seen over 60 domestic manufacturing -- across the whole supply chain. one of the biggest is in georgia. you may find it hard to believe but that's marjorie taylor greene's district. >> [laughter] >> i will be there for the groundbreaking. >> [laughter] >> $10 says she is not there for the groundbreaking. does the president risk elevating greene in some way by speaking about her that way? is he highlighting what he is doing for the country in contrast to the republicans? >> i think it is the latter. he's just highlighting what he is doing. i think they have a great name for it, biden almanacs. as you can see, that phraseology is running throughout the country unlike some of the other house republicans as well as senator vulikic. she will not attend the

groundbreaking because she is going to stand there and make the arguments -- she won't be a hypocrite, in other words. i think we've caught multiple other house caucus members in both chambers being hypocrites. they did not vote for the infrastructure package just because of the amount of economic development in their district. to her crowded in some weird way, she won't be there. there are multiple districts where he can go and planned the same flag of biden almanacs to show what he did despite the partisan votes of the members of that area. >> let's move to this, guys, with you, david, i. 190 days until the caucuses. ron desantis is facing a number of headlines suggesting the campaign is stalling, sagging, struggling to find its footing. desantis addressed criticisms earlier today. let's take a listen. earlier today. let's ta>> these are narratives. the media does not want to be --

we have the greatest -- >> we are doing what it takes to win. >> if donald trump wounds himself, brand desantis is wrong. he's not lying in. it's not the media putting him 30 points behind donald trump. there are voters in the primary who have gotten to know rhonda scent is on his agenda. his agenda of retribution and the new york culture war agenda, that's where the numbers come down. alex, this has been the worst week of the campaign for ron desantis. he is at risk of losing it all here in the next couple of weeks because the narrative has

shifted. it is a two person race. he has to be there because he is losing relevancy fast. >> let me ask you both this. rhonda santas is defending the controversial anti lgbtq video shared by his campaign -- s campaign - >> you know, i don't talk every day to people who are going to vote in those far right republican primaries. as david jolly told us last week, desantis has a sophisticated operation with poland coming with that. they looked at the polling and decided that an anti lgbtq i a+

add would work well. he is doubling down on nothing more than the culture wars. he has no economic plan or jobs plan. he has to win the republican primary by sowing seeds of hate. it means attacking the lgbt community. that's okay. even bigger than desantis, there are enough voters in the primary who want to hear that type of hate. it's a problem that they have to find. >> okay, susan, you're first next time. don't take it personally. we have to go. it's a little bit funny, this feeling inside.

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switch today at xfinitymobile.com. >> before we say goodbye today, we would like to say goodbye to a pop music superstar who played the final show of his farewell tour last night. elton john wrapped up his 50-year career as a touring artist saturday night with an emotional show in sweden. after five years and over 300

farewell yellow brick road concerts across the globe, nbc's dana griffin takes a look at the rocket man bids farewell. >> elton john's first note. it turns a stadium of adoring fans into a thunderous roar. ♪ ♪ ♪ since the 70s, the british singer, composer, and pianist has been one of the most popular entertainers ever. with a new hit every decade, including crocodile rock. ♪ ♪ ♪ candle in the wind and cold hard. ♪ ♪ ♪ the 76-year-old, known for theatrical performances and bold outfits, marks the end of an era. >> it's the last time i will be touring and traveling the world. ♪ ♪ ♪ the international superstar

embarked on his farewell yellow brick road or in 2018, has grossed more than $900 million, according to billboard. the most lucrative tour in history. john's success was not just in the charts, he's been an advocate in the battle against aids and hiv, campaigning alongside friends, princess diana, elizabeth taylor. his foundation, raising more than 500 and $65 million worldwide. sir elton, knighted by the late queen elizabeth in 1998 says he may play the odd show now and then, but he's making his family a priority. ♪ ♪ ♪ well the hit maker is done touring the world, this is no finale. but sir elton john has finally decided his future lies beyond the yellow brick road. >> that is nbc's dana griffin reporting. sir elton posting on instagram,

a video thanking fans for being a part of the tour. if you are taking notes, for this tour, he played more than 32 million notes within 330 shows, more than 6 million fans attended. by the way, there were two marriage proposals. we wish him well. we are going to miss him. that's gonna do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports, also again next saturday at noon eastern from los angeles. my friend yasmin vossoughian continues our coverage right now. now. >> hi, everybody. good to see him. good afternoon, i'm yasmin vossoughian. the president is in the air right now on his way to an overseas trip with a lot on the agenda, including try to shore up international support for ukraine. he made it clear there was one bridge he will not cross when it comes to the embattled nation. when >> i don't think it