right now on "ana cabrera reports," we are following several big stories. president biden will take questions in helsinki as he welcomes finland into the alliance. it is a stark diplomatic shift from the last time a u.s.

president was in helsinki standing side by side with vladimir putin defending the russian leader. we'll take you there live. also, right now, wild weather coast to coast from tornados in chicago to flooding in the northeast, and more than 100 million americans under the thumb of a historic heat wave. we have your forecast. plus, setting the stage for another hollywood strike, first writers, now actors, what it could mean for all your entertainment. good morning, it's 10:00 eastern. thanks for being here. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york, and we begin in helsinki where we are just minutes away from a joint press conference with president biden and the president of finland, nato's newest member. let's go there now with nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba. walk us through the presidents' day there in finland so far. >> reporter: well, ana, this is really a historic cap to a week

of critical meetings for president biden overseas, and he's here in finland meeting with the nordic leaders and the president of finland to mark the fact that they were able to join nato in record speed over the course of the last year or so. for many, many years finland had been a bit more of a neutral country between moscow and washington, certainly in the cold war era, but after the russian invasion of ukraine, the country decided that they wanted to apply to the defense alliance sending a very clear message to russia, which as you noted in the intro, they do share an 830 mile border. so to talk about just the proximity and the significance of this country joining the 30 plus others and then of course the major news this week that sweden will also now be on the pathway to finalizing their membership in the nato alliance. that will be a huge headline out of the president's trip and what

he'll be talking about. so he did have some of those meetings over the last couple of hours here. again, touting this united front, unwavering support for ukraine. and then he will have this press conference with the finnish president where he will be sort of putting this all into context, everything that he's done in the last week or so to, in his view, try to reposition and reaffirm america's dominance on the world stage and return that to a place compared to where things were with the previous administration. i think you can expect the president to touch on that. here's a little more of what he had to say about his major takeaways following these visits to several countries. okay. it sounds like we don't have that sound, monica. but let me ask you because this is, you know, now happening three months after finland joined nato. this is the last stop on president biden's european trip. is he trying to send a message

to finland's neighbor, russia, which as you mentions shares this 830 mile border with the north country? >> reporter: absolutely, ana, and i think with e absolutely also have to take note of what happened here in this city five years ago to the week, and i'm talking of course about former president trump meeting with president putin where he infamously said that he did believe president putin's denials about russian election interference. that was such a consequential moment geopolitically for a number of reasons, of course. and so expect president biden when he's here to draw that contrast, and it couldn't be clearer when you think about the positioning that president putin had on the world stage five years ago compared to where he is now and the many questions surrounding his grip on power after that armed military rebellion in his own country just some weeks ago.

that presents all sorts of an opportunity for president biden to come here and discuss, again, what he feels he's been able to do with these world leaders, with the nato allies. and so i think you will absolutely see those pictures side by side, again, noting the fact that it's five years and president biden will continue to send a direct message to president putin as he did yesterday in that major address in lithuania, which was that president putin sought to divide the west when he did invade ukraine, but that he bet wrong on how leaders would respond. the fact that these two countries, sweden and finland have joined nato or will imminently really sends the clearest message to russia about where these countries regionally really in terms of their continued opposition to the russian aggression we've seen. >> we see how crucial they are geographically in terms of the region andin united front against russia's aggression. ukraine, of course, has been trying to join nato as well for

some time, coming out of this week's nato summit. yesterday the message really was ukraine will be part of nato in the future. let's listen to president biden. we have that sound now. >> i remember the conversation you and i had when you talk about being a member of nato and it took me about three seconds to say yes. finland and the united states i think are stronger together, and i mean that. i think you're an incredible asset to nato and to the world. >> but the communique from these countries was rather vague, monica, on the specific steps or the time line for inviting ukraine into the alliance. why is it that? why wasn't there more clarity? >> reporter: yeah, and president zelenskyy was furious on his way into the summit in vilnius wanting more specifics on a time line of when ukraine could be

invited. and the countries came together and said, look, we would love for ukraine to be a part of nato eventually but that's not going to be able to take place until certain security and democratic reforms are met. so they need to kind of come up with some conditions that will be set, and that will just take some time, and of course then of course over the course of the summit, president zelenskyy did change his tone. he expressed a lot of gratitude for the long-term security support he received from a number of countries and the fact that many big, big, economies and militaries are committing resources like germany, france, the united states of course providing those controversial cluster munitions to ukraine. to president zelenskyy was pleased to see all that and overall he said this wasn't the ideal outcome of everything he wanted from the summit and from talking to these critical heads of government but that it was a lot to deliver to his own soldiers who are on the front lines of this war and to the ukrainian people who have been experiencing this battle for more than 500 days now.

president biden really has framed this now as ukraine being able to join nato not as a matter of if but still the question of when is the major one, and he jokingly was even talking about the fact that the war is obviously what has to be -- come to a conclusion or finalized in some way before that can happen, but there is now this certainty that shortly after that happens, if and when it does in the future, which we don't know if that means months or years potentially that ukraine then will be able to join these other countries. it already will be fast tracked and it will have a faster process potentially than what finland and sweden went through over the last year. >> monica alba, stay close, we'll be coming back to you when we get this press conference. we have some breaking news out of pittsburgh, a verdict has been reached in the sentencing phase, this part of the trial, for the 2018 tree of life synagogue shooter who killed 11 people in the deadliest anti-semitic attack in u.s.

history. let's bring in nbc news correspondent rehema ellis. >> what i can tell you is we're in the eligibility phase of whether or not this defendant, robert bowers could be eligible for the death penalty. that's what this jury is considering. they convicted him, found him guilty of murdering some 11 people almost four and a half years ago at that tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh. the prosecution, the federal government wanted him to get the death penalty. the defense has been arguing that their client is mentally impaired and not criminally or intentionally criminal. they say according to the defense that he has schizophrenia, that he has brain danger, that he is impaired and therefore should not be subject to the death penalty. but the prosecution rejected all of that saying that they see no evidence of that kind of mental impairment, talked about the fact that he had amassed weapons and ammunition and deliberately

targeted this synagogue in pittsburgh to kill specifically jews. so again, the verdict on guilty had been determined, what they were doing now is trying to determine whether he should be eligible to have the death sentence considered for the final sentencing. we know there is a verdict in that. we're just waiting for it to be read in court. >> that's right. he was found guilty on 63 federal courts. will he receive the death penalty or life in prison, we'll see. rehema ellis, thank you very much. when we're back, chill out, less than two weeks in and this july is already on track to become the hottest month in u.s. history. who's at risk today? plus, quote, get your popcorn. according to chris christie as he meets the requirements necessary to join the debate stage. can he bring the fire against trump, if trump even shows up. and later, not a try eye in the house as buffalo bills safety damar hamlin makes a

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this wild weather across the country won't let up. a reported tornado touching town in the chicago area late yesterday causing a temporary ground stop at o'hare international airport as the sirens went off. today there's a threat of more tornados in the midwest, continued heat in the south with scientists projecting this will be the hottest july ever. meantime, there's more rain expected this week where the ground is already over saturated in the northeast. let's get right to nbc's gary grumbach in vermont, nbc's jay gray in steamy, dallas, and our meteorologist michelle grossman. e jay, let's start with you, triple digit watch for the temperatures in texas.

what kind of toll are these temps taking? >> reporter: yeah, it's been brutal. we're on the second day of an excessive heat warning here in dallas and across much of texas. the high today should be around 102, the feels-like or the heat index, 112 or more. a lot of kids show up and jump into the fountain, that's the way they are dealing with it. for most across the state, it means turning down the thermostat and keeping things cool, staying inside. of course that's a big strain on the state's energy. ercot, which runs the grid for 26 million people across the state, that's about 96% of the texas's power load says they're confident they can meet demands here. we know that yesterday a record was broken for energy usage, more than 81,000 megawatts. they expect to break that record today. and get this, we're going to have over the next ten days

according to forecasters numbers above 100 as far as the high temperature, except for sunday where we may get a bit of a break. it may drop to 98 on sunday. otherwise it doesn't look like things are going to cool down at all, and if 98's a cold front, i'll tell you, ana, we'll take it considering we're going to top out at 102, 103 here today. this park is kind of a gathering spot for a lot of people, and the fountains here make a huge difference for so many that come down either with their kids or their dogs and just get a bit of a break, with what's been even by texas standards already a hot summer. >> let's head to the rainy northeast, and gary, what can you tell us about the recovery efforts in vermont, and how they're bracing for even more rain this week? >> ana, i want to give you a sense of where we are here, we're on the banks of an q3 she

river in woodstock, vermont. it's a sunny day here. the water has descended significantly. you don't even have to look at -- i don't have to tell you how much the water -- where it was, you can see it right here. you can see the debris behind me. you can see the water line on the building. the building we're looking at here is woodstock elementary school. we're going to have our crew back up here carefully over some of the debris. we're at woodstock elementary, at a nursery school, this is a place that had more than three feet of water in it. everything was a total loss inside, because think about it, it's a nursery school everything two or three feet above the ground. what have the past 72 hours been like for you? >> shock and awe, at first just worried about the school, watching the water levels. people sending videos in that live close by followed by complete and utter devastation.

we lost about 90% of all of our things, and then followed by ab absolute awe and wonder. we have an amazing community, and people have shown up for us. >> i want to have the camera pan around here to show the community here. they are working hard to get the mud and the dirt out of this playground. this was filled with playground equipment 72 hours ago. now it's filled with folks with wheel bar rows and shovels. kids enjoying their summer with a shovel in hand as the community bands together to help out. >> you showed us where the river was. did the river level rise that high? it looked like it was several feet above where the water is? >> it was several feet above where it was in this building, which is several feet above the river, it got to three feet of water inside the building, and by the way, that's not the highest they've even ever seen

it. during hurricane irene, they saw water above the windows here. this is a repeated situation for them. >> incredible, you hear people describe it as like a tidal wave. let's head to michelle and get a look at where this is all headed. when will it relent? >> great to see you. it's going to be a while. we're going to see day after day of this unrelenting heat, record breaking heat and the chance for severe weather, and unfortunately we're going to see the risk for more flooding in portions of eastern new york, also vermont today. that's going to last throughout the weekend. let's start with the heat first. we have 84 million americans under some sort of heat alert from the northwest to the southwest, south central states, even into the southeast. we're going to see temperatures soaring into the triple digits once again week after week. that's when it gets really fatiguing and taxing on the body. in the southeast, we may not get to the 100 degree mark. you factor in the humidity. it's going to feel like over 100 degrees in many spots. starting in the southwest, we're looking at 113 in phoenix today,

115 in palm springs. that's 8 degrees above what is typical for this time of the year. 109 in las vegas, that's today. look at tomorrow, not much of a difference. that heat dome is tacked in place. it is not budging and it won't budge. we're looking at las vegas tomorrow, 111, 6 degrees above what is typical for this time of the year. 118 in phoenix and albuquerque at 104. that's 12 degrees above normal for this time of the year. heading to the southeast, we may not get to the 100 degree mark. notice this heat index. that's what it feels like on your body. new orleans today, 93, a heat index of 108. that's the feels-like temperatures. it's going to feel like 103 in jacksonville. from new york city today, the mid-90s, we're going to start to really increase that humidity once again, myrtle beach 97 degrees. you have to prepare for feeling like near the 100 degree mark. this is the big picture here. we're looking at those hot humid conditions in the south central states. the heat wave in the southwest. then we have this wavy front. we have the humidity, the heat,

those are two of the components. we have a cold front that's going to be a trigger for really strong storms in portions of the rockies, the central plains into the ohio valley and parts of the northeast. unfortunately we're going to start to see those flooding concerns rise again today and then also tomorrow, so ana, the streams, the creeks, the rivers are so high, the ground is so saturated, any rainfall that will fall, we could see up to 5 inches in some spots. >> just incredible, michelle grossman, gary grumbach and jay gray, thank you all. jay, go jump this those fountains. i know you're baking. thank you for sticking around through all of that. all right, we have some breaking news i want to tell everybody about now. the fda has approved the first ever over-the-counter birth control here in the u.s. opill is expected to be available in january or february of next year without a prescription or any age restrictions. the company says the suggested retail price will be announced this fall, and now the u.s. will

join about 100 other nations that already allow the sale of non-prescription birth control pills. in just a few minutes, we expect to see president biden for his news conference there helsinki finland. we'll take you there live. and also here on "ana cabrera reports," what lawmakers could learn this hour from a secret service briefing about that cocaine discovered at the white house. plus, is the desantis campaign caught in a political sinkhole? the mounting concerns among desantis' supporters and allies about the viability of his 2024 bid. a kid... and harold. wayfair's got just what you need... performance fabrics, stains don't stand a chance. no chance! -woo! dog friendly and wallet friendly... pug-proved. get nice things with nice prices at wayfair.

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welcome back. let's take you to capitol hill, and right now the secret service is briefing the house oversight committee about their investigation into the cocaine found at the white house. the committee chairman republican james comer called the presidents illegal drugs at the white house shameful and raises serious questions about security. ali vitali is joining us now. what do we know about this briefing and the status of this secret service investigation? >> reporter: well, look, we know that this investigation is still ongoing ask that lawmakers here on the hill have questions about it. in fact, you referenced the fact that chairman of the oversight committee james comer said he was eager to have this briefing. he did promise us either late last night or early this morning that he would tell us what he could after hearing from the secret service here.

that meeting is still going on as far as we know, and we'll wait to see what and if comer has to say. this is someone who has already been critical of the biden administration on a myriad of topics. nevertheless, it doesn't rank among the top issues for the oversight committee for comer still, the investigations into hunter biden and any potential wrongdoing there still are the top priority for him. but of course this is just another thing that they're going to focus on here because it is the story of the week. again, the secret service doing that briefing as we speak right now, and we'll see what or if he can tell us after. >> comer says this is about security at the white house and that this requires the committee to assess security practices. do you see this issue escalating there on the hill? >> reporter: look, i think it really does depend what the secret service ends up saying,

and if they tell us anything about the ways in which this got to the white house in the first place. i think those are the details lawmakers are going to need to hear about before they start trying to legislate around security protocols. white house security is really its own thing governed by the secret service, so the extent to which congress can govern what that looks like is difficult to say here. but at the same time, i think that's what we're looking for is if comer and other lawmakers come out of this with more details than what we have already at this point on our own from within our own reporting within the secret service, that's going to be substantive and important. any details about how it got there in the first place a lot of people are hungry for. >> exactly, and who left it, right? that's the big question, ali vitali. >> right. >> thank you, appreciate it. so the january 6th rioter arrested near the obama home will stay behind bars until his trial. taylor taranto was taken into custody late last month while filming videos outside the home

of the former president. police say they found two guns as well as hundreds of rounds of ammunition in his van. taranto was first identified by online sleuths two years ago. he faces four misdemeanor charges in connection with the capitol attack, but he was not arrested until now. authorities describe him as a conspiracy theorist, and say he had recently been living in a van outside a washington jail where several january 6th defendants are being held. to the 2024 campaign trail now, and almost every republican presidential hopeful will descend own iowa in the next 24 hours for this event that's billed as the midwest's largest gathering of christians. there is one notable exception, though, former president donald trump, who has found himself in recent days feuding with the state's governor over her lack of an endorsement and reports that she's secretly pushing for desantis. joining us now is nbc's dasha

burns from des moines, iowa and former executive director of the part and susan del percio. let's go to dasha with her reporting. trump skipping had event. seems like he's been real critical, and this event obviously is crucial for a lot of these candidates, so what's going on? >> reporter: let's take a step back and look at the backdrop and the context here, this feud between former president trump and iowa's hugely popular governor, kim reynolds. i mean, look, this is a governor who won 95 out of 99 counties. has about a 90% approval rating with republicans in this state, so why is he going after her? most political experts would say this is not a smart move, but if you know anything about donald trump and his patterns, this is not surprising. look, he values and expects loyalty, and he really feels like he is the reason why she is in this position, and he expects

an endorsement from her, and that is not happening. she is remaining neutral right now, and he is going after her, and we've seen him do that in the past. so she's going to be at this event. also, the leader of this event, the family leader bob van der plats, who's a hugely political evangelical leader in iowa, he's been vocal about the fact that he believes the republican party needs to move on from donald trump. that's the tension here, and this is kind of an opportunity now for ron desantis and for some of these other candidates to use trump's absence to their advantage. can desantis kind of show up really and show people that he can do some of the things people are skeptical about. can he do the iowa retail politics, can he really play this game? can tim scott show up, can nikki haley show up and really galvanize this critical part of

the electorate here in iowa, these evangelical, these christian voters. iowa always a critical state, but in this cycle, it is make or break. look, whoever wins iowa, it doesn't mean they're going to be the nominee. but if donald trump wins this state, it is all but over. if someone else, be it desantis or otherwise can win here, that opens the door to a real possibility that there could be a viable alternative to donald trump. >> dasha burns, thank you. let's dig into this, guys. here we have trump skipping this summit, right? there is going to be this candidate forum hosted by tucker carlson there, all these other candidates will have a chance to be interviewed by carlson. he skipped the roast and ride that senator from iowa joni ernst had earlier this summer. do you think this hurts trump potentially with voters not to show up? >> it doesn't send a really good message, but what's more important is that donald trump, how he perceives it is that he's the incumbent already. he doesn't view this as an open

primary like 2016. he views it like he's the incumbent. that's how he looks at it, and that's what he expects from party leaders. the same way he sees party leaders getting behind joe biden on the democratic side. but what's interesting is not so much for desantis but perhaps for tim scott or mike pence, the evangelical crowd is a group they're familiar with and comfortable with. there is a good amount of people that say i'm done with donald trump. i'm just done. i'm ready for some decency, and it doesn't help donald trump that he's also been indicted for, you know, hushing a porn star. >> although, it does seem like it has helped him in the sense that he's gotten fund-raising boosts from that. >> i just mean within that community. >> i get that, but i don't know if he's actually losing support are from that community based on those other numbers and these referenced data points.

basil, we know that trump's also talking about skipping the first debate, not going to iowa for these events. not going to debate, but the debate is important for a lot of these candidates and there are a couple of new ones that have now reached the threshold, tim scott, christie got 40,000 donors. christie seemed to promise fireworks. he tweeted out get your popcorn, and it does seem like christie's been getting under trump's skin lately. the two have been sort of trading jabs on social media. but i wonder if trump doesn't show up for the debates does christie's hits have the same punch? >> it's interesting. ron desantis was that guy that was seeing to get urn trump's skill just a little bit, but it's important note that, as susan says, trump is playing the rose garden strategy. he'll step aside. he'll realize he's got a lot of

support already. the onus is really on this sort of second tier of candidates to differentiate themselves from each other and from donald trump at the same time. that's actually proven to be somewhat difficult for them, if they're not coming out and attacking him. chris christie is probably the best of that group at doing so, but the others are trying to sort of play this game of alain -- aligning themselves with trump without actually going after him in a way that would alienate trump's own base. having said that christie might be able to stand out. but the question is does he stand out enough and does he land enough punches to be able to create himself as the alternative to donald trump? i don't know that there's evidence to suggest that that can happen yet. >> always more to discuss, guys. we have some breaking news i've got to get to right now. let's get back to pittsburgh where we're now learning there is a sentence that has come down on the 2018 tree of life synagogue shooter. back with us, nbc news correspondent rehema ellis. what can you tell us?

>> i can tell you that this jury has unanimously decided that robert bowers is eligible to be considered for the death penalty. and it had to be a unanimous verdict on the part of the seven women and five men who were considering this. this verdict came down after perhaps a little less than two hours of them deliberated. they started that deliberation yesterday, continued it this morning, and shortly after they went into the deliberation room, they came back with a verdict. and again, this jury unanimously saying that robert bowers is eligible to be considered for the death penalty. what happens now is they're trying to decide in the courtroom whether or not the -- both sides will begin their argument to the jurors about whether he should or should not get the death penalty. will that begin tomorrow, or will it start next week? and that's a discussion that's going on. so what's happened again, ana is that this jury completely rejected the defense argument

that robert bowers was mentally incapable of making this decision, that he could not have done this intentionally because he didn't have the capability of doing it. and instead, these jurors accepted the argument from the prosecution that this man robert bowers intentionally made an effort to murder 11 people, 11 worshippers at the tree of life synagogue in pittsburgh about four and a half years ago. and with that, they have said unanimously he is eligible to be considered for the death penalty, and this jury will now have to take up that task after they begin to hear arguments from both sides as to what should happen to this man, whether he will get life in prison or the death penalty. >> so there's multiple phases, obviously, to this trial. first there was is he guilty of committing this crime. we know that his lawyers never said otherwise. now the jury comes back and says

he's eligible for the death penalty, they will ultimately make the call, or is it a judge that hands down the sentence? >> the jurors will make that call. if they had come back and said we cannot decide or if they were split in terms of that decision, then it would have been to the judge, and he would have given him life in prison. but this jury didn't do that. this jury decided that they accepted the argument from the prosecution, that argument saying that this man knew what he was doing. he intended to do what he did, and he carried that out intentionally targeting a group of worshippers at the tree of life synagogue back in october of 2018. so that's where we stand now. that verdict on eligibility has come in, and now this jury has to define and decide whether or not he will get the death penalty or be sentenced to life in prison. >> thank you so much for that update. let's head back to finland now

because we are expect to see the president any moment take to these podiums, these lecterns alongside the president of finland for what they're calling a joint news conference. we expect them to take questions. let's bring back nbc ease monica alba in helsinki, also joining us now is michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia. i see them standing up, he is walking in the room. hold your thoughts. let's listen in. >> welcome to this joint press conference by president of the republic of finland and president of the united states. we will begin with statements by the presidents. >> thank you and good afternoon. excellent that we have this big in the castle, plenty of you here. first of all, joe, mr. president, i want to thank you

for visiting finland. we have had possibilities of meeting each other quite often during. >> i like it here even better. >> first time we met in fin lan, i was speaker of parliament when you visited. >> i remember. >> so we have had a lot of discussions during the last couple years. i want to once again thank you for the strong support you have given all the time. >> it's my honor. >> new era in security policy has begun, and you will be one of those who wrote it to history. i also want to thank you for the vilnius meeting, it was very

touching to feel the unite between allies, and i think it was greatly created by you. we had possibilities of discussing bilaterally today, took up the negotiations of our defense cooperation agreement. we are going to continue our security discussion by that, and that is of vital importance to finland. at the same time, also sweden and denmark are having similar discussions and at the end it seems that all the five nordic countries will have a bilateral agreement with usa. technology is one of the key words for the future. there are elements like

artificial intelligence, quantum technology, sky technology, all that is leading our way to the future, and we have to make sure that it's leading our way in a very secure way. and that it's the responsibility of those who know how and that is why it is very important to coordinate and cooperate with our knowledge and resources forward in this sector. we also had a discussion on our neighbor, and i think that we both share similar views.

the war in ukraine was also discussed. we both see that we will continue support to ukraine, which is defending not only ourself but also all the values we represent in the western world. we also had a meeting with the nordic family. it is a tradition that started during president obama's time, and it has been a very valuable tool for us to get even better, understand each other's security and technology were also discussed there and a lot of time and thoughts represented on environmental issues.

so once again, it has been great to have you here. >> well, thank you, mr. president. it's been great to be here. look, it's an honor to be with you and our other nordic friends. we just finish -- i would suggest a very productive u.s. nordic leaders summit on the heels of the summit at vilnius and where finland took its place at the table as our newest ally. we've always been friends but newest official ally of nato. and prime minister stohr of norway, and frederickson of denmark and and the daughter of ireland, you can tell that's a freudian slip, i'm thinking of home, the daughter of iceland, and i want to say i think we've

had a very productive summit. we discussed, mr. president, where we stand at an inflection point in history where the decisions we make now are going to determine the course of the history for the next four or five, six decades, and this week we affirmed how finland and the united states together, together with allies and partners are working in lockstep to set us on a stronger, safer, and more secure path. not just for europe, not just for nato, but for the world. and vilnius, nato met with 31 nations for the first time. we showed the world that our alliance is more united than other, and soon it will be 32 allies thanks to an agreement with turkey to move sweden's succession protocols forward. as capable partners and committed democracy, finland and sweden are going to add significantly to the strength, security, and unanimity of nato,

and a stronger nato makes the entire world stronger. mr. president, as your ally, we want the people of finland to know the united states is committed to finland, committed to nato, and those commitments are rock solid, that we'll defend every inch of nato territory and that includes finland, obviously. second, over the past week, we affirmed our unwavering support for the brave people of ukraine as they defend their country against russia's brutal and inhumane attacks. our allies and partners around the world understand that this fight is not only a fight for the future of ukraine, it's about sovereignty, security, and freedom itself. i want you to think about what would happen if we didn't do anything, what is likely to happen in the rest of europe if we did nothing. so this week nato has elevated our relationship with ukraine. allies also agreed to lift the membership action plan that's

usually required before you could be admitted from ukraine, and has created a path for the membership of ukraine as it continues to make progress on the necessary democratic and security reforms required of every nato member. we also made clear to president zelenskyy that we're not waiting for nato membership to be finalized to commit to long-term security of ukraine. the leaders of the g-7 together issued a new joint declaration of support for ukraine, a declaration i was glad to see the nordic nations immediately welcome and supported. it's going to launch a process open to any nation to negotiate bilateral security agreements with ukraine until they're officially members of nato. it will not only assure that ukraine can defend itself today but it will deter future aggression as well, with the capable force across land, air, and sea from their friends. and finally, at every stop

within every summit on this trip, we focus on using the power of partnership to take on the challenges that matter most of the people's lives in our countries. in thekingdom, we brought together public, private, and philanthropic partners to discuss ways to unlock trillions of private dollars in finance to fight climate change. in lithuania, nato allies met in the eu and our indo-pacific partners to continue advancing our work on terrorism, cyber threats, resilience and so much more. and here in finland at our u.s. nordic leaders summit, reaffirmed our commitment to stand together, power to power clean energy transition, to preserve regional security, to promote democratic values, and to find the technologies of the future from quantum computing to advanced communication systems so we did it together. mr. president, at this critical moment in history, this inflection point, the world is

watching to see will we do the hard work that matters to forge a better future. will we stand together? will we stand with one another? will we stay committed to our course? this week finland and the united states and our allies and partners said a resounding, loud yes. yes, we'll step up yes, we'll stand together, and yes, we'll keep working towards a stronger, safer, and more secure world. so mr. president, thank you again for having me here, as partners, friends, and allies i look forward to our work together in years ahead, and it's been a real pleasure getting to know you even better. thank you. >> thank you. now we have time for questions. >> shall we start with -- >> public broadcasting service, my question is for mr. president biden. the political volatility of u.s. remains big worry for european

partners. meanwhile, back in washington, a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly failed to pass through senate a bill that would prevent the u.s. presidents in the future from withdrawing from nato without senate's approval -- >> without what? i'm sorry, i didn't hear the last i'm sorry. i didn't hear the last part of your question. >> reporter: in washington a bipartisan group of senators has repeatedly pass through the senate a law that would prevent future u.s. presidents from withdrawing from nato without senate's approval. what actions will you take to assure finland that the u.s. will remain a reliable nato partner for decades to come? >> i absolutely guarantee it. there's no question. there's overwhelming support from the american people. there's overwhelming support from the members of congress, both the house and senate. both parties, notwithstanding the fact there's extreme elements of one party, we will stand together. the american people are known

for the formation of nato. they know our security rests in the unanimity between europe and the trans atlantic partnership. no one can guarantee the future, but this is the best bet anyone can make. >> reporter: my second question, hearing this answer that no one can guarantee a future, are you worried that the political instability in the u.s. will cause issues in the alliance in the future? >> let me be clear. i didn't say we couldn't guarantee a future. you can't tell me whether you're be able to go home tonight. no one is sure what will happen. i'm saying as sure as anything can possibly be said about american foreign policy, we'll stay connected to nato. connected to nato, beginning, middle and end. that's what i said. >> it seem that is the president

has answered your problems. i have to tell you that during this process i met approximately -- the president many times. i would say about 50 people from congress and senate. i think the message was quite clear, quite united. i have no reason to doubt the u.s. policies in the future. >> let me say one more thing. we learned a hard lesson. peace and security in europe is essential to u.s. security and peace. the idea that there could be conflict in europe among our friends and us not engage has never happened in modern history. that's why we're staying together. >> next question for president

biden. >> i call on the "wall street journal," andrew? >> reporter: thank you, mr. president. you said that ukraine shouldn't enter nato until after the war is over. are you concerned that those comments could motivate putin to keep the war going or discourage him from entering peace negotiations? is there a serious risk this war could drag on for years? do you see any path toward the war ending with putin still in power? >> first of all, no one can join nato while a war is going on, where a nato nation is being attacked. that guarantees we're in a war and we're in a third world war. it's not about whether or not they should or shouldn't join. it's about when they can join.

they will join nato. the issue of whether this will keep putin continuing to fight, the answer is putin already lost the war. putin has a war problem. how does he move from here? what does he do? the idea they're going to be -- what vehicle is used -- he could end the war tomorrow. he could just say, i'm out. what agreement is ultimately reached depends upon putin and what he decides to do. there is no possibility of him winning the war in ukraine. he's already lost that war. imagine if -- even if -- anyway, he's already lost that war. >> reporter: on the question about it going on for years, is there a possibility there's a stalemate? >> i'm sorry? >> reporter: is there a possibility there's a stalemate and it could go on for years? >> i don't think the war could

go on for years for two reasons. number one, i don't think that russia could maintain the war forever in terms of resources and capacity. number two, i think that there is going to be a circumstance where eventually president putin is going to decide it's not in the interest of russia economically, politically or otherwise, to continue this war. i can't predict exactly how that happens. my hope is, and my expectation is, you'll see ukraine makes significant progress on their offensive and that it generates a negotiated settlement somewhere along the way. >> reporter: i have a question for the finish president. my colleague has been in prison more than 100 days.

do you have an update on getting him out of prison and if you're serious for a prisoner exchange? >> i'm serious about a prisoner exchange and getting americans freed from prisons held anywhere. that process is under way. [ inaudible question ] >> like i told -- we were discussing the cooperation agreement and it has a lot of elements. they are still open. we are open on negotiations and i know that our counterpart is also very open. let us see. >> next question.

>> reporter: mr. president, and my question is for mr. president biden. should i just say president biden? you have repeatedly talked about nato-ization of -- >> i'm sorry. what? >> reporter: you talked about nato-ization of finland. how does that change finland's place in the world? >> the context in which i said that was the gentleman who occupies the seat on the border said we want the finland-zation

of nato. that was the context in which that was said. what was the second part of your question? >> reporter: how has finland's position in the world changed during its nato membership process? >> finland is already a strong, vibrant nation. i think what finland joining nato does and with sweden as well, the nordic countries are all members of nato, this makes the world safer. it significantly increases the prospect that there's less likely to be war. we're deadly earnest about the notion that we'll defend every single inch of nato territory. now we're getting to 32 nato nations. that's a significant commitment. it's not a likelihood of any nation deciding they're going to

attack a member of nato. it's highly unlikely. if they do, they're not just attacking finland. they're attacking 31 other countries. >> next question for president biden. >> i'm sorry. i guess it's arlette from cnn. >> reporter: we've seen disarray of russian generals. does this lead to anything like election interference? >> they're already interfering with elections in the u.s. that's not new. i don't think there's any real prospect -- you never know -- of putin using nuclear weapons. not only has the west, but china

and the rest of the world has said, don't go there. don't go there. number three, i think that determining what happens to prigozhin and what happens to -- what happens when we discuss this is that god only knows what he's likely to do. i'm not e even sure where he is. if i were him, i would be careful what i made, keep an eye on my menu. all kidding aside, who knows? i don't think any of us know for certain what the future of prigozhin is in russia and so i don't know how to answer that question beyond that. >> reporter: if i could ask you something about what's happening back home. the gop is grappling with tying abortion rights to defense issues,