>> coming up on the second hour of ayman. a modern conspiracy falls apart. house republicans wanted to paint the biden family as criminal. their star witness has just been charged with crimes of his own. then, biden's big week. the president

just wrapped up major winds at home and abroad. plus, the gop has just six months to take out trump before the primaries begin. can anybody in the primary field grow a backbone and take him on? i'm michael steele, in for ayman. let's get started. >> the smoking gun and house republicans investigation into the biden family appears to be nothing but smoke and mirrors. gal left, a key witness in the gop's probe and the co-head of an energy think tank has repeatedly accused president biden and his family of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from china. this week, in a stunning case of irony, he found himself at the center of criminal investigations. according to a newly unsealed federal

indictment, luft has been charged with arms trafficking, sanctions violations, and wait for, acting as an unregistered agent for china. that's right, the man whose house republicans hope would bring down the so-called biden crime family, and expose their parents shady dealings with china, has now been accused of being a chinese spy. even worse, he is still on the run. luft was detained by law enforcement officials in cypress back in february, but fled after being freed on bond while reading extradition. despite this, just last week, oversight chairman james comer was seeing luft's praises. >> he's very credible, and the peace on msnbc that make fun of me when i said that we had an informant that was missing, they should feel like fools right now. this is their worst nightmare, because again, this is a credible witness that the fbi flew all the way to brussels to interview, and sent

several agents interview. >> not feeling like a fool, but the tables have turned, haven't they, comer? following the unsealing of those charges, house republicans actually doubled down on their support for him, standing by the indicted agent and arms dealer. in fact, comer said that he wants to call luft to testify, which might prove to be a difficult thing to do considering that he is still missing in action. democrats on comer's committee are taking action of their own. congressman jamie raskin, the ranking member of the oversight panel and congressman dan goldman, just sent a letter to comer calling for an investigation into whether republicans on the committee might have relied on false statements or misinformation provided. they also requested the chairman immediately provide democrats with all materials provided by left to the committee, including any information that led chairman comer to conclude that he was, quote, a very credible witness. look, folks, this is not the

first time that camera and his cronies have dropped the ball when it comes to these types of investigations. it has been six long months of misery and failure for maga republicans in the house who have yet to uncover a single piece of evidence linking the president to any wrongdoing whatsoever. as the congressional integrity project put it, quote, time and time again, comer hypes up his bombshell evidence, and each time, his evidence is refuted, and his house of cards continues to crumble. joining me now to discuss, democratic congressman rod garcia of california. a member of the house oversight committee. congressman, it's such a pleasure to see you and have you on tonight. i want to get your reaction to what speaker kevin mccarthy had to say when he was asked if the gop's star witnesses indictment would undermine the case against biden. take a listen. >> no, it would not undermine the case, because if you extrapolate that even further, the justice department went after him when hunter biden received more money from the same foreign cfc

company that this informant, much more. they only make the case stronger that the government really didn't look at the hunter biden. >> do you think that the speaker actually believes the words coming out of his mouth at this point? i know that you can't get into his head, but do you have a sense of why republicans still stand by luft the way they do? >> i mean, look, that was embarrassing. mccarthy should be embarrassed, just for losing complete control of his caucus, and folks like james comer are chairman of the house oversight committee, little hyping up this employment for months and months. and now we know that he is essentially the indicted spy, selling arms possibly to iran, lying to the fbi. this was the star witness in all of these

conspiracy theories that the republicans have been trying to put on the president and his family. they failed. kevin mccarthy is encouraging it. he is encouraging folks like james comer, like marjorie taylor greene hyping up this informant. he has completely lost control of his caucus. the oversight committee, as a freshman member, i was not expecting would be spending all of our time chasing tinfoil had conspiracy theories. that is what the oversight committee has become. >> and that presents an interesting challenge for democrats. i want to get your sense of -- given the new letter from your fellow democrats on the oversight committee, what you think comer will do with that? do you think give in on those demands or is this nothing more than a symbolic gesture that the democrats are making, just to say okay, we responded in the moment? >> this is a serious issue. look, what we have essentially is the chairman of our committee has, for many months, been touting this informant that has now indicted seriously on the run, and i

think that we have a right to know as the chairman is looking and seeking, what does james comer know? how long has he known it? who has he been working with? has this informant completed contact with committee staff, or staff on the republican side of the aisle? with directly with james comer? this is a real questions. now that james comer spent the last few months trying to hype up some sort of china conspiracy around the president, the real conspiracy, i mean the real crisis the james comer now is that he is involved in this very serious allegations. those questions that -- we all completely support. those of us on the oversight committee are going to hold james comer accountable for his actions. we deserve the american public deserves to know how much he has been working with this behind the scenes. >> and that is an important point, congressman, because you have luft out here,

he has spent the last few years going on and on about the parents, biden's apparent corruption and the crime family, and now he's the one under indictment for his foreign dealings. how do you position this conversation with the american public? given what maga is saying, and what the democrats are trying to do? trying to help them understand the serious nature of this, as well as the hypocrisy of republicans and going after the bidens for dealings with china, with the guy that they're putting out as the whistleblower, who's going to tell the tale. he is himself wanted for his dealings with china. >> that is exactly right. first, let's be very clear. there's been zero evidence linking the president to any sort of mishandling or crimes as it relates to these accusations. what is very

apparent is that this informant, who has apparently working with some -- where the committee staff, and other republicans. i think that marjorie taylor greene and others also hype up this informant as very credible, which when we know he is actually a criminal, he's likely selling arms to the adversaries. this deserves an investigation. we should be investigating james comer and his actions here. i think that what is very clear is that james comer is only interested in going on fox news, and serving as donald trump's spokesperson. he is doing the bidding of the donald trump campaign. this entire agenda about trying to take on the president for doing absolutely nothing, attacking the presidents family, conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory, they continue to be debunked. he is doing the bidding of the jonael trump campaign on the tax paradigm. it is not acceptable. those of us on the house oversight committee are going to continue to push back

every single time against these lies, and the complete waste of taxpayer resources. and by the way, we might see again this week, james comer might have more whistleblowers that he will bring to the hill to go on and on about crazy conspiracy theories. it is the same thing over and over again. >> it is. and i want to get your thoughts on this particular feature of the maga playbook. when we see left talking about the reason that he skipped bail was because he did not believe that he could, quote, get a fair trial at new york. we have heard the same, and very similar allegations or charges from president trump and his allies regarding the charges that they have had to confront him. is this distressed of our system not just undermining the possibilities of prosecuting these individuals, but how much more difficult does that become down the road for future cases?

and how is congress looking at those narratives about our judicial system that seemed to be taking hold with so many americans? to restore that trust in the systems? >> it's very clear. donald trump has broken the republican party. he has broken and damaged many of our american institutions. i think it's very clear that for a party that used to tout itself as a law and order party, there are now crimes and conspiracy theories, and lives. that is a prominent product of donald trump, how he is tried to break our justice system, they are trying and actively working to defund the fbi, the justice department. they are attacking judges with a long histories of stellar judicial service, and it is all in service to donald trump, and those that are being indicted, being accused, and are being indicted for very serious crimes. they want to now attack the system which is now trying to provide justice in our country. it is another thing that we should take a very seriously. i think the democrats are very aware of

what is happening, and this is a direct attack on our judicial institutions, on the media that is actually causing major harms in this country. i think that all of us are united, we have to do everything we can to keep donald trump as far away from the white house as we can. >> congressman robert garcia of california, thank you, sir, for coming on tonight. we really appreciate you. coming up, if we had a segment called winner of the week, this week's honoree would be president biden, hands down, no doubt. more on that in a moment. first, richard louis has here with the headlines. hi, richard. >> hello, michael, a good evening to you. the man accused of shooting and killing four people in the atlanta area on saturday is dead, according to officials. 40-year-old suspect andre longmore was killed in a shootout with police. the suspect's motives are unclear. extreme weather continues as over 110 million americans are under heat advisories. temperatures in phoenix hitting at least hundred and ten degrees for the seventh

consecutive day. death valley reached 128, nearing the hottest temperature recorded on earth. authorities are searching for two children after flash floods just outside of philadelphia, which killed five people on saturday. local officials say that the search remains a rescue mission, but he's, quote fairly certain it is now a recovery situation. more ayman with michael steele, right after this break. hen we metamorphosize into our new evolved form, we carry that spirit with us. because you can take alfa romeo out of italy. but you best believe, you can't take the italy out of an alfa romeo. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain,

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reelection 2024, we might just look back at this past week as one of the key moments that propelled him into a second term. domestically, internationally, politically, biden pulled off a trio of big, much-needed wins that this campaign is no doubt hoping will boost his poll numbers. let us start with the politics because, well, money talks. in a joint fundraising effort, for biden's campaign, the democratic national committee east and state parties across the country raised more than $72 million in quarter two, which also happens to be the first quarter since biden announced he would seek a second term. up next, a domestic victory with inflation cooling to 3%. its lowest rate since march of 2021. biden touting that the data is proof of, quote, bidenomics in action. on the international

stage, biden wrapped up two big diplomatic wins in the nato summit in lithuania. he helped convince erdogan to rollback his objections on sweden's membership, clearing its way of its entry into the alliance. predicating volodymyr zelenskyy, angered by nato's refusal to endorse membership timeline, by unveiling a long term security framework for ukraine backed by the g7. let's get into all of this with my panel, debbie mucarsel-powell, former congresswoman, representative in florida and senior visor at giffords and -- yeah, he is here, folks. rick wilson, cofounder of the lincoln project and author of running against the double plot to save america from trump and democrats from themselves. welcome to both of you. representative mucarsel-powell, let us start with you. let's get to the big fund raising

numbers, $72 million. i know a little bit about raising money. that is an amazing amount of cash in three months time. it doubles what president trump had raised, by the way. yes, that field is a lot bigger. what does this type of a hall tell you about where the biden campaign is right now? >> good evening, michael. always good to be with you. look, when i read those numbers, i started to analyze -- because as you know, raising money is very difficult. you spent a lot of time when you are campaigning, especially for reelection, talking to people. what is interesting about these numbers, it is not just that he has outraced donald trump two to one and desantis 3 to 1, we know desantis has a lot of money in his campaign. it's that he has more than 400,000 unique donors. that is a lot of grassroots and support. the average donation is less than $200. 97% of those donations are less than $200. for all of the criticism against president

biden, that he's not an exciting candidate and for all the attacks that he has been receiving from the extreme wing of the republican party, he is doing extremely well and americans are excited to see president biden once again be on the ballot of 2024. so, it is exciting. i think he's going to have the resources that he needs. my only advice is that he needs to be present as much as possible in all of these states, so that they can hear directly from him on all of the great accomplishments that he has done. one of the best accomplishments by any democratic president in the past 20 to 30 years. >> rick, to the congresswoman's point, fundraising embers, you know bare know very well that is just good genes. you feel that vibe in a campaign. yes, you and i also know, elections hinge on a lot more than how much cash you raise. it really boils down to help the american people feel about the economy. so, disinflation report is obviously good news for biden's campaign. biden stayed out of the feds way during the course of this correction by the fed.

we have certainly all remembered how the way donald trump handled the matter. he wanted the fed to raise interest rates and was beating them up for that. threatening to fire jerome powell. biden's strategy was different. it was presidential and it was prudent. do you feel the american people will get that connection of the difference made by the way biden handled this? >> you know, michael, i think they will. i think the fact that inflation has come down so dramatically and so quickly, just about right on schedule between what the fed promised to do and the inflation reduction act, all these things roll right on the timeline that was predicted by experts and authorities who understand the economy better than people like donald trump who view it all with emotion. they took away, by doing this, they took away the central predicates of the publican attack on biden economically,

which is the inflation rate is so bad. gas prices are so high. these numbers are so terrible. right now, right about where inflation has been in the last 40 years. this is a timeline that the republicans really, really hoped would not happen. they were praying for a hard landing, a bad recession. that is now knock on wood. looking like it is not going to happen. i think the president, as you pointed, out very good news on the foreign policy fund this week. exceptional news on the economic front. >> so, on that point, debbie, i want to expand it out. we talked about the money. we talked about how the economy is going to play a big role for a lot of voters. rick just reference the diplomatic promises and success the president showed at the nato summit. do voters care? if trump were still in office right now, we wouldn't be joining -- you know, sweden wouldn't be joining nato. ukraine would probably have lost the war by now because

putin would've gotten everything he wanted from trump. how much of a difference could this conversation make for voters or should it make for voters given what we've seen from world events? >> michael, one of the problems i'm seeing right now currently in american politics is that so many voters are completely disengaged from the process. they are not following all of these political winds by the president the way we are. i think the president has to make sure he communicates the importance of investing in ukraine and supporting ukraine in this aggression from russia and attacking a sovereign nation and strengthening nato. i served for president biden. i had the honor of being able to be a special adviser under the summit of the americas. i saw what he was able to do with all of the central american and south american leaders. let me tell you, as a latina, that is very difficult to navigate those politics in this region. he was able to unite all of them. not only in making sure

that we were protecting democracy in the hemisphere, but also in supporting ukraine. there's still some countries in this hemisphere that are supporting russia like cuba, venezuela, nicaragua. i think he has to make sure to explain to americans why it is so important for the stability of the world order to continue to support ukraine. >> debbie, rick, please stick around. we have a lot more coming up because after the break, republicans have just six months to take out donald trump from the presidential primaries. it seems like, once again, no one is up to the again, no one is up to the task. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you.

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republican iowa caucus is six months away. the first presidential nominating contest is set for january 15th. that means time is ticking for primary candidates to figure out how they can topple that republican front runner. donald

trump has maintained an aggressive lead against the rest of the gop field. republicans looking for an alternative to the twice indicted ex president, art well, they are struggling, folks. they are just struggling. former maryland government, larry hogan, says anti trump republicans are very concerned, quote, people expected us to have made more progress than we have at this point. the trump versus everyone field of the gop primary was on full display in iowa yesterday. just not probably. six candidates, conservative christian voters recorded at the leadership summit. none of them really mention trump. and that is the problem. the other republicans in this race aren't able, or seemingly willing, to go for the jugular. you have to be the guy. how are you going to break through a crowded field if you don't confront the front runner head on? msnbc contributor and former republican strategist

matthew dowd told alicia lanez that it is 2016 all over again. >> everybody was like, donald trump is going to fail. i will be there to pick this up. everybody did. jeb bush tried to do. it rubio tried to do it. all of them try to. all of them try to do it. they didn't want to be the one until it was too late. this part of the process is donald trump's 2016 republican primary nominee on steroids. >> debbie mucarsel-powell and rick wilson are with us. rick, i need to get your reaction, my friend, to what our mutual friend, matt said there. so far, chris christie has been the only candidate willing to call donald trump out, as the other candidates are mumbling. poll of desantis, try to out-trump trump. they can't seem to get their act together on how to go at this guy. what do you think these folks need to do with six

months left, if they have any help? >> well, first of, none of them have any hope until they're willing to confront the fact that they have to call out as matt,, you, many other people pointed, up unless you call out the orange cancer metastasizing inside of the republican party that continues to dominate every aspect of, it unless you break him, you cannot help to win against him. he will always outperform all of these people on the stage. he will always outperformed them in being a courageous and cruel and terrible and transgressive. so, when you have a guy like ron desantis who does not have a personality -- look, if android americans were a lot, he didn't. better but they don't. he has the sense right now, he was the golden child of the establishment, national review with the money at wall street left. him all the establishment

donors loved him. he can't campaign. he is a terrible candidate. trump is going to eat them all alive on that stage. none of them will be able to swing at him and connect because they will always pull back. maybe chris christie who has no path to victory in this republican party, will hit him. frankly, they aren't going to be able to [inaudible] these guys are gonna be pulling one to 2%. they're not going to make that cut. ron desantis is a coward and will not attack trump directly. does not have the skill to do it. nikki and tim scott, you know, they have their fans, but they are not there to run for president running for vp, both of them. you know, it's 2016 all over again. we're caught in a time loop. >> it is one heck of a time for president because that first republican debate is set for august 23rd. donald trump has basically said, i'm not going to be there. there's no need for me to go. do you think that then becomes the venue where these candidates are

finally going to ramp up their attacks because he is not there? okay? you know, doesn't really matter if trump is not there to defend himself? >> yeah, no. i don't think so at all. the problem that the republican party in all of these presidential candidates have is that they are scared of the maga base. let us go back for one second to what happened on january six. that was instigated on donald trump's rhetoric that the election had been stolen by the big lie. that continues to be the republican party's most extreme base, that is propping up donald trump. for donald trump, he doesn't need to do much. his brand is solid within the republican party, within the republican base. he doesn't need to do any debates. these candidates cannot attack him because then they will lose a

huge portion, if anything were to happen to donald trump. let us remember, we still have six months before that primary in iowa. so much can happen between now and then. donald trump is facing multiple indictments. i think that that is what they are counting, on including round desantis. they are waiting to see if it gets so complicated for donald trump, that they start gaining ground. now, rick wilson knows. i don't want desantis is going to go anywhere. he continues. he's a failure. he continues to go down in polls. maybe chris christie will start gaining ground because he has been the only one to attack donald trump directly. we shall see. >> so, yeah. i don't know, rick. i'm hesitant to go here. i'm going to go there. you have referred to desantis as having a bit of a problem as we watch his campaign sputter this past week. having to fire staffers, et cetera. you called it electable dysfunction. >> my question to you is, what

particular viagra would you recommend for a candidate who seemingly is already losing staff two months after his announcement? >> the problem with the campaign right now is the campaign itself is burning one point $2 million a week. super pac is bringing $2 million a week. they have way overstepped, way over hired. the problem is, the person they need to hire for ron desantis was a speech and debate coach. they needed to teach him human emotions. they needed someone to help him deal with his shortness with people and the sloppiness with people. look,

it's not an uncommon thing for people to say that bound to sentences running. casey has charisma. she's the one having to swing the acts of the campaign now because they have figured out that you cannot sell bad dog food with good advertising. got dogs don't watch the advertising. the taste of dog. this is not a guy whose dog food tastes good to voters. you saw him a year ago. he was a 30% in our polling. now, he is at 14% in our polling. this is a guy who is on the quick slide down. you and i have all so seen presidential campaigns that were the hot thing from scott walker to bobby gentle to jeb bush. things collapse because they didn't have the skill and talent as campaigners. can desantis turn it around? look, if donald trump is eaten by a shark, struck by lightning, somehow put in jail, who knows? right now, the other candidates have seen a move available to them. that is why you have youngkin looking at this race now, greg abbott i'm told is taking another look at this race. none of these people at camp and georgia, none of these people are intimidated now by ron desantis. they are not worried about him any longer. they look at him now as someone who had the statute love and

money side, that's gone away. he is in trouble. >> rick, i want to pull that lens out in the last moments that we have. both of you, even debbie have touched on something that refers back to a conversation i had with eddie in the last hour. i wanted to ask you, what has happened to this gop that you and i toiled and worked in and spent a lot of time grooming and making arguments for the american people? how did a party once led by champion and civil rights, senator minority leader, dirksen of illinois, to come to the market infection whereby now follow someone like alabama senator tuberville, who can't say whether white nationalists are racist? >> you know, michael, you know talked about this a lot. it's a great tragedy of our politics. a party, however flawed it was, it was very fluid. elise at its

stated court was about individual liberty, respect for the constitution and the rule of law. the ideas of free markets, the ideas that we would fight against authoritarianism and oppression in the world. all of those things have been inverted now. the republican party has been -- that authoritarian statism, cruelty, racism, intolerance, anti immigrant fervor, or the defining and desirable characteristics of a political party. it is a rolling tragedy. it doesn't, which doesn't and. the only thing that will restore some semblance of the old ideological base of the republican party is the destruction of trump and maga. that is a long way off still. >> yeah, debbie mucarsel-powell and ripples, and thank you very much. ahead, maga republicans have politicized one of the last bipartisan pieces of legislation, defense budget bill. democratic congressman brad schneider, who voted against the bill, blames speaker mccarthy and his capitulation to the gop's most extreme numbers. he joins me extreme numbers. he joins me live, next. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose neuriva plus.

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what are you working on? a bomb. it's happening, isn't it? this is the most important thing to every happen in the history of the world! >> for decades, the national defense authorization act has passed with massive bipartisan support. then, just a couple of days ago, it barely passed. mostly along party lines. why? and sure, because it has been make a five. house republicans turned defense spending into their personal culture war fight. adding unnecessary amendments that restrict reproductive rights, barge into

affirming care, and defund diversity initiatives. thanks to these make a amendments, the bill has no chance of passing the democrat-controlled senate. my next guest, congressman brad schneider of illinois voted against the legislation calling it dreadful and dangerous. adding, quote, the majorities amended bill attacks the health care of our service members, denigrates huge swaths of our country citizens, and will make aren't military less readily and less capable for the future. congressman schneider joins us now. he is a member of the house armed services committee. welcome to you, congressman. you talk to us a little bit more about your concerns with the make it amendments and the mta. >> thank you. we saw for the last 60 plus years that the mta

comes out and goes -- through a pass the senate and goes to the presidents desk in bipartisan fashion. we started that process this year, coming out of committee. [inaudible] overwhelmingly bipartisan. speaker mccarthy aligned himself with the extremists in his party. and allowed amendments that came on, as you just noted, attacks women's health care, attacks diversity in this country, offense many people in this country and ended up with a bill that was hyperpartisan and will never pass the senate. so, it goes to the great lakes that i represent, i see when i go to

graduation and speak to the recruits. you see full diversity of our nation. if we're going to succeed in defending our nation and securing our national interests, when you need a diverse and full military that reflects our country as the people we are. >> congressman, i'd like to get your reaction to speaker kevin mccarthy is doubling down on what is in this bill. let's take a listen. >> just focus on the military. stop using taxpayer money to do their own book-ism. the military cannot defend themselves, if you train them in woke. we don't want disneyland to train our military. we want our men and women in the military to have every defense possible. that is what our bill does. >> mccarthy, sitting there and focusing on the military will of the same time he is politicizing it. so, how do republicans claim that they are pro military when they are giving way to culture wars? what does it say about the power of that make a winning of the party that mccarthy is jeopardizing military readiness for what? owning the lives. how democrats are planning to navigate the space, trying to get good, positive legislation done, import legislation, particularly national defense legislation accomplish? >> sure. you mentioned a couple of things. first, with respect to our military, more than 20% of our military members are female. 20% are people of color. it is the diversity of our nation that we find in our military and we need to serve

in places all over the world to protect our defense and our national security. if we're gonna focus on the military, we are going to focus on expanding the diversity of our troops to reflect the nation that we are. as far as navigating this, we have seen mccarthy isn't focused on the things that matter. he's focusing on moving on to his gavel and kowtowing to the most extreme elements of his party. it's not just the speaker. you saw amendment after amendment pass with not just the majority, anonymity of the republican conference. knowing full well that that was going to poison the bill. that was going to silence the voice of the house and force has to depend on the senate. that was true for the mta, that is true for letting the government come september. the other part of the bill that we should be doing is facing the challenges of this country. >> one of those amendments, congressman,

plus the amendment on abortion, which was inspired by republican senator tommy tuberville, who's been blocking promotions of generals and admirals over to his opposition to how the defense department handles abortions. in an op-ed for msnbc, sandy duckworth and unwrap -- this play is shameful and disgraceful, misogynistic and statistics, self interested, yet subdividing. in other words, it's a perfect snapshot of today's gop. if you would expand on, that if you, would in terms of the messaging from republicans like tuberville to military members and their families and the american people overall when it comes to something as important as their health decisions. >> absolutely. i think tammy said it precisely right. when i talk about my son all the time. he was an officer in the navy for five years. he served warships, deployed across the pacific. i mentioned him standing watch bleep at night. i know this was the fact. he would send it much with officers, fellow officers, females, officers who were black, black -- officers who were hispanic. all of them take on the same responsibilities, taking on the exact same risks into bending our nation. in a republican view of things, each

of them have been different rights and access to varying to please of health care. that is morally reprehensible. >> i want to pick up in the minute that we have left, sir, on how democrats can better fight for military service members. members like your own son who are out there, standing on the wall for us. and proved that you are going to do right in that fight for forces and their families. >> wealth, we should be reaching across the aisle and finding common ground. not just on defense and making sure that our military personnel get the rays they deserve and affirm that they have the resources they need to succeed in their mission and that we are investing to make sure that we have the security we need for our country in the future. we need to do this on tax policy. we need to do this on health policy, climate policy. reaching across the aisle and trying to find that commonality. only legislation

that will truly pass the test of time it's legislation that comes from the middle. that is why colleagues in the democratic party, and particularly the new dems, have committed to do each and every day, i hope we can do in the future. boy. now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh? ♪ bye, uncle limu. ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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temperatures again today. we could see dangerous heat levels into next week across the southwest. nearly a third of americans, about 113 million people, are currently under heat advisories from florida to california and up to washington state. national weather service is urging people to not underestimate the risks to life. in bucks county, pennsylvania, several people are missing and at least five have been killed after heavy rain caused a series of flash floods. nbc news correspondent melissa perez, has more on this wild weather we are experiencing. >> in california, the heat compounded by flames, with a fourth wildfire now threatening homes near los angeles and prompting evacuation warnings. >> if it gets any worse, i'm coming back here, i figure out what to do. >> the seemingly endless heat wave, getting even hotter. las vegas is pushing towards new record highs. in miami, an excessive heat warning. a real feel of 105, just as thousands back in for tonight's cause -- for soccer star lionel messi. phoenix, breaking a record this weekend, hitting 118 degrees. on day 17

attempts at or over 110. >> it's going to be outrageous. we do not want anyone having heatstroke. >> volunteer is providing a lifeline to those in need. >> water, cool ties. i'm taking the dog out for issues. >> bringing supplies to the city's most vulnerable. >> it's all, right honey. we have. >> and their pets. >> don't buy me. trust me, i'm doing this for your own good. >> emergency crews responding to calls with heat always on the mind. >> have you've been drinking plenty of water? >> the hottest summers we've had in recent years. so, yeah, it's definitely taking a toll in the community, for sure. >> nbc news correspondent marissa para, thank you for that. a quick

programming note, stick around for revolt from within, the rise of bogner, coming up next. richard engel examines the trajectory of wagner group later yevgeny prigozhin, whom he has been tracking across the globe. richard explores how putin's former protegee turned on his boss, launched a mutiny in russia and threatened the kremlin's power. watching encore presentation of on assignment, revolt from within, that buys of wagner, next at ten pm eastern on msnbc and now streaming on peacock. thank you, folks, for making time for us. medina will be back in the chair next week. catch a man at saturdays at eight and sundays at nine. and follow the show on twitter, tiktok and instagram at eamonn msnbc. until we meet again, i am michael steele. goodnight. goodnight. we carry that spirit with us.

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