it is good to be back with you on this second hour of "chris jansing reports." at this hour, president biden working the phones, trying to stem democratic defections after his fiery and unequivocal interview on msnbc saying he is staying in this race. and his new letter to the party with the same message after more lawmakers said he should step aside. plus, the bipartisan calls for biden to undergo cognitive testing. the president's response, he doesn't need one because his record running the world is a daily test. battered by beryl, the storm

hits texas as a category 1 hurricane killing two. and cutting power to more than 2 million people as towns brace for up to 15 inches of rain. we are live in the storm zone. and a political earthquake in france, did one of our closest allies just become virtually ungovernable? the shock election raising the stakes during an already tumultuous time in europe. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we begin with nbc's allie raffa in washington, where president biden's fierce defense of his right to stay in the race included that new interview with msnbc. the president is making it clear he's not going anywhere. what else does he have to say? >> yeah, chris, the president in this interview at times very obviously angry, very frustrated as he delivered a full throated rebuke of these growing calls among democrats for him to step aside. he says he is going nowhere, and

he even challenged other democrats to challenge him at next month's democratic convention, and at some point, the president during this interview, remember he's always painted himself as middle class joe, blue collar joe, he sought to really distance himself from establishment democrats saying he's distancing himself from elites in the party, and listen to more of his comments from that there. >> these are pretty big names. >> they're big names but i don't care what those big names thinking. they're wrong in 2020. they're wrong in 2022 about the red wave. they're wrong in 2024, and come out with me, watch people react, you make the judgment. you make the judgment. and by the way, i'm going to have all of these foreign leaders here. i have been in contact with the new british prime minister. look, the country, the rest of

the world, our allies are looking for u.s. leadership. who else do you think can step in here and do this? >> reporter: the president admitting that he's frustrated by elites in the party saying he's blocking them out and the only opinions he cares about are the runs of average voters, like the ones he interacted with in pennsylvania, and gave him confidence to stay in the race and serve another four years in office. the biden team is narrowing in on congress as they return to capitol hill for the first time since that debate. the biden team, the president himself sending this lengthy letter to democratic lawmakers in which he says in part, quote, this was a process open to anyone who wanted to run. only three people chose to challenge me. one fared so badly that he left the primaries to run as an independent. another attacked me for being too old and was soundly defeated. the voters of the democratic party have voted. they have chosen me to be the nominee of the party.

the president reminding democrats, neigh -- naysayers of the democratic process to this point. nbc's sahil kapur is following this story for us. the white house physician is coming under scrutiny, what more can you tell us? >> that's right, chris, this question shot to the fore among members of congress last week, when former speaker nancy pelosi, a staunch ally of president biden, the way president biden handled the debate, it's legitimate to wonder if that was merely an episode or a condition, referring to the fact that the president looked frail, dazed at times. he struggled to keep his train of thought, and over the last week and a half since that debate, some members of congress are talking about the importance of presidential candidates in general taking these tests to convince the public that they are up for this massively arduous job.

let's take a listen to how members of congress have been talking about it. >> they both should be willing to take a test. i think, frankly, a test would show donald trump has serious illness of one kind or another. but ultimately, the decision is going to come down to what joe biden thinks is best, and if his decision is to run, then run hard and boat that sob. >> this is a wake up call for the country. we need to make sure that the people who are going to be in the line of succession are capable of being commander in chief under dire circumstances. >> reporter: and of course, chris, this is an unusually old couple of presidential candidates on the ticket. joe biden is 81. donald trump is only a few years younger at 78. either one of them if they complete a second term, will be the oldest president in american history. both have been defiant about the

idea of taking independent medical exams. president biden says he has a cognitive test every day. on "morning joe," he said just this morning, he has a neurological test sitting behind the desk of theoval office. trump says he takes cognitive tests all the time and aces them. not something we have seen independently and can verify. under president biden's own democratic members, including some in key battle ground states or districts and races, take a look at the new statement from senator jon tester, faces one of the toughest battles with president biden, quote, president biden has got to prove to the american people including me that he's up for the job for four years. i'll continue to do what i have done, stand up to president biden when he's wrong, and protect our montana way of life. unquote. of course, tester from a red state, that donald trump carried by a big margin, most of the other battle ground democrats are going to have to handle this differently. both fates will be tied to the

president at the top of the ticket. >> thank you. now to texas where beryl has been downgraded but threats remain. jay gray is live in rosenberg, texas, what's the latest there, jay? >> reporter: yeah, chris, they are finally getting a chance to pick up the pieces. the rain has just stopped in the last few minutes. look at what the wind did as well. rosenberg took quite a punch. you can see it ripped apart this huge pecan tree. in fact, let's show you some of the expanse of what it did here, and you can see the limbs and basically half of the trunk that was pulled away from this tree and thrown on to the ground here. we have talked with residents in the area who said they woke up this morning to the sounds of this storm moving in. give a listen. >> and about 3:30, 4:30 in the morning, there was like a noise i heard on the window, and somebody was breaking in. i got up and looked, and it was so windy. it was raining and ugly. the trees started falling down,

and branches. it was just a mess. and i just, like, oh, my god. >> reporter: and, look, the rain continued until just about ten minutes ago. we're continuing to see gusts. here's another example of some of the huge limbs that were pulled away from a tree here. the good news for the residents in this house is they did not land on the roof. there are a lot of people, not only in this community, but across the entire strike zone that can't say that. they're dealing with significant damage from tree limbs. flooding was an issue here. two high water rescues, it was flash flooding, it started to recede now, so that's good news, and again, we're getting a patch of sunlight. if you had asked me an hour ago, no way we're going to see the sun today, a patch of it, and people getting out, taking a look at what the storm left behind and getting to work. >> jay gray, thank you. now to the chaotic election that's left america in a state

of political paralysis. josh lederman is in paris for us. no party, what does that mean going forward? >> reporter: turmoil, and political gridlock for the short-term. this is unprecedented in modern french history. essentially three groups, far right, center and left that all have roughly equal number of seats in parliament. you're going to have president macron still in power for another couple of years. a prime minister in a different party and nobody with a mandate to pass laws on things like the budget or the economy. it's unclear how a new government is going to be able to form that's going to be able to take care of the kind of day-to-day business that france needs to function effectively. that is what's so frustrating to many french voters who are waking up to these results today, including a voter in

paris who i spoke to earlier today. here's what he told me. >> nothing would change. i think nothing would change in france because the country will not be manageable because there's several parties, and nothing would change. this is the same people, with the same ideas. >> reporter: this instability could not be coming at a worse time for france, chris, with the country settle to host the olympic games in less than three weeks from now. that means key ministries like the interior ministry overseeing security preparations, it's unclear who's actually going to be in charge of those government departments. french authorities and the olympic officials are trying to reassure the public today that everything has been prepared a long time in advance. the security preparations are all in place, and they are confident that even if france doesn't have a lot of clarity about how its government is going to look going forward,

they are confident the olympic games are going to go off without a hitch. >> josh lederman, thank you. in 90 seconds, biden's big test at the nato summit, can he prove to americans and our biggest allies that his candidacy is still on track. snacking. just. got. serious. introducing new $3 footlong dippers. the world might not be ready for them... ...but at $3 a pop? your wallet definitely is. my mom used to tell me if you want to be a champion you got to be a champion at life. i got to watch her play at her highest from when i was born. from one generation to the next, to the next, we don't stop. i always wanted to know why i'm the way i am. my curiosity led me to ancestry. it breaks down like everything genetically. what that means. that's amazing. — right. it all comes full circle. (♪♪)

you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire so this is now president biden's reality. every interview, every challenge, a test, because a

week and a half after his debate debacle, the questions aren't going away. now, on the international stage, he has an opportunity to show he can do this job better than anyone else as he heads into a nato meeting with allies who have been bracing for a potential return of donald trump. on the domestic front, his campaign is rolling out an aggressive battle plan to answer the chorus of critics who don't think he can win and want him to step down. here's his response on an exclusive interview on msnbc. >> i'm getting frustrated by the elites, not talking about you guys, the elites in the party who no so much more, run against me. announce for president. challenge me at the convention. >> i want to bring in democratic strategist and former executive director of the new york state democratic party, basil smikle, and cofounder of lift our

voices, julie. president biden is under a microscope every time he answers a question. later this week when he holds a press conference, whatever we hear from the foreign leaders, it will be considered part of the ongoing test between now and the election. i don't know if we have ever seen anything quite this intense since maybe nixon, and the decision he had to make. does that essentially mean for backers of biden, 119 days of holding their breath. >> well, not really. if he maintains the same kind of attitude and energy he's had in these interviews the last couple of days. i like this joe biden. voters want to know you're going to fight from them. what you're hearing from jooild joe biden right now and hopefully from the campaign in tandem with that, you're going to see a fighter on the campaign trail. we wasted a week of not talking about donald trump. >> a week and a half. >> there was a lot of things that donald trump could have done, did do, that we could have been talking about, but instead, he's watching democrats because

why get in the way of a boulder as it's rolling down the hill. we've got to turn the page. got to change the narrative. i think his language today and over the last couple of days suggests that, and just lastly, i will take a quote from nancy pelosi in 2018, just win, baby. that's what she said. if you got to run against me at the time, do it, and that would be the message to democrats today. >> i mean, that is the question, though, i think people who have expressed reservations including voters, can he win, and he was actually asked earlier today on "morning joe" to response to people who don't trust right now that he won't have another night or incident, if we'll call it that, like he had on debate night. let's listen to his response. >> look, i had a bad night. but the fact of the matter is, let me put it this way, if there was something that was wrong that night, it's not like that's one night and it goes away.

that's why i have been out. i have been testing myself, been tested everywhere i go, going out and making the case. >> he says he's testing himself, but the plan is to keep testing him over and over and over again. smart, or what are the risks? >> i don't want him to be testing himself. i want a candidate who's going to go out there and take the case to donald trump every single day, go at him hard, prosecute the case against donald trump. that's what we need right now. >> that's the tricky part, though, how do you switch it from defending myself to doing what the campaign says he wants to do, which is go after trump? >> he's got to do what he did on "morning joe" today. he has to do that every day over and over again. there's no reason on earth, if he's up to the task, he can't go out there, cut through the noise, get out of d.c. to the extent that he can, go on the trail and show the voters what he's got. if he's capable of doing that every day, and really prosecuting the case against donald trump, and creating that dichotomy between what he stands for, his incredible record over the last four years and the

apocalypse we may be facing if donald trump gets elected. great, we're in good shape. if he's not capable of doing that, we need to know that now. it's not him testing himself. it's him showing the rest of us that he could be the leader that he needs to be to make sure that he's sworn in for another term in january or else, listen, joe biden's an old man, so is donald trump. the rest of us have decades if not decades of living with the reality of if joe biden is wrong. >> i mentioned this the last hour, and it's really no surprise to anybody. chris murphy said the clock is ticking, exactly to julie's point, if there is going to be a change or if he's going to calm nerves, it's got to that happen, and it's arguably got to happen fast. there's been some coalescing around kamala harris, but is there really a clear path to beating donald trump? i mean, part of what we heard from the president this morning is who else is going to do it?

>> just briefly on kamala harris. i mean, this is why i have written about and talked about for years, why are democrats inside or outside on record or off the record, going after the sitting vice president because it's moments like this, where you bring down the ticket. you devalue the ticket. and now you have to kind of run from behind, essentially, so having said that, and putting that to the side, you know, there is a limited amount of time because the convention is in a month, and the fact that the convention is in a month, you've got to get delegates on board, a smooth transition. is there an agreement on who the next person is going to be if it's not kamala harris. that person is going to raise money, go out and introduce themselves to voters as a democratic candidate for president. what happens if those person's policies are different from the current president's policies. there's so much that needs to happen in a shorter period of time. that's why i like what joe biden said, if you want to challenge me, go ahead and do that. >> he knows, julie. there's got to be a coming together, right, of leadership

in the democratic party for this to even have a chance of happening. >> listen, the backbone of the democratic party, let's be very clear, black women. they have been since at least lbj. no democrat has won with a majority of the white votes since lyndon johnson, if you're going to skip over the first black woman to run for office, that's a horrible message to send to the base of the party. if you're going to do that, that's fine. go ahead and do it, but understand what you're leaving on the table if you go ahead and do that. if it's not joe biden, you have to make a really strong case as to why it's not his number two, who by the way, has been his partner in the most successful administration in my lifetime. and so, we've got to cut to the chase here. nato is in town this week. nobody is going to bars the commander in chief at a time when the russians are bombing children's hospitals in ukraine, at a time when nato is panicking about the potential of donald trump returning. nobody is going to do anything until nato it out of town ton thursday. then friday, saturday, sunday at the latest, we need to either end this conversation and rally behind joe biden or the

president needs to make it clear that he's not running again, and he's anointing whoever he's anointing probably kamala harris. we can't go into this until august or the last two weeks of july with this hanging over us. we need to prosecute the case against donald trump. >> and to state the obvious, black voters saved his presidency, his candidacy, and not a single member of the congressional black caucus has come out asking him to step down. basil smikle, julie, thank you both very much. and joining me now is the president and founder of eurasia group and g zero media, ian bremmer. he's in washington. joe biden hosting this summit. then he's going to have a solo press conference on thursday, and i wonder what you're hearing from your sources in some of these allied nations about what the president needs to do, how much nervousness is there? what does he have to prove this week? >> look, these are the american allies that are most concerned. you are talking about a

recognition that if trump becomes president, he does not support a strong europe. he likes brexit, and he wanted the french to leave as well. that's an enormous concern for these european allies. he said he's going to end the war in ukraine on his first day, and putin has just in the last couple of days said he's very interested in this supposed trump peace plan. that is panicking the european leaders. there are other leaders around the world that feel like they can manage a trump presidency much more effectively. the japanese, for example, the indians, for example, the gulf states, israel, but when you talk about the leaders that are here for the 75th anniversary of nato, i would say they are concerned to the brink of panic. and certainly they've seen what has been biden's worst week and a half in his political history, and it's making them fear that they have to start preparing for what a trump administration might mean for them. this is a very serious problem

for them. >> are you hearing any rumblings that they are hopeful or would be supportive of or any version of that if someone were to replace joe biden at the top of the democratic ticket? >> look, this isn't new. these leaders have been meeting with biden at summits regularly, whether it's the united nations or the g7 or the g20 over the years. they come for state meetings. they have seen him visibly slow down. his physical mobility, they have noticed is nowhere close to what it used to be, his ability to catch everything they're saying, engage, i mean, just do the job of the president. it's not that he's feebleminded but he's not who joe biden was when he won the presidency. and i will tell you that no one thinks that he could run the country effectively as president for another four years. and i'm talking about american allies here. that's a serious problem.

that's a serious problem, and they worry, of course, that if he stays the course, that that means that biden is more likely to lose. they're not going to make public statements about, you know, that biden needs to step down. they're allies of the u.s. it would be utterly inappropriate for them to do so. you would not see a leader on the global stage that isn't concerned about this issue. you won't. >> there's a lot of concern about a lot of things. before you go, i want to ask about the election in france. you have made it clear, this is not a win for president macron, for france or the eu. how does this change things for one of america's closest allies? >> you're asking me all the tough questions today, right? the uk election actually looks better for nato. it looks better for ukraine. it looks better for the american alliance. france does not. macron's party got walloped in the first round, got walloped in the second round. they have lost a lot of seats,

and now you basically have three different blocks, political blocs that have virtually no overlap in their policy preferences, and macron has to find a way to govern with them. and that means, you know, some sort of technocratic or compromised government, and the only way they get anything done is if macron himself steps out of all domestic policy making. he just basically does foreign and security policy. it's going to be very hard for him. it's a huge loss. it also makes france much weaker on the global stage, getting anything done like a budget on the eu and getting approvals to move forward. ukrainian integration into the eu, which would require changing rules. the parliament would have to prove that. none of that is possible with this new french parliament. not only are the europeans here in the united states and washington worried about the american elections, they're also worried about how they can continue to progress with the stronger europe that is

essential as they worry about the russians who just today are bombing children's hospitals in kyiv. >> ian bremmer, always great to have you on the program. thank you for taking the time. >> you bet. still ahead, the miracle in the wildfire zone. 13 young hikers found safe, even though a fire was raging. let's get an update next. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... so my tech and my network need to keep up. thank you, verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (aaron) so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. oh no. running low? with chewy, always keep their bowl full. save 35% on your first autoship order.

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in detroit, police are still looking for suspects after a shooting killed two people and injured 19 others at a block party, including a 17-year-old girl who's in critical condition. officials say there were reports of violence at other block parties over the weekend. a situation the mayor calls heartbreaking and that, quote, young people and innocent neighbors are at risk. some tense moments in california as crews worked to locate 13 hikers who were missing inside an active wildfire zone near tahoe. the group was found safe after an air search, and they're now being escorted out as crews continue to battle the flames. elsewhere in the state, the massive lake fire has burned more than 20,000 acres in the mountains of santa barbara county, prompting evacuation orders and threatening michael jackson's former neverland estate. nbc's steve patterson is reporting from l.a. steve, it's just the start of the summer season, and we're seeing these powerful wildfires, not to mention record heat. what more can you tell us?

>> reporter: it's unbelievable. it's like since mid june, which is very unusual for a fire season, we have seen at least 20 large, active wildfires is somewhere across the west burning constantly. it's like when they knock one down, another pops up. i don't think we've seen a season quite like this since maybe 2020 or so. but here we are, the lake fire, as you mentioned, one of the preeminent fires, it is at least the largest in california, now more than 20,000 acres as you mentioned. there is some containment on it. about 8%, which is of course good news, especially because firefighters are in there in the steep terrain, which makes it very dangerous. also thankfully, it is mostly burning away from homes, away from residential centers. there have been a few evacuations, what is most at risk, it seems, is that neverland ranch. we're hearing it may be on the doorstep of the ranch, you know, it was just the size comparison, the ranch itself or at least the estate is like 7,000 acres larger than the 20,000 acre

fire. depending on where it is, it may be more dangerous. meanwhile, there is that fire that you mentioned in tahoe. the stranded hikers. just another size comparison, that fire is less than 200 acres. 176 acres. a fire that small trapped 13 hikers, gives the sense of how dangerous these fires r how quickly they burn through because of the conditions are so bad. this heat dome is so big, it absorbs, it zaps all of the moisture and the brush that has really covered the state. they can just sort of run waves of just really dry tinder for these fires to explode. that's what's happening all over the state and all over the west. thousands of firefighters on the front lines trying to put out the fires in 110, 115, 120 degree heat. we're breaking records. vegas at 120 last week. that's three or four degrees more than the record.

we're expected to go over that again this week. 117 predicted. 118 predicted in vegas. other places like reading, reno, expected to break records as well. the heat is unbearable. the fire is relentless, an awful start to the season. >> to say the least. steve patterson, thank you. donald trump's final days of the vp search, with the national convention underway, is his choice really very much in flux? we'll discuss. we'll discuss. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

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and this is john kirby at the white house briefing room. talking about the president and nato and the challenges ahead. let's listen. >> we're going to take every shot we can to see if we can't get the cease fire deal in place. >> within days? >> i couldn't give you a date certain. >> thank you. john, thanks for doing this. first, just to follow up on the communique, even if you can't get into irreversible, the president's objection last year, and chancellor scholz's objection, if i remember correctly, was that neither one of them wanted a date set for fear, i assume, that the united states and its allies would be drawn into the ground war if ukraine was still at war while a nato member. does that remain today to be his

primary objections? is he willing to do wording that just is short of a date? because even if you do the wording reversible or not, he doesn't really change the meaning very much of what you published. and i have a second. >> i'll make this simple but unsatisfying. again, i'm not going to get into the text and the discussions about what the draft's going to look like, david. i think you can understand that, but i do think your question is important to provide some context to. the president still believes that nato is in ukraine's future. what that future looks like depends on an awful lot of factors. right now, you've got a war going on inside ukraine, and the focus rightly has to be on helping them win that war, which we are, as i detailed in my opening statement. for any country that wants to join nato, any country the

democracies have to meet certain guidelines. particularly when it comes to governance. and we are and we'll continue to work with ukraine on reforms that are necessary for any democracy that wants to be a member of nato, and then the third thing i would say is it's a unanimous vote. everybody has to be on board with that. that can take some time as well. the focus is on making sure that they can win now. and that we can continue to work with ukraine so that there is a path to nato. the last thing i would say is back to the bilateral security agreement that the president signed with president zelenskyy at the g7 in italy, i mean, we're one of many other nations that have done that too. because we know that whenever this war ends, however it ends, and whatever the border looks like, ukraine is still going to have a long border with russia, that's going to need to be defended. they're going to need the reassurance of being able to put forth a capable and confident defensive capability against russian forces going forward. that's why we're making sure

there are things in line to make sure ukraine can defend itself. >> you mentioned that it was ten years ago that the 2% gdp goal was set. obviously there was no war on the way at that time. the entire security situation looks radically different than it does -- than it did when that was set. >> i beg to differ. there was fighting in afghanistan and mr. putin invaded ukraine in 2014. >> in '14, yeah. but i think the 2% may have been set. >> it was in wales, it may have been set before the invasion. it was a tense security environment. >> we're in something different today. we're all in agreement, given the amount of arms. is part of the president's message at this summit, the 2% is in the rear view mirror, that the nato allies are going to have to be spending significantly more than that. maybe double that. for some countries, some larger

economies, or is he going to stay away from numbers? i know it's politically sensitive. also you mentioned the word win. i was wondering how you're declining that? >> there's a lot there. the president is not going to set a new bar or a new level of gdp spending on defense in the summit. the goal is 2%, it was a commitment everybody made ten years ago, not everybody is there. most of the remaining nations that haven't reached 2%, most of them, not all, are working on it. and are getting there. and so i think the president wants, you know, to focus on that, wants to commemorate those who have and make it clear that those who haven't have work to do. i think we have been consistent on this. at least i think i have. we want all of ukraine's sovereign territory respected, which means we want no russian

forces in any part of ukraine, by the internationally recognized boundaries. >> john, you just said in a frame of question to seek. you're not picking up on allies needing reassurances when it comes to president biden, but the allies look for a secure united states. have you heard any conversations from the allies about issues of elections process here, what they have been seeing, and the stability of the united states in the next few months, couple of years, et cetera? >> i'm not aware of any specific conversations with respect to our domestic political situation. but look, we watch the domestic political situation of our allies and partners, of course, like we did with the uk and france over the weekend, and we have no doubt that they're watching ours as well, and that they'll be watching our election with, you know, with a lot of

keen interest. we certainly would expect that. but i'm not aware of any conversations that we've had at senior levels here. at the nsc or elsewhere at the white house from allies specifically about this particular election. >> gathered reporters a couple of years ago with concerns about democracy here. >> they might be talking to y'all. but i'm not aware of any specific conversations here. >> just want to circle back, admiral, on ed's question. so you said broadly that the president in your view is not represented by what was on the debate stage. then you gave us an anecdote about a meeting where he was engaged and so forth. are you saying you have never encountered a situation where you thought he was displaying any of those symptoms or affectations or, you know, something that would give pause or are you just declining to answer one way or another? >> i'm a little uncomfortable answering these kinds of questions because as a spokesperson, my job is to be an

adviser and counselor, and i don't think it's appropriate for a spokesman to -- i did because i wanted to make it clear. yes, i'm uncomfortable with these kinds of questions but to answer your specific question, in my experience, the last two and a half years, i have not seen any reason whatsoever to question or doubt his lucidity, his grasp of context, his probing nature and the degree to which he is completely in charge of facts and figures, and if he isn't, what i have seen is, because it happened to me this morning, when he isn't, and when i can't be in command of those facts and figures, i have to fess up and go get the information that he's ask for, and he asked me questions this morning that i didn't have answers for. >> thank you. two questions. israel has conducted the largest seizure of land in the west bank, which undermines the president's vision for a

two-state solution. >> it's not that we have been mum. there was a statement put out by the state department about this call for settlements. nothing's changed about our view that settlements continue to be counter productive to peace and stability, and the possibility of the two-state solution. we don't support that. >> second, you mentioned ukraine and russia in terms of the civilian casualties. actually half of the facilities have been hit, and 520 people have been killed, in addition to the aide workers, do you still believe that israel is doing what it takes to protect civilian lives, including women and children? >> we certainly believe that they need to continue to do more to protect innocent civilian life. >> i have been asking this question for nine months. >> your question wasn't about what they're doing or not doing.

the answer is, they need to do more. and we're going to continue to have conversations with them about how they're prosecuting these operations. >> just sticking with the middle east but connecting to the other big story, during the abc news interview on friday, george stephanopoulos asked the president, was he, quote, the same man today that you were when you took office 3 1/2 years ago, and the president replied again, in terms of successes, yes, i was also the guy who put together a peace plan for the middle east that may be coming to fruition. now, it may or may not be coming to fruition, we don't know. we know 38,000 people have been killed in gaza, almost 2 million displaced, and according to unicef, 103 children under the age of 2 is suffering from acute malnutrition, does the president consider his policy a success? >> the president believes

wholeheartedly that the cease fire proposal that we are trying to get done will make a difference in not only ceasing hostilities but potentially giving us an opening to end this conflict. it's important to remember how this started, and you talked about our gaza policy. i'll state it for you again. we want to make sure israel has a right to defend itself and the kinds of attacks it suffered on the 7th of october, which i know it's easy for people to get. 1,200 people slaughtered, most at a music festival. number 2, that israel is doing everything they can to protect innocent civilian life. is it enough? no, they need to continue to do more, and that we are doing everything we can to give humanitarian assistance to the people of gaza. that's our gaza policy and we would be, and still continue to be willing to adjust the policies that we are executing with respect to gaza as we see things unfold on the ground. >> but the broader question was

does he consider his policy to have been successful? >> israel is defending itself against a terrorist attack. we can check that off. humanitarian assistance continues to flow. in fact, if it wasn't for the united states, i dare say that not a fraction of the humanitarian assistance that is getting into gaza would get in. is it enough? no. and the israelis have taken some steps to be more precise, more discriminate and more careful in their operations. is it enough? no. we're going to keep at it. we're going to keep working on this. >> is it enough, no, the president described israel as indiscriminate bombing in december. seven months passed and you proposed one shipment. is that fair. >> that's right. is there a question here. >> do you think that's an effective response to indiscriminate bombing of the civilian population? >> it's never right to be conducting indiscriminate bombing of a civilian population, that's why we continue to work with the israelis to be more precise, to be more careful.

>> hi, admiral, can i just start with the middle east as well. hamas has accused netanyahu of putting obstacles in the way of the cease fire deal that has being talked about now. does the u.s. think the government is doing everything they can to secure the cease fire deal? >> we're working hard to get the cease fire deal in place. i'm not going to negotiate in public or talk about who's saying what, who's doing what. we have seen both sides right as andrea asked in her question. both sides come out with public statements with respect to the text. the last thing i'm going to do is get into bartering here. we're trying to close those gaps as best we can. we wouldn't have sent the cia director brett mcgurk to cairo if we didn't think there's a chance. on both sides we see public comments that aren't necessarily fully reflective of the conversations we're having privately with them or their

interlocutors. >> the russians destroyed two ukrainian patriot missile systems. the ukrainians said they were decoys. does the u.s. have its own independent evaluation of what happened during that strike, and what is the defense when it comes to patriot missile defense systems? >> yes, we do. i'm not going to talk about it. you're going to hear more this week about what the allies and the united states are going to do to continue to bolster ukrainian air defense. look, i know we get hung up on the patriots and i get that. there has been contributions of patriot systems by other nations. we talked about how we're resequencing some of our deliveries of patriot interceptors from some countries, now diverting them to ukraine. we're doing that. other nations are also trying to contribute patriots, let's not getting caught up on just one system. there's short range. there's medium range and there's long range air defense, and ukraine needs all of it.

and again, i think you're going to see this week, the allies really stepping up and showing they're willing to provide those types of capabilities. >> john, visiting china right now on the heels of a visit to russia, i wonder if the u.s. has views on that, and. >> we're going to continue to listen to john kirby, this is an extraordinary moment, right, because nato is coming. the president is going to host it amid all of these questions about his ability to serve as president. nine democrats in the house have said they want him to step down. but two major stories that continue to be at the heart of what nato cares about most, one of course is we've seen a children's hospital attacked in kyiv, in ukraine, by russia. that ongoing war. and the other war. and questions now being raised by hamas about what the president saw and hoped would be a cease fire deal can actually happen.

i want to bring back nbc's allie raffa at the white house, and once again, we see if the questioning of john kirby, that overarching all of these very serious stories is the question of whether or not joe biden is the person to handle it going forward. >> reporter: yeah, chris, i'm so glad you brought up that backdrop here because remember, the president himself has said that that solo press conference he's expected to have at this week's nato summit is going to be an opportunity for him to quell these growing concerns among voters, among democratic lawmakers, a concern that he is not able to continue to stay in this race and potentially serve another four years in office. and he has repeatedly really teased that opportunity to show his foreign policy chops, but of course that poor debate performance last month by the president is hanging over this white house press briefing where questions about that debate performance dominated this briefing in relation to that nato summit, the nse's john

kirby was asked whether the president will have to reassure these world leaders coming into town for the nato summit that he is up for the job, kirby saying he does not need to reassure them. kirby saying he is not aware of any such conversations among world leaders about biden's cognitives and any potential problems the president has cognitively. he was asked repeatedly whether he has personally witnessed behavior that we saw from the president on that june 27th debate stage. kirby saying that that debate, quote, is not reflective of his interactions with the president, and hasn't seen any reason to doubt his grasp of the facts and figures. all of this, of course, coming as the biden team tries to stop the bleeding and really tries to put these doubts, growing concerns to bed, reaching out to congress as lawmakers return there for the first time since that debate.

one day after we know that more of them have publicly called for the president to step aside. the president today vowing that he is in this race to win it, saying he's not going anywhere even at one point during an interview on "morning joe" this morning, even challenging other democrats to challenge him at next month's democratic convention, chris. >> and as we said at the top of these two hours, the next 48 hours, critical for joe biden as members of congress as they return, continue to move into meetings. allie raffa, thank you so much. that's going to do it for us this hour. join us for "chris jansing reports" every weekday, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. jose diaz-balart hosts "katy tur reports" after this. osts "katy r reports" after this. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools, and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley

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(vo) if you have graves' disease... ...and itchy eyes, the truth may be even more uncomfortable. people with graves' could also get thyroid eye disease, or t-e-d, which may need a different doctor. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com. good to be with you, i'm jose diaz-balart in for katy tur. let's go right to the white house and the briefing room. >> asked the medical doctor, and he said they had a verbal check-in, that's what he said. but in answering the question, i was talking about the medical exam, i was talking about the physical. >> the last 24 hours about the last year or so, including at least one meeting with the president's physician. could you state what he very clearly yes or no, was that expert here