here you have hakeem jeffries essentially relaying information that would inform a decision that has already been made, or does it suggest perhaps there's more that needs to be said or done here? but jefferies has been very careful to remain publicly committed to president biden and also made a point to focus his remarks on what he calls extreme maga republicans and project 2025, the effort sort of maybe backed, maybe not backed by donald trump about what he would do in a second term, trying to stay on the bullet points here, taking the fight to trump where he can, while house democrats figure out what exactly they want to do collectively about joe biden and when they want to say or do anything about it. >> and thank you, garrett haake, and that does it for this edition of andrea mitchell reports. chris jansing reports starts right now. good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc

headquarters in new york city. if there's a path, prove it. the blunt demand from senate democrats who now want evidence there's still a way for joe biden to win. could the meeting happening right now bean the biden campaign's best and last chance to convince them. plus, the president prepared for arguably the biggest news conference of his life with his political future on the line. with the stakes, the scrutiny, and pressure all off the charts, can he deliver when it matters most? with all the chaos on the democratic side, where does that leave donald trump's veepstakes. the new comments from the former president with just days to go before the republican national convention. but we start with the president's top campaign officials right now huddling with senate democrats behind closed doors trying to do what "the washington post" says party leaders demand they do, convince them that the president can still win re-election. it's part of an urgent all hands on deck effort to try to save

president biden's candidacy, but nbc news now reporting that, quote, several of biden's closest allies including three people directly involved in efforts to re-elect him, say they now see his chances of winning as zero. and the likelihood of him taking down fellow democratic candidates is growing. late yesterday, peter welch became the first democrat, senator to call on biden to leave the race, insisting it's, quote, for the good of the country. at the same time, sources close to the biden campaign say fund-raising has taken a major hit since the debate. one calling the situation disastrous. and now politico reports the campaign is going so far as to call individual biden delegates to gauge their loyalty ahead of the august convention. all this as biden's most ardent supporters argue members of his own party are the ones damaging his prospects. >> he has earned this nomination. it hasn't been given to him. he earned it because of the good work that he's done for the

american people. and so we need to stick with him. look at what the republicans are doing right now. this guy has been convicted, donald trump, 34 times convicted felon. found liable of sexually assaulting a woman, and we're going to send that to the white house? wake up, america. wake up, democrats. it's time to stiffen your spines and knock your knees and be for your president. stop with all of the hand wringing. let's focus on winning this election. not for joe biden but for the american people. >> i want to bring in nbc's julie circuit on capitol hill. jonathan lemire, host of msnbc's way too early. tiler pager is white house reporter for "the washington post," and symone sanders town sp is cohost of the weekend here on msnbc. tyler, you're on the by-line of the report that democratic leaders want convincing evidence that biden's team can turn this thing around.

what exactly does that look like? >> reporter: yeah, they want to see a path to victory. they are increasingly concerned about their electorate prospects and how the president may drag them down in these key battleground races so they want to see from biden's top advisers a clear data driven strategy to recover from this politically disastrous debate performance in atlanta. we're expecting them to press campaign aides today at that lunch for more details about that. also as we reported in the story, we're also expecting more members of congress to call for the president to step aside. one of the hold-ups from them was the ongoing nato summit. they did not want to publicly embarrass the president as he's on the world stage with other global leaders. but as that summit comes to a close tonight, we could see the flood gates open again tomorrow and into the weekend for this critical juncture point ahead of the start of the republican national convention, and also we're expecting to see more polls, internal polls, public

polls and democrats are anxiously awaiting to see how much damage the president is doing to their own prospects. they want to be re-elected themselves and they're not willing to tand by and support the president if he's going to damage their prospects. >> there's no doubt that the campaign is trying to convince democrats to stay on board, but what's your sense of how many democrats you're speaking with on the hill can still be convinced? >> well, chris, it's no doubt there's an overwhelming growing list, those that told us this private in terms of their concerns, privately are now coming out publicly, if they're not calling on biden to exit the race altogether, they're at least coming close to it or at least leaving the door open as we have heard from everybody from pelosi to other democrats we spoke to yesterday and today in the house and senate. to biden potentially changing his mind even though the president has not indicated that. the first senate democrat that has made the decision to call on biden to exit the race is peter

welch, vermont's junior senator, he doesn't really ruffle feathers much. he works across the aisle often. he's a big ally of the president's, but he made a surprise announcement last night in an op-ed he wrote for "the washington post" and later talked about it today. watch this. >> is there anything they could say to ease your concerns at this point? >> it's a showing issue for americans. not so much about individual senators in congress. it's really about the challenge. >> can that be proven with one press conference? >> no. it's over a course of time. >> some senators are still waiting through the weekend to see what they hear from the president and his nato press conference today, to hear from the campaign team that has descended on the capitol a couple feet from where i'm standing just outside of the capitol campaign advisers

meeting with senate democrats, trying to show them polling, data, convince them according to a background memo we had obtained that biden has a path to victory in a lot of critical states against trump, and more importantly perhaps to vulnerable senate democrats that are listening to this presentation that they could have a shot as well when it comes to defeating and keeping their vulnerable districts blue come november. you then have those like senator joe manture who is keeping all of us on our toes. he's in that category of democrats that are waiting, giving biden some time before making the decision. here's what he said. >> i think by sunday, by this sunday, this is my estimation, i thought two weeks. we have nato, and nato leaves today. this conference here is going on. and then i think everyone will be talking over friday, saturday, and sunday and should have some idea of what's going on. >> reporter: i think certainly a lot of democrats are in that camp, waiting for the leaders to be out of town before they make

their decision public. a source tells me that we're going to see more names come out today, potentially tomorrow as well, and of course, through the weekend especially as they're talking to constituents back home in their districts. >> if we take a step back, it seemed earlier there was a period of time where no new people came forward saying they wanted biden to step down. maybe it seemed like things had calmed down. clearly, that's not the case as we head into that press conference tonight. what's your reporting on is the dam going to break? >> reporter: yeah, first of all, chris, to your point, i have spoken to a number of biden aides who said they woke up yesterday morning feeling pretty good about where they stood. believing they had managed to fend off most of the calls for president biden to be replaced atop the ticket. then things started to change when former speaker pelosi came on our air on "morning joe" and declined to say when pressed whether or not she still wanted president biden to remain atop the democratic ticket. that was followed by george

clooney, the actor and major fund-raiser and his letter asking biden to step down, and more lawmakers including our first senator. there is an anxious anticipation around the biden campaign right now as to who could be next. you mentioned very important meeting at the senate right now. some top aides there trying to calm down some nerves there in the upper chamber. we have gotten our hands on a campaign memo that does say it acknowledges there was damage done to the president's polling, to his political standing because of the debate. sort of a candid assessment by the biden campaign. they still believe they have multiple paths to victory, but they acknowledge they have a clear best path and that's the three old blue wall states of wisconsin, pennsylvania, and michigan. they become essential to win more or less in order for the president to win a second term. there are going to be all sorts of eyes tonight on this news conference here. i'm at the nato summit site in washington. the news conference slated for 6:30 p.m. the president, fairly or not,

every word will be parsed, every stumble will be looked upon as a potential sign of weakness or strength. even aides tell me they expect him to do well, but they know even a strong news conference performance won't silence all the chatter, it won't silence all the doubts. it will be an important step as is a rally in michigan tomorrow, but certainly, a lot of democrats and biden aides frustrated this is going on. certainly, the biden camp wants this to be done. they'll telling me the president remains committed to being in the race and they want to draw the contrast with donald trump. they want trump to dominate the headlines. they think that's would be good for them. that could start in the next couple days. they have the republican national convention next week. if this drama with biden continues it will overshadow perhaps even that. >> if you're a member of the biden campaign, you're trying to convince these skeptical senators, hold your fire. what's your best argument? >> look, i think your best

argument is there was a primary process, and you can have qualms about how open you think that process was, but there was a primary process, and democratic voters cast their ballots for joe biden and kamala harris. and talking and asking the senators in that room, have they heard from the delegates? have they heard from the voters in their states? because the senators, thanks to my former boss, senator bernie sanders, the senators and members of congress, they no longer have a vote on the first ballot when it comes to convention. they're all super delegates. they're unpledged delegates and unpledged delegates do not have a vote on the first ballot. i do think there's a fundamental misunderstanding of the process. also, the biden campaign team has to understand that the concerns that are being raised by the members of congress specifically are directly tied to what is going to happen at the ballot box for these downballot races. >> can i interrupt you for a second? we just heard from minority

leader hakeem jeffries and he said the conversations about biden are clear-eyed and ongoing, and i want to play for you him being asked if biden is a liability, and i'll pick up your answer on the other side. >> are you worried that biden is a liability for your most vulnerable members? >> no. >> what do you make of that? >> well, it's my understanding that house democrats specifically are looking at the generic ballot, and the generic ballot still has house democrats when it comes to democrats andp republicans, house democrats besting republicans. house democrats and also i would argue a number of these senate races. if you look at state polling from pennsylvania to nevada and even in wisconsin, those elected officials who are on the ballot, those are incumbencies. folks are running ahead of the president, so their concern frankly, which i understand, is that they don't want those numbers to slip because think

about it, it's the house that certified elections. if biden stays on the ballot which he says he's going to do thus far, and he wins re-election, and speaker johnson is the speaker, do you think he's going to certify that election if it's close? those are real questions the democrats are asking themselves and those are the stakes. it's the house on january 6th that will certify the election and members who win on november 5th that will be sitting in those seats. so the concerns are understandable, but then again, chris, i have talked to a lot of, again, delegates, dnc members, and they are frankly frustrated. i talked to two caucus chairs just this morning, two of the largest caucuses of the democratic national commit a eand they're frustrated with elected officials in washington who do not understand the process, they say, who are speaking out of turn and have not picked up the phone and called them to ask them what their membership is saying because their membership, they say, is still with the president. >> tell me about the politico reporting, jonathan, about individual biden delegates getting phone calls. we have a sense of sort of what

it's like out there among people who frankly, true, right, true what the dnc chair said, true what symone just said, people voted. he got more than 90% of the delegates, but do we know what they're really thinking? >> reporter: yeah, our colleague jonathan martin, his column today explored this issue. first of all, it shows reflects the anxiety level among the biden team. they felt like the step was necessary to take the temperature of the delegates to make sure they're still on board. per jonathan's reporter, most say they still are, but there's a sense of anxiety, frustration, a sense that other shoes could still drop. there is a sense, if tonight's press conference goes poorly, in particular, i think there will be a rush of other lawmakers saying that -- thanking president biden for his service but saying he shouldn't be atop the ticket. even if it goes well, there is a sense this won't be enough to stop the bleeding.

there has to be a series of events to do so. again, there's no means for president biden to be forced off the ticket. he would have to decide. at least at this point, his inner circle and family are committed to him staying on the ballot, believing he's still the democrats' best chance to win this november. >> jonathan, julie, tyler, amazing reporting. thank you all. symone, please stay with me. >> in 90 seconds, a crucial day for president biden to answer his critics. new reporting about how he's preparing for that major press conference tonight with the eyes of his party and the world watching. but for parents? well... that's why care.com makes it easy to find childcare that fits your summer schedule. from long-term nannies and daycare to date night babysitters. join the millions of families who've trusted us and connect with background-checked caregivers in your area. ♪♪ so you can have a summer break that doesn't break you.

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we're just hours away from what could be a make or break moment for a president fighting to silence his doubters and stay in the race. tonight, president biden will hold a rare solo press conference that members of his party say is critical to proving he has the energy and the mental agility to run against trump. white house officials tell nbc news they expect him to face intense scrutiny, but they say the president has been preparing for this all week. saying he's focused on hammering home the contrast with trump and highlighting his own accomplishments. nbc's monica alba is covering the white house. nbc's john allen is in washington, d.c. symone sanders townsend is back with us. so monica, what is the strategy for this press conference and what exactly does team biden think he has to accomplish

there? >> reporter: the bar is quite high. everybody around him is conceding that and know that everybody will be watching this, if there's so much riding on this performance in terms of what the assessment may be from some democratic members or from, of course, americans and voters watching. at the same time, we understand from our reporting there are many people who are looking to this and saying, i have already made up my mind. i already have the information i need. i saw what happened on the debate stage in atlanta. i'm not sure that president biden is the best person to be the democratic nominee. so you take that totality and that's why advisers around the president, of course, are helping him prepare. he is approaching this seriously. he wants to make sure that he does address some of these concerns that have been clear and have been really lumeinated in the last couple weeks. so you're also going to see the president try to really attack this from the perspective of wrapping up nato. he's going to try to turn the page and make this about donald trump. he's going to be talking about

the stakes and foreign policy implications and all of that. we understand when he does speak at this news conference later this evening, but we know that certainly the major questions he will be facing are about his future and his path forward and even though he is insisting that he's dug in and defiant and staying in, and so is his campaign and the white house, the external pressure here is just so great that that is certainly adding to the significance of this, and those around the president are keenly aware of that, chris. >> so john, you have new reporting and you spoke to several biden insiders who say the writing is already on the wall. tell us about it. >> reporter: yeah, we spoke, and i say we, natasha, carol, and i spoke to several people working directly on the campaign effort for president biden, who said that they don't see any path forward for him. they don't see a chance for him to win, one of them a campaign official said he should drop out

now. there are people who are still holding out hope on his campaign that he could in fact defeat donald trump. even some of those are now questioning as they told us, questioning whether or not they're right about that. and in addition to that, also spoke to one lawmaker who is close to biden who said that biden would have a very good legacy if he chose not to seek re-election, but if he goes forward with this, if he ends up losing, if he drags down democrat, house and senate candidates, that legacy will be completely ruined. this lawmaker said they would never publicly disavow him, but if given an opportunity to privately advise him, would tell him to do what was best for the country, drop out of the race. >> john, have you or any of our colleagues heard directly from anyone close to biden that he's coming around to that idea? as we talked about extensively

on this network, the path to go against a sitting president, if he says i'm not going anywhere, is fraught to say the least. >> yeah, absolutely not. there's been zero indication from joe biden that he wants to sort of walk into the sunset here in terms of his political career. he's somebody who ran for president of the united states three times, won the third time. he's running a fourth time now. has wanted this job, believes he has been good at this job, believes he's the best person to defeat donald trump. you won't hear anything else from him unless and until he decides he's going to walk away. nobody can make him walk away. if he stands for nomination, he will be the nominee of the democratic party. i think the question for him and for those around him is whether there's any potential to convince him he is not the best future for the democratic party, that in fact the party might be better with somebody else at the top of the ticket in terms of defeating trump and might be

better with somebody else on top of the ticket in terms of winning all of the way down the ballot. >> so based on your experience, and i know your knowledge of people who aren't involved directly with the campaign, symone, look, every single presidential candidate in history has probably had a bad debate. every president has probably had a bad press conference. that is not an option for joe biden tonight. so is he the kind of guy who will sit with his staff and they'll give him advice? don't use numbers. you have been tripping up on numbers. keep your answers short. whatever it is, what do you imagine those conversations have been like? >> well, the president is someone that likes to look at his materials and prep, in my experience, and having been in preps with him. and then go over some verbal things. i'm pretty sure they would probably do a mock q&a, it would be malpractice if that did not happen so i'm assuming it in

fact is. they'll likely ask x, y, and z. i would assume in whatever preparation the president has had over the last couple days, they have prepped for him. they're going to ask, do you have parkinson's. sir, they're going to ask you, one of the questions could be, do you think -- are you going to take a cognitive test? governor gretchen whitmer says it wouldn't hurt. she thinks you should. will you? very pointed questions. and the president, he might give his answer, he might say are they really going to ask that. those are the type of things, given the last debate, though, i would argue that there is a conscious understanding not to overprep him. not to give him the numbers. not to have him in the prep until the last moment. also giving him breathing room to be with his thoughts. they know the stakes are high. obviously, the president knows the stakes are high. and the team says that they believe he will meet this moment, but i argued that before the last debate.

this is a very different time. and it will be critical. lastly, i guess i do want to note that this presser, all of the house democrats and house -- and senate dems i talked to said wi don't want to embarrass the president. they have already embarrassed the president. this coming out while the president is saying i am staying in, and people saying, we're going to wait to see what his decision is. he has told you what his decision is, and people are essentially saying they don't like it. so instead of being direct, they are being quite passive aggressive and in my conversations with some of my former folks i know from our european counterparts, it is very clear that there's disarray currently amongst the ranks of democrats here in america, at least when it comes to washington. >> all those same people are obviously going to be watching this press conference along with us. they're going to be judging every single aspect of it. how long is that? how -- you know, with it does he

seem? this is biden's biggest opportunity, and risk, right, since the debate. look at his schedule today. i mean, he started with a session meeting with the nato leaders. then he met volodymyr zelenskyy of ukraine, another working session. he has to host an event on the ukraine compact, and then the press conference at 6:30. talk about the risk, frankly, of a 6:30 press conference after a day like that, after the white house said the president said, they're going to look more closely at his schedule. >> it's a tough job, chris. it's a tough job he has. a tough job that he wants to have. i mean, and look, that's a tough schedule. i mean, difficult for me to do all those things and not want to go to bed afterward. but he is president of the united states. he's asking the american people for another four years. he is under scrutiny not because of anything that anybody else did but because of that debate performance was not just a poor performance but one that shook the confidence of fellow

democrats, certainly not all of them, but enough of them that he's been talking about it for two weeks. what you see over that course of that two weeks is a president whose main selling point in the last election and i think one that is certainly important that nato and one important for his re-election effort is he's the stable one, the adult in room, he's in control and he doesn't lurch from place to place. right now, what people have been watching over the course of the last two weeks and much of it not his fault, but the reaction to him among fellow democrats is this disarray, this instability, and that's not the contrast that he wants. that's not the image he wants to be portraying as he goes into an election against donald trump and certainly not the one democratic party wants. >> as one put it, joe biden has his irish up. thank you all very much. and a reminder, my dear friend and colleague nbc news anchor

lester holt is going to sit down with president biden monday, an exclusive one-on-one interview in austin, texas. you can catch the full interview during a primetime special that evening at 9:00 p.m. eastern on your local nbc station and on nbc news now. still ahead, a funeral for a black man who died after he was pinned down by hotel security guards. the disturbing video and the outrage we're now hearing, next.

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devastation and outrage in milwaukee right now at a funeral for dovonte mitchell, a 43-year-old black man whose death was captured on camera last week after four hotel security guards pinned him face down on the ground. we should note the following footage is disturbing to watch. appearing to show at least one person kneeling on mitchell's back. at one point, mitchell's body appears to go completely limp. police arrive and attempt to revive him. then cover him up. the recording does not show how mitchell was brought to the ground but nbc news has reached out to the person who filmed it. his family and protesters have compared mitchell's death to the killing of george floyd in 2020. >> they really treated him like an animal. >> they could have let him go and they didn't. take away his dignity. that was so wrong of them to do.

>> somebody has to be accountable for this. >> nbc's adrienne broadus is reporting on this. what can you tell us? >> reporter: good evening. no parent should have to bury their child, but that's the reality for the mother and family of dovonte mitchell. reverend al sharpton delivered the eulogy just moments ago inside this church behind me where more than 200 people have gathered. the 43-year-old husband and father died after he was pinned down by security guards at the hyatt regency hotel here in milwaukee. we have learned those employees have been fired and during the eulogy, that was addressed by reverend sharpton. take a listen. >> a lot going on in the country. but nothing more important than what they did to dovonte. you should not lose just your

job when dovonte lost his life. what they did was a crime. and criminals need to be prosecuted. >> reporter: reverend sharpton went on to say, don't stop there. no charges have been filed against these employees. the district attorney is investigating this case as a homicide. meanwhile, family and friends of dvontaye mitchell and others in the community have drawn similar comparisons to the killing of george floyd, which happened four years ago in minneapolis. reverend sharpton also made reference to that, saying, quote, i thought after george floyd and so many words he said that we would be done, nonetheless, this is all happening right here in milwaukee. you see on your screen right now, people taking to the streets, marching yesterday, but this is all happening just ahead of the rnc.

reverend sharpton also made a comment during that eulogy saying a crowd is coming to town with the message, make america great again. he left the congregation today asking make america great for who? saying in part, who is it great for in 2024 if you think you can put your knees on a man's neck and choke out his life. the 43-year-old was a father of two. chris. >> adrienne, thank you. abortion rights will not be on the ballot in arkansas this november. in a move that a major advocacy group calls ridiculous. the secretary of state said petitioners did provide correct verification work on some papers despite receiving thousands more names than required. the group pushing for an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution vows not to back down. up next, donald trump's vp pro and con list from the rubio residency issues to jd vance's

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it's your time to cash in. so don't just play. stay... at northern california's premier casino resort. book your getaway now at cachecreek.com. potential switch on their side of the 2024 ticket, donald trump appears to be debating who will be his number two. he went through the pros and cons of some of the top contenders. take a listen. >> word is that you won't pick

jd vance because of his facial hair. is that true? the facial hair? >> i never heard that one. >> number two, doug burgum -- >> like a young abraham lincoln. >> doug burgum on abortion in north carolina, he signed legislation handed him. does that hurt him? >> well, it's a little bit of an issue. it's pretty strong ban. i think doug is great, but it is strong. he's taken a very strong stance, or the state has. i don't know if it's doug. >> marco rubio, being from florida. would that stop you from picking him? >> no, but it does make it more complicated. >> i want to bring in former adviser to george w. bush and john mccain, mark mckibben, also with us, garrett haake. where are we with this? does anybody think he actually has chosen someone? what's going on behind the scenes? >> reporter: chris, trump said

in that same interview you were playing from that he had close to made up his mind on this. from all my reporting i can't find any indication he has made a formal decision or if he has, he's told anyone about it other than himself. i think what trump has right now that how's not especially used to is the spotlight entirely on another candidate, which gives him time to do something he loves to do, basically ask everyone he knows about every person he's considering. you can talk to republican sources, you can talk to folks close to trump, and they'll tell you about several other names. he's continue to kick this around with the luxury of a little extra time while the spotlight has been on joe biden. and he has right now essentially the republican party very much more united around him than the democratic party is around his opponent, and in this version of the trump campaign, as compared to previous versions, there is i think the discipline to let that chaos play out on the other guy's team while you sit back and weigh your options more thoroughly.

>> yeah, it is interesting. there's that new "washington post" poll, mark, today, that shows this is dead even. this race, at least according to that national poll. but clearly, joe biden does not have as strong support on the democratic side as donald trump does on the republican side. but is he playing this smart? some people are joking saying he's using it like a game show, but is it effective? >> very smart, and he's been, you know, the maxim is don't catch a falling knife. he's been very quiet the last couple weeks because his negative has been he's the chaos candidate. the chaos has been all on the biden side of the equation. as far as his vp pick goes, he has time. not only does he have time, but he should wait and see what happens with biden. if something happens before the republican convention, if it were switched out for some reason, i think that would change his equation and his consideration for his vp selection because if it's harris or somebody else on the

democratic ticket, particularly a woman candidate, a woman-led ticket, i think trump might change his mind about who would be on the ticket. so trump has time. i think he should wait. and i think he has a strategic option of holding out to the last possible second. >> look, donald trump and his team obviously know how to use media. how much of this do you think is really tied to joe biden's troubles and what i'm trying to figure out is, so help me with this, mark, why do you delay to see what happens with joe biden? is it really going to make a difference to who he ultimately decides to choose? >> i think it could, sure. why not? if the ticket were, for example, harris/whitmer, if i were donald trump, i would put elise stefanik on the ticket or find a woman for the ticket. where republicans are vulnerable are with suburban women on the

issue of abortion. why not put a woman on the tick'the democrats have two women? the other thing is that trump likes the drama. he likes the drama of unfolding it, and all the drama right now is on the biden side. but in a bad way for biden. so trump has to let that play out. he wants to do it at a perfect time when he has strategic leverage and the perfect time to make as much news as he can, and right now, biden is making all the news. again, he's making news in a way that's good for trump. >> mark made a good point, garrett. about the discipline that this campaign is showing. now, we have seen that in campaigns past. they never lasted very long. how different is this campaign staff and how different is donald trump? >> well, the campaign staff is smaller and more professional, and they have shown that across the campaign that they have run thus far. donald trump, however, is still the same donald trump. i think your point about

discipline for short periods of time is the important one here. because he's shown that in the past as well, when he understands the strategic imperative to be disciplined in the moment, he has been able to do so. but he has never been able to sustain that for long periods of time across either campaigning or governing. and i don't think we should expect anything different now. that said, next week is the convention. and mark and other campaign professionals will tell you, when you're running a presidential campaign, you get three shots to really control the narrative. your announcement, your vp pick, your convention. specifically your convention speech. donald trump is going to cram two of those moments into the next week. i think he and his campaign are going to try very hard to extend that discipline streak as least another week. >> however disciplined they are, could it be overshadowed by what's happening on the democratic side? >> well, it could be. and again, i think that's why it's smart for trump to wait, because depending on what the outcome is, if it's biden,

that's one option. if it's harris, or some other option, i think trump will have a different card to play. so everything in trump's hand says wait. i mean, strategically, all the options are better for him to wait until the convention. garrett made a great point about all the focus being then, there, that's the best time to unfold whoever his candidate is, and by that time, they may know what's going on with biden. >> mark mckinnon, always good to see you. garrett haake, welcome back. i'm trying to figure out how as a new dad you look so rested. >> it's all the makeup and lighting, i can assure you there's very little rest happening in my house. >> been there, done that, not with kids but lots of other stuff. thank you so much. again, so happy to have you back. coming up, scary moment on an american airlines flight before it left the ground. so how did it happen? and then later, testimony under way now in alec baldwin's manslaughter trial, and a key witness could take the stand

tomorrow. you're watching chris jansing reports only on msnbc.

♪♪ right now, crews in western new york are surveying the damage from three tornadoes. last night's twisters causing widespread damage along their nearly mile-long path. one resident watched as an ef-1 walloped his home.

>> wow. incredible video. fortunately, so far no injuries or deaths have been reported, but you can see what's been left behind. now to terrifying moments on a flight out of florida. take a look at what happened to an american airlines plane just seconds before takeoff. >> whoa! whoa! whoa! oh! a blown tire! roll the tracks, roll the trucks! >> tom costello covers aviation and joins me now. this plane went nowhere fast, obviously. what do we know about what happened there? >> when he said roll the trucks, that was just a guy photographing the runway just happenstance and roll the trucks means roll the fire department. bottom line, this was on runway 1-9 and the flight was tampa to phoenix on 737 as you saw there and it lost at least one tire as it was approaching takeoff

speed. the pilot quickly ordered an abort or rejected the takeoff and with that, the autopilot then slammed on the brakes and that's why you get that smoke coming off of the tire because the brakes are so hot as they hit that rubber, you create that smoke and then another tire blew. so two tires on the right landing gear blew right there. the fire department rolled out right away. they hit that smoke with a water cannon. that's a water cannon right there in the front of the fire truck and they got it out quickly. thankfully, no injuries and the plane itselves not damaged and this was simply blowing two tires on the landing gear and we don't know why. this will be part of the faa investigation. everybody had to stay onboard, we are told, for about three hours until they brought a bus out there and got everybody off the plane and then brought them over to the terminal. so the faa will look into exactly what happened. was this some sort of a maintenance issue? was this, in fact, some foreign

object debris on the runway that might have caused that tire to blow? i think another possibility maybe remote possibility is the excessive heat in the area, whether that played a role and they'll be looking at all of those possible scenarios and it will all probably come down to the faa looking specifically at that plane's maintenance with american airlines and the history over the previous 24, 48 hours or whatever the timeline might be. >> tom costello, always great to get your insight and knowledge. the first thing i thought was heat, but that may be a remote possibility. thank you. what senate majority leader chuck schumer is now saying at a critical time for president biden. first, you can watch the best parts of our show on youtube. go to msnbc.com/jansing. stay close, more "chris jansing reports" just after this. , more reports" just after this

the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet.

and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title.

♪♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ it is good to be back with you on this second hour of "chris jansing reports." at this hour, high anxiety as high-level biden campaign staffers meet face to face with skeptical senate democrats. can that meeting which apparently just ended calm the fears about his candidacy or is the dam about to break for defections? plus, a republican-led committee going after white house aides accusing them of