keir simmons, nbc news. >> keir simmons, thanks. >>> the troubling news about respiratory illnesses with flu, covid and rsv on the rise. the new warning from the cdc right after this. >>> as witness nears >>> >>> as winter nears, troubling news about respiratory illnesses with cases on the rise and vaccination rates low. morgan chesky reports. >> are you experiencing any flu-like symptoms? it's a scene playing out in clinics and hospitals nationwide prompting a warning from the cdc behind troubling numbers. the agency alerting doctors flu hospitalizations have spiked 200% over the last four weeks. hospitalizations for rsv and covid surging, as well. a wave of respiratory illnesses, officials say, is currently spreading fast especially through the south. >> how confident are you these cases are going to keep going up? >> i'm 100% certain cases will continue to go up post-holidays. >> reporter: at her charlotte hospital infectious disease passerell told us distrust of covid vaccines are affecting other shots, as well. only 40% of children and adults have gotten the flu vaccine. the adult c

our own keir simmons sitting down with one of putin's right hand men.de-ranging conversation from the invasion of ukraine to the presidential election coming up next. >> it is a war now, isn't it? >> it is a war, of course. it is a war, it is a breed war that actually the united states is orchestrating against our country. our country. fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. lighten every day the metamucil way. and for a delicious way to promote digestive health try metamucil fiber thins. liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ whenever you're hungry, there's a deal on the subway app. buy one footlong, get one 50% off in the subway app today. now that's a deal worth celebrating. man, what are you doing?! get

of course, yes. >> keep fighting. >> listen, america is strongly involved in this conflict. >> keir simmons said washington is open to some talks with washington but with some caveats. explain. >> reporter: yeah, andrea, russian officials do understand that in the end a war ends with peace talks, every war ends with talks ultimately. i think trying to understand president putin and, frankly, many of us do that, and many of the officials around him spent a lot of time trying to do that, what you saw for him yesterday, the uncompromising rhetoric, i think he does genuinely believe that russia can gain more on the battlefield than it has gained so far. i suspect he is watching what's happening in washington and you've seen, andrea, of course, europe now questioning whether because of hungary partly, questioning whether it should give billions of euros to ukraine at this stage. it could be a breakthrough for russia, he may really think that. i also think that, you know, about president putin that he's more of a tactician than a strategist. he may be holding a number of possibilities at the same

let's bring in nbc's keir simmons in moscow keir, russia clearly watching all this very closely. >> reporter: that's right, lester. the kremlin and the biden administration agree on one thing tonight. events in congress are pivotal. kremlin spokesperson dmitry peskov telling reporters today, we're following zelenskyy's visit very closely, saying tens of billions more dollars to ukraine will not, quote, change the battlefield. president putin hoping the tide is turning, saying he will stand for election next year, while trying to project a global image, visiting countries like saudi arabia meanwhile, jailed opposition leader alexei navalny has disappeared for seven days, not appearing in court via a video link his supporters say it may not be a coincidence at such a crucial time for the kremlin. lester >> keir simmons, thank you. >>> now to our new reporting tonight that israel is flooding hamas tunnels, all as president biden had blunt words today rebuking what he calls indiscriminate bombing in gaza. richard engel now with late details >> reporter: israel is pushing ahead with its devastati

says are wrongly accused of espionage lester >> all right, keir simmons in moscow tonight, thank you >>> in 60 seconds, with near record travelers expected, how airlines are preparing after last year's holiday nightmare. that's next. >>> they've been getting ready for months, airlines preparing for a record season of holiday travel that's about to begin. but will they be able to avoid repeat of last year's travel nightmares here is emilie ikeda >> reporter: the christmas crush at airports is around the corner, with a record 7.5 million people expected to take flight travelers hoping to avoid a repeat of last december, when bad weather set off a cascade of problems at southwest airlines canceling nearly 17,000 flights in a ten-day span stranding passengers and creating mountains of lost luggage. >> look at this mess everybody over here is pissed >> reporter: the airline's ceo bob jordan assuring cnbc today this year will be different >> we've invested in trucks and new pads and staffing and technology i'm very, very proud of our people. we're ready for winter. >> reporter: and jordan

lester, tonight prague, normally bustling for christmas, is silenced lester >> all right, keir simmons, thank you >>> here at home, we're keeping a close eye on the heavy rains hitting the west coast. flooding already a big problem. in some areas like santa barbara, drivers were forced from their cars 26 million people are under flood watches across southern california and desert southwest through at least tomorrow bill karins is tracking it all. bill, what are we looking at >> good evening, lester torrential rain is falling in santa barbara. six inches of rain and a lot more heavy rain is heading that way. now, we could see this overnight into tomorrow spreading through los angeles, san diego, and eventually into southern arizona all eyes are what's happening in the santa barbara area torrential rain is pushing northwards into the areas that have already been hit the hardest. so how will this all play out in the next 24 to 48 hours well, tonight and tomorrow, mostly southern california will get the heavy rain then we push into arizona. so as far as airports go, l.a.x. and san diego, t

keir simmons, nbc news >>> back here at home, to the crisis at the southern border. record numbers of migrants crossing over this week, and our team was there today as busloads of migrants were released onto the streets in arizona. our julia ainsley is there. >> reporter: tonight, customs and border protection overwhelmed by an unprecedented number of migrants crossing the southern border nearly 50,000 undocumented migrants crossed in just four days this week, shattering records never seen before. the record levels pushing border stations past capacity in eagle pass, texas, migrants crossing dangerous waters and waiting by the hundreds to be taken in by border patrol. in arizona, agents dropping off migrants in downtown nogales to free up space. this single mother from mexico says she wants to get to family in south carolina. she said life in the state of chiapis was too dangerous. globe dmroeb [ speaking in a global language ] "we cannot work. there is too much violence," she tells us with her, migrants from africa, china, south america, young and old. officials tel

keir simmons tonight on what he had to say about the u.s. presidential election and those detained americans. >> reporter: tonight, russian president vladimir putin's spokesman weighing in on the upcoming u.s. elections calling for dialogue despite russia's invasion of ukraine. >> president putin would like to see someone who is more constructive towards our country. >> could the kremlin work with a president trump? >> i have no doubt that president putin will be ready to work with anyone who is ready to work with him. >> reporter: it's illegal in russia to call its special military operation a war, but dmitry peskov says -- >> it is a war it is a war that actually the united states is orchestrating against our country. >> reporter: saying russia will still win even with more u.s. aid for ukraine. >> this is a great mistake of washington actually >> but you accept that so far america's funding and its weapons has been one of the crucial factors that has prevented russia from reaching its goals. >> it's making this longer. >> reporter: one in

from moscow, is keir simmons. good to talk to you. what more did peskov have to say to you?n tell, a wide ranging interview, yasmin, and one of the aspects that we touched on was the status of the u.s. nationals paul whelan and "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich, both held here, accused by russia of espionage, accusations that they utterly refute, so does the u.s. government, so does yesterday p putin said he is prepared to do a deal for those two u.s. citizens but did not say what that deal might be. i asked the kremlin spokesperson about that. >> president putin said that he is prepared to do a deal over the wall street journal reporter evan gursky which in the u.s. national paul williams. >> the more difficult it will be to -- >> it is a notable shift. he is openly saying that we are interested in a deal. >> president is always interested in a deal. but it is a deal that presumes that interest both sides are taken into consideration. >> when we have spoken before i suggested to you that these people are hostages. >> they are not hostages. they are in custody.

>> joining me now is our nbc news chief international correspondent and veteran putin watcher, keir simmonsputin -- he skipped his annual address last year. making this his first since the full-scale invasion of ukraine. he seemed more confident than ever. >> reporter: i think that's right. that was a good sound bite to play from the news conference that was four hours long. it was the one moment, as far as we can tell, when he did reference the potential reduction in support from washington, from europe for the ukrainians, that he was aware of that. if anyone in washington is under the illusion that president putin is getting ready to walk into talks and compromise, they were disabused of that impression today by president putin himself, who again and again in different ways said things like, victory will be ours. he said that russia has, according to him, more than 600,000 troops along the front line in ukraine and talked about more coming online, if you like, in the months ahead. no matter what people's assessment of the conflict itself, the reality is that the president of russia here i

keir simmons has a preview from moscow. >> reporter: kate, zinhle, a documentary takes a close and criticaleople around him. his cartel if you like, his very russian team of rivals, this man, this figure that has dominated world affairs for the past 20 years has of course been filmed and pictured again and again. we'll go through those moments and consider them with all that we know has transpired. and an aspect of his world that showed up during the mutiny this summer. here's some of what you'll see. it's june 2023. russia's wagner mercenary group, one of the kremlin's most prized units, seized the command headquarters for russia's war in ukraine, now on the march to moscow. >> as the national guard prepared to defend the capital against a ban of wagner mercenaries. the man behind the insurrection cheered as he and his men vacate the russian city. two months later, he's dead, his plane suffering a mysterious incident on approach into moscow. >> mr. president, are you a killer? >> reporter: the documentary tonight takes a closer look at pri gossin and also looks at those people around presi

international correspondent keir simmons has more. >> reporter: hey there.itical look at vladimir putin and the people around him, his cartel if you like, his polit bureau, his very russian team of rivals. president putin is one of the most consequential leaders of the past few decades, and in that 20 years and more he has been photographed and filmed so many times. we go back over those moments, over the footage, and it is extraordinary to think about what we've seen of vladimir putin and what it means after everything that has happened now. one of the aspects we really dig into is president putin's obsession with loyalty and treason, an aspect of his world that really showed up during the wagner mutiny over the summer. here is a taste of what you will see. >> it is june 2023. russia's wagner mercenary group, one of the kremlin's most prized units, has seized command headquarters for russia's war in ukraine and is now on the march to moscow. [ speaking global language ] . >> reporter: as the national guard prepared to defend the capital against a band of ro

nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons is reporting from moscow. your big takeaways here, keir? >> reporter: well, chris, he talked about normalizing relations with the west, but didn't suggest that that was very likely. he blamed the west for it. much of what he said was the same things that he's been saying for the past two years. the two years in which we've seen so much bloodshed in ukraine. i mean, this was an uncompromising president putin talking about victory will be ours, saying that they want to demilitarize ukraine as the kremlin describes it, saying that still, despite everything claiming that russia has more than 600,000 troops along the front line in ukraine. there was a suggestion, chris, that he would be prepared to talk to the u.s. about those prisoners being held here, evan gershkovich, the journalist for "the wall street journal" accused of espionage, which he and the newspaper denies. he's being held in pretrial detention. paul whelan who has been convicted, again, absolutely denies the allegations against him, being held in pris

keir simmons is live for us in moscow. jacqueline alemany for "the washington post" and msnbc contributor. william taylor served as u.s. ambassador to ukraine, vice president specializing in europe and russia at the u.s. institute of peace and a u.s. army veteran. thanks to all of you for being here. zelenskyy ultimately got the money he was looking for the past couple of times he came to town. but what about this time, never great when you hear the speaker of the house saying, like, your answers are insufficient. >> that's exactly right, chris. it shouldn't come as a surprise to zelenskyy as this is the refrain that he has been hearing and that democrats have been hearing from republican lawmakers across capitol hill in the house and both the senate. you had chris murphy on nbc this weekend saying negotiations over this aid were pessimistic and haven't improved since sunday when he made those comments. as we all have been covering, there is increasing skepticism about continuing to provide this aid to ukraine. there hasn'

. >>> and later, keir simmons' exclusive interview with the spokesman for the kremlin, what dmitry peskov said about the possibility for a prisoner swap with the u.s. >>> happy friday. it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. we begin with that breaking news out of georgia where former white house chief of staff mark meadows is trying again this morning to move his case there in fulton county from state court to federal court. a three-judge panel on the 11th circuit court of appeals just hearing oral arguments, meadow s is one of 19 co-defendants originally charged in that sprawling election interference case involving former president trump. he's trying to invoke a 200-year-old statute to move his case, arguing that the alleged criminal conduct was part of his official duties in the white house. joining us from atlanta is nbc's blayne alexander, katie phang, anchor of the katie phang show, gwen keys, and former federal prosecutor paul butler. blayne, we didn't get to see these arguments, but we did hear them. walk us through what just happened. >> reporter: so ana, w

nbc's keir simmons got a behind the scenes look in paris. keir? day to you. we all remember folks standing on the banks of the seine here watching the notre date kath dram on fire, well, wait until you see it now. despite the frankly high winds, we got the chance to climb up notre dame, all the way up the spire there for some very french good news. the inferno, back in april 2019, was devastating. tearing through the interior of the church, consuming 800 years of history in minutes. four years on, to see how far the restoration has come, going 300 feet straight up to a tiny exposed platform, with spectacular views of paris. >> bonjour. >> reporter: meet philip jost, overseeing this mammoth project. this is the spire that went crashing down? >> exactly. >> reporter: we all watched it, all around the world. >> all around the world. >> oh, my gosh, it just fell inside the church. >> it is a very important moment when now the spire is rebuilt. >> reporter: and this is the golden rooster? >> it is fantastic. we're very happy to have done that. >> repor

joining us from moscow, international correspondent keir simmons.ood that vladimir putin was in had to do with what we saw on capitol hill on tuesday with president zelenskyy's not so warm welcome? >> reporter: that's a great question. it's a great quote to start with, katy. we don't know. right? reality is that that happened just a few days ago, we told, by the spokesman watching closely, president zelenskyy's trip to washington and then you had president putin appearing at this marathon news conference today and you can only describe it with one word -- uncompromising. take a listen to what he said. >> translator: peace will come when we reach our goals, as you have mentioned, and coming back to the goals they remain unchanged. so we have other opportunities, to come to terms heavily compellingly. >> reporter: what he says, remain unchanged about the goals there, k.t. he means unchanged since russia launched its full-scale invasion against ukraine two years ago. prepared to talk, but not compromise. >> all right. keir, talk about eva gerrishkawits

nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons joins us now from moscow. putin describe russia's footing in this war and his end game for the conflict? >> reporter: well, you outlined his end game pretty well there, and in terms of russia's footing, he was bullish, confident. did not show any sign of being interested in compromising. said that there are, he says, more than 6 of hundred thousand russian troops on the ukrainian front line, that appears to be a new number, and said at one point victory will be ours. what we saw in that news conference four hours long with journalists and members of the public if you like selected by the kremlin, the militarization of russia, there were phone-ins or kind of zoom-ins if you like from people in military use them in the russia-occupied parts of ukraine, and when it came to the question of whether or not he was prepared to face any kind of negotiation, any kind of peace deal, effectively his answer was, yes, but on my terms. take a listen. >> speaking of normalizing the relations, it's not only up to us, we did no

keir simmons in moscow. also with us, jim townsend, former deputy assistant secretary for defense for europe and nato under president obama. ali, kick us off. how is zelenskyy being received there on the hill? >> reporter: well, look, the reception that he got when he walked into the room was one of applause. we could hear it from out here in the hallway. zelenskyy entered as you just showed down the hallway right behind me flanked on either side by the top republican mitch mcconnell and the top democrat chuck schumer, a bipartisan show of support walking in, but we know that it is going to be a testy atmosphere inside the room, because of the dynamics going on over the negotiations, both about aid to ukraine as well as aid to israel, and also the situation on the u.s./mexico border, all of this tied tight and parcel to the end of year supplemental that both parties are trying to push through, though that seems very unlikely from our team's conversations with the key negotiators. nevertheless, zelenskyy will

the exact motive isn't clear, authorities have ruled out any political or extremist agenda our keir simmons has more. >> reporter: panic in prague as a gunman opens fire on a college campus sending people running for cover. images of terrified students crouching high up on a ledge of a building witnesses describing the horror. >> in the middle of the exam we start hearing gunshots and screams. eventually, we were able to lock the door and make a barricade. all i could see, the floor was covered in blood >> reporter: the gunman opening fire at the arts faculty of cha charles university where police say he killed 14 people in the czech republic's worst mass shooting s.w.a.t. teams rushing to the scene. historic old town usually packed with holiday tourists locked down as ambulance and police vehicles pour in [speaking in a global language the father of one student says he texted heis daughter to get o the floor and stay away from windows. police say the suspect is dead, that he likely killed himself after the massacre, but that there was a firefight with responding officers and that they foun

our keir simmons reports from moscow >> reporter: russian president putin uncompromising at a rare four-hour question and answer session, declaring victory in ukraine will be hours. there will be peace when we achieve our goals, he said while ukraine's president zelenskyy claiming a victory a surprise agreement on ukraine's entry into the european union, but zelenskyy's failure so far to gain billions more in aid during his trip to washington was noticed in moscow these freebies may end someday, and apparently, they are ending little by little though russia's leader of 23 years to see some dissent on the text messages appearing on screens behind him you said in 2004 a man may go crazy after seven years in power, this message read how's your health? to a veteran lawmaker who says the ukraine conflict is at a dead end, tells us he plans to run against putin in next year's presidential election. he doesn't think he'll win >> after i have said that we should elect other president, not putin, he was blocked on russian tv >> reporter: russia is on a war footing, an ice rink outside moscow features

he sat down exclusively with nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons as the fighting end in sight. keir joins us now from moscow. i do understand that the kremlin spokesman had a lot to say about the u.s., even going as far as to talk about the republican front runner, right, in next year's elections, donald trump. what exactly did he tell you? >> reporter: that's right, zinhle, i will break it down a little bit. i mean, he had a i lot to say, but particularly on that issue you will remember -- and what he did say was fundamentally the kremlin wants to have somebody in the white house that, as he says it, they can work with. you will remember that president trump when he was president said -- had a lot of meetings with president putin and then more recently he said that he thought he could solve the ukraine crisis he said within 24 hours, within a day. i asked the kremlin spokesman about that. >> it's too complicated to be solved in one day. it's too complicated. >> could the kremlin work with president trump? >> i have no doubt that president putin would be ready to w

keir simmons was there. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin uncompromising today at a rare four-hour question-and-answer session, declaring "victory in ukraine will be ours. there will be peace when we achieve our goals," he said. while tonight ukraine's president zelenskyy claiming a victory. a surprise agreement on ukraine's entry to the european union. but zelenskyy's failure so far to gain billions more in aid during his trip to washington was noted in moscow. "these freebies may end some day, and apparently they are ending little by little . putin said. though russia's leader of 23 years did see some dissent on the text messages appearing on the screens behind him. "you said in 2004 a man may go crazy after seven years in power," this message read. "how is your health?" tonight a veteran lawmaker who says the ukraine conflict is at a dead-end, tells us he plans to run against putin in next year's presidential election. he doesn't think he'll win. >> after i have said that we should elect other president, not putin, i was blocked from russian tv. >> reporter: russia is

keir simmons is in moscow for us once again keir, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you a day after president putin's hard line rhetoric here in moscow, his spokesperson sitting down with nbc news to tell us that russia would want to talk to the u.s. but only on russia's terms. up until now it has been illegal to describe what russia calls its special military operation as a war here in russia. but it is a war, a war he blames on the west. this morning as ukraine was hit by another russian drone strike, the kremlin spokesperson accepting what russia has called a special military operation is now more than that it is a war now?pet >> it is a war, of course. it is a war. it is a war that actually the united states is orchestrating against our country. >> reporter: he says russia is open to talks with washington, but on its terms. >> the world is less safe than it used to be before our dialogue was shut down. >> reporter: the message is the fighting continues >> of course, yes. >> reporter: keep fighting. >> yes listen, america is strongly involved in this conflict. >> repo

. >>> plus keir simmons is live in paris, getting an upclose look at the year's restoration of iconicotre dame cathedral. good morning. >> reporter: hey there good morning even if you bought a flight to paris, you couldn't buy the experience we're about to give you, right to the top of notre dame cathedral right there and it's quite windy. >> all right, keir we'll have that and more but, first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> we love military reunions, and we've got an extra special one this morning. >> it is a real heart warmer after your local news. (mom) please forgive him. (carolers) ♪ it's all good - just a little awkward. ♪ (soloist) think we'll wrap this up. (vo) it's your last chance to turn any iphone in any condition into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium and ipad and apple watch se - all on us. that's up to $1700 in value. only on verizon. it's been said that when someone you love has parkinson's, you have parkinson's. if you have questions, the parkinson's foundation has answers. to learn more, please go to parkinson.org or call 1-800-4pd-info. ♪ chef's kiss ♪ by: lil' cheesec

nbc's chief international correspondent keir simmons is in moscow for us. od morning. >> reporter: hoda, good morning to you. president putin has been speaking now for three hours. i just stepped out of the room. the fact that he has invited major news organizations like nbc news might suggest an attempt to reach out. but hoda, he sounds as uncompromising as ever, saying there are more than 600,000 russian troops on the front lines in ukraine. this morning, president putin presiding over an end of year question and answer session. his first since his full-scale invasion of ukraine 22 months ago. vowing to fight on. >> the peace will come when we reach our goals that you have mentioned. coming baaing to the goals, they remain unchanged. so we have other, other opportunities either to come to terms or to have our way compellingly. >> reporter: an embattled president zelenskyy in europe for talks over money and support after meeting president biden earlier this week and failing to persuade congress to approve billions more for ukraine. nbc news invited to putin

nbc's keir simmons now with an inside look at how the iconic building is coming back to life. >> the inferno back in april 2019 was devastating, tearing through the interior of the church consuming 800 years of history in minutes. four years on to see how far the restoration has come going 300 feet straight up to a tiny exposed platform, spectacular views of paris. meet phillip jost, overseeing this mammoth project. >> so this is the spire that went crashing down? we all watched it all around the world. >> around the world. >> oh, my god, those people just fell inside the church. >> it's a very important moment when now the spire is rebuilt. and this is the golden rooster. >> it's fantastic. we're very happy to have done that. >> the original rooster weather vane was thought lost but miraculously survived. just last weekend, this new rooster was blessed and placed gently on its perch. it contains holy relics, pieces of what is said to be the crown of thorns. >> it was a very, very emotional moment and symbolic moment. >> it's a phoenix from the ashes. >> exactly. or a rooster from th

joining us from moscow, quay simmons. so, keirf the putin's main guys, what did he tell you? >> he was pretty frank, following along the uncompromising lines you heard from president putin yesterday. in so many words, said they would like to see somebody different in the white house. wasn't specific about who that might be, but someone who understand russia as an equal country, if you like. that's one of the talking points that russia has brought up again and again over many years, of course, but also -- and folks watching woman be surprised. russia likes the idea, frankly, of a u.s. and europe not sending billions more to ukraine. dimitri peskov says that's because he doesn't think it's money well spent. they asked him what they made of president zelenskyy's transcript to washington just this week. take a listen. what about president putin make of president zelenskyy going to washington not able to secure the billions of extra funding -- well, america is strongly involved in this conflict. america and european countries. supplyin

. >> let's start with keir simmons. >> reporter: good morning. fingers pointed at iran again this morning after a u.s. warship reported hour after hour of missiles and drones in the strategically and commercially critical red sea. u.s. central command says there's every reason to believe the attacks are fully enabled by iran. renewed fears. a sustained attack reportedly over seven hours on shipping in the red sea and an american destroyer drawn into the fighting. houthi rebels claim responsibility for some of the attacks, saying it was a response to the war. u.s. central command says three ships connected to 14 nations were involved. the "carney" detecting threats to the other vessels and responding, shooting down three drones, including one headed in its direction. it's unclear if the american ship was a direct target, but three commercial vessels were hit, some sustaining limited damage. last month houthi posted a video, faces blurred, seizing an israeli-owned ship. the threat to commercial shipping in the red sea is just one strand of the spir

nbc news keir simmons got a look. >> reporter: the inferno in april 2019 was devastating. the interior of the church consuming 800 years of history in minutes. four years on to see how far the restoration has come "today" has been given special access going 300 and feet up to a platform. spectacular views of paris. meet phillip, overseeing the massive project. >> this is fire that went crashing down. >> we all watched it, all around the world. >> oh, my god the steeple just fell inside the church. >> this is the golden rooster. >> reporter: the original weather vane was thought lost. just this weekend the new rooster was blessed and placed on its perch. it contains holy relics. >> it's the phoenix from the ashes. >> that's right. >> or a rooster from the rashes. >> reporter: now we descend into the heart of notre dame. there was a hole in the ceiling. just a year before the fire "today" toured the aging cathedral, now it's being restored better. expert carpenters using medieval tools. >> a lot of people have given a lot to this, including people donating from the u.s. >> r

nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons got a remarkable inside look at the years long 2019 was devastating. tearing through the interior of the church, consuming 800 years of history in minutes. four years onto see how far the restoration has come going 300 feet straight up to a tiny exposed platform with spectacular views of paris. >> good evening. >> reporter: meet philip overseeing this mammoth project. so this is the spire that went crashing down? >> viewers watched it all around the world. >> oh, my gosh it fell inside the church. >> it's a very important movement when now the spire is rebuilt. >> reporter: and this is the golden rooster. the original rooster weather vane was thought lost but miraculously survived buried in the ash. and this new rooster was blessed and placed gently on its perch. it contains holy relics, pieces of what is said to be the crown of thorns. >> it was a very, very emotional moment and symbolic moment. >> reporter: it's a phoenix from the ashes. >> exactly. >> reporter: or a rooster from the ashes. now felipe and i descend into the nave

joining us from moscow is keir simmons with more on this. the notorious russian arounds dealer for brittney griner. that was a few years ago now. is there a possibility of that happening again? >> reporter: well, we should be careful, because we don't know, for example, what the u.s. offer was that it said that was made that was turned down, a substantial offer the u.s. said it made. we don't know what that was. we don't know what the russian demands are, if you like. just to get to the very basics, what we know from what we heard from president putin here in moscow today is that the russians are prepared to do a deal. even as evan gershkovich is in pretrial detention, paul whelan in prison after being convicted here, both of them, of course, deny the allegations against them. evan gershkovich accused of espionage. denies that completely. obviously, he is a reporter for "the wall street journal." despite all of that, the russians -- president putin himself, speaking today, making clear that he is prepared to talk. there's something they want

joining us from moscow, nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons. ng in russia? >> mika, this is an absolutely pivotal week in the ukraine and russia story. president zelenskyy's trip to washington is vital in the ways that you laid out. vital in his efforts to persuade the u.s. to continue to fund ukraine's military efforts. th, later in the week, in europe, the europeans will decide whether to proceed with a session for ukraine to the european union, despite the objections of viktor orban in hungary. an important week for zelenskyy and also for president putin, who this week will hold, for the first time in years, a question and answer session with journalists, the russian public. combining that with traditional radio phone meeting he's held, you'll remember it, that news conference that goes on for hour after hour, he'll do that again on thursday. what we heard from his spokesman, dimitri peskov, today, is that the russian government is watching events there in washington very closely. trying to argue it doesn't matter whether the u.s. would fund