. >>> the spacex mission made history again today with its overnight return to earth, kelly o'donnell now on why this splashdown was so special. >> reporter: a 3:00 a.m. plunge into darkness. >> spacex copies, brace for splashdown >> reporter: the u.s. space program's first nighttime ocean return in more than 50 years. >> but we have visual confirmation of the crew on resilience cap schull. >> reporter: a successful homecoming near panama city, florida. >> liftoff. >> reporter: for a nasa mission led by a private company, elon musk's spacex, four astronauts, three americans and one from japan, completed six months in space at the international space station. >> on behalf of crew 1 and our families we just want to say thank you. >> reporter: the crew feeling that return to gravity. >> that's mike hopkins, the commander, he's really excited. >> feeling pretty good after six months in space. >> reporter: consider this, america's last splashdown with the added danger of darkness was apollo 8 in 1968. today a celebration of this new era. >> so our goal is one day that everyone's a space pe

transportation has loosened some work rules so truckers can transport fuel in needed areas kate >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. >>> police in colorado are investigating a shooting that left seven people dead, including the suspected gunman it happened at a birthday party in colorado springs last night police say the boyfriend of a female victim arrive and started shooting, killing six adults before taking his own life the children there were not injured and they're safe with family members. >>> turning now to that deadly bomb blast at a girls' school in afghanistan. more than 60 people were killed, most of them children. bombers targeting young girls who wanted an education. our richard engel is there. >> reporter: on a remote hill above kabul, flanked by the high hindu cush mountains, they came by the hundreds to bury their daughters, with picks and shovels, they dug into the dry ground for the victims of a cowardly attack. islamic radicals bombed a girls' school yesterday just as students were heading home today, they were laid to rest in a single mass grave. there were so many victims, health of

kelly o'donnell reports. >> reporter: before dawn today, a 6:00 a.m. vote that could change elections for millions of texans. >> motion is adopted. >> reporter: texas republicans one step closer to sweeping new restrictions, despite the reality that many texas officials concede, their state's 2020 elections were secure. >> this may be more of an optics issue, restoring confidence with the american people. in my state, you do believe there was tremendous fraud. >> reporter: democrats insist tighter rules will suppress the vote in black and brown communities. >> where i'm from, where i'm elected to be a voice, they do call and refer to it as jim crow 2.0. >> reporter: some of the proposed changes, end drive-through and 24-hour voting. adds proof of identity requirements for absentee voting. makes it easier for a judge to overturn election results, even without proof that fra midnight, the texas governor will make it law. president biden in delaware this weekend, called the texas bill unamerican. today, the biden family went to church for the sixth annive

jose >> kelly o'donnell at the white house, thank you. >>> tonight, we are learning more about a cyberattack forcing the shutdown of one of the main pipelines supplying gas and diesel fuel to the east coast courtney kube has the latest on the investigation. courtney? >> reporter: that's right, jose. colonial pipeline company supplies nearly half of all fuels consumed on the east coast bringing more than 100 million gallons from the gulf every day on friday they were hit by a ransomware attack which locks users out of their systems demanding payment to restore access it's still not clearwas behine attack the company saying they temporarily suspended their operations in order to contain the threat the white house now saying they are working with the company to assess the threat and restore operations if the shutdown continues for several days, though, it could raise fears of soaring gas prices ahead of a busy summer driving season. jose >> courtney kube, thank you very much. >>> a massive out-of-control rocket is set to re-enter earth's atmosphere could happen in just a couple of hours. and no

nbc's kelly o'donnell has the details. >> reporter: a 3:00 a.m. plunge >> spacex copy, brace for splashdown. >> reporter: the u.s. space program's first nighttime ocean return in more than 50 years >> but we have visual confirmation of the crew resilience capsule. >> reporter: a successful homecoming near panama city, florida. >> liftoff. >> reporter: for a nasa mission led by a private company, elon musk's spacex. four astronauts, three americans and one from japan, completed six months in space at the international space station. >> on behalf of crew one and our families, we just want to say thank you. >> reporter: the crew feeling that return to, the commander. he's really excited. >> feeling pretty good after six months in space. >> reporter: consider this america's last splashdown with the added danger of darkness was apollo 8 in 1968, a celebration of this new era. >> so ou is one day that everyone's a space person. >> reporter: their dream of commercial travel with a ticket to space kelly o'donnell, nbc news. >>> a massive protest in the uk

kelly o'donnell is going to stick around for us. >>> the president pushed back on the suggestion that americans don't need to work because they're getting enhanced unemployment. he again made the case for his massive infrastructure bill as a way to create new jobs. >> i never said and no serious analyst ever suggested that climbing out of the deep, deep hole our economy was in would be simple, easy, immediate or perfectly steady. the american rescue plan is just that, a rescue plan. it's to get us out of the crisis and back on track. but it's not nearly enough. that's why we need the american jobs plan. >> kelly o'donnell still with us and joining us is boston globe contributor melanie atkins. a couple big meetings on the docket this week. give us a sense. what is the white house doing this week to really help get this infrastructure bill across the line? >> reporter: the dance card is certainly full, jeff. what we expect is the president will have his first meeting with what we call the big four, speaker pelosi, majority leader schumer and on the republican side, minority leader mcco

>> kelly o'donnell in wilmington, thank you. >>> an increasingly dangerous situation is unfolding inth america. colombia's president is now calling in the military to crack down on massive anti-government protests that have already turned deadly. vaughn hillyard has the story. >> reporter: on the streets of colombia, violent protests after the country's president, ivan duque, ordered 7,000 military personnel into the heart of an uprising. duque saying, tonight begins the maximum deployment of military. for a month now, protesters here have faced off with police in riot gear. the violence leaving dozens dead and more than 2,000 injured, according to human rights groups. what started as protests againsw esca >> the tax reform was an excuse for social mobilization. people have no jobs. they are getting only one or two meals a day. >> reporter: in bogota, this peaceful protester says, "we just want the country to change." civilians have shut down roadways in protest, causing food and gas shortages. the president saying he will not negotiate until the barricades are removed. but with both

kelly o'donnell is on it. good to see you again. a lot of republicans already speaking out, which we're not surprised about. >> exactly. this is the kind of dynamic that we expect when the budget drops. it is incredibly important for any white house to be able to put into writing in the context of how to spend money all of the priorities and the agenda items that support the things the president as a candidate and now a few months into office has put his focus on. and it does include big spending, the kind of spending not seen since world war ii, in part because the president argues there's been a lot of neglect to infrastructure, to the american economy, to different ways of influencing how the economy is supported for job creation. things like the president saying that child care, elder care are important parts of making workers more able to be productive by supporting them and the real-life needs they have. now, many democrats are on board for this. some of the more moderate or conservative democrats, there will be a fight, but r

kelly o'donnell at the white house. garrett, start with you, congresswoman cheney talked to savannah guthrie, fellow congresswoman elise stefanik seems to be the favorite for cheney's opening job. where do things stand? >> stefaniak has all the right endorsements, backed by kevin mccarthy and former president trump about whoms this entire episode really centers. now there will be a candidate forum tonight for her to share her views, essentially make her pitch for the job to the fellow house republicans and the vote is expected as early as tomorrow morning. as of right now, stefaniak is running unopposed. easier to get the job when not running against anyone. there's still a possibility that someone perhaps a member of the house freedom caucuses could jump in to challenge her, but stefaniak looks like the odd's on favorite. for cheney he's out of the leadership position but not the spotlight. she has made a point to be out in the media. >> are you the leader of opposition in exile right now in the republican party? >> i

joining me, kelly o'donnell, erin mclaughlin who is in tel aviv, and the president of the eurasia group, ewen brenner. welcome to the three of you. kelly, we'll start with you because this is the highest level of talks on this crisis that erupted earlier this month. with whom will secretary of state blinken be meeting, and how are these meetings really supporting the administration's goal here? >> reporter: good to be with you, jeff. we talked with jen psaki at the white house briefing today about these issues and the very fragile temporary piece that certainly part of the mission for secretary blinken is to try to give more roots, more foundation to that tenuous agreement to stop the fighting right now. the president has sent his secretary of state there to have these meetings with a variety of stakeholders in the region. and this is a very public face of diplomacy when a lot of what has been happening with the biden white house and administration in this phase of crisis with hamas and israel has been a quieter form of diplomacy in part because of the sensitivities on the international

kelly o'donnell is with us. what do we know about this?ack to a time when we remember the intensity around impeachment and some of the figures holding government office that became characters in this drama. gordon sondland was prominent among them. because his employer did not pay for his legal representation when he was part of what his documents call a highly charged testimony in front of congress, that he incured considerable expenses. sondland says he was given assurances by secretary of state pompeo that his costs would be covered. his legal bills total $1.8 million and the government renigged on that promise. he was ultimately fired by the administration after then president trump was acquitted by the senate, but he was one of the lynch pin characters in that drama talking about his conversations, his understanding of the military component with ukraine. his quid pro quo that became so much part of the impeachment drama. he says his testimony was candid. it was ultimately viewed by many as not for president trump. he was a donor, a p

kelly o'donnell is at the white house with more. kelly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning.as traveling with vice president harris and asked her about india. she talked about friday's loads of supplies heading to india. the vice president stressed the u.s. has a responsibility to assist india and that our countries have long been partners on issues of public health and that india helped the u.s. the white house's new travel restrictions do not affect american citizens and mirrors what other countries are doing to try to slow the spread of the virus on fire in india now. this week, president biden, the first lady and vice president harris will again hit the road to sell their more than $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs plan. republicans say it's too costly but claim they are willing and open to a smaller negotiation package as those talks continue. willie, we want to make a point with an update to a story we aired saturday. based on a source familiar with the matter, we reported that former president trump's longtime personal lawyer rudy giuliani had been warned by the fbi

kelly o'donnell is covering the president's trip.hat can we expect to hear from president biden this afternoon? >> reporter: craig, they are calling this a major economic speech. the president will be here. it's a bit of a makeup. when covid hit and then candidate biden had to cancel some of his campaign events, the last one was here. it's a way to make up for that and use it as a jump off point to talk about a lot of the things in the biden agenda when it comes to the economy. he will tour a student manufacturing technology part of the campus here and talk about the need to put an emphasis on those jobs and strengthening unions and having the $15 minimum wage at the federal level. talking about emphasizing work over wealth in the tax code and in the agenda. that will be part of what he will do here. he will talk about how his reaction and management of the covid crisis has moved the country to a point now where vaccines are at a point that has allowed for more reopening, a more robust response in the job market which is reflected in

kelly o'donnell at her post there at 1600 pennsylvania. nbc capitol hill correspondent leigh ann caldwell is on the hill. we laid out a lot of obstacles the president is facing. let's hone in on one, police reform. where do things stand at white house? how do they plan to mark tomorrow's anniversary? >> reporter: the president put a big marker on tomorrow's anniversary when he delivered his joint address to congress asking lawmakers to get it done in terms of a police reform legislative package by tomorrow. all sides acknowledge that is not going to happen. while deadlines can be an important catalyst to action, it appears at this point, parties on all sides are not as concerned about the deadline as much as that would have been good and typically sometimes presidents are scored by deadlines they set and do not meet. instead, some of those, including members of the family and advocates say they want a substantive bill more than a quick one or one timed to the anniversary. the president, who leans heavily on his empathy and understanding ab

kelly o'donnell is at the white house with more on all of this. kelly, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. rudy giuliani depends himself amid scrutiny saying he was working to defend his friend and client donald trump during the russia investigation and impeachment. federal investigators want to know whether giuliani was working improperly to benefit ukrainian officials that wanted the american ambassador removed. new developments in the giuliani saga. >> there was a big bang, bang, bang on the door. >> reporter: nbc news confirms federal investigators who seized electronics from rudy giuliani's home and office this week are seeking evidence about his efforts to remove long time american diplomat marie i don't see vonn vich from her post as ambassador to ukraine. >> ukraine policy has been thrown in disarray. >> reporter: she testified that giuliani led a smear campaign against her and urged then president trump to fire her. >> forced her out because she scrubbed. >> reporter: she was a star witness, defending her integrity dur

>> nbc's kelly o'donnell getting us started.d to see you as always, friend. >> there are plenty of options for millions of americans trying to make the most of it. from embracing the normal, by staying safe by visiting an outdoor area. it's time to pack up, mask up and brave the airport terminal for the long flight home. joining us now to cover every angle for us is nbc's mara barrett at doylestown, pennsylvania. blayne alexander at the airport in atlanta and in arizona. as we start to return to normal on this holiday, the local parade in doylestown is so important to that community. what are you hearing from residents and small business owners there? >> it really is, jeff. i've spent the better part of last year plus reporting on empty streets as people stay safe and quarantined and today the streets were filled with color guard members, band members and just this overarching sense of joy and relief from thousands of community members that came out to celebrate the parade and last year it was cancelled and it would have been th

. >> let's bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell who is standing by at the white house. great to see you. thanks for joining us on this. talk us through this. so i think the big question is why. why are republicans still it seems at this point refusing to come to the table after the white house slashed $550 billion from their original infrastructure plan? >> there are a couple reasons. some of them may seem obvious when you hear them. others may be about the negotiating tactics at play here. but to just answer your question, more directly, republicans differ on the definition of infrastructure. the white house has a broader definition. and how it would be paid for. republicans do not want to see a raise in -- an increase in the corporate tax rate. and so those are real big stumbling blocks. now, from the white house perspective, president biden began this infrastructure push going very big, $2.3 trillion, including hard infrastructure and what is considered soft infrastructure, things that include home health care, elder care, parts of the economy where a lot of people could see benefit,

of punchbowl news and an msnbc political contributor, and nbc news white house correspondent kelly o'donnell traveling with the president in cleveland, ohio. kelly, i'll begin with you. the president as we noted at the top of the program taking a dig at republicans who at one point voted against his relief plan but are still touting that success of the bill. tell us a little about that in his speech. >> reporter: good to be with you. the president certainly frustrated by that sort of not matching action with words in the political realm. and the president here at cuyahoga community college to make good on a visit that was canceled because of the pandemic when he was candidate biden in 2020. and also here to talk about a multistage plan for the economy that deals with things like getting the country back open step by step with vaccinations, various steps that people have taken, and seeing how that is affecting the job economy and people going back to work. frustration, of course, when republicans voted against his plan to rescue the american rescue plan as the biden administration talks about

nbc's kelly o'donnell is at the white house where they're monitoring this closely.at to see you. thanks for joining us. what do we know about who is behind this attack and really the impact of this closure? >> well, yasmin, this is a stunning attack on u.s. infrastructure. and in talking with some experts as i'm working on this story today, i am really struck. we've all heard about cyberattacks. we've often talked about the vulnerability of our electric grid or other important parts of our infrastructure. and some of the experts who work in this area describe this as a nightmare scenario and a 9 out of 10 in terms of their concern. why? a cyberattacker, unknown identity at this point. could it be a nation state or ransomware syndicate of criminals? they don't yet know. with an apparent financial motive that has the potential to cripple an important part of u.s. infrastructure and certainly enemies of the u.s. would have an interest in that. they are seeking money from this company, colonial pipeline, that supplies energy through jet fuel, gasoline and other critical

that's a big question right now. >> all right, kelly o'donnell for us, following the president in wilmington, thank you, kelly. by the way, kelly is going to return in our 4:00 p.m. hour along with our powerhouse political panel to take a deeper dive into biden's budget and beyond that as well, so you don't want to miss that conversation, really how this budget could affect you. >>> we are also following breaking news out of the state of texas where a controversial election integrity bill jam packed with sweeping changes to the state's voting procedures has now been filed. state senate and house lawmakers are set to participate in limited debate this afternoon followed by a straight-up or down vote. gary is in austin. good to see you this afternoon. thanks for joining us on this. you got your hands on a draft version of the sb-7 bill. talk us through what's in it. >> reporter: i will absolutely do that. i just want to go to one thing, joe biden's statement just came out, president joe biden just released a new statement about this texas voting bill. he says, in part, it's an assault on democ

security council both encouraging dialogue kelly o'donnell is at the white house. >> reporter: a push for diplomacy. the united nations security council called this virtual sunday session to urge a cease-fire, including the u.s. ambassador. >> it's time to end the cycle of violence >> reporter: on american television today, prime minister benjamin netanyahu defended israel's strike on a gaza building that housed the associated press and other media outlets. he contends hamas intelligence used the same building. >> we took every precaution to make sure that there were no civilian injuries. >> reporter: netanyahu rebuffed pressure for an immediate cease-fire >> we're trying to degrade hamas' terrorist abilities and to degrade their will to do this again, so it will take some time i hope it won't take long, but it's not immediate >> reporter: today demonstrators outside the israeli embassy in washington followed others around the country this week tonight president biden and the first lady speaking to a virtual observance of the muslim holy month of ramadan, promised to remain involved.

kelly o'donnell is outside the white house.ink is going to come up inside that room? >> after listening to the excerpts you played and setting the scene, it's really about preserving all of the available pathways. wanting to get something that both the president and leaders in congress can say is an achievement, because bipartisanship does work when you're talking about infrastructure. it may be rare in almost every other conversation, but everyone wants to be able to go home and talk about a bridge or a road in their community that has been improved. so there is a pathway there. what it does do for the president is it has to give him a willingness, and he's shown that so far, to narrow the scope of it. you heard him say the hard infrastructure that republicans have been focused on, not some of the other kinds of programs that may affect the ability to work together, and that's going to be a harder sell. so today, among those who will be there, shelly moore caputo, who is the top republican on the relevant committees here deali

let's go straight to nbc's kelly o'donnell joining us from the white house. we understand president biden has had multiple phone calls with foreign leaders today. what do we know about those conversations? >> reporter: it is a bit unusual for a saturday for the president to be in the oval office and the marine centry is still at the west wing doors now telling us the president is in the official spaces of the white house. often the president is not in his office on the weekend. it gives you a sense of the escalation. wean the president has spoken with the prime minister of israel benjamin netanyahu as well as the leader of the palestinian authority mahmoud abbas. these phone calls are an important test and challenge for president biden because this violence could spiral and also affects u.s. relations in that part of the world. the president has said publicly he believes israel has a right to defend itself from hamas firing into israeli territory and at the same time the u.s. has long held the view that institutions like media and civilians and so forth under

let's go to kelly o'donnell doing duty at the white house for us. welcome on this sunday. so what does the president hope to accomplish this week and how likely is he to do it? >> well, the idea is to extend an invitation to republicans in a couple of different groups where they will meet with the president to talk about infrastructure ideas and how to pay for them. and the president has said he is willing to negotiate. so this is a demonstrable attempt by the white house to say they're willing to listen to republican ideas and willing to talk about how to get something done. and trying to separate this from what we saw with the covid relief plan where there were some meetings about these issues related to what was eventually passed with democrats only. they say this is different. that was an emergency. there were deadlines to get funding in the hands of people who were desperate for additional help. this is about a longer term plan to rebuild roads and bridges, to also deal with what the white house likes to call the care economy involving child care, elder care and how d

. >> reporter: nbc's kelly o'donnell asked the president about the extra unemployment benefits put in place during the pandemic that critics say can pay more than some jobs >> do you believe enhanced unemployment benefits had any effect on diminishing a return to work in some categories? >> no. nothing measurable >> reporter: in march eleanor fernandez told us she's been looking for work for nearly a year but at the time she was only being offered low-paying part-time positions. >> you've been offered those jobs but didn't take them? >> i haven't taken them yet because honestly the unemployment is a little bit more than the pay too. i'll just be honest with that. it covers all my bills. >> reporter: some states are taking action next month south carolina and montana are ending federal unemployment benefits, including the extra $300 a week. and in maine workers will have to prove they're actively looking for unemployment to receive the extra money. for the first time in months christopher gregory will not be filing for unemployment today is his first day back on the job at a movie thea

involving truth, consequences, leadership and a man who still looms large over the gop here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: tonight a republican purge "it's clear we need to make a change," writes leader kevin mccarthy, in a new letter to gop lawmakers. formalizing a vote this wednesday to expel the republican party's highest-ranking woman in house leadership, liz cheney her transgression? breaking with donald trump. saying the former president incited the insurrection and lied about a stolen election >> and that is a dangerous claim. it wasn't true >> reporter: mccarthy sealed cheney's fate, backing new york's elise stefanik, whose voting record is less conservative than cheney >> do you support elise stefanik for that job >> yes, i do >> reporter: today donald trump wielded his influence, telling the house gop to "upgrade from warmonger liz cheney to gifted communicator elise stefanik." few republicans do stand by cheney. >> she's being run out for one thing, her consistency. >> reporter: senator mitt romney tweets "expelling liz cheney won't gain one additional voter but it will cost us qu

. >> reporter: their dream of commercial travel with a ticket to space kelly o'donnell, nbc news. >> closer to earth >>> let's talk about the severe weather on the move this morning. the national weather service saying a large and extremely dangerous tornado in mississippi. the mayor says a third of the town has lost power. first responders are rescuing people trapped in their homes. there is also widespread damage in the city of tupelo including many downed trees and power lines. no word of any injuries. >>> meteorologist janessa webb has been all over that story on twitter. janessa, what more do we know about the severe weather >> yeah, good morning, ladies. good morning, everyone this was long track tornado. it happened about two hours ago where about 100,000 people were under a tornado emergency that has been lifted at this hour now we're just watching this storm system continue to expand north and east lsd watching a line of storms that's causing some severe weather, severe thunderstorm warnings they're just expiring. you see it's quite a light show from the high plains to the u

stretches from texas to new jersey, providing nearly half of the east coast fuel supply nbc's kelly o'donnell has details on the response from the biden administration >> reporter: a complex and sinister mystery >> this is one of my worst nightmares come to light. >> reporter: a crippling cyber attack that forced a major u.s. energy pipeline offline friday cyber intruders inserted ransomeware inside systems of energy giant colonial pipeline making demands for payment >> you're holding a major component of united states infrastructure hostage for ransom >> reporter: colonial pipeline delivers 100 million gallons a day of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and home heating oil through a 5500-mile system on the east coast this attack alarming many officials. >> the implications for this for national security cannot be overstated. >> reporter: under way this weekend, an emergency response across the u.s. government homeland security, the fbi, department of energy and more. >> it's an all hands on deck effort right now and we are working closely with the company, state and local officials to make sure th

on how the united states and the united nations are responding to these clashes, here is nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: a push for diplomacy. the united nations security council called this virtual sunday session to urge a ceasefire, including the u.s. ambassador >> with time ticking on the cycle of violence. >> reporter: on american television, prime minister benjamin netanyahu defended israel's strike on a gaza building that housed the associated press and other media outlets. he contends hamas intelligence used the same building. >> we took every precaution to make sure that there were no civilian injuries. >> reporter: netanyahu rebuffed pressure for an immediate ceasefire. >> we're trying to degrade hamas' terrorist abilities and to degrade their will to do this again. it will take some time i honey hope it won't take long, but it's not immediate >> reporter: demonstrators outside the israeli embassy in washington followed others around the country this week president biden and the played speaking to a virtual open answer of the muslim holy month of ramadan, promised to remain involv

and kelly o'donnell has that. great to see you. thank you for joining us. and the president reflecting on his sonics years ago to the day when he passed and also addressing his upcoming meeting with vladimir putin and human rights violations. >> reporter: and this was an event that joe biden has attended long before he was president and wanted to do so again today to honor those who lost their lives in battle for this country and noting the death of his own son. this morning the biden family attended a special mass and the president says six years ago today hunter lost a father and i lost a son and he talked about beau biden's service in the air national guard. and although he did not die in combat, he could relate to the families there remembering the lives lost of those who did die in battle. so this really wove together a lot of the themes that he is going with. and the lossl fallen soldiers and how that is relevant in the world that the president has to interact with today. so he talked about speaking with president xi and that he will be talking with p

kelly o'donnell was in the room questioning the president about this. kelly's question was the one -- and you heard the president reference commentary and the way it was discussed. she asked him expanded unemployment benefits, do they impact the way americans get back to work. the chamber of commerce is lobbying to end those benefits. what did you hear and what do you want to underscore from the president's speech? >> she asked the question to ask. the president made it clear. there are more and more calls to this administration. you heard it from the chamber of commerce, to end this expanded unemployment, that extra $300 kicker. we are hearing from businesses the reason people are not going back to work is because they are getting paid more to stay at home. it is only in the short-term. it runs out in september. there are people getting more money, but the answer is not stop giving them that money. when the administration decided what to give for expanded unemployment, they decided what people need to survive. perhaps this is the call to action to raise

kelly o'donnell from the white house here, tell ulgs us what many of us could be viewing as significantollback into this arena. turning back a trump era attempted policy. the courts stopped the society. this is a an important mess an and important sign to any organizations that have received funding that they are barred from any discrimination that there is a gender assignment, a sexual orientation. there is a sense of not being welcomed or not treated fairly that there are real life health consequences if they don't seek out the proper care and treatment because of that. part of what the supreme court said they deserve equal treatment under the law. so this certainly does not change when it comes to matters like gender equality in is about using the levers of government to reinforce protections for american that's identify as lbgtq and all of the people that love them. >> coming up, benjamin netanyahu says dozens of people are seriously hurt in confrontations with police. we'll take you to jerusalem for the very latest. >>> and four years later, a mother from honduras shares an emotion

we start with kelly o'donnell at the white house. kelly, the justice department has confirmed that the trump doj did obtain the phone records of these washington post reporters, but do we know why they did it? >> well, at the time those reporters were working on russia investigation-related matters and it appears that the trump administration, under the direction of attorney general william barr at the time, believed that there were unlawful leaks going to these reporters, not the reporters in the sort of sphere of wrongdoing because it's a first amendment protected practice of journalism, but they were trying to find leakers, they claim, and that was something that we sue infuriated the trump white house. it upsets white houses regardless of party, but it was an intense anger and concern during the trump years because of the degree of the kinds of stories that were subjected to the kind of intense public awareness like the russia investigation which had a criminal and counter intelligence and an impeachment-related kind of exploratio

. >>> and nbc's kelly o'donnell is at the white house for us. y, another welcome to you, my friend. how are lawmakers reacting to reports about the trump d.o.j. obtaining you're phone records? >> reporter: good to be with you, alex. this comes at a time where there is an era of mistrust in the country against institutions, questions about journalism and government, and this plays into a lot of those concerns. now, at the base, of course, people in official positions in government swear an oath not to reveal classified secrets, and we know that at the time when he was here in office, president trump had a frequent battle over leakers and mistrust of those around him who might tell things about what was happening inside the administration or about investigations relating to him. journalists are protected by the first amendment, doing their jobs, and in this case, under the direction of the then attorney general, william barr, it was approved that records related to them, phone calls of their business and personal phones, for three journalists at th

correspondent dom chu and nbc national correspondent kerry sanders and our white house correspondent kelly o'donnelliday it didn't spook markets, many investors didn't think the economy was stumbling, maybe more there were kinks in the system getting people back on the job because there are certainly jobs to be had. >> stephanie, you're absolutely right here. the market sort of mulled now where they're still trying to extenuate the positive. while the job future took an unexpected bump with disappointing numbers, it did reinforce there's a case to be made for continued government involvement in intervention markets. from the monetary and fiscal sides. from the monetary standpoint, the jobs numbers means the federal reserve will not keep the borrowing numbers completely low. that may continue a trend of asset prices like stocks and real estate to keep going higher. on the fiscal side, you will hear the biden administration arguing this means more and in needs to be spent on jobs and infrastructure to make sure the economies and market stay on track. all of this as we see more and more companies warni

here is what the president had to say to kelly o'donnell friday. >> are you concerned about vladimira message to you? could it impact your desire to have a one-on-one meeting? >> it does not impact my desire. he had more troops before. he has withdrawn. >> joining me is ambassador william taylor, former ambassador to ukraine, now at the institute of peace and a long record in foreign policy and a major witness in the first impeachment. welcome, ambassador taylor. joe biden spent his first 100 days largely undoing foreign policy decisions made by the trump administration. what does he need to do to regain -- fully regain america's credibility with our allies and adversaries? >> thank you. it's great to be here. i think you are right. he is re-establishing the united states' role in the world. as you saw -- you were with him last week. in london and on the world stage in kiev where he is doing what he needs to do to re-establish the united states' role, our leadership. there you can see antony blinken. and the foreign minister, we see the foreign minister. the answer to your question i

>> kelly o'donnell at the white house, garrett haake on the hill. >>> now to the news so many americans are welcoming. the cdc says anyone fully vaccinated no longer needs to wear masks indoors or outdoors. you no longer need to physically distance in most cases. this is what dr. walensky is saying this morning about that new guidance. >> we needed to take this first step to say, if you are vaccinated, individuals themselves are safe to be able to take their mask off. we need to understand that this country is not uniform. there are places in this country that still have higher rates of disease. there are places in the country that still have lower rates of vaccination. really, people need to look into their local environment. ultimately, we know this virus is an opportunist. low rates of vaccination, it will emerge. we need to make sure we get people vaccinated. we continue to take precautions if people are not vaccinated. >> for now, there are a few exceptions. masks should be worn in doctor's offices, hospitals and on public transportation, according to the cdc. overall, it's a major

. >> from there to nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. we have infrastructure talk certainly at a standstill. what else are we hearing from the white house today? >> the issue of infrastructure is important to president biden. and to some degree, republicans say it's important to them as well. that should be the makings for being able to get something done. but not so fast. right now if you recall, president biden's original bid was 2.3 and now it's down to 1.7. so that is a big difference, and we're talking, you know, big dollars here over a ten-year period. and what has happened is their definition of infrastructure, republicans wanting the hard kind of infrastructure. roads and bridges and the like. president biden and his team with a broader definition. and they are willing to work on some of the issues, but they're also hitting another roadblock on how they would pay for it. so what looked like progress, what looked like a willingness toward bipartisanship, the back and forth of shuttle diplomacy, if you will now has hit this new sta

kelly o'donnell putting to her this question that i would like to hear from you on.to play what she had to say. >> obviously, the house republicans have some of their own internal matters going on. does the president think any discord they are having has an influence or comes into the meet meetings he will have with leadership? >> no. the president knows that there is some introspection going on in the republican party right now. a determination about who they are going to be, who they want to lead them and what they want to represent moving forward. he is not going to focus on that. >> what does your reporting tell you about how what's happening in house republican world could affect negotiations between democrats and republicans in the white house moving forward? >> it probably won't. very few people expect house republicans to be on board with a major deal. >> do you think it will come up on wednesday when they meet? >> surely it will. president biden wants to be in the driver's seat in the way he is not doing on police reform and guns where he is punting to congr

the president rejected that idea when pressed by nbc's kelly o'donnell on friday. >> mr. president do you believe enhanced unemployment benefits have any effect on many returning to work in some category? >> no, nothing measurable. >> reporter: the president arguing his infrastructure and social programs are needed to boost higher while insisting the covid release bill already cleared congress is making a difference. >> our efforts are starting to work. the climb is speak. eporter: republicans quickly pounds, chairman mcdonnell slamming the policies and another calling the report abysmal during a radio interview. >> people are seeing the rising cost of goods and small businesses can't hire workers because of the continued ferrell unemployment assistance. >> reporter: states like north carolina and montana are set to kick those off the unemployment benefits next month all this as the white house meets face-to-face next week to meet with bipartisan and top senators next week. peter. >> thanks very much. >>> two of the republican party's most controversial members kicked off