day of mixed emotions for us as we celebrate the last "saturday today" with our dear friend, kristen welkert taking a look back at some of our most memorable moments here on "saturday today." >>> this is "today," with peter alexander, kristen welker. >> i could not be more thrilled to welcome kristen welker, her first official day as co-anchor of "saturday today." >> if i felt better, i think i would be floating around. every day i think, this doesn't feel like work. this is what i always wanted to do. i was an intern for the "today" show. >> i'm kristen welker with a look at today's headlines. >> if you look at the footage from when i was an intern to right now, it's unbelievable. >> we've got a great crowd! >> can we do this every saturday? >> welcome to "today." >> breaking news overnight. >> let's get right to today's news. >> big story this morning, the coronavirus pandemic. >> protests overnight in the wake of the death of george floyd. >> politics now, the race is on. president trump and vice president biden are making multiple campaign stops. >> heartbreaking images out of ukraine.

lester >> kristen welker, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, protecting the health of your family the new vaccines being rolled out for rsv, covid and the flu. what you need to know, right after this >>> we're back with breaking health news and new efforts to prevent a tripledemic this fall with a newly approved vaccine against rsv in babies and newly updated vaccines coming for covid and the flu. kristen dahlgren has what you need to know. >> reporter: tonight a new tool in the fight against rsv just approved by the fda. the pfizer vaccine, the first given to pregnant women, to protect their babies from the dangerous respiratory virus for their first six months >> a lot of kids get sick with rsv like every winter, and it's kind of scary. >> reporter: gwen marazuko was one of 7,000 pregnant women in the study she still doesn't know if she was given the vaccine or placebo but says her now 20-month-old is doing well >> i will say that this past winter when a lot of families in our community were affected by rsv our family was not >> reporter: a new monoclonal antibody for rsv also recently

. >>> good evening i'm kristen welker in for kate snow. as we come on the air tonight, tropical storm hilary is lashing southern california with tens of millions in its path this is the damage hilary has already done a wall of mud and water ripping through one mexico town. the historic storm making landfall over baja california in that country earlier today. but now it's pounding the u.s. some 26 million people from the southwest up to idaho under flood alerts it's been decades since a storm like this has hit the region and officials warn it could be deadly and catastrophic but breaking right now, an earthquake rocking southern california let's get right to erin mclaughlin in cherry valley just east of los angeles. and erin, people felt this earthquake just as the storm hit what can you tell us >> reporter: that's right, kristen according to the usgs there was a magnitude 5.1 earthquake that struck ojai, california to the north of los angeles now, right there there are no reports of significant damage or injuries, but we are monitoring the

>> kristen welker, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, protecting the health of your family. the new vaccines being rolled out for rsv, covid and the flu. what you need to know, covid and the flu. what you need to know, the e virus thatat causes shingleses is sleepiping... in 99% of people over 50.. itit's lylying dormanant, waiti. anand could rereactivate.. shingleses strikes a as a painf, blisistering rasash thatat can last t for weeks. and d it could w wake at anyny . blisistering rasash thatat can last t for weeks. thinink you're n not at risk fofor shingleses? it's t time to wakake up. becaususe shingleses could wake up inin you. ifif you're ovover 50, talalo your dococtor or phaharmat ababout shinglgles preventnt. yeah, everything's taken care of. -hey, , mie.ja -oh, ? yeah, everything's taken care of. just visisiting a special l secret clilient. i i can't say y who it is,, bubut let's jujust say shehe bd just visisiting a special l secret clilient. her drdrm housee and heher dream cacar for rounund-the-clocock proten withth progressisive. oh. for rounund-the-clocock pr

trump's former vice president is now taking new shots at his old boss kristen welker with that part of the story. >> reporter: tonight, former president trump firing back accusing federal prosecutors of targeting him again because he's the strong republican front-runner against president biden, posting, why didn't they bring this case 2.5 years ago? they wanted it right in the middle of my campaign that's why the dramatic third indictment of mr. trump with a potential to shake up the gop race some rivals are starting to sharpen their tone including mr. trump's former vice president, mike pence, who is cited in the indictment refusing his boss' request not to certify president biden's election win >> anyone who puts themself over the constitution should never be president of the united states, and anyone who asks someone else to put themselves over the constitution should never be president of the united states again. >> reporter: but mr. trump's top republican challenger, florida governor ron desantis, criticizing the indictment that could land with a jury in deep blue washington, d.c.

kristen welker, there is a sense that this was choreographed in terms of the president kind of calling the shots here in terms of when this would occur. >> it is notable last night was the first gop primary debate and now he is turning himself in not 24 hours after to some extent really capturing the spotlight if you will, lester. you've been talking to folks inside his orbit and they are striking a very defiant tone. he did this online interview last night that got 200 million views. they've been touting that to kind of talk about the fact these indictments they believe are only making him politically more popular. if you dig a little deeper and talk to some in his inner orbit there is concern this is taking place and unfolding in a critical state. georgia is a state that he almost certainly would need to win in order to be re-elected in 2024. so there is concern about that and concern about some of the images we may see. if he in fact has a mugshot taken of him, what would the impact of that be politically? we know that this is a former reality tv star, no stranger to making use of i

kristen welker, thank you. >>> it is time now for today's " money minute." chocolate is always nice. >> and a paper plate for kids making a comeback. >> morgan brennan joins us now. we have to know about the plates. >> oh, i will tell you about the plates. good to see you. cocoa prices hitting a nearly 50-year high. chocolate makers including hershey and cadbury's maker are attempting to pass on the soaring costs to consumers. "reuters" reports north american and european consumers have already seen chocolate prices go up 20%. >>> lyft and uber threatening to leave mountains. it would require them to be paid $1.40 per mile and 51 cents per minute. cities and states have been adopting legislation regarding the gig economy over the last few years, but have been met with fierce opposition. >>> and here we go. the paper plates. zoo pals plates are coming back to feed your child. hefty announced the return of their animal-themed paper plates after being discontinued for nearly ten years. all of the original animals will be back including tina the tiger, shelly th

> all right, blayne alexander, thank you and joining me here, chief white house correspondent kristen welker and senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. laura, let me start with you the former president has been processed now. we will see trials, perhaps, as early as october, his won't wbe one of them now. >> that's right, lester what we watched unfold in georgia is really just the first step in what is going to be a long legal fight the president's lawyers want to slow things down, of course, where as at least one of his co-defendants has now moved to speed things up. asking for a speedy trial. a judge in georgia has agreed to that, and so at least as to that defendant, ken chesebro, the trial will go forward, at least for now in october this year. but that's not to mr. trump. >> all right, and kri kristen, you're getting an inside look at some of the thinking within the trump camp >> i am. i spoke to an aide who is traveling with former president trump, who tells me tonight he is defiant in the face of these charges. now, while his aides are touting his political resilience amid four ind

>> kristen welker, thank you.is jen psaki, former press secretary for president biden and host of the fantastic "inside with jen psaki" "on msnbc and peacock. and jeff dowd, msnbc political contributor. >> how concerned should democrats be that trump seems to be getting even stronger among his republican base? >> well, i think in any political race, and i've done quite a few of them, you have to be very sober and clear-eyed about your opponent. and their strengths. and ultimately winning is about defeating that person. what i heard from and having worked for former president obama for ten years and joe biden -- president biden for a couple of years as well, president obama is very clear-eyed, sober, specific at times and direct about politics. and it sounds like he was with president biden and i don't think any of that was a surprise. president biden looks at the polls himself, no one in that white house right now and i talked to a lot of them thinks this is going to be an easy race where they skate through the fi

so let's start the hour with nbc's aaron gilchrist outside the court, peter alexander and kristen welker, the cohosts of weekend today, former fbi general counsel, andrew weissmann, kristy greenberg, and former u.s. attorney chuck rosenberg on set with us. so aaron, kick us off from outside the courthouse. what's the atmosphere out there as we get closer to president trump's arrival? >> reporter: you know, it's sort of a tale of two cities. we're right off the national mall. you can see the capitol dome behind me. tourists are moving about. traffic is moving. you swing around to the actual courthouse and things are different. you see an increased law enforcement presence. these barriers, these metal fences have gone up all around the courthouse. that happened late last night. completely encircling the courthouse. you may be able to see a plow truck here as well, just on this side of the street, there are several of these trucks lined up along with d.c. police cruisers. part of the security presence set up in anticipation of the former president's arrival. it's atypical for this area to s

nbc news chief white house correspondent kristen welker is at the white house for us. ever seen a meeting quite like this one. what are we expecting? >> reporter: chris, you're absolutely right. this is the first of its kind. it's also the first time that president biden is hosting foreign leaders at camp david. we are expecting some deliverables. as you say, this is a show of force in the face of an increasingly aggressive north korea and a rising china. so we anticipate these three leaders will announce new annual military exercises, intention sharing agreements, as well as what's being called a three-way hot line. this would basically allow these leaders to communicate in the case of a crisis. the backdrop to this, chris, is not insignificant. it is a part of story today. one senior administration official talking about the importance of camp david and described it this way. quote, camp david was chosen quite carefully. i think there's a recognition that the venue is reserved for only the most important and significant such meetings. this official went on to cite the

kristen welker, this is the first time we're seeing a former president accused of trying to stop theprocess, the lawful election of a president. >> and as you said at the top these are among the most serious charges that he's facing in the indictments. it's a somber moment for the country undoubted lead. what does it mean politically with each indictment. we've seen his poll numbers go up and his fund-raising go up and his super pac has paid out more money in legal bills than it's brought in in this past year and he's just become increasingly emboldened in this republican primary. notably speaking, his former vice president mike pence for the first time really started to sharpen his tone yesterday to say anyone who has violated the constitution in this way should not be president, but for the most part his gop challengers have really kept the gloves off and have walked a very fine line and have kept their sights trained on the doj and politically speaking, that has allowed him to continue to be emboldened. if you take a step back historically speaking, going back to ronald reagan in

joining me now is kristen welker and laura jarrett. let me start with you, laura. the start date of a trial is upon us, october 23rd. what happened there? who does that apply to? >> it's really limited. it only applies to one of mr. trump's co-defendants who started all of this by demanding a speedy trial. the judge, as you mentioned, just signed off on it a short time ago. as of now, this incredibly fast schedule only applies to mr. ken chesebro, part of the scheme to submit the fake pro trump electors to congress. his case is now split off from the other 18 co-defendants including the former president whose lawyers signaled they want to slow things down. >> and you have new reporting from those close to the former president. >> they're defiant. i asked about the mood inside the former president's orbit. they point to the millions of views he got for that online interview. look, some of those who are close to the former president are concerned. this is taking place in a key state that mr. trump almost certainly needs if he wants to win re-election in 2024. they're

joined by senior legal correspondent laura jarrett, chief justice contributor jonathan dienst and kristen welker. you're getting indications the judge may want to move quickly with this case? >> absolutely, lester. all signs point to the judge, tanya chutkan, not looking to waste any time. coordinatoring with the imagine trait ahead of today's hearing to make sure 20 get everyone back in court later this month. she intends to set the trial date at this hearing. this is the same judge who nearly two years ago said presidents are not kings when she rejected mr. trump's attempt to block the january 6th committee from getting hands on documents from the white house. and she has a history of sending down longer sentences for those on trial for storming the government. >> kristen, tell us about the former president. he was really defiant today. >> he absolutely was, lester. it's interesting. the judge gave former president trump the opportunity to appear virtually, but he showed up in person. he spoke out after. it's something he has done after the first two indictments, essentially treating these mom

it was a sweet tribute for "saturday today's" rancor kristen welker.you missed it, this morning was her final day as anchor on the "today" show. they looked back at some of her best moments, and don't worry. welker is not leaving the nbc family. she's actually taking over "meet the press" for chuck todd as he moves on to do more long-form journalism for nbc news. welker's first day as the new host will be september 17th. >>> and back to our top story this morning. all month long asking you to help us "clear the shelters," and consider adopting a pet. nbc bay area and telemundo 48 teamed up with shelters across the bay area now for the ninth year in a row. this morning we find "today in the bay's" marcus washington and telly moond oes arlen fernandez live at berkeley humane. thank you so much for coming out on your day off, you two, for such an important cause. >> reporter: look, kira, we would not miss it. such a huge event. so much fun. a family events people can come out and enjoy because there's so much to do. >> reporter: i know. and other shelters

savannah and hoda enjoying well-deserved time off kristen welker is up from d.c., jaco soboroff are hereomorrow on "today." grocery shopping is more expensive than ever, and we are going to help you save money. >> we will share super market swaps like should you opt for eggs or cereal for breakfast the answer might surprise you. you don't want to miss it. that's coming up tomorrow on the show >>> meanwhile, we want to get to your news at 8:00. much of florida is under a state of emergency this morning as tropical storm idalia gets closer to the gulf coast building toward hurricane strength in st. petersburg right now, workers filling up sandbags that people can pick up for free to protect their property al has the latest and the track as well. >> yeah. it will be late tonight, early tomorrow morning may even happen later this afternoon. we will be watching it we have hurricane franklin that will be causing a lot of rip currents along the eastern seaboard all eyes here looking at the gulf we've got tropical storm watches, hurricane watches, hurricane warnings from eastport, florida all th

thank you for a closer look at that debate, we bring in nbc's chief white house correspondent, kristen welker here with us in the studio kristen, as one of the moderators put it last night, the big elephant not in the room, donald trump. we'll get to him in just a moment, but let's talk about the folks who were on the stage last night. who stood out most to you? what surprised you most? >> i think what surprised me most is that this is not the debate we were expecting we were expecting governor ron desantis who's number two in the polls to former president trump to really be in the spotlight. instead, it was newcomer, vivek ramaswamy, who was really front and center last night. you saw all of these heated exchanges with former vice president mike pence, with u.n. ambassador nikki haley and i think that that undoubtedly increased his name recognition i think more people know his name today the question is, does it cut both ways? he was also on the receiving end of some pretty serious attacks pence called him a rookie. you had nikki haley say that basically he has no foreign policy experience,

and so it turns that kristen welker from nbc was a stand up on pebble beach or i think they call it pebble beach on the other side of the white house and heard applause coming from what sounded like, you know, it was probably the rose garden and called josh earnest and said, what's going in the rose garden? and josh didn't know. so he called marvin nicholson, who was then his bodyguard. and marvin was at the wedding. so marvin told him. and then josh called me and said, we have to put a statement. and i was like, oh, no, no, no. like a but we had to put out a statement and. then we didn't talk about it at all. that's people just knew there had a small wedding. and then when this documentary film on me was in 2020, i think think the floodgates kind of opened because they interviewed the filmmakers, me and my wife, about the wedding. and then i message president obama and was like, look, they're not they're going talk about this in the film. is it okay with you? we show some of the photos. well, how did you choose our wedding? well, because big because the the president wasn't chuck kennedy

. >> ancer:m nbc ne thiss "today" with peter alexander and kristen welker. >>> welcome to "today." thank you for j us saturday. days later, it is hard to wrap your head around the breadth of the destruction in maui. >> it truly is. your heartbreaks for the families struggling. >> no doubt. that is where we start. >> the sufng duction maui is unthinkable. neighborhoods destroyed and many getting back to the homes to see the damage. look at the aerial view our nbc news crew captured on friday. nothing left but charred earth in what was a tropical paradise. >> there are questions why warning sirens did not go off to give people more time to escape. we will get the latest on the investigation and recovery from the state official. we begin with steve patterson in maui. steve, good morning. >> reporter: peter and kristen, good morning. death toll rising to 80 people putting this fire on track to be the deadliest in modern american history. it is unthinkable as unbelievable as that number sounds, it is expected to get worse. this morning, the grim reality setting in. residents returning t

. >> from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander and kristen welker. >>> welcome to "today," and thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning, and as we come on the air we're talking about the weather again with the west coast bracing for that really serious storm. >> yeah, san diego, los angeles really in the bull's eye for this thing right now, these are areas that get eight inches in a year. they could get more than that in just a matter of hours. that is where we start with this monster category 4 hurricane getting closer to mexico and california. it is expected to weaken to a tropical storm by the time that it slams into the coast tomorrow but the rain that it is bringing with it could be catastrophic. for the first time ever a tropical storm warning was issued for southern california and rafrl totals could be as high as ten inches. >> californians have already gun preparing. parts may see more rain in one day than they normally see in one to two years, that's where we begin this morning. angie lassman is watching this very closely. >> we've got a lot to unf

nbc's chief white house correspondent kristen welker is on the story this morning. what are we expecting out of this summit? why are the stakes so high right now? >> reporter: this summit is the first between these three nation and it is really aimed at being a show of force in the face of china aggression, including growing concerns russia could be helping north korea advance its nuclear arsenal. the three leaders are expected to announce new annual military exercises and also new intelligence sharing agreement including a three-way hotline to communicate during a crisis. it is the first time president biden is hosting foreign leaders at cam david, which has been the site of critical negotiations in the past. >> let's talk politics for a moment the first republican primary debate is next week. couple of questions, whether we'll see donald trump and how the rival candidates are planning to address him, address each other >> reporter: good question look, former president trump continues to be a real wild card overnight he once again signalled he's leaning towards not

hopefuls take the stage in milwaukee tonight, we turn to our chief white house correspondent, kristen welker. always good to have you. so we know former president trump won't be there, but he remains the clear front runner big question how do the candidates thread that needle and take advantage of mr. trump's absence but remain acutely aware that harshly criticizing him could find its way into an ad for president biden next year? >> reporter: that is the big question, craig. we have seen chris cristiek as t heard garret talk abou really on the attack against former president trump, as you just heard garrett talk about. but these other candidates have walked such a fine line. not wanting to alienate mr. trump's supporters the other big question tonight, craig, will we see questions between these candidates ron desantis is bracing for that given that he is running number two in the polls they will also have to answer some tough questions do they support a national abortion ban what do they think about mr. trump's indictments? and one of the elements that makes this debate tonight so interestin

alexander outside the courthouse there let's turn to senior legal correspondent laura jarrett and kristen welker we meet again. let's talk about this indictment 41 counts, 19 defendants it is a big piece of business. what are your take-aways >> it is expansive and this district attorney said she wanted to use racketeering because it allows the prosecutor to tell a story. and the story we see here is not just about the infamous phone call to the secretary of state, but also the intimidation of election workers, false statements filed in court. we didn't know all that would be included here, but she has done a deep dive. we talked how it overlaps with the federal case but here the racketeering charges alone, that carries 5 to 20 years in prison and that 5 years is mandatory. it's quite serious it's expensive but there's obviously going to be a long road to try. >> racketeering is one of the words that if they associate it at all, they think about organized crime. essentially what she's arguing here is there is this far flung conspiracy with 19 defendants, 30 unindicted coconspirators and it litera

kristen welker has the latest. >> reporter: he may be skipping this week's gop debate, but in iowa thisernor ron desantis, 42-19%. while mr. trump is facing four criminal indictments, nearly two-thirds of likely caucusgoers don't believe he committed a serious crime. >> i think it's way blown out of proportion, the whole thing, in my opinion. >> i felt like he was making a mockery of the office for his own enrichment. i did not appreciate it. >> reporter: still with five months until the caucuses, a majority of respondents say they haven't made up their mind. trump says he's not only passing up wednesday's debate, but may skip the next one too. he's expected to turn himself in fulton county, georgia this week. he has denied any wrongdoing. still, his rivals are sure to face questions about his legal troubles in the debate, including north dakota governor doug bergam. republican senator bill cassidy asked if the former president should drop out of the race. >> i think so, but he will lose to joe biden. >> reporter: florida governor ron desantis is facing backlash from the trump campaign

. >> nbc's kristen welker, thank you so much for your reporting. we greatly appreciate it. date in, i don't know, like 2034 or something. it's crazy. >> yeah. first on the summit at camp david, to underscore kristin's excellent report there, this is something this white house has worked for for a long time. i don't think we're going to hear the word china said explicitly too much later today from these leaders, including at that joint limited news conference. but china hovers overall of this. this is an effort to counterbalance their rising influence in the region, an important moment, one that many close to president biden believe will be a defining one of his foreign policy legacy. >>> setting that aside to matters here at home, you're right, donald trump's legal team has indeed proposed a trial date in the federal election interference date. it's april of 2026. that is 2 1/2 years later than the january 2024 start date proposed by special counsel jack smith. in their filing, trump's lawyers argue that given the massive amount of evidence they'll have to review, that's wh