>> peter alexander at the white house. peter, thank you >>> and we will be back in just 60 seconds with new clues and a possible motive in that deadly mass shooting in california >>> plus, the latest major hack who's behind it? >>> with the high-stakes summit between president biden and russian president vladimir putin just weeks away, an urgent new crisis at the forefront another hacking against the u.s. government being blamed on russia our pete williams has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: the latest attack hit the state department's agency for international development, usaid, which distributes america's foreign aid. the hackers inserted malware that sent what appeared to be genuine usaid emails to more than 150 recipients including human rights groups and other organizations that have been critical of russia's president vladimir putin in a blog post microsoft says the attack came from a threat actor called nobelium, originating from russia. the same group behind the huge solarwind attack that targeted the

saying republicans will not support tax increases that president biden has called for lester. >> peter alexander, thank you. >>> so what is next for liz cheney kasie hunt is with us. what can we expect >> reporter: lester, the decision to kick cheney out of leadership has really raised her national profile. and she's leaning into that kevin mccarthy is looking to the midterm elections in 2022 and possibly becoming house speaker, my sources are telling me she is thinking about this in the context of the presidential race in 2024. if former president trump tries to run again, she wants to stop him from reaching the oval office. >> thank you >> you can watch much more of savannah guthrie's interview tomorrow on "today." >>> in 60 seconds, with the cost of all kinds of things heading up how long will it last >>> the worst violence in seven years between israel and hamas militants is intensifying tonight and president biden is speaking out about the crisis for the first time here is molly hunter >> reporter: tonight, a direct hit this 14-story building in gaza crashing to the ground after an israeli

lester >> all right peter alexander at the white house. thank you. >>> a crack on a bridge linking tennessee and arkansas is causing some big headaches for tens of thousands of drivers who cross it each day and has quickly become a symbol of the country's broken infrastructure morgan chesky is there for us tonight >> reporter: tonight over the mississippi a crisis connecting two states close to catastrophe. >> we just found a supercritical finding that needs traffic shut down in both directions >> reporter: frantic inspectors calling 911 tuesday after discovering a cracked beam in the i-40 bridge between tennessee and arkansas, causing an immediate shutdown river barges backed up for days before finally getting the green light this morning. for those on the roads an even bigger problem. >> it was terrible i mean, traffic was backed for miles >> reporter: the problem felt all the way in washington. >> we don't have to use our imagination to understand why bridges are important and why they need to be in good repair. >> reporter: the america

lester >> peter alexander, thank you. >>> tonight health officials warn despite positive trends we have to remain on alert going into the holiday weekend. right now about 165 million americans have received at least one covid vaccine dose morgan radford has more from ohio tonight. >> reporter: after more than a year of waiting -- >> excited to get back to normal. >> reporter: -- americans are preparing for the biggest holiday since the vaccine rollout. travel is expected to be up 60% from last year, with tens of millions planning to hit the roads, rails, and skies this weekend. are you planning on traveling this holiday weekend? >> yes we're actually going to michigan. >> reporter: but there are still a lot of questions about safety for smaller outdoor gatherings like back yard barbecues, if you're certain everyone is fully vaccinated the cdc says no masks are needed because the risk is low. >> what if several families are gathering together and the adults are vaccinated but the younger kids who aren't eligible to be vaccinated yet are also there >> if you're with a smaller group of peo

peter alexander is at the white house. >> reporter: tonight with suspicion growing that covid-19 emerged from this chinese lab, president biden's ordering u.s. intelligence to redouble their efforts and provide a report on the origins of the outbreak within 90 days it's a dramatic shift for the white house that just yesterday said any investigation should be run by the world health organization the president revealing that u.s. intelligence is currently split over two possible scenarios, both with low or moderate confidence two agencies suspecting it came from human contact with an infected animal and another leaning toward a laboratory accident it comes after a u.s. intelligence report found that three researchers from the wuhan institute of virology became sick with covid-like symptoms and even went to the hospital right before the pandemic began. former president trump endorsed the lab leak theory more than a year ago when asked if he'd seen evidence giving him a high degree of confidence that the virus came from the lab. >> yes, i have and i think that the world health organization s

i'm peter alexander. night. >>> right now at 4:30, remembering the victims of the vta shooting. we'll hear from one man remembering a cousin who meant so much to him. >>> plus, understanding the origins of covid-19, joe biden launching an investigation. the one thing that may have led the white house to start asking questions. >>> tracking holiday heat. the worst of the weather is yet to come. >>> the news at 4:30 starts right now. thanks for joining us. >> a warm afternoon across the bay area right now. hot in some places. by this time tomorrow, it's really going to be heating up for people on serveg memorial day.

here's peter alexander. >> reporter: tonight an emotional last-minute plea from the mother of the late police officer brian sicknick >> usually i'm staying in the background and i just couldn't -- i couldn't stay quiet anymore. >> reporter: gladys sicknick on capitol hill personally lobbying senate republicans to back a bipartisan commission to investigate the january 6th attack, calling their opposition a slap in the face brian sicknick died of natural causes the day after the riot >> they're supposed to uphold the constitution, and right now i don't think they're doing it >> reporter: 35 republicans in the house joined democrats to approve the commission tonight president biden in ohio denounced senate republicans who oppose it >> i can't imagine anyone voting against the establishment of a commission on the greatest assault since the civil war. >> reporter: but most republican senators say the attack by a pro-trump mob is already being investigated by law enforcement and congress accusing democrats of a purely political exercise >> they'd like to continue to litigate the former pres

. >> i am joined by peter alexander and molly hunter.t has been trying to get all americans vaccinated, but the pressure is growing because it is seen as a threat to all of us and there is a lot of inequity here. >> you are right. this afternoon at 2:30 we will hear from president biden, another update, this one focused on the vaccination. they will have the goals they hope to set. you have laid it out with regards to the challenges. there are views about making the vaccine more available. it will allocate from states with low interest to states with higher interest. the global challenge that exists right now, most notably india, the president spoke to the prime minister of india and sent several planes full of medical supplies and oxygen and also has committed to sending doses of astrazeneca vaccine, not approved for use here in the united states. the chief of staff said the real issue is not the sort of waving of the vaccine patent that would allow for production of more generic vaccine. he said the real challenge is the vaccine produc

. >> richard engel and peter alexander with me. talk about what happened today. we have seen protests before but nothing this strong in terms of west bank support for what's happening with hamas and gaza. >> according to people in the west bank these were some of the most intense protests they have had in the region for several years. there have been smaller protests with 20, 30, 40 people who would throw stones at israeli soldiers. but there were hundreds of people. they were from a variety of parties. many of them were not hamas supporters. i was in an area that was not a hamas stronghold. these people are coming out in solidarity with gaza. they came out with size and stones and started throwing rocks at israeli soldiers. soldiers responded with tear gas and things started to escalate. there was some gunfire from the palestinian side. israelis responded with gunfire. i saw one person get shot not far from where i was and officials said one palestinian was killed by gunfire. it seems two israeli soldiers may have also been injured by gunfire as well. it was an

joining us now is blaine alexander and peter alexander.ars ago. why did it take this long? why did they say he was killed in a car crash when they got to the morgue and said that diagnosis was left -- was questionable. >> those exact two questions are the questions family has been asking for quite sometime. i just spoke by phone with the civil rights attorney representing the family. they said they filed requests, met with the governor of louisiana, trying to get release of that full body video. the family filed a wrongful death lawsuit last year. it was soon after this we learned federal investigation. but it wasn't until we saw this video that was released by the associated press that we're getting a clearer picture of what happened last night. at least according to some of the body cameras activated that night. another thing we're also learning is a piece of audio, something obtained by the associated press last year, which you can hear one of the officers who was present actually recounting the arrest that night. take a listen to this.

let's go to peter alexander with more on this.nk, for the former president's political future? >> in terms of what we're hearing is again this anger and frustration directed and big tech arguing that big tech has been specifically targeting conservatives. you heard that the former president that they want to see it broken up. they're saying their frustration with the private company is reason for the federal government to in some form punish them going forward. in terms of what this really means here as written by others, this is not so much about the mega phone as it may be about the money for him here. recognizing how much money he was taking in and spending on facebook in the 2020 campaign. president trump spent roughly 160 million on facebook ads that allowed him to micro target key supporters and also to cultivate grass root donor ads. he also raised a ton of money as well, raising $378 million, we know, in 2020. much of that came through outlets like facebook that may be the real issue here. if the president were able to run

nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander leads us off good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. this is a dramatic development we first learned about overnight, and it means that former president trump's potential legal troubles just got much bigger. while the manhattan d.a. and the new york attorney general had been conducting these two separate but parallel investigations, those powerful offices are now working together on a criminal investigation into the trump organization's business dealings. overnight, new legal pressure on former president trump and his family, as an investigation into his organization's finances adds a criminal element the new york attorney general's office informing the trump organization that its investigation into the company is no longer purely civil in nature saying in a statement, we are now actively investigating thece manhattan d.a. while a civil probe can result in lawsuits or fines, a criminal one can mean potential charges the added muscle in his home state bringing extra pressure on the former president the already sweeping criminal p

stephanie gosk for us in new york, peter alexander, there at his post. thanks to both of you. >>> i want to bring in dr. peter hotez, co-director of the texas children's hospital for vaccine development. he is the dean of the national school of tropical medicine. let's start where we just left off with stephanie, this idea about herd immunity. for months we have been talking about herd immunity. reaching a certain number of americans vaccinated to largely protect the broader population. this is what dr. fauci and dr. walensky said about herd immunity this morning. >> my goal is not a specific enough. >> we have to get away from this elusive concept and elusive threshold. we don't know what that number is for coronavirus, because we have never been through this experience before. >> doctor, for months it was all about herd immunity. get to herd immunity. now it's like, maybe it's not about herd immunity. what changed? >> well, to be honest, i stopped using that term as of last year. the reason i did that was the term was so abused by right wing groups and

. >> let's bring in nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander and our old friend hans nichols from axios. they have been talking about the calls they're making, the meeting with republicans, working on bipartisanship. but you heard mitch mcconnell, zero, zippo, zilch. what does the white house do with that? >> the white house is pushing back against this whole idea here. they refer to this not as spending but investments. pete buttigieg, i was with him friday trying to make this case in north carolina, and he said the country for decades have been in a national experiment of bargain basement governance. we need to invest in the future going forward. as to the point mitch mcconnell is making that infrastructure is being too loosely defined by this administration, buttigieg said in fact whatever is preventing you from being able to lead a good life, if it's a road that needs to be repaired, that's significant. but for a lot of families, they require elder care or childcare for them to be able to pursue a job. as it relates to the topic of taxes here, he makes a similar point, we

i'm peter alexander in today for my friend stephanie ruhle.ednesday, may 26th and here is what is happening right now. any minute from now secretary of state tony blinken is set to meet with jordan to meet with king abdullah. blinken called a voice for peace in keeping the israel-hamas cease-fire from falling apart. >>> police reform after george floyd's family met with the president and called on lawmakers to get a bill done in floyd's name. and the investigation into donald trump and his business empire appears to have reached a new phase. "the washington post" reporting that the manhattan d.a. has convened a special grand jury that could hear evidence and weigh possible criminal charges against mr. trump, his staff or his family. i want to bring in my colleague to the white house, nbc's chief white house correspondent kristen welker, david farrenholt covers trump for "the washington post" and the one who broke this stare, legal affairs columnist for politico and joyce vance is former u.s. attorney and professor at the university of alabama

peter alexander is at white house.osi said a couple of moments ago it's more important the bill get put together correctly rather than the time line -- what should we expect from the white house as they try to prioritize this? >> reporter: we have heard from some of the negotiators, tim scott and cory booker saying they don't think they will have a cure all that will take care of it all. the president said, let's get it done referring to the anniversary of george floyd's death. it's unlikely that would happen right now. the house doesn't have another vote scheduled for another three weeks. a white house official tells me the white house is heartened by the bipartisan negotiations taking place. rather than setting next tuesday as the date, this official told me they were focused on getting it done as soon as possible. the challenge is how they get that done. obviously, these have been sensitive negotiations taking place on capitol hill. it's our understanding that there are conversations about strategies going forward o

nbc's peter alexander is at the white house.to happen this calendar year, but what are you hearing from the administration about what's driving this change? >> reporter: that's exactly right, craig. the bottom line is they do this by fiscal year. they would have to allow 62,500 refugees to be resettled here in the u.s. by the end of september. the president says that's not going to happen. he blames, in his words, the damage of former president trump in the last four years for staffing and budget cuts, among other things, but the reason -- and this is the first real significant about-face from this president and from this white house, and the reason, while they had initially promised there would be 62,000 or so this year, that the white house hadn't raised that number wasn't entirely clear. the president was sticking to that 15,000, that record low mark that existed in the previous administration, the white house insists that was never their intention. by doing this in monday's announcement the president is trying to make it cle

let me bring in peter alexander. he's at the white house for us. dr. patel, is this the announcement the unofficial, okay, let's go back to the office, folks? >> i think we're getting the first indication of that when we hear from cdc director rochelle walensky in a matter of minutes now. as sources shared with nbc news, she's likely to say this is the day we longed for. this is the vj day, victory day, day where americans vaccinated can return to their lives in most instances. but obviously, the real challenge for this white house, for this president, has been the best way to communicate effectively what the science is on this without going too far, right? before the president took over, there was a lot of concern the last president, former president trump was not obviously in line with the science. the concern was the white house was going a little too far with the restrictions it had in place, given what we knew about the science and science right now. in many ways this is the sort of rip your mask off day, one the president can share with ameri

. >>> i want to bring in our chief white house correspondent peter alexander, tracking developments from there. and kelly, i want to start with you. the clashes in jerusalem, they pose an early test to see if this cease-fire holds. what are you seeing, what are you hearing on the ground, kelly? >> this absolutely is the first test of this cease-fire. so far it is holding. but these incidents at the temple mount, this incident is still ongoing as far as we understand. we just got the latest from the israeli police spokesman saying this started after friday prayers. according to israeli place there were rioters, rocks being thrown, molotov cocktails being thrown on the temple mount and that israeli forces -- israeli police responded trying to clear the rioters and allowing people to leave the area. they said this involved several hundred people but we don't have an exact number. there were also injuries reported from this. the israeli police using rubber bullets and stun gra nads, according to some reports. what's really important here, and police issued an updated statement to say they di

let me turn into chief white house correspondent peter alexander. i understand we'll hear about this not too long from now. but can't forget, there was a lot of anger building up. we heard members of congress really suggesting that maybe the cdc had lost some credibility because it hadn't made this call before. >> reporter: lester, i think that's right. as we witnessed in the last administration where there was a sense of you weren't hearing the science, now there's a sense that perhaps they're being too conservative until what the science was at this time. this day for the white house really provides that rip your mask off moment for americans right now and dr. torres' point, for the white house's purposes, also provides a better communication of the reward that exists for americans right now. you talk about the president's goal. he wants to hit 70% of american adults that will have at least one shot by july 4th. 160 million americans fully vaccinated by that date. we're still about 40 million shy of that number and the number of americans who have

we'll start with nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander, peter good morning. >> even as liz cheney faces all but certain removal from her number three house republican leadership post she is pushing back against her party effectively saying it is not worth trying to keep the job if that means lying about the 2020 election and in that sharp new essay, cheney is promising to defend the democratic process, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be. with her house republican leadership job in jeopardy, liz cheney remains defiant warning her colleagues in an op-ed that history is watching as they push to oust her for calling out former president trump's repeated lies about the 2020 election the third ranking house republican calling this a turning point urging her party to steer away from the dangerous and anti-democratic trump cult of personality the former president looking to tighten his grip on the gop lashing out at cheney as a war mongering fool who has no business in republican party leadership, while endorsing a k a republican civil war coming at a

and peter alexander and ben rose, former national security adviser to president obama. we saw celebrations in israel and celebrations in gaza, but still tension hours ago. you were there. tell us about it. >> that's right. it was shortly after the friday prayers in the compound known to jews as the temple. thousands had gathered to celebrate the cease-fire. flags were flying including the hamas flag was flying. according to eyewitnesss israeli troops entered the compound dispersing the crowd using rubber bullets. now israeli police say rubber bullets were not used today. they said they used nonlethal means to disperse the crowd. they allege there was people there with mol molotov cocktails. this is the fragility of the situation. it was this kind of clashes that led up to the sequence of the gaza violence. now the cease-fire tenuous in place, but it illustrates the cease-fire does nothing to address the underlying roots of the conflict. andrea? >> thank you so much for that update. erin was in east jerusalem. peter, keeping an eye on the middle east and also turning att

this is a stunning picture by gpa healy george washington peter alexander. healy was a very good portraits and i think this conveys that john tyler had a presence presence to him. and he is he was maligned a lot at the time. it was an accident and became president because the death of harrison and so he is he was referred to by his opponents as his accident scene. it wasn't fair. he'd enjoyed along and successful little career. it served as a virginia legislator had been a governor had been a us representative been a senator. he greatly admired jefferson. and he tried to emulate jefferson and part of the reason was that. his father was thomas jefferson's roommate in college at wayman mary and a personal friend. and so he endorsed jefferson's concepts of states' rights of limited federal government the virtue of agrarian life in the very bottom of this slide. it's only image ahead of it is a coin that is that that celebrates john tyler as and it's it's like the washington campaign button that we looked at and so we tried to match jefferson in every way and he

>> peter alexander at the white house. peter, thank you. >>> meantime, the u.s. is expected to hit a new milestone today in the fight against the coronavirus. 60% of adults receiving at least one vaccine shot. as more states agree to lift mask mandates, the white house says it will rush vaccines to other countries struggling with the virus. nbc's tom costello has details. tom, good morning. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. you mentioned the 60% stat. i have a couple other stats even more impressive. 84% of those 65 and older have now received at least one vaccine dose. 81% decline from the peak in april of last year for deaths. the white house is hoping by july 4th, at least 70% of the adult population may have had at least one vaccine. but to mask or not to mask, that now has become a very personal dilemma for many americans. with nearly 60% of american adults now having received at least one shot, this morning, the country is divided over whether the cdc acted too quickly in dropping its mask guidance for those who are fully vaccinated. >> if you are vaccinated

white house correspondent peter alexander is o story this morning peter, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you president biden is hosting the floyd family here for what's supposed to be a private meeting. it is actually their first face-to-face visit with the president since george floyd's funeral. several family members, we're told, are expected to attend, including floyd's 7-year-old daughter gianna. overnight, the family's attorney, ben crump, and i spoke, and he told me the meeting is intended to, quote, keep momentum going for the justice and policing act, named in floyd's honor. >> peter, thank you very much. >>> another issue that is front and center for the biden administration, the middle east. overnight, secretary of state antony blinken began his visit to the region, looking to bolster the cease-fire between israel and hamas and boost humanitarian aid after the worst fighting in nearly a decade. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell is in jerusalem for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. secretary of state blinken is her

according to the pool note, peter alexander, one of the reporters in there, you know what happened with kevin mccarthy and his leadership. can you trust him and work with him? no answer. >> reporter: it's really fascinating and such a pertinent question. the reason is because kevin mccarthy is sitting in the oval office as one of four bipartisan members meeting formally for the first time with the president of the united states coming from what, just two hours earlier, overseeing a vote to oust a member of his own leadership because she dared to speak out and say that the election wasn't stolen and that joe biden was fairly elected, that same joe biden, president biden, kevin mccarthy is sitting with in the oval office as we speak to discuss whether or not they can find bipartisan compromise on a host of issues, first and foremost the infrastructure legislation. >> it feels like an encapsulation of everything messed up about washington. >> it is, pretty hard to do because it's a very complicated and deep and wide ranging m, messed up in your terms. that's first and foremost. the thing i

peter alexander for us this morning. thank you. >>> meantime, andrew brown jr., the 42-year-old black man who was killed in a confrontation with police in north carolina was laid to rest yesterday loved ones called brown a friendly man eager to be everyone's best friend his family was joined at the service by relatives of george floyd, eric garner and daunte wright >> we have to stay on the battlefield in order to get justice. we have to let them know that we're serious, because if they can sweep this under the rug, that's what they do. >> we feel the pain this family is feeling we're tired, we're very tired, because the policemen are supposed to protect and serve. >> the families say they are pushing on in a quest for equality meantime, the investigation into brown's death is ongoing >>> let's go back to mr. roker, who has a busy one this morning. what you got >> good morning, guys. besides the severe storms down to the lower mississippi river valley and the gulf, record highs down in florida, damp and cool here in the

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today," with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> and welcome to "today." thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. dylan is enjoying the weekend off. peter, good to be with you. that move by simone biles, that will wake you up on a saturday morning. it's called the yurchenko double pike, tough to pronounce and tougher to pull off. >> i feel like i did that once while skiing, but that was not on purpose. no woman has ever done this in competition. this is going to be her first competition in 18 months today in indianapolis. there will be tons of people watching to see if she can make it happen. >> a lot of people getting excited for the olympics as they watch. we'll have more on that. >>> first let's get to our top story, double trouble on the weather front. the first named storm of the season in the atlantic and another system drenching the gulf coast this morning. nbc's blayne alexander is following both of them for us. good morning. what's the latest on the ground there? >> reporter: good morning to you. this

joining us to discuss, nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander and andrew weissmann, former fbi general counsel and former member of robert mueller's special counsel that investigated russia's interference in the 2016 election. now, lucky us, nbc legal analyst. peter, let's start with you. what do we know. >> "the new york times" is reporting the state's attorney general's office in new york has been criminally investigating allen weisselberg for months over tax issues. the office of letitia james notified the trump administration in a letter in january it opened that criminal investigation related to weisselberg according "the times." more specifically they're examing whether taxes were made on fringe benefits trump gave mr. weisselberg, cars, tens of thousands in private school tuition for one of weisselberg's grandchildren. previously the ag's office was conducting what was only a civil investigation into the organization, which means it could sue the company or seek fines but not criminal charges. for his part the former president tore into prosecutors, including letitia

. >>> i want to bring in nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander. shaquille brewster is in minneapolis and garrett haake on capitol hill. peter, the floyd family would like to see a bill that helps save lives and curbs bad policing. they're not going to get that, at least not today. what will they get? >> they'll certainly have a meeting here with the president the first time they've been face to face with mr. biden since he was there for them during the funeral last year. earlier in the day, as you noted, they will visit with house speaker nancy pelosi later this afternoon with the u.s. senators. and the senators said president biden wants them to hear and listen to perspectives on this issue. and i spoke with ben crump, the family attorney. he will be here including his 7-year-old daughter gianna. she's notable, of course, you heard from the president saying her words really touched him saying at the time that daddy changed the world. he said, among other things, this was really an opportunity to pay proper respect to george floyd with a president

. >>> from nbc news this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> welcome to "today." thanks for joining us on this saturday morning, may day. happy may day to you. it is not feeling like it in d.c. wind gusts are approaching 60 miles per hour yesterday. dylan, any relief? >> and wind chills in the 30s. yes. wait for tomorrow. may 2nd looks a whole lot better. >> we're going to hold on. it is nippy out there. let's get to the top story and new signs of hope in the batted he will against the coronavirus. americans increasingly returning to their old routines, but while many are looking forward to the coming months, india is dealing with a massive humanitarian crisis. hospitals and crematoriums filled to the breaking point. we have it covered from all corners of the globe. let's begin in vegas. >> things are looking better for california. only a few months ago, this was the epicenter of the pandemic, now infections reduced almost 30 pest in the last two weeks. this as disneyland opens its doors. another showing of what could be the end of the tunnel. >> this

i'm peter alexander in for my friend andrea.he key procedural vote on the january 6 commission that passed the house with bipartisan support. across the potomac we are waiting to hear from president biden about the covid pandemic as we head into memorial day weekend. >> i want to bring in -- >> leanne, let's get to you. the vote on the hill is ongoing. we have seen five republican senators who have broken ranks saying they would support advancing this legislation to have a bipartisan independent commission. they will need ten republicans for this to move forward. what are you watching now? what is the latest? >> it's six republicans. that's why i keep looking down at my phone to see if that number has changed. six republicans have voted to move on with this bill to form this commission. this is a key vote. if they do not get the 60 votes necessary, then the commission is dead, at least for the time being. the six senator republicans who is have voted for it include susan collins, lisa murkowski, cassidy of louisiana, rob portman

peter alexander, what has the a.g. found there? >> the a.g.ave found something that made this go from civil to criminal. >> stephen: checks out. don lemon, what does that actually mean? >> that means it's civil in nature but also criminal. they just added this criminal capacity on top of it. ( laughter ) >> stephen: do we have-- do we have another copy of the script? because this one has marinara on it. i had calamari for lunch. maybe i shouldn't have thrown that out. do we have-- oh, it's in the teleprompter? okay. all right, jumped the gun a little bit there. what was i going to talk about? oh, right. barack obama has always been surprisingly respectful of his successor, waxed gritty, going all the way back to 2016, when he somehow maintained dignity while greeting him at the white house. it was like having to meet your daughter's new fiance, who is also your racist uncle. but according to a new book, during the 2020 campaign, obama privately let folks know how he really felt, calling the fraudfather a "madman," a "racist, sexist pig," and "

i've got to go straight to the white house and bring peter alexander in, along with the chairman of the council of economic advisers under president obama and douglas hopes eakin, he was chief economist of economic advisers under president george w. bush. peter, i have to turn to you first, how is the white house spinning this? >> we will be hearing from president biden at 11:30 today. so you will get the first formal reaction when he speaks then. but based on my conversations there, i think it's likely the president will use this as a window to try to reinforce the argument he feels the american jobs plan needs to be passed going forward, insisting neareds needs to be done. officials insist that all along they knew this recovery would happen with "b.i.p."s and starts and would make the case that the american rescue plan, coronavirus relief plan with nearly $2 trillion was so crucial here. i suspect they will say things like a lot of work is now beginning to happen. just this week they were accepting applications for the restaurant revitalization fund. that's close to $29 billion. that

. >> peter alexander at the white house, how big of a deal is this? >> this is a significant deal and sort of a dramatic escalation in this investigation. in the past there was a civil investigation by the new york attorney general and joining forces with the manhattan d.a. to harry's point about the timing on this. we know from the manhattan d.a. he said that the statute of limitations on this he thought was effectively the course for a short period of time. he said it would expire soon and he's going to be leaving his post at the end of this year. so in term it is of when next moves may take place here, if either or both of the prosecutors in this case find something that they believe is worthy of charging the former president, his family members and his associates and of the company itself and it is likely that that will happen before the end of this year and we already know that the d.a. had had access to his taxes, that they've been looking into potential tax or bank-related fraud here. so the fact that they are partnering up and that the a.g. ma

my colleague, peter alexander, was in the oval office. you heard him there pressing the president, given all of the turmoil inside the republican party. can he work with leader mccarthy? does he trust leader mccarthy? it's hard to hear. we played the tape back a number of times. it appears the president did respond yes, but you can see the stone faces on the leaders when that question was asked because, of course, all of this turmoil comes against the backdrop of the president bringing these leaders in to try to get a deal on his infrastructure proposals, his job proposals. he wants to spend trillions of dollars and increase taxes on wealthy americans and large corporations in order to pay for it. right now republicans are saying all of that is a nonstarter. they will not roll back the trump tax cuts. in my conversations on capitol hill they do want to get something done, because they need to be able to show they have done something heading into 2022. and that's really the broader concern within the republican party, andrea. the fact you

. >>> from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >> welcome to "today." thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. you look at that shark video, peter, and you have to ask, is there a big enough boat? >> i was going to say, i don't even need to be in the boat, i'd rather be the guy on the beach working the drone and watching from a distance. the good news is they're not coming at you. the bad news, there are a whole lot more sharks out there than we might have thought. >> we will have a lot more on this fascinating store. we want to get to our top store story and the pandemic. fully one-third of americans are fully vaccinated and higher for older americans, nearly 70% of people older than the age of 65. this weekend, the atlanta braves are doing their part with fans able to get a shot at the ballpark. nbc is at the ballpark with a shot at the braves. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to n milestone. for the first time in almost a year, the atlanta braves were in front of a crowd of nearly 100% capacity and expected

. >>> announcer: from nbc news this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >>> welcome to "today." thank you so much for joining us on this saturday morning. great to be with you on this holiday weekend. people are celebrating the fact that they can be together, but dylan, boy, it sure doesn't feel like unofficial start to summer. >> it is wet for the east coast. but can we talk about the positives, allergies are feeling better, no sunburns this weekend. >> no red nose as folks head back to lives next week. appreciate it. that's where we start. the top story, tens of millions makeup for lost time, taking to the roads and sky, eager for a jump start on the unofficial start of summer. stormy weather is making travel miserable for millions. that's where we begin with blayne alexander at the busiest airport in atlanta this morning. good morning. >> reporter: crowds are coming back at airports, including hartsfield-jackson airport. when we looked at travel last year, numbers were the lowest on record. now with nearly 40% of the country fully vaccinated, holiday t

. >>> from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander, kristen welker and dylan dreyer. >> welcome to "today." thanks for joining us on this saturday morning. something is a little bit different. i don't need binoculars you. you're real. >> dylan, we're sitting closer together after that new cdc guidance and of course we're all fully vaccinated. >> i love it. now i feel extra far away from you guys. >> you have to come on down. >> we'll be fighting for elbow room. we'll get to more on that in a second. first we start with the escalating violence in the middle east. israeli forces launching more attacks against hamas overnight as new rocket attacks this morning are targeting one of israel's largest cities. richard engel is in tel aviv this morning. richard, good morning to you. we know you just heard air raid sirens there. what's the latest? >> reporter: rocket attacks are continuing on israeli cities. in the last few moments we heard two sets of air raid sirens. our nbc producer witnessed a rocket crashing in to the sea off of tel aviv. what happened, what we saw, you hear the air

nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander has more. >> reporter: with suspicion growing that covid-19 emerged from this chinese lab, president biden is ordering u.s. intelligence to redouble their efforts and provide a report on the originals of the outbreak within 90 days. it's dramatic shift for the white house, that just said any investigation should be run by the world health organization. the president revealing that u.s. intelligence is currently split over two possible scenarios, both with low or moderate confidence. two agencies suspecting it came from human contact, with an infected animal. and another leaning towards a laboratory accident. it comes after a u.s. intelligence report found that three researchers from the wuhan institute of virology became sick with covid-like symptoms and even went to the hospital right before the pandemic began. former president trump endorsed the lab leak theory more than a year ago, when asked if he's seen evidence giving him a high degree of confidence that the virus came from the lab. >> yes, i have. and i think that the worl

nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander has more.d morning to you, peter. >> reporter: sheinelle, good morning to you. despite his election loss six months ago, this may be the week that former president trump really cemented his control of the republican party, with the expected ouster of liz cheney, one of his most prominent gop critics. cheney calling this a turning point, but it appears increasingly clear that the republican party has already made its turn. with house republicans on track to expel liz cheney from her leadership post as early as next week, her likely replacement is already auditioning for the job. unlike cheney, stefanik embracing former president trump in new interviews, telling trump loyalists that president trump is the leader and the voice of the republican party. and speaking to former trump adviser steve bannon >> my vision is to run with support from the president and his coalition of voters. we are one team, and that means pelosi dismissing stefanik. >> maybe she's more, shall we say, compliant it's not my

or make them leave the country dissertation will come back, but it will not come back. alexander, how people peter? yeah, yeah. maybe i can just jump in if you allow me, because i think this could also be that this incident, it's not only about the blogger, it's also about sending a message to the west of that location. it's apparently think he can act with, with impunity. he can do whatever he wants to without fearing any major consequences. and this also could be a strong message to all of the opposition figures. journalists, civil society, members, look, no one can protect you, i can get you. and this is of course, very dangerous development. but that could be also part of his thinking behind what happens in minsk. sorry, what's your, what's your response? this is this debate about whether the, you know, the personality of professor bitch is, is important whether or whether he's part of the generation. is it the individual or is it the, is it the, the people surrounding him, people working with him as well? i think it's more of the telegram channel next to him because i can say it's journalist

peter alexander. >> we love you. >> you're great.

i've got to go straight to the white house and bring peter alexander in, along with the chairman of the