peter alexander has more on the fallout. >> reporter: tonight, president biden ignoring questions about that explosive special counsel report after last night disputing the report's conclusion that he willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency. >> the assertions are not only misleading, they're just plain wrong. >> reporter: special counsel robert hur found no criminal charges are warranted. today the white house slamming hur's report comparing it to the justice department's classified documents investigation of former vice president mike pence. >> it was a brief one-page letter to mike pence, but in this case, there was a 15-month investigation. he reached the inevitable conclusion based on the facts and the evidence that there was no case here >> reporter: justice department officials tell nbc news, hur included damaging details referring to what he called the president' diminished faculties and faulty memory because that was a key reason hur did not recommend charges, arguing a jury would be unlikely to convict because president biden would presen

lester >> peter alexander, thanks. >>> i'm joined now by admiral james stavridis, former nato supreme allied commander. admiral, you've heard the list of weaponry and some of the aircraft involved. what does that tell you about the nature of this response? >> three things. one, lester, this is going to be a long campaign we're going to bring in all kinds of assets from the long-range bombers, drones, aircraft operating off ships. number two, this is clearly a signal to iran that we are willing to fully commit in this campaign, and, number three, we are serious. it is time for iran to back down. >> admiral james stavridis, thank you >>> in a michigan courtroom today, closing arguments in the involuntary manslaughter trial of jennifer crumbley, the mother of a teenager who shot and killed four students at oxford high school maggie vespa now with late details >> reporter: tonight, jennifer crumbley's fate will soon be in the hands of a jury after closing arguments in her involuntary manslaughter trial honed in on whether the 45-year-old michigan mom broke the law by failing to stop her s

peter alexander here. he joins us. peter, you asked the president about that today. >> lester, that's right. president biden is now joining top democrats in demanding house republicans abandon their impeachment inquiry after the indictment of that longtime informant here is our exchange on that earlier today. >> should the inquiry be dropped >> he is lying, and it should be dropped, and it's just been a -- it's been an outrageous effort from the beginning. >> alexander smirnov was arrested wednesday charged with lying about financial ties between the president, his son hunter, and the ukrainian energy company, burisma, allegations that have been central to the republicans' impeachment push burisma, as you know, had hired hunter onto its board, but the justice department says smirnov falsely claimed that the company paid the bidens $5 million each in bribes. tonight the top house republican says the impeachment inquiry does not rely on that informant's accusations, but on a, quote, large record of evidence and that they

lester >> all right peter alexander at the white house, thanks. >>> we are back in a new moment with a money-saving trend making a splash on social media and off-label brands in the spotlight. >>> we're back with the price you pay and a big shift in the way people are shopping, many increasingly giving less expensive store brands a spin to make every penny count. and it's all playing out on social media. christine romans reports. >> reporter: inflation-weary shoppers are chasing cheap and bragging about it >> i'm just not paying tyson prices if i don't have to. >> the waffles are a dollar cheaper than eggo's >> reporter: they're being called dupes, less expensive alternatives or private labels and the social media generation loves them. >> elf is in their dupe era >> let's compare a $5 stanley cup dupe to the real thing >> reporter: it's kind of flipping the script on our parents' generation, keeping up with the joneses this is buying an inexpensive thing to keep up with being cool >> exactly it's an interesting flip of the script the inflation levels we've been dealing with the last

peter alexander is at the white house with more >> reporter: tonight, president biden facing calls to declassify details following a cryptic warning that there is a, quote, serious national security threat to the u.s. that ominous and highly unusual public message from the house intelligence committee chairman, republican mike turner, saying the president needs to make that move so that congress, the administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat tonight, four sources with knowledge of the matter tell nbc news that threat refers to a russian military capability with two of those sources specifying, it refers to russia's military capabilities in space. we pressed the president's national security adviser about turner's warning. >> can you tell americans that there's nothing they have to worry about right now in terms of what he describes as a national security threat? >> in a way that question is impossible to answer with a straight yes, right, because americans understand that there are a range of threats and challenges in the world.

peter alexander at the white house, thanks. >>> we are back in a new moment with a money-saving trend making a splash on social media and off-label brands in the spotlight. owing that your chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetes could progress to dialysis is important. b is for belief that there may be more you can do. just remember that k is for kidneys and kerendia. for adults living with ckd in type 2 diabetes, kerendia is proven to reduce the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. kerendia is a once-daily tablet that treats ckd differently than type 2 diabetes medications to help slow the progression of kidney damage and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks. do not take kerendia if you have problems with your adrenal glands or take certain medications called cyp3a4 inhibitors. kerendia can cause hyperkalemia, which is high potassium levels in your blood. ask your doctor before taking products containing potassium. kerendia can also cause low blood pressure and low sodium levels. so now that you know your abcs, don't wait. kidney damage fro

it's where we begin tonight with peter alexander. >> reporter: tonight, the american retaliatory strikes have begun. u.s. central command saying late this evening, u.s. forces began striking more than 85 targets in iraq and syria using numerous aircraft including long-range bombers flown from the u.s. the targets, iran's islamic revolutionary guard quds force and affiliated militia groups hitting their control and operation centers and intelligence centers, rockets and missiles and unmanned air vehicle storage among other sites. president biden tonight saying, our response began today. it will continue at times and places of our choosing adding, let all those who might seek to do us harm know this, if you harm an american, we will respond. the u.s. strikes come in response to that deadly drone attack by iranian-backed militias that struck tower 22, a desert outpost in jordan killing three u.s. service members. that attack among more than 160 against american targets by iranian-backed militias since october. president biden had previously authorized limited strikes in response that even h

joining me now is peter alexander and richard engel, who is in ukraine for us today. richard, what else -- do we know why she was detained? >> reporter: it seems like this is politically motivated. this is a move by russia to show power, to show that it is not intimidated by the united states, that it is almost an affront to the u.s. the u.s. said it's going to impose these sanctions on friday. today, the european union and the uk imposed more sanctions on russia. the eu imposing them on nearly 200 individuals and entities. the uk specifically sanctioning officials at the penal colony where navalny died. i think we're seeing russia respond that it's not taking all of this lying down. it is stepping up its attacks in ukraine. not sure if you can hear it. it's a little far away. there are air raid sirens where i am right now. there are air raid sirens in many places where you travel to in eastern ukraine right now. this whole area is under -- i don't want to say constant attack, but frequent attack. there tend to be concentrated attacks on specific towns and villages th

because it did not happen. >> our thanks to nbc's peter alexander for that report. er for that report. we'll be right back. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. but i'm protected with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd, and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy. it's been 22 months since russia not opposition politician, washington post contributor, and my friend vladimir coromato was arrested in russia. a day after appearing o

. >> and monica, we heard our colleague peter alexander ask a question there about potential consequences and his regime could face for all of this, and he quoted the president directly from a couple of years ago when he said there would be devastating consequences if navalny were to die in prison. the president wasn't clear that there would be some kind of devastating consequence now that it has happened, was he? >> reporter: that's right, ana, and i think those were really important questions from our colleague peter alexander who also asked was this an assassination point-blank, and the president said we're still gathering information, but in effect, it doesn't really matter because putin is responsible, because russia is going to be held accountable for this death, but what was notable if that follow-up answer is he said since he made those comments in 2021 about potentially devastating consequences, the biden administration has issued plenty of sanctions on the russian government and key players there that they feel is what would be kind of part of this potential response that could

what did peter alexander say? i missedn. exander that what you were saying. >> what was that? well, he he accurately pointed that biden had made that gaffein about confusing a witht, t the mexican president. >> they're not the same person. it's totally different area of the world. alexander pointed that out cleanl d,y and just reported it. yeah, well, raymond, just because it's frida y, es per i'm granting your wishes. >> oh, thank you. >> okay. now, laura, i know you know, think it's awful the way anchors have to interview certain news makers with no warning. >> i wish cnn would aler ting th their anchors that interviewing jamie raskin. the congressman can inducee vomiting. >> watch. congress might act in the me, to exercise our two two thirds authority to removem do the disability from donald trump. now, that's obviously an .t. avagan trump >> his insurrectionist disability, poor wolf blitzer law. whether it was read raskin'santg ranting or a bad colum on. s >> cnn's wolf was not 100%. that's like saying biden's is not at 100%. i mean, portman was about to, you know, know th

and the senate i interviewed him and comfort him, he was never in this condition. >> what did peter alexandermade that gaffe abou confusing him with the mexican president, they are not the sam person. it's a totally different area o the world, alexander pointed that out cleanly and just reported it. >> just because it's friday, i am granting you three wishes per . >> thank you. laura, you know, i think it's off all the way that anchors have to interview certain newsmakers with no warning. i wish cnn would alert they're anchors that interviewing the congressman can induce vomiting widespread. >> congress might ask in the meantime to exercise there two thirds of the ready to remove the disability from donald trump . that's obviously an extravagant hypothetical is insurrection a disability? >> poor wolf blitzer. whether it was the ranting or a bad clam, cnn said wolf was not at 100 percent. >> that's like saying biden is not at 100 percent. >> you know that feeling, especially when your little kid and you felt like you are going to throw up for a guy, that's horrible. what else? >> my second wis

my colleague peter alexander has all the details. >> we press the presidents national security advisorr's warning. >> can you tell americans there's nothing they have to worry about right now in terms of what he described as a national security threat? >> in a way that question is impossible to answer with a straight yes. because americans understand that there are a range of threats and challenges in the world. i'm confident president biden and decisions that he is taking is going to ensure the security of the american people going forward. >> a top house democrat is urging calm. >> no cause for panic or alarm around this particular piece of intelligence. >> reporter: and tonight, this from the house speaker. >> i want to ensure the american people there is no need for -- public alarm. public alarm. steady hands are ethan -- >> present biden has been tracking the threat and directed his national security adviser to engage with job lawmakers with a meeting already set for tomorrow. the u.s. has long been concerned about russia's missile and nuclear capabilities, as well as its anti-sat

i'm peter alexander in for my friend, katy tur.the south carolina primary and what promises to be an uphill climb for nikki haley's presidential ambitions. that is unless she can pull off what would be a major home state upset against the former president, donald trump. both candidates are on t

nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander was at the press conference this morning andns us now. peter, what else did the secretary say? has he lost trust within the white house over keeping this diagnosis a secret? >> reporter: there's been a lot of criticism from all sides within here in washington. president biden has insisted that he remains confident in his defense secretary, lloyd austin. austin today saying, in effect, he said, i did not handle this right. for the first time, speaking to reporters, in about six weeks since he hid his cancer diagnosis and his days' long hospitalization, not just from the house but from the public, as well. he does not believe he has created a culture of secrecy in the department. but he says, receiving that diagnosis was, in his words, a gut-punch. he says he was shaken by it. he also detailed, for the first time, his conversations in some form, with president biden, delivering a personal apology to him. here's part of what the defense secretary said. >> as a rule, i don't talk about conversations with my boss. but i can tell you,

>> peter alexander, courtney kube, raf sanchez and general barry mccaffrey, thank you very much. >>> up next, we'll play for you what president biden said this morning about where things stand with the border deal negotiations. plus, we'll ask california senator alex padilla what he must see in the bill in order to support it. senator, great to see you. we'll chat in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ds you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ♪♪ whoo! ♪♪ light work! ♪♪ next victims. ♪♪ you ready for this? ♪pump up the jam pump it up♪ >> woman: what's my safelite story? i see inspiration right through my glass. so when my windshield cracked, i chose safelite. they replaced the glass and recalibrated my safety system. that's service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ >>> we start on capitol hill where lawmakers are waiting for a bipartisan group of senators negotiating a border security deal to release the text of the agreement. president biden was asked about the deal as he arrived at the capitol for the national

nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander and co-anchor of "weekend today."ews hour and -- former white house press secretary jen psaki host of "inside with jen psaki." thank you guys for being here on super bowl sunday. >> it is here. >> it is a jam-packed one. peter let me start with you because you were working your sources overnight and you got this extraordinary statement and email from the first lady basically blasting the special counsel report and what are your sources telling you about that and a potential shift in strategy. >> she said among other thing in the statement, she said robert hur was trying to score political points. you don't measure the death of your son in years, you measure it in grief. basically the thinking behind this was if the special counsel will be attacking our son and using him as a political weapon then she is going to have something to say about it which is why she spoke out and a person with the first lady said she was directly involved in the crafting of this email. she wanted to speak out in real american mom terms sayin

you saw the frustration even on jake sullivan in that briefing, questioning from peter alexander andfing room to discuss another matter, the foreign aid bill that obviously is under debate in congress at the moment. turner's letter was just close just before that briefing and you could see sullivan was surprised and he took the step of making a public, in a cryptic way. you saw officials trying to reassure americans that this was not an imminent threat, that this is something to be taken seriously but not a matter that needed to be disclosed in this way. and then separately, what is going to be the follow-up here? you had a statement from mark warner and marco rubio, the chairman and ranking member of the senate intelligence committee respectively, politely suggesting turner should not have disclosed this in this way. we understand that there are potential far-reaching effects of this disclosure, and that's something administration should be dealing with going forward. >> that's what i want to talk about, general. why would it make sense to declassify information like this? wouldn't

i want to bring in nbc's peter alexander who was at today's briefing. tell us more about what he had to say. >> reporter: well, chris, it was not only what the secretary of defense said but actually how he appeared, the first time we've seen him publicly, speaking out in about six weeks. he was noticeably thinner. he was walking with a limp. he says he still has leg pain as a function of the complications as a result of his treatment for prostate cancer. secretary austin did describe his cancer diagnosis as a gut punch. he says he regrets the secrecy, the lack of transparency and how it was handled by himself and his colleagues, and he said he did not direct his staff to conceal the emergency from the white house or from president biden, and he also delivered a very public apology. here's part of what secretary austin said. >> i wanted to be crystal clear, we did not handle this right, and i did not handle this right. i should have told the president about hi cancer diagnosis. i should have also told my team and the american public. as president of the

i'm peter alexander.ew fallout in alabama after that state's supreme court ruled that under state law, frozen embryos created through in vitro fertilization are legally children. three alabama clinics have paused services since the decision came down. people are left unsure whether moving forward with the process will leave them at a legal risk. some couples are seeking treatment in other states now. nationally, about 2% of births every year involve ivf treatment. joining me on set, nbc news senior legal correspondent, laura jarrett. with us, out of alabama, former u.s. attorney, the professor at the university of alabama's school of law, joyce vance. joyce, we will get to you in a second. laura, let me ask you about this. you have been talking to families. >> you see me working the phones. >> who are in these moments. a lot of families -- i'm sure many people watching go through ivf. it's real and personal. for these families, they have no idea what happens now. >> they are in this legal purgatory, a no

i'm peter alexander, alongside laura jarrett. both savannah and hoda have the holiday off. we'll talk about why president's day is associated with selling mattresses. >> i have wondered about that. >> that's a whole knotter story. good deals for you. but barbenheimer is back. the competition is on. >> award season reminds me how little i have seen this year. how much i have left to go. we have lots of good movies ahead, including hilary swank here to discuss her film. >> yeah, i'm a girl dad. >>> severe weather on both coasts and impacting travel all across the nation. >> in florida, pounding rain caused nascar to postpone the season-opening race. the iconic daytona 500 is now set to happen later this afternoon. >> and out west, a line of storms is leading to evacuations, and new concerns over flooding as well as mud slides, 35 million people under flood watches in california, 15 million under wind alerts. dylan has the full forecast in just a moment. but we want to begin with liz kreutz, who is in santa barbara for us. look at that scene where you are. just a ton of rain t

nbc's peter alexander pressed him about today. >> what consequences should he and russia face? three years ago, in the meantime they faced a lot of consequences and we will contemplate what else will be done. >>> a 350 million-dollar fine for donald trump tonight. it is a huge legal blow, as a judge rules against the former president. this stems from his business brought trial in new york. the state lawsuit accused him of misrepresenting his finances to get better loans. today, the judge ruled against mr. trump, issuing a hefty fine, and barring him from running a business in the state for 3 years. during his remarks from mar-a- lago, the former president said he plans to appeal. >>> president biden is headed back to the bay area. he will be here next week for a campaign and fundraising swing through california. like today, the white house confirmed the president will be in california as of tuesday. what you are looking at is video from his last visit here in september. biden will also be here in november for the apex summit. as for next week, mr. biden has stopped in san franc

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander and laura jarrett. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> welcome to "today." thank you for joining us on this saturday morning. did you want to go to space as a kid? you don't have to now. >> everybody has wanted to go to space. this is going to houston. you will be living in a 1,700 square foot habitat with three others. i hope you like your roommates. >> i would go with you. >> it could be a long year. we could bring friends and make it a good trip. we'll have more on that in a moment. >>> you are waking up to snow after the blast of cold overnight. the northeast seeing anywhere from a dusting in places to more than a foot in western new york. we are going to check in with angie to see if this is the last of it. >>> we begin with the huge legal and financial setback for the former president. a new york city judge ordering him to pay more than $350 million and likely much more with interest for lying about his finances. mr. trump and his sons are also barred from running any businesses in the s

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander and laura jarrett. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> welcome to "today." we thank you for joining us this saturday morning. the hardwood looks like the hockey rink. that was ugly. >>> another brawl in south carolina today. we have a lot to get to this morning, including the two-year anniversary of the russian invasion of ukraine. president volodymyr zelenskyy speaking out overnight vowing ukrainians will win the war now it is in its third war, but the situation is not the greatest. we will have the latest live. >>> we have the republican primary with the polls just opened and former president trump appears to have a big win in nikki haley's home state. we have garrett haake with more on primary day. good morning. >> reporter: peter, good morning. they opened the doors of the polling place here in columbia. the time for talk and persuasion is over. it is time for the voters in south carolina to have their say. nikki haley and donald trump have ever lost a race in south carolina. by the end of

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander and laura jarrett. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> thank you for joining us. you know they have the santa tracker that your kids are glued to the tv? we need a taylor tracker. >> i'm tracking usher. i'm ready for the halftime show. >> i'm tracking the niners and chiefs. we'll get to that in a moment. >>> we are breaking out the guac and chips. 36 hours to go until kickoff until super bowl lviii in las vegas. this could be the most watched game ever. we will have all of it just ahead. >>> how about the weather, guys? no rain on the calendar. they say we are still in the middle of winter, but it is feeling spring-like more many in the northeast and the east coast. 59 here in new york. 65 in d.c. 74 in raleigh. angie will tell us how long it will last coming up. >>> we begin with the top story. president biden and the white house trying to turn the tables over the report over the memory and age of the president and calling the assertions inappropriate and out of line. we have aaron gilchrist

peter alexander has the story. >> president biden's case -- david weiss charged a former fbi informantn the impeachment inquiry. >> even donald trump's handpicked special counsel, mr. weiss, has now brought charges against this confidential human informant who turns out, presumably, allegedly, to be engaged in fraud from the beginning. >> the burisma allegations are the focus of house republicans push for impeachment. according to the justice department, alexander smirnov was arrested in las vegas after returning from a trip overseas. a 37-page indictment alleges that smirnov had been a confidential source for the fbi since 2010. he provided false derogatory information to the fbi about both bidens after joe biden became a candidate for president in 2020. the doj says the source falsely claimed officials at burisma said they hired hunter because his father would protect them. and that the bidens were paid $5 million each. following smirnov's indictment, the house gop said its inquiry does not recall lie on the informants claims. even though top republicans up amplified his false allega

chief white house correspondent peter alexander has our report. >> reporter: tonight, with the u.s. on the cusp of retaliatory strikes, defense secretary lloyd austin detailing the pentagon's preparations. >> this is a dangerous moment in the middle east. >> reporter: and speaking out for the first time about that controversy, how he hid his hospitalization and diagnosis from the president and the public. >> i want to be crystal clear. we did not handle this right, and i did not handle this right. >> reporter: delivering a frank and forthcoming apology. >> i should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. i should have also told my team and the american public. and i take full responsibility. i apologize to my teammates and to the american people. >> reporter: austin faced bipartisan outrage after revelations he spent several days at walter reed, unable to do his job, but kept it a secret from the commander in chief and others. today saying he did not want to reveal his prostate cancer diagnosis. >> the news shook me, and i know that it shakes so many others, especially in

letngn white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, the administration's been bracing for this. they've got to be happy there are no criminal charges here, but some of the language that ken delanian walked through in the report has to be troubling to them. >> there are two ways to view this 379-page review that appears to be a year-long investigation by special counsel robert hur, he is a former u.s. attorney for the state of maryland who worked under the trump administration, that was done strategically in effect by the attorney general in a way to sort of make sure that this was isolated for many claims of politicization and the accusation that was a biden department and we heard that from former president donald trump and from some republicans here. we do have the first opportunity, perhaps to hear from the president. he will be departing the white house to meet with republicans if he speaks. we will share that with you. we do know the white house earlier this week was given the opportunity, the white house counsel's office, t

the war to exterminate the israelis will not stop when the shooting stops. >> peter alexander for ushen we return, from everything we have been talking about, from the middle east to the erosion of democracy, there's a lot going on. leave it to elmo to put his finger on it and start a national conversation about mental health. that after a short break. mental health. that after a short break ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. >>> it's important to remember that we all have a lot of feelings. it's okay. it's good to know what feeling you are having. if you are feeling sad or worried or confused, you can talk to someone you love and trust. it's good to talk about it. >> so many feelings. america's dearest furry red monster innocent

peter alexander joins us with the latest. y on his age and what it called his significantly limited and poor memory. the president responding in that rare nighttime news conference here he was, as you say, angry. he was defiant, particularly furious as special counsel's assumption that president biden could not remember when his beloved son beau died. >> there is even reference that i don't remember when my son died how in the hell dare he raise that i don't need anyone. i don't need anyone to remind me when he passed away. >> reporter: the president adding, my memory is fine. but later he confused mexico and egypt when he was talking about the war in gaza. these remarks came hours after the special counsel said its investigation uncovered evidence that president biden willfully retained disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency the president slammed those comments calling it misleading and wrong. the resort highlighted the differences between president biden's classified documents case and former president trum

peter alexander picks things up with news right after a quick break. eak.ojects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. so this is pickleball? it's basically tennis for babies, but for adults. it should be called wiffle tennis. pickle! yeah, aw! whoo! ♪♪ these guys are intense. we got nothing to worry about. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? got him. good game. thanks for coming to our clinic, first one's free. i'm kareem abdul-jabbar. i was diagnosed with afib. to our clinic, when i first noticed symptoms, which kept coming and going, i should have gone to the doctor. instead, i tried to let it pass. if you experience irregular heartbeat, heart racin

nbc's peter alexander joins us with more. >> reporter: craig, good morning. nice to see you. secretary austin will join president biden when the remains of the three service members killed by a drone strike earlier this week return home. it follows austin addressing those ongoing questions about the days' long hospitalization that he kept secret in what was a remarkably frank news conference still dealing with leg pain, his limp visible as he arrived to the pentagon briefing room lloyd austin speaking out for the first time about that controversy. now he did his diagnosis from the president and the public. >> we did not handle this right, and i did not handle this right. >> reporter: admitting his mistake and delivering this apology. >> i should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. i should have also told my team and the american public. and i take full responsibility i apologize to my teammates and to the american people. >> reporter: austin both contrite and candid after bipartisan criticism that he kept secret from the commander in chief and others in the pen

i want to bring in our white house correspondent, peter alexander on this.t couple of minutes ago. walk us through it. >> reporter: we just heard john kirby speaking to reporting saying the package imposed on russia expected to be released in the next couple of days, and the u.s. has not been able to confirm the details surrounding navalny's death, and then surrounding the war in ukraine, president biden we learned a short time ago in my conversation with the u.s. official will be speaking to the leaders of the g7, they will par participating on a virtual meeting taking place on saturday. they are going to speak about the consequences for the death of alexei navalny. i travelled with president biden a few years ago when he was in geneva, switzerland, for the face-to-face with vladimir putin. they time president biden said to putin privately that there would be consequences if alexei navalny were to die in russian government custody. i asked the president on friday what those devastating consequences would be and while he deflected, he said there have already

. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with peter alexander and laura jarrett. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >>> good morning. welcome to "today." thank you for joining us on this busy saturday morning. >> a lot of news over the last 24 hours. we want to begin with the top story. the retaliatory air strikes friday against 85 targets in iraq and syria. the u.s. warned that a response was coming after the drone strike in jordan last weekend that killed three service members. top officials indicating the response to last days if not we weeks. >> we have full coverage next. let's begin with the chief international correspondent keir simmons near the border with syria. keir. >> reporter: laura and peter, good morning, the strikes were over within an hour deploying 125 munitions according to the united states flying b-1 bombers. the strikes took place along the iraq-syria border. that border that runs to jordan and tower 22 where the three service members were killed. it is clearly an escalation. drone facilities were hit. munitions. it is restricted to th

nbc's peter alexander pressed him on that today. >> what consequences should he and russia face?ears ago. in the meantime, they have faced a hell of a lot of consequences, and we are contemplating what else could be done. >> here with me now amina nawaz, co-anchor of pbs news hour and a msnbc contributor. putin has acted with near impunity for years, but they've got enough on the is particularly brazen. what does this suggest about putin's grip on power, how he views himself right now? >> i think it's fair to say that in the years leading up to where we are today and the alleged death of alexei navalny which everyone seems to agree even though it's unconfirmed has actually happened. putin's grip has only really tightened on power. he's managed to stay in office, not because he governed by the will of the people but because he essentially wipes out any and all dissenting opposition. that is how putin has stayed in power for the better part of a quarter century now. alexei navalny was no different, right? i think when you talk to russia watches right now, what they say is, this is

my colleague peter alexander has more. >> reporter: tonight the white house confirmed that it is monitoringvelopment of what it calls a troubling anti-satellite capability. a caution that it's not a threat to americans. >> we're not talking about a weapon that could be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on earth. >> and tonight, nbc news has learned more -- its nuclear powered space asset that could be weaponized, according to a u.s. official, and a congressional official familiar with the intelligence. it is not a nuclear bomb that russia is trying to send up in space. >> it is not an act of capability and it has not yet been deployed. >> reporter: experts have said a nuclear fueled satellite might be able to carry a high powered jammer that could block out a wide ray of communications and other signals. today's revelations come just hours after the house intelligence committee chairman , republican mike turner, issued a cryptic warning demanding the white house declassify intelligence about the unspecified threat. and today the white house met with house leader

i'm peter alexander in for my friend, katy tur. we are now four days out from the south carolina primary and what promises to be an uphill climb for nikki haley's presidential ambitions. that is unless she can pull off what would be a major home state upset against the former president, donald trump. both candidates are on the ground there pitching themselves to voters. so far today, mr. trump has blasted haley, who was trailing him by double edits saying the end is near for her campaign and predicting her run for the white house will fizzle out after saturday, but can haley have enough good will at home? she just delivered her i'm not going anywhere speech to a crowd and she's been slamming mr. trump more and more on the trail, going after his recent losses in court and his snowballing legal debt and now she is turning to what mr. trump said about the death of alexei navalny or perhaps more importantly, what he did not say. why trump's failure to condemn putin is raising eyebrows, instead comparing the u.s. to russia and how much

nbc's peter alexander pressed him on that today. >>> what consequences should he and russia face?was three years ago, in the meantime, they faced a lot of consequences in wisconsin plating what else can be done. >>> here with me now, omnibus, co-anchor of pbs news hour and an msnbc contributor. amna, vladimir putin has acted on urine impunity for years, but the death of navalny's particularly brazen. what does this suggest of putin's grip on power and how he views himself right now? >>> i think it's fair to say that in the years leading up to where we are today and the alleged death of alexander volney which everyone seems to agree but is unconfirmed actually happen, putin's group is tight on power. he's managed to stay in office not because he governs by the will of the people but because he essentially wipes up any and all dissent or opposition. that's how putin has stayed in power for the better part of a quarter century. now alexei navalny was no different. when you talk to russian watches right now, what they say is, this is a putin that is emboldened. he has fended off a ukr