nbc's ron allen now with details. >> reporter: an unprovoked random assassination. >> shots fired, shots fired! >> reporter: nypd officer miosotis familia shot in the head at point blank range through the window of a marked mobile command center. >> my partner's shot, my partner's shot! >> reporter: the desperate fight to save her life ending some three hours later. the gunman, alexander bonds, 34, armed with a stolen weapon, chased down and shot dead by responding officers about a block away. a twice convicted felon out on parole. senior nypd officials tell nbc news they're investigating whether bond is the man in these videos making anti-police statements posted on a facebook page believed to belong to him. >> i'm here to tell you, police roll with police. >> reporter: today outside the slain officer's precinct tributes and grief, mourners paying their respects. neighbors remembering the mother of three, a former nurse, who chose a second career in her 30s and became a cop. >> she was a very sweet person. it's very, very sad. >> reporter: jamie gonzalez says drugs, guns and gangs are e

nbc's ron allen is with us this morning. ron, what is the crisis in venezuela and how will the u.s. good morning, phillip. the crisis is about the country's president, nicolas maduro, trying to consolidate power. the political violence soared this weekend during an election for a new legislature, virtually all the candidates maduro's supporters, including his wife and son. clashes between opposition and government forces have led to more than a dozen deaths in recent days. more than 100 have died this year. violence that has been explosive. that fiery blast wounded several police officers as they drove by massive demonstrations in the capital caracas. the embattled president maduro has portrayed the election as a way to bring peace to the country but opponents charge the new hand-picked assembly who have the power to rewrite the constitution give maduro sweeping powers and eliminate the opposition-controlled legislature. now, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n., nikki haley tweeted, this, quote, sham election is another step toward dictatorship and the u.s. will not accept the outcome.

nbc's ron allen reports on the impact there. >> reporter: the illinois budget disaster is sometimes a matter of life and death. we met evelyn in this treatment center in chic over ten years. >> reporter: and this place got you clean? >> got me clean. >> reporter: has it saved your life? >> it saved my life, most definitely. >> reporter: the budget relies on money from the state. $6 million in bills now sent to illinois have gone unpaid. now drastic layoffs and cuts. >> you could be helping more people? >> i could be helping more. i need to be helping more. >> reporter: illinois now has some $15 billion in unpaid bills, no budget in more than two years as a republican governor battles democrats overtaxes and spending. the financial wreckage is widespread. hospitals caring for the poor owed hundreds and millions in state payments. public universities cutting classes and staff. road projects employing thousands may grind to a halt. a potential downgrade of illinois's credit rating to junk. the first state ever to sink so low. >> illinois has lost residents more than any other state. >> r

ron allen, nbc news, new york. >>> we'll take a short break. when we come back, runway mistake. a very close call when a passenger plane almost lands on a taxiway crowded with four other planes. we'll look at how this disaster almost unfolded. >>> human chain rescue. dramatic images of dozens of strangers joining hands to save a family from drowning. hope you can stay with us. your strips are slippy... whiter than mine? crest whitestrips stay in place. crest whitestrips professional effects... ...lock in the whitening for a whiter smile. these aren't going anywhere. these are. crest... ...healthy, beautiful smiles for life. mmmm. mmmm. mmmm... ugh. nothing spoils a moment like heartburn. try new alka-seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews. it's fast, powerful relief with no chalky taste. [ sings high note ] ultra strength, new from alka-seltzer. enjoy the relief. the ford summer sales event is in full swing. they are not listening to me. watch this. who wants ice creeaaaaaam!? so that's how you get them to lis

ron allen, thank you. >> i'll do that. >> thanks, ron. >>> let's turn to chris christie.e defended himself today after much backlash from a series of weekend photos. he told people he and his family would be at the beach this holiday weekend so no one should be shocked by his appearance at the beach. but he was at island state park. at a time when state run beaches are closed amid a budget standoff in new jersey. south jersey reporter sidney long of the affiliate wcao, he's in trenton with more. when the government was asked at a press -- when christie was asked if he got some sun, he said no. then his spokesperson said he was wearing hat, which is why he didn't get sun. where is this story now? >> reporter: well, good afternoon first of all. we know that governor christie is not big on apologies so he didn't apologize for being at the beach with his family. yesterday he is defending it saying he was there for a mere 45 minutes and that he was clear also with reporters a week ago as we approached this june 30th deadline which was last friday to pass this budget that that'

let's debrief with ron allen in bridge water, new jersey where the president is spending his fourth of july hold. we also have a congressional reporter from "the washington post." ron, the white house is not backing down, this is a presidential statement from the president, essentially, it is because they called it that. the both body slamming a cnn reporter, i guess you could call it. >> yeah, that is certainly the symbolism of this, katie. they're not backing down. there was one tweet from the president that seemed to focus directly at the response from the media and others condemning him about the tweet for cnn. the president tweeting "at some point the fake news will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong numbers, economy success with isis and the border and so much. the president has been very busy in social media, and the question is whether or not this is a strategy, if it is him, the staff, and who -- it is unclear, there is a lot of tweets saying he has been on contact with foreign leaders. leaders with italy, germany, france, saudi arabia. a readout about making

ron allen, you're in bridgewater with the president. what is he doing today? is he preparing golf or preparing for this next foreign trip? do we have any idea? >> reporter: we know from his tweets or statements he says he's been in touch with world leaders preparing for the g20 semitic that happens friday and saturday in germany. tweets saying he had been in touch with leaders of france, germany and italy and he had conversations by phone with leaders of japan and saudi arabia. the white house was pushing this was a weekend of preparations for that important summit where he will encounter a number of important issues where he is diametrically opposed to other leaders around the world, particularly the host of angela merkel of germany, like climate change and free trade and we expect him to have the one-on-one meeting on the sidelines with vladimir putin and the big question whether he will bring up election issues, syria, ukraine and an informal discussion. and a tweet about a situation in the united kingdom, heart wrenching about a 10-month-old little boy nam

ron allen is in bridgewater, not far from where the president is spending his fourth of july weekend.tary of defense for ukraine and eurasia joining us as well. ron, president trump has been working the phones over the long holiday weekend. fill us in on his conversations the last 48 hours or so. >> he has had conversations with the leaders of italy and france and germany and also saudi arabia. you mentioned the meeting between vladimir putin and the president on the sidelines. it will be interesting. what do the two talk about? do they talk about election issues? do they talk about syria? can the united states and russia get together on commonalty in syria and the coalition team making progress there. the other issue -- and ukraine, of course. and the other issue about the summit coming up, angela merkel and the president and who is the host of the summit and they have a strained relationship and she has been critical of the president's decision to pull out of paris accords and refuge issue and critical on his travel ban on refuges coming into the united states. the two of them are v

ron allen has been following this story and he's live in the bronx.stand that a photo of the suspect was released a short time ago. >> it was, craig. his name is alexander bonds. 34 years old. released from prison about three or four years ago. serving time for robbery. we believe he lives about three miles or so from here. but it seems to be a totally unprovoked and random attack at this point. behind me down the street here, you can see the police van, the mobile van there with the lights blinking in the front of it which is where the officer was sitting. we believe on the passenger side when this ambush happened. her name is mioso it, is familia. there on the midnight shift in this neighborhood where the attack happened. police are calling this essentially an assassination. unprovoked attack. that's how officials are describing the ambush for a female new york city police officer was shot and killed by a man who opened fire on her and her partner while they were sitting in their parked nypd vehicle. police say 48-year-old miosotis fa famiilia was a

i'm joined now by ron allen who is traveling with the president in new jersey and msnbc's garrett haake at the white house. the president gearing up for the summit this week. any indication he's going to be letting up on those tweet storms, attacks on the media, as he heads into this foreign policy week? >> well, no. i think that's just something we're all going to have to live with. this is something president trump feels strongly about. after a weekend of bashing the media and speech in washington, that's going to continue. his base loves that stuff. the media doesn't. that's just a fact of life. he's also tweeted this morning about foreign affairs saying he'll make phone calls or will make phone calls to leaders of germany, saudi arabia. last night a readout on calls to china and japan. all nations are participating in the g-20 summit that begins friday in germany. we're not hearing about the substance of what these are about. clearly this a challenging summit for president trump. it's in germany. the leader is angela merkel opposed to my policy positions president trump has taken. r

nbc's ron allen tonight with the emotional tribute. >> i love you, mom. >> reporter: officer familia's three children, mourning their mom. >> words can't explain how i feel right now. >> reporter: hailed as a hero. thousands of officers from across the country and as far away as australia, paying their respects to a girl from the neighborhood, the youngest of ten. first to graduate college. always determined to serve. first, nursing, and later in her 30s realizing her dream of becoming a cop. murdered the night of the fourth of july in a police command vehicle by an ex con on patrol who police say was mentally ill and angry at cops. >> i want her legacy to be full of love. love is what we have to do. >> reporter: familia is the seventh nypd officer killed in five years. across the nation, officer deaths spiking to 135 last year. today new york's police commissioner urged the public to look out for officers like familia. >> she was targeted and ambushed and assassinated. she wasn't given a chance to defend herself. that should matter to every single person who can hear my voice in new y

. >> ron allen, karine jean-pierre and joe watt kipps. ay, ron, he says that this is about right and wrong, but from what i'm gathering reading the new jersey newspapers, most of the citizens there think he's fot this one wrong. >> his approval rate were 15% before this and now they may go down even further. he can't win. his story is that he was at an official goc nor's residence with a beach that he always goes to. his story is it was a family commitment he wanted to keep and he was there for just a short time. but the government is shut town, state parks across the state are shut down. people are changing their plans for the holiday weekend. this is day three of a shutdown and he's photographed on this beach. and last night at this press conference he was unrepentant, he was sarcastic, he was fighting back in typical chris christie fashion. and that doesn't help him i don't think either at times. it just feeds into the narrative so many people have in their heads he's got six months left in office, people didn't like the fact he ran for

that was ron allen reporting. i'm john joined by bob engel. thank you for joining us.to hear about the governor's reaction last night and then we'll talk. >> okay. >> now, if they had flown that plane over that beach, and i was sitting in e to a 25-year-old blonde in that beach chair next to me, that's the story. i wasn't sitting next to a 25-year-old blonde. i was sitting next to my wife of 31 years, surrounded by my children and some of their best friends. if that's a scandal, that's a scandal i'm guilty of every day of my life. >> we have been joking a lot about this because in a way it was funny seeing the pictures of them on the beach, when the beaches were closed and his reaction to it. but a lot of people were affected by the closures and upset about it. but that right there, that was classic christie, give us some context. we know that christie has a low rating in new jersey before this incident. how are people reacting to this entire thing? >> it has been said that christie was trump before trump was trump. this is one of the things that got the attention of t

nbc's ron allen has more for us. >> with the nation's birthday bash well under way, the constant threat of lone wolf attacks. on hard-to-protect public gatherings. in new york, 100 trucks filled with sand, 32 tons each wall off streets for the first time where crowds gathered for the macy's fireworks. police warning vehicle rental companies to watch out for suspicion transactions that could signal a ramming attack like in nice last july. thousands of cops now on normal part of the festivities. >> we have to pay attention to what's going on in the nation and world. we saw what happened in nice. >> in boston, new drones keeping watch. first used over the boston marathon. able to zoom in on an object nearly a quarter-mile away. while america celebrates, a reminder of the risks officers take. capital police special agents david bailey and crystal greiner honored for their heroism, saving lives during a firefight with a gunman at a congressional baseball practice last month. >> i'm greatly honored to be here. thank you for the award. the kind of attack, a soft target, a lone assailant, extre

nbc's ron allen has the chilling details and audio of the moment after the shooting. >> reporter: unprovoked attack. that's how officials are describing the ambush where a female new york city police officer was shot and killed by a man who opened fire on her and her partner while they were sitting in their parked nypd vehicle. police say 48-year-old m miasosis familia was in her squad car when a suspect shot, striking her in the head. an anti-crime team then chagsed the suspect, running on foot, catching him a block away from the scene. >> as they confronted him, he drew a revolver. officers shoot at him, striking him. >> it's such a painful reality. a female police officer attacked out of nowhere. she was on duty serving this city, protecting people, doing what she believed in and doing the job she loved. >> reporter: police are trying to figure out everything that happened while they mourn the loss of one of their own. back to you. >> another horrifying loss. >>> quote, a gift for the americans. north korea test launching a long-range missile on the fourth of july. the consequences as the

. >> ron allen, thank you for that. >>> up next, a doctor is hoping to turn in her stethoscope for a congress. that's after a quick break. at johnson's we care about safety as much as you do. that's why we meet or exceed 15 global regulations for baby products. and where standards differ, we always go with the toughest. johnson's. choicehotels.com. badda book. that's it?. he means book direct at choicehotels.com for the lowest price on our rooms guaranteed. plus earn free nights and instant rewards at check-in. yeah. like i said. book now at choicehotels.com oscwe went back toing bithe drawing board...s. and the cutting board. we removed the added nitrates and nitrites, by-products, and artificial preservatives in all of our meat. every. single. one. why? for the love of hot dogs. >>> the debate over health care has inspired one doctor to join the fight at the highest level. she's an orange county pediatrician, who was inspired to run for office when one of her patients diagnosed with a brain tumor would lose health insurance. she's hoping to unseat congressman ed royce in the electi

. >> ron allen is in new jersey where the president is spending his holiday this weekend. president is taking a holiday of sorts. >> i think that was real donald trump free president several years ago that wrestling event and the rest of it is staged. that wasn't faked but it was all fake. and the president did respond to the criticism that he has been hearing about that, people have called it unseemly but juvenile, you name it. there was a tweet from the white house, the president saying, at some point the fake news will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with isis and the boarder. that was push back by him. then it went into dave rent direction. we saw a lot of tweets about phone calls to foreign leaders and message from the white house is that president's prepared g20 summit coming up. tweets about phone calls to leaders of italy, france, saudi arabia. messages about calls last night with leaders of china, japan, all nation participate in the summit friday and saturday. and late this afternoon another series of tweets and messages from

nbc's ron allen near president trump's golf club in numg where he's been spending the holiday weekend. reaction started pouring in the minute after it was posted, ron, but the administration is having none of it, right? >> reporter: yeah. they've been pretty quiet about it for the past 24 hours or so. this morning we heard from the president, a series-tweet, of course, and here's one that seems to be a response to that video or at least the coverage of it. he says, "at some point the fake news will be forced to discuss our great jobs numbers, strong economy, success with isis, the boarder, and so much else." again, he seems to be responding to the video and the reaction which of course has been fierce. it's been called unseemly, beneath the dig my ti nity of t office, juvenile, incitement to violence, all of which i'm sure the white house would say is over the top in terms of reaction. this broke yesterday during the sunday talk shows, interestingly, and up with of the president's advisers, the homeland security adviser was on, and was asked about the video and had to respond in real

nbc's ron allen joins me. i know. it's so chris christie. you have to say the guy is consistent, but he makes it sound like his family could not have spent their fourth of july weekend with any place but at the beach. >> let me make his case first. >> okay. ing. >> he is at an official residence of the governor that has a beach to it. >> yeah. he said i'm govern, basic wlib and you're not. if you want the beach house, run for governor. >> the problem is that beach is part of a state park. and for miles in other directions, it's usually open, but it's closed. >> look at the picture. they're the only ones on the beach. >> and chris christie has very few friends in new jersey. property taxes are high and people think in his final months of office, he's phoning it in. so this picture plays to that narrative. also interesting back story about how this happened. there was a newspaper reporter who h a hunch that christie might be out of the beach because he had said to the governor i'm going spend my with my family on the holiday even though there'

ron allen has details. good morning. >> reporter: a somber scene outside of the house. scores of nypd officers arriving, as that officer, a 12-year veteran, 48 years old, clinged to life before succumbing to her wounds. shot in the head at point-blank range, while sitting in a marked police vehicle. unprovoked attack. that's how officials are describing the ambush where a new york city police officer was shot and killed by a man who opened fire on her and her partn partner, while sitting in their nypd vehicle. she was assigned to a post in the bronx, when a suspect fired through the car windows, shik g i striking her in the head. an anti-crime team chased the suspect, running on foot, catching him a block away from the scene. >> as they confronted him, he drew a revolver. the officers fired at him, killing him. >> reporter: new york's mayor speaking out overnight. >> such a painful reality. a female police officer attacked out of nowhere. she was on duty serving this city, protecting people. doing what she believed in and doing the job she loves. >> reporter: now, we've

nbc's ron allen is outside that officer's precinct where there's been an outpouring of support. ron, good morning to you. >> good morning, 46th precinct was the home away from home, especially respected and well-known because she grew up in the neighborhood she protected and where she gave her life. can you see the tribute, cards and flowers left in her honor at the doorstep in a community that is heart broken. >> no officer should ever be ambushed trying to do his or her job. >> prayers of comfort for the distraught family. so determined to wear the blue, she left her job as a nurse in her mid-30s to become one of new york's finest, usually working the night shift in mobile command center where a gunman shot her in the head at point-blank range through a passenger window. what police say was an unprovoked random assassination of a 48-year-old officer and mother with 11-year-old twins and a 19-year-old daughter. >> she did her job. it's tough for her to go this way, really sad. >> new alexander bonds, 34, twice convicted floelon, out on parol armed with a gun, shot dead by police

nbc's ron allen is at saint barn bus hospital in the bronx with details. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. a very somber scene here outside the hospital. through the night scores of nypd officers arriving as that officer, me societyous familia, a 12 year veteran, 48 years old, clinging to life before succumbing to her wounds. shot in the head at point-blank range, while sitting in a marked police vehicle. unprovoked attack. that's how officials are describing the ambush where a female new york city police officer was shot and killed by a man who opened fire on her and her partner while they were sitting in their parked nypd vehicle. police say 48-year-old miosotis familia was assigned to a mobile command post in the bronx when a suspect, alexander bonds, fired through the car windows. striking familia in her head. an anti-crime team chased the suspect, running on foot, catching him a block away from the scene. >> as they confronted him, he drew a revolver. the officers fired at him, killing him. >> reporter: new york's mayor speaking o

ron goldman. joining me onset, allen gershowitz. you know o.j.is he in jail for a botched burglary or nicole's murder? >> the botched burglary would have gotten him three years in prison at the moment. he didn't kidnap anybody. it's a three-year crime at most, not a 33-year crime. and if his name was not o.j simpson he would have been paroled a long time ago but 900-pound gorilla in the room, always the previous acquittal. >> you can make the other argument if his name wasn't o.j. simpson he wouldn't have gotten acquitted the first time? >> we don't know. the prosecution botched the case in the worst possible way. i'm sitting as close as i am to you when o.j. tried on the glove and showed the jury it was too small. had lawyers on the other side done their research, they would have realized they could have had him try it on outside the presence of the jury to see if it fit first. they made every mistake in the book. if they made a mistake like that with any defendant, he would have ended up being acquitted, whether guilty or innocent. every americ

ron dellums who was once the mayor of oakland. our elizabeth cook is here to break it all down for us. >> reporter: allen, foundation geared toward changing a law that restricts russian business activities here in the u.s. hired the former bay area lawmaker. ron dellums lobbied last year for a nonprofit organization set up by a russian businessman who recently settled a money laundering case against him in the u.s. the lawyer natalia veselnitskaya represented that russian businessman and she has also been engaged in lobbying on his behalf. now, that money laundering case was an outgrowth of a law restricting russian investors here in the u.s. now, both dellums and the russian lawyer have worked to try and get it changed. after the law passed in 2012 president vladimir putin retaliated by freezing american adoptions of russian children. and at the meeting with donald trump, jr., last year, trump says, the russian lawyer raised the subject of adoptions. dellums' career as a bay area elected official began in the 1960s. he was a berkeley city councilman before becoming a member of congress in 1971. he served 13 terms in the house and