good afternoon, to all of you. i'm alex witt in for chris jansing on this second hour of "chris jansing reports." houston assessing the damage from deadly storms. homes destroyed, cars crushed, and construction cranes weighing tens of thousands or pounds knocked to the ground. we're going to get a live report. the fight against famine in gaza. how a u.s.-built pier is becoming a lifeline for people trapped in the war zone. plus, president biden tries to fire up support among black voters. the speech that earned him big

applause today, and why he may get a different reception this weekend. and body shaming, iq insults, lots of people shouting, we're not talking about high school. how a hearing on capitol hill turned into complete chaos. our nbc news reporters are following the very latest developments for us, and we're going to begin with that new lifeline for gaza, desperately needed aid has started flowing in thanks to a temporary pier built by the u.s. nbc's josh lederman is joining us with the latest on that. give me a sense of how important the pier is to the overall effort of getting humanitarian aid into gaza. >> well, it is so critical, alex, especially after aid stopped flowing into gaza on land via the rafah crossing after israel took over the gazan side of the crossing with egypt earlier this month. the pentagon hopes to bring 90 trucks of aid in a day through the new sea route, and ultimately, potentially, increase that to about 150. really, that is just a drop in

the bucket when you think about the fact that before this war started, there were more than 500 trucks going into gaza every single day. and now with the entire gaza strip on the verge of famine, according to u.n. officials. now, aid groups have said consistently that driving trucks in by land is way more effective than anything that can be done using this new floating pier system. and it's not frankly without danger for the u.s. the biden administration has been very clear there will not be any u.s. boots on the ground inside gaza. they will remain on that floating pier a few miles off the coast and on these smaller vessels bringing that aid, the final stretch to the gaza shore. defense secretary austin has acknowledged they could be within firing range and essentially be in harm's way. we are seeing there's not any area of gaza that is safe at this point. you know, we have talked a lot about the fighting in and near rafah in the south. there has been renewed violence

in the north as well, in jabalya, north of gaza city, where israeli tanks have been moved this this week, as part of a renewed ground offensive there. alex, we have grim news today on the hostages. israel's military says it has recovered the bodies of three dead israeli hostages from gaza. all were in their 20s, all captured fleeing the nova music festivals. their families preparing to bury them in israel. with the hostage release and cease fire talks essentially at a standstill at this moment, this is further dampening hopes that any more of those hostages, still believed to be around 100 may ever come back to israel alive, alex. >> the key thing you said, still believed to be around 100. proof of life is hard to access. josh lederman, thank you so much. let's go to the deadly storms in houston that at one point left more than a million people without power. you can see the evidence right there. it's thanks to lightning strikes

like the ones you have seen there. let's go to nbc's kathy park live in houston. what are you seeing there in the after math today, kathy? >> reporter: so, alex, the damage is widespread. it stretches from downtown houston all the way here into the suburbs behind me. this is a snapshot of what we are seeing specifically in this community block after block, these large, mature trees, that have toppled on to homes and even cars and you can probably hear the sound track that we're hearing across houston, as well as the saws, the chain saws, people are cleaning up. and this is likely what we'll be seeing and hearing over the next couple of days. fortunately, in this neighborhood, where we're standing, there are no fatalities or injuries, we know across the greater houston area. fatalities linked to the storm. alex, we should point out, the wind gusts were so extreme,

anywhere between 70 and 100 miles per hour wind gusts. one resident says she was riding out the storm. take a listen. >> it sounds like a freight train is just going over, you know, the roof. this is awful. it's so devastating. it's just really sad. the nice thing is, you know, we're very close with our neighbors. we have each other. >> reporter: and, alex, houstonians are in recovery mode right now, and the biggest headline in addition to all the debris that people have to pick up over the next couple of days, the power outage. right now, it's 700,000 customers without power and a lot of traffic lights. we have been driving around houston, a lot of those traffic lights are down. the mayor is encouraging people to stay home today, especially if you're a nonessential worker. adding insult to injury, the temperature is expected to climb

over the next couple of days. they're hoping to restore power quickly. the mayor says it could take 24 to 48 hours. >> that's an unpleasant forecast for sure, and terrible things they have had to go through in the last 24 hours. kathy park, thank you so much from houston. president biden is holding back-to-back events speaking directly to black voters who could be critical to his reelection. brown versus board of education, and the big commencement at the hbcu morehouse college. what can you tell us? >> the president playing off the crowd in this speech earlier today. he also used it to talk about the work he says he's done for black americans since taking office. he talked about his efforts to cancel student debt relief, how historic the diversity has been within his administration, as well as the historic investments the white house has made into

historically black colleges and universities. listen to his comments on that. >> i got more morehouse men in my administration than morehouse, regardless of loyalties, it's clear, hbcu's are vital to our nation's progress. 80% of all black judges, by the way, i put more on the bench than anybody has. and 100% of black presidents. >> alex, as you heard the president, weaving in a mention of the commencement speech he's set to deliver at morehouse college. and of course that has been the subject of a lot of controversy as these campus protests continue nationwide and protests to the president's handling of the israel-hamas war, and the white house has been aware of

that. they have been trying to settle the tensions at that college before the president visits there. the president earlier this week, sending steve benjamin, the leader of the white house office of public engagement to talk with students and faculty. we do still expect the campus protests to be prevalent this weekend. the white house when asked says the president respects the rght to free speech and would consider the event to a success as long as the protests do not turn out to be disruptful. >> there will be a lot of security, and i'm sure morehouse will as well. let's go now to a hearing on capitol hill that was derailed for nearly an hour by nasty personal insults. ali vitali is at the capitol with the displeasure of having to cover this story. it was really something. this all started as a hearing about holding attorney general merrick garland in contempt. and then things just went down fast, what happened.

>> reporter: actually the correct professional term, i was going to say bonkers. this congress tops itself when you look at the antics we have seen in some of these more political hearings. this was one of them. we watched the judiciary committee earlier in the afternoon be able to pass these articles of contempt basically with just political posturing. instead last night, the hearing quickly started to sound like this. watch. >> point of order. >> you the one talking about -- >> i think your fake eyelashes are messing up -- >> hold on, hold on. order. >> i do have a point of order, and i would move to take down ms. greene's words. that is absolutely unacceptable, how dare you attack the physical appearance of another person. >> are your feelings hurt? >> move her words down. >> baby girl.

don't even play. >> baby girl, i don't think so. >> we're going to move and we're going to take your words down. >> i second that motion. >> reporter: yikes, i think maybe another professional term when you listen to that. the speaker was asked about the decorum we saw in the hearing and he said that both leadership teams need to take a look at their members and remind them that there is decorum that's supposed to be enforced here. there are words against this. when you heard strike from the record, that's one way to do it. and listen to the congressman in conversations about her fake eyelashes, something she said in response to get the chairman james comer to enforce some semblance of the rules, listen. >> i'm just curious, just to better understand your ruling if someone on this committee starts talking about somebody's bleach blond bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in

personalities, correct? >> a what now? >> and again, there was congresswoman crockett, trying to in her own way, insulting the congresswoman who had insulted here, trying to get some rules being enforced that the ways lawmakers are supposed to be able to talk to each other in these kinds of hearings. it was a mess, ultimately, alex, they did the thing they went there to do, they voted the contempt resolution out of this body and there's on open question about whether or not it will go to the full house floor. the headline wasn't about attorney general garland, instead, it was about the way the lawmakers were talking to each other. >> i mean it's just ridiculous. >> i want to record that sound and make it my ring tone. >> i'll talk to you after the show. anything for you my friend. we have this breaking news on a serious note, the man accused in a frightening hammer attack on paul pelosi was just sentenced to 30 years in prison.

nbc's steve patterson is reporting on this for us. steve, how does this sentence compare with what the prosecutors had hoped to get and then what happens next. >> reporter: it's a compromise between what the sentencing guidelines were as set by the probation department, detailed by the guidelines of the trial, 25 years. prosecutors were trying to put a terrorism enhancement on tom of that which would have made it 40 years. now we're in the 30-year range. we're hearing from prosecutors who say the sentence reflects david depape's lack of remorse and contrition for violently assaulting mr. pelosi. this was meant to show a show of force. you can't assault a public official and get away with it and not face the consequences, that is what prosecutors wanted to do. we know this is sort of a middle ground between what was recommended and what actually happened. prosecutors were essentially adding a terrorism enhancement only top of this, not only did david depape knowingly assault paul pelosi in trying to kidnap

nancy pelosi, that was done in interference with a public official conducting duties. not only that, but because he did that and did serious things in materials, he was targeting the leader of the pack, so to speak, and he was also interfering with the inner workings of the federal government, essentially attacking democracy itself. so again, we have this compromise here. this runs concurrent. you have to remember this, with state charges as well. he's facing five, which would be life in prison. he'll do time served. those charges will run concurrently with the 30-year sentence. he's going to go to jail away for a long time. >> and in fact, potentially for the rest of his life. thank you so much, steve patterson for the latest on the breaking news. in 90 seconds, the man coming forward claiming michael cohen is lying about the payment, could he testify for the defense at donald trump's trial? stify for the defense at donald trump's trial?

but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. new projects 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. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it.

(ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. former president donald trump attended the high school graduation of his youngest son barren today after the judge in his hush money trial cleared the court schedule for the day. the 18-year-old graduated from a private prep school in west palm beach and trump posting today he's a great student and a wonderful boy. judge merchan delayed his decision, drawing criticism from

the former president before then granting the request. in the meantime, it is still unclear, who if anyone trump's defense team might call to the stand, once michael cohen's cross-examination wraps up. one person who says he's more than willing to testify is robert costello, cohen's former legal adviser whose name came up no less than 40 times during his testimony this week. let's bring in two people who attended trump's trial this week. tim o'brien, senior executive editor of bloomberg opinion, and msnbc legal correspondent, lisa rubin, who's here with me in the studio. welcome to you both. so let's start with robert costello, lisa, who is he? what is his role in this story? what has the jury learned about him so far? >> robert costello is a deputy chief of the federal district of new york. he is known for representing rudy giuliani and for

representing steve bannon. both of whom owe him a bunch of money. in fact, in rudy giuliani's bankruptcy papers, one of his largest creditors, aside from ruby freeman and shaye moss is robert costello's law firm. in the context of this case. robert costello was introduced to michael cohen by a mutual friend and law partner, jeff si tron, and he wanted to represent michael cohen when it became clear michael cohen was in criminal jeopardy. bob costello says and told a house committee yesterday that michael cohen repeatedly denied that he had anything on donald trump, and that he has manufactured this story. that's not the way i understand it based on the documents that we've seen and we can get into why. robert costello ultimately wasn't seen as a credible witness by the grand jury, by the manhattan d.a.'s office, and why ultimately, i don't think the defense will call him here. >> we did get a sense of what he could potentially say, and to

your point, basically dismantling everything the prosecution has tried to put forth in this case. let's take a listen to what he said. this is a version of things starting with the moment cohen learned about the stormy daniels allegation. let's play that and see what he said. >> michael cohen said i didn't believe the allegation, but i knew that such an allegation would be terribly embarrassing. he said, it would be embarrassing. he focused on melania trump. he said, i didn't want to embarrass melania trump. he said, that's why i decided to take care of this on my own. i went back to that several times. you did this on your own. on my own. did donald trump have anything to do with it? no. did you get the money from donald trump? no. from any of his organizations? no. from anybody connected to donald trump? no. does that sound credible? is he credible? >> no. michael cohen knew from the

outset that he was advertising himself to michael cohen as rudy giuliani's best friend, and michael cohen had reason to be suspicious. from the first time he met bob costello, he thought the guy was off. michael cohen hadn't decided to cooperate yet. he was several months away from that decision. so it doesn't surprise me that in their initial meetings in particular that michael cohen told bob costello a version of events that's not consistent with that which he ultimately pled to and that which he has testified to in this case. the other thing i want to point out to you and our viewers. i read bob costello's testimony, and there's a part of the time line belied by documents in the case. he says michael cohen was sour that donald trump didn't give a white house job fitting of his stature, and made the payment to stormy daniels good graces. he paid on october 28th specifically. he didn't find out he wasn't

going to the white house in a role he thought proper until much later on, december and january. that time line just doesn't hold up for bob costello's version of events. >> which by the way, cohen says it's not that he necessarily wanted to go to washington, he wanted to be asked and made to feel like we respect you. we want to have you along. >> and the truth is probably somewhere in between. michael cohen fought that story line extensively yesterday in ways that his texts with family friends and even his daughter belie. that having been said, that's really of no import to ultimately what the issues are that prosecutor must prove. >> tim, what do you know about robert costello. if it comes down to a he said he said thing with cohen and costello, who's the edge? >> one of the things to consider, the timing of the testimony before the house committee on the weaponization of government magically coincided with the same day of

michael cohen's cross-examination. i have little doubt that this was sort of put in there as an incendiary piece of testimony that disrupted the cross-examination of michael cohen, to throw doubt's on michael cohen's credibility. i don't think that was accidental. a second thing to consider is one of the pieces of evidence introduced during michael cohen's testimony was an e-mail from bob costello when the trump camp was worried about michael cohen going rogue because donald trump, i think, didn't have the sensibility to try to keep michael cohen in the tent much earlier than they did before they realized it was a problem that he might turn on them. costello said michael, you know, we love you. and then he was basically

working as an ambassador for rudy giuliani at that point as well. and it was a sort of bear hug they were trying to put around him. michael cohen was asked what he made out of that e-mail. i think they were worried i was going to flip. i didn't trust for a minute that any loved me or were looking out for my best interests. the testimony is he's looking out for donald trump's interests overall, and he's trying to pollute through his testimony the public's view of michael cohen's credibility. and michael cohen's own testimony yesterday, you know, he riddled with problems about his reliability, and whether or not he tells the truth. the reality is i think the amount of evidence the prosecution has put on to the public record now in this case transcends michael cohen as being the only person this case rests upon. his testimony has been corroborated by other witnesses including david pecker and hope hicks.

there's a mountain of document tear evidence that corroborates time lines and evidence that supports the fraud that has been alleged. i think costello is a political trick, the hail mary pass being thrown at the end of a damming are prosecution. >> interesting way to put that. given that we look ahead to michael cohen returning to the stand on monday, tim, what has been your sense of how he has comported himself during this trial, during his testimony. >> michael's a really volatile, unreliable person generally, and i think he's been almost a stellar witness throughout. he has been calm. he has been fact driven. he's depth largely his own emotions in check. i think todd blanche has given a d minus to a c performance as a defense attorney here. i think he was trying to get michael cohen rattled, but her didn't present a compelling

compelling narrative to the jury, about why michael cohen shouldn't be trusted in the context of this specific case. he larded an attack with a lot of very compelling data points that i don't know overall is going to sway the jury, and i think the prosecutors get to do a redirect if they want to. hale probably clean some of this up, and we go into summaries, you know, at the end of this that i think also gives the prosecution another opportunity to tell the jury what it all means. >> much more to come, which means we'll see much more of both of you. tim o'brien, lisa rubin, thank you very much. gold bar bribes or gifts, the defense taking shape for a powerful democratic senator on trial in federal court. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. s" only c . but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap

and remove the waste that weighs you down... so you can lighten every day the metamucil way. we're still going for that nice catch. we're still going for that perfect pizza. and with higher stroke risk from afib not caused by a heart valve problem,... ...we're going for a better treatment than warfarin. eliquis. eliquis reduces stroke risk. and has less major bleeding. over 97% of eliquis patients did not experience a stroke. don't stop taking eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding.

don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking, you may bruise more easily... ...or take longer for bleeding to stop. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. it may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor about eliquis. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon blood thinner. to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. i'm a bird stuck in larry bird's attic. and i'm goin' cuckoo. what the heck. what you got larry? may the best bird win. brick. you may be a legend on the court but you're an amateur up here. heads up lar. so get allstate... save money and be protected from mayhem...

...like me. now you're the bird stuck in the attic. ♪ before planning the wedding your bad hip was really acting up. then, you heard about mako robotic-assisted hip replacement. it starts with a ct scan to pinpoint the problem. that becomes a personalized, 3d plan to guide your doctor during surgery. mako can help lead to better outcomes, like less pain and shorter recovery times. the lifetime of a hip implant is limited, and revision surgery may be required. individual results and recovery times vary. risks of surgery include pain, infection, heart attack, stroke, death, and other serious risks. ask your doctor for important safety information. to find a doctor who uses mako visit makocan.com

today, an fbi agent who was part of the raid on new jersey senator bob menendez's home was back on the stand in the senator's bribery trial. the agent testified he had to call in reinforcements to count more than $400,000 found stuffed in jackets, plastic bags, a boot. at one point, the prosecution brought in one of the 11 gold bars found inside the home giving it to the jury to hold and pass around among them. a key part of menendez's defense

has been to pin the blame on his wife nadine. she's a codefendant in the case but is right now being tried separately due to advanced breast cancer. the lawyers argue she kept him in the dark about financial dealings and he was unaware of the gold bars she had locked in the closet. joining me now, former federal prosecutor and host of "the justice matters" podcast, glenn kirschner and right here in studio, tom winter. are we getting early clues, tom, as to the defense and how they plan to handle all the evidence being talked about on the stand? >> beyond clear, and they telegraph this leading up to trial. it's the reason nadine menendez is not being tried alongside her husband. she had the recent diagnosis of cancer, and it's clear from the senator's attorneys, from the attorneys representing two of the businessmen charged alongside of him, it's two

things here. one, with respect to the gifts and things you were mentioning, money, cash, gold bars, restaurants, cars, they are wealthy, they have done well. they like to give out gifts, and since they have done so well, the gifts are very nice gifts. the second component, those gifts were given to nadine menendez. that's somebody who has known nadine menendez before she met the senator. prosecutors are saying, no, we can actually tie this to specific things, and it sounds like the second witness they're hearing from today, the usda auditor who took a look at that deal, that testimony is ongoing. we don't have a ton of details just yet. it sounds like they're starting to establish or trying to establish that component of this alleged scheme. obviously the first witness they heard from is the person who did the search warrant, and i expect

here momentarily for us to get a flood of evidence, and information from the menendez home. >> i have to admire, you were right here keeping an eye on everything right on the set. go you. glenn, how far can menendez get with a defense that this is his wife's doing. it's not his. >> you know, it sounds like it's going to be challenging. but not surprising. once the cases were severed, you know, there's a preference in the law for codefendants to be tried together jointly in one trial. that's true for lots of reasons. once his wife's case was severed out, and she's going to be tried separately in the future, it gives menendez the empty chair defense. they will be pointing to the empty chair where the codefendant, his wife, should be seated if they were being tried jointly, and say she's the bad person, she's the guilty one. she did it all and he didn't know anything about it. ironically, in the future, she

may very well use the same empty chair defense and blame it on her husband. there's some powerful evidence. not only $480,000 sort of, you know, hidden away throughout their home. not only, you know, more than 10 gold bars, but some of the evidence is after these gold bars were allegedly given to the senator and his wife, the senator says he knows nothing about it, but some evidence previewed by the prosecutors include senator menendez googling one kilo gold bar price. that doesn't seem to be something you would randomly google, and i will tell you, i love that kind of evidence and i used it all the time when i was a prosecutor. >> okay. but let me ask you, glenn, about this, because this is a detail with the judge denying a request from menendez's team to call a psychiatrist, right, who could then testify he had a fear of

scarcity. that could account for why he stored money all over the house. doesn't that directly conflict with what they're trying to say that he was unaware of it and that if he knew about it, he was hiding it away? that gets somewhat convoluted. what do you think of that? >> you would make a good prosecutor, alex, because these inconsistent positions are sometimes taken while they're hashing out legal issues like is expert testimony going to be admitted by the judge. and if it's not, then the defense might pivot, and go to, well, you know what, then he didn't know anything about it, or they will try to use some combination. i knew about some of the money because i took it out of my bank account over the years, but i didn't know about the gold bars. remember, there's also jewelry, exercise equipment, there's a mercedes, hard to see how he didn't notice things coming into the family. it does look like it is going to

be an up hill climb for senator menendez, but don't underestimate the power of the empty seat defense when you're blaming it on a coconspirator. >> the witness list includes several on the foreign relations committee, cory booker, tim coops, lindsey graham, how likely is it they testify? >> the involvement there and what prosecutors allege the senator did as far as trying to help out those countries or help out his friends to further his cause, and there's the backside of that that prosecutors allege is that the senator and nadine menendez had a financial windfall as a result of doing those favors. those individuals could show a lot of information or testify to a lot of information, i should say, as far as what the senator was telling them, what type of

things were going on in the committee. it's not clear they need to call some or all of those individuals. as it pertains to specific conduct, depending on how the case proceeds, they could potentially be called that people will hear about in the course of the case, and so i think those could potentially be powerful witnesses. we'll have to see what happens with the trial, and of course it's important to note that we should note that of course the senator and his wife nadine and the businessmen that have been charged alongside of them have plead the not guilty throughout the trial as we talked about their defense. >> absolutely. tom winter, glenn kirschner, thank you, gentlemen. room for one more, how rfk junior could become a debate wild card as donald trump and joe biden agreed to a one-on-one face-off. . network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. for moderate to severe crohn's disease skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor

that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. control of crohn's means everything to me. ask your gastroenterologist about skyrizi. ♪ control is everything to me ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. new mr. clean ultra foamy magic eraser? with the scrubbing power of magic eraser and the cleaning power of dawn. watch it make soap scum here... disappear... and sprays can leave grime like that ultra foamy melts it on contact. magic. new ultra foamy magic eraser.

[coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems.

tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ [laughing] ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. wow. -incredible, isn't it? -yeah. because breathing should be beautiful, well, with your home, auto, boat and rv all bundled with progressive you've got the peace of mind to really wander. yeah. yeah, i just hope it stays this way. once word gets out about these places they tend to -- -are you done? -aaand there it is. well, at least your vehicles are protected. let's hit the road. hey fam! i'm just at this beautiful lake that i just discovered. practicing gratitude, manifesting abundance. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon

to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon.

so rfk jr. wants in on that first presidential debate between donald trump and joe biden, and nbc news has confirmed that the third party hopeful is having a call with cnn today to discuss the debate qualifications. in the meantime, trump claims he would be just fine with the stage getting a little more crowded. here's what he told a milwaukee news channel. >> i would have no problem if he got whatever the threshold is. he's very low and seems to be headed in the wrong direction. if he qualified, i would have no problem. >> right now, it is a big question of whether rfk can qualify for the june 27th

debate. according to the biden campaign, they have only committed to doing a one-on-one match with trump. peter baker is the chief white house correspondent for the "new york times," david jolly is a former republican congressman from florida. peter and david are msnbc political analysts and really good friends of mine. glad you're here. "the new york times" reports the biden campaign wanted the debates to be limited to just he and donald trump. what reason did they give for it? >> well, i think they think that that's the real choice that faces voters this fall. at this point, rfk jr. is not on most state ballots. he has a lot of work to do to get on there. cnn's own criteria says you can only participate in this debate if you are on enough state ballots to qualify for up to 270 electoral votes, which is what is necessary to win. that's the consequence of doing this early.

not enough to get 270 electoral college votes. if he doesn't get more, he can't be elected president. that's not the reason the biden people don't want him on there. they think it's a distraction. they worry he'll take votes from biden. they want a clean shot at donald trump. the heart of the argument is you didn't like him in 2020, while you may not like me, don't forget how much you didn't like him four years ago. nothing is different. >> by the way, i said he and trump. it's him. bad grammar. david, the biden team wanted no audience for the debates, they got it. are they right to keep the crowd away. does it help biden, hurt trump or both? >> i think it's important. in a world in which we all live through negative partisanship. you hate the other candidate more than you like your own, the biden statement was these forums have welcome an opportunity for

jeering and packing the crowd with partisans. i don't know that that helps distill where the candidates are. on donald trump's statement about rfk, he has a kavp i can't tell -- caveat. i think donald trump is worried about the rfk factor. i would say the fascinating thing in this moment, both candidates, joe biden and donald trump want america to see rfk as more sympathetic to the other guy. trump wants america to see rfk as a traditional main line democrat that can take from biden. biden wants america to know he's a vaccine, freedom, science denier, libertarian, joe rogan republican, someone aaron rodgers might have been a running mate for. so i think there's some give and take on the rfk issue. i expect joe biden to have a little fun with it. >> that's interesting, that's what you took away. i took away in the span of 11

seconds he said he would have no problem with it three times. that's just me. peter, robert kennedy might have a tough time qualifying for the debate. though he could still pose a danger to the candidates even if he's not there, right? >> he could. look, i think he's an x factor for both campaigns because neither one can be sure of who he hurts more, right? he's a former democrat, somebody who's got a name of a democratic pedigree in that sense, he seems to attract some democrats who assume he's like his father was or something like that. he also plays very strongly to a lot of the trump core voters with his anti-vaxx campaigns and other unorthodox positions. most polls show a mixed bag right now. some states he takes more away from president trump. some states he takes away from president trump. neither one can be 100% sure of who he hurts the most.

the one you hear attacking rfk jr. is trump. he's worried about taking away some of the anti-vaxx constituents away from him. you see attacks as recently as this morning accusing rfk jr. of being too antigun. >> i want to make a point that david axle rod, the biden won on three fronts, a debate without a crowd, a debate without third-party candidates and it's an early debate. the first one in june. let me ask you about this, david. trump's hush money trial is expected to end before the first debate. it seems unlikely that any of his other cases will go to o the election. does it hinge on him being found not guilty? >> sure. >> yeah, so alex, very quickly

on axlerod's commentary. he roped rick scott at the state of the union. two debates early with no crowd. that is a biden win. what i would say about the trials themselves is i think it's all baked in. the question is the second degree analysis. how does donald trump handle the trials? because how donald trump handles the trials reminds voters about some of the worst impulses about the former president. the myth call nikki haley voter. am i republican or can i say with donald trump, it's not so much about the trial. it is arguably very baked in. how donald trump reacts, this angry grievance around being a victim. that turns off a lot of the persuadable voters that donald trump needs in november. >> let's say he is found guilty in the trial. that is going to be ramped up a thousand percent. i hope i see you both this weekend. we'll check and see if we do. peter baker and david jolly,

thank you so much. still to come, the son of a prominent activist learns his fate for smashing windows at the capital and invading the senator floor of course on january 6th. h 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. (♪♪) when life spells heartburn... how do you spell relief?

r-o-l-a-i-d-s rolaids' dual-active formula begins to neutralize acid on contact. r-o-l-a-i-d-s spells relief. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level.

(marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain; severe nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems; muscle pain or weakness;

joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. ( ♪♪ ) i thought water would help with these dry spots. that's lawn disease. but scotts healthy plus will cure it! lawn disease? been going around. so like other people have it and it's not... pick up a bag of the new scotts turf builder healthy plus lawn food today. feed your lawn. feed it.

♪♪ imagine a future where plastic is not wasted... but instead remade over and over... into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner. to help us get there, america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen. the son of a prominent conservative activist has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for being among the first to invade the senate floor on january 6th. prosecutors say brent bazell

smashed windows, chase add police officer, and helped the mob disrupt the certification of joe biden's victory. let's get to ryan reilly who's following the story for us. talk about his family's conservative pedigree, and then the sentence that got handed down, four years. i know that prosecutors were asking for more, like 11 plus years. >> they were. and they were seeking a terrorism enhancement. what was interesting sitting in court is watching how the judicial system has struggled with applying what is clearly the law and what counts as an act of domestic terrorism to these january 6th cases. there have only been a handful of cases before where this actual terrorism enhancement, which really just significantly increases the penalties has really been applied and, january 6th on its face by the law was an act of domestic terrorism, and the crimes that mr. bozell was convicted of in connection

with this case triggered that. the judge said by strict reading of the law, it applied. he also found a way on a secondary measure to sort of downgrade one of the charges because it didn't quite meet the felony threshold. one of the windows he busted was worth $826, as opposed to a thousand dollars, which would have forced a higher sentence. there's a lot of maneuvering around that. and one things that stood out, i'm not sure that label is an appropriate label for the defendant to have to carry with him. in stark contrast, i think, to sort of the idea of international terrorism cases where the threshold is super super low. you have judicial systems struggle with applying this two domestic terrorism cases, even when by definition, this is an act of domestic terrorism in support of a political cause. his father was there to support him. he started the media research center. his grandfather ghost wrote

barry goldwater's book. this is a man with deep connections, and a lot of privileges. >> his grandfather wrote speeches for joe mccarthy as well. "the new york times" reporting an upside down flag was flying outside the virginia home of supreme court justice samuel alito in the wake of january 6th. justice alito said he had no involvement in the flying of the flag. nbc news has not independently matched this reporting. but talk about the significance of an upside down flag. it's a symbol with stop the steal, right? with that movement? >> essentially under the u.s. flag code, flying upside down is the sign of distress. it has been used by both parties but in that context of january 2021, this was something that stop the steal organizers latched on to. one of the oath keeper defendants, i was looking around when i was working on my book, and found what his house looked like, and he was flying a flag

there as well. that was a man who said he would be willing to die with donald trump, and changed their profile flags to an upside down flag. it signals distress at the idea of joe biden coming into office, and has been loosely affiliated with the january 6th attack. >> absolutely extraordinary. supreme court justice having that outside of his house ryan reilly, good to see you. thank you so much. be sure to catch "chris jansing reports" every weekday from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern, and alex witt reports from 1 to 2. our coverage continues with "katy tur reports" right after this very short break. t break. , i figured it wasn't a big deal. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath,

fatigue, or light- headedness can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. holding off on seeing a doctor won't change whether or not you have afib. but if you do, making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. contact a doctor and learn more at notimetowait.com what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. jansing reports" every weekday jansing reports" every weekday en may have it. but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit makeapdplan.com today. (ella) fashion moves fast. (jen) so we partner with verizon and build a treatment plan with you. to take our operations to the next level.

(marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (jen) that's enterprise intelligence. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. was that your grandfather, leading armies to battle? was that your great aunt, keeping armies alive? drafting the plans. taking the pictures. was it your family members who flew? who fixed. who fought. who rose to the occasion. when the world needed them the most. discover, preserve,

and share the stories of your family's heroes. explore all us military records on ancestry for free today. you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean- not spreadsheets. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire

good to be with you, i'm katy tur, with all the coverage of the first criminal trial of the former president, a lot has been missed and a lot of people have been missed,