Trump, the president ial candidates now agreeing to meet on a debate stage next month. They dont like each other, they dont respect each other, and the last time around it was a brawl. The move sends a bolt of lightning into a campaign thats been centered on a New York City courtroom. How the big change both sides agree to will make this debate sound and feel completely different from 2020. Plus, while trumps trial is dark, senator Bob MenendezsCorruption Trial is just getting going. Opening statements expected to start in the next hour. The new jersey democrat accused of accepting a car, cash, even gold bars in exchange for official acts. Well get the very latest from the courtroom in just a minute. And unicef just issuing a critical new warning about the children stuck in rafah, even as Benjamin Netanyahu says hes not backing down from a potential invasion. A unicef spokesperson who just left rafah will join us to talk about what needs to be done. An awful lot to get to on this wednesday, but first the countdown is on, more than 1,300 days after they last squared off on a debate stage, President Biden and donald trump are set to do it again. All the details arent finalized, and of course this thing could always fall apart, but as of now, the two campaigns have committed to debating on june 27th, just hours after biden taunted trump with this challenge. Donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020. Since then he hasnt shown up for a debate. Now hes acting like he wants to debate me again. Make my day, pal. Ill even do it twice. So lets pick the dates donald. I hear youre free on wednesdays. His campaign has even started selling tshirts saying free on wednesdays, a not so subtle reference to the day trumps criminal trial is off. All of that met with an equally biting response from donald trump telling fox, im ready to go. The dates that they proposed are fine. Lets see if joe can make it to the standup podium. I want to bring in eugene daniels, coauthor of the political playbook, as well as an Msnbc Political Contributor. Matt dowd is Msnbc Political Contributor and Vaughn Hillyard joins me in studio. Im going to start with something brand new. Stephanie ruhle sat down with mitt romney who knows about president ial debates, and she asked him about it. Lets just take a listen. I wont try to describe it, let him do it. Theres talk today about a president ial debate maybe as early as june. I know debates were important to you. They certainly got you a lot of momentum in 2012. Do you think they matter today . In many ways we know a lot about the two people running. Do you think it will impact votes, maybe even your vote . Well, the image that comes to mind is those two old guys on the muppet. Statler and waldorf. Thats what comes to mind. I think there will be a huge audience for these be debates. I think they have low expectations about what President Biden will do, i think they have Higher Expectations about President Trump and his combativeness. What are your expectations . Well see what happens. Ive interacted with President Biden and find that weve had good exchanges. Hes capable. I like the man. I know President Trump, i watch him at his rallies. He seems energetic and forceful, but you know, rallies are kind of easy. You got a cheering crowd and youve got teleprompters you can read. How will they do in person . I dont know the answer to that. I think america will be watching. Youll see much more of that on the 11th hour. And our thanks to stephanie for asking the key question as this story was breaking, matthew. Is he right . Will there be a lot of eyeballs, and do we have any idea how this might turn out . The first answer is easy, i think it will be a huge audience. I mean, i think that since donald trump hasnt debated, he county debate through the whole primary, i think theres a pentup, you know, feeling among his supporters, they really want to see it. It will get that. It will get democrats because obviously the concern of what this election might mean. Independents are going to be very concerned because thats ultimately whos going to decide this. Who of these two old gentlemen are most capable of being president of the United States, and this auspicious time in this moment. I think it will be a huge audience. I dont know exactly what to expect. I do think the biden folks got a huge concession of no live audience. I think that helps joe biden tremendously, and i think it hurts donald trump equally as much as it helps joe biden. Donald trump feeds off the audience and its going to be a more serious measured debate. There wont be an audience. I think hes going to have to change his manner. Can he do that . But i mean, im looking forward to it. I think it will be great. I think we could have the biggest audience ever for the debate. Literally the biggest audience ever . Yeah, i do. I think were in such a momentous moment, and i think theres questions about both of these candidates capabilities that i think the debate is going to get a big audience and could be much more important, i think it will be much more important than whatever political advertising they spend millions and millions of dollars on. I think the debates could be more determinative than anything else, but of things we dont know. We dont know things that could impact the race, but of things we know, it could be the most important point in the campaign. The other thing that mitt romney said, eugene, is that there would probably be low expectations of joe biden. Do you agree with that, and how much of an advantage does his campaign see that as being . I think mitt romney, the senators right, but thats largely because donald trump makes lowers the bar for joe biden immediately when he talks about these debates, right . He called him today in one of his truth social posts, the worst debater, the worst person hes ever debated, donald trump said. So like he is himself lowering the expectations for joe biden. He did the exact same thing in 2020 when they debated twice, and also republicans for thes last four years, you know, during the election and during his presidency have called him a dithering old man who doesnt know how to talk. The expectations have been lowered by republicans. You dont see democrats going out of their way to try to raise the expectations because, you know, you never know what happens on a debate stage. I will say the campaign largely feels like, you know, theres a feeling theyre still not sure that trump is going to debate, right . And that is one of the things that were trying to do. Were throwing out what they did today, throwing out the gauntlet, one, challenging someone who always tries to challenge at least publicly in the way that he speaks about it being donald trump, and so if he backs out at some point, they can always say were the ones who said we wanted to debate. We gave you parameters that you had to agree to, and you pulled out, right . And so theres always that, we dont know if donald trump is going to debate. We learned during the primary he doesnt really need to. The American People deserve to see these two men facing off as they go to vote. But also, you know, people know these two men. Theyve heard these two men. Theyve seen them debate before, and to matts point about the no audience, only one of them has done a no Audience Debate that we know of, and thats joe biden when he went against Bernie Sanders right before Bernie Sanders dropped out in 2020, and so those kinds of things are important in the way that they can prepare, but the biden people are feeling really good, as you can see from their trolling online today. Which brings us to donald trump and so much to talk about, including the lack of an audience, you dont have to be a deep political analyst to see how he has always played off of crowds from the very first day he decided to run for president. But it does seem to a lot of folks that he is playing right into joe bidens hands, the more he says this guy cant debate, and by the way, after the first debate last time, it was Donald Trumps numbers that went down. Hes lowering expectations while making it sound like hes the greatest debater ever. So raising expectations for himself. That doesnt seem like the best strategy. Right in his first social media post of the morning calling joe biden the worst debater ever, and yet, there was Expectation Setting for joe bidens state of the Union Address earlier this year in that in the aftermath of that when folks saw that there was an energetic lively joe biden who spoke before congress, donald trump accused him of being on drugs that night. So the reality is that were 43 days away from this first president ial debate here, and donald trump has done this before with joe biden. In 2020 he was calling him basement joe, he was too fearful. He was forgetting things. He was sleepy joe. We lived that, and in that first debate, what you saw were two men duking it out. Take a listen to it. Vote now, make sure you in fact let people know. He doesnt want to answer the question. Im not going to answer that question. The question is Supreme Court justice radical left. Will you shut up, man . Who is on your list, joe . Gentlemen, i think we have this is so one thing to note from this here, by going the commission and working with the commission, you know, that debate aired across 16 different networks, and so now this only airing on cnn, folks are going to have to be in tune and be very intentional about going to cnn for this. They may not be just going to watch survivor and ultimately finding a president ial debate taking place. Theyre going to have to be very intentional about finding this. Were 43 days away. In the meantime, there was also a little bit of the snideness, if we want to call it that, a little pushing in of the knife and then turning it on this whole wednesday theme by joe biden, matt, you know, now hes putting tshirts out. For the record, this is going to be on a thursday. Are we seeing a different joe biden . Well, i dont think were seeing a different joe biden. I think it was smart. Theyve stayed out of the whole court case. Theyve let the court case speak for itself against donald trump in the midst of this, and this was kind of funny way to remind folks that Donald Trumps in court in manhattan against charges against him. I thought it was a very funny way to point out, and the interesting thing to me about the june debate is that its going to come right in the aftermath of whatever that decision is of the court. So its going to be actually the first real opportunity for folks to see what donald trump has to say in the aftermath, right in the aftermath of that court case. I dont actually understand that early of a debate. I kind of dont get how you can have a debate before the nomination the nomination committee, both parties picked who their nominee is, were having a debate before that. As we know, anything could happen, but it will be the timing of it will be right in the aftermath of that court trial. Yeah, and we dont know what the outcome of that is going to be, but it clearly is one of the reasons that the Biden Campaign wanted to move this up. They didnt want to wait until september. Talk to me about how they think june and so i guess a lot of people might think june too early, people going on vacation. Kids getting out of school. How do they think this helps them . The biggest reason is early voting, right . So they one of the complaints that weve heard from a lot of people but from different over the years, people have started to vote earlier and earlier. You have people going to make a decision possibly without watching the two people who could be the president of the United States to debate on stage. That is something theyre trying to do here, right . And thats very clear in picking this june time period, saying, okay, we know and kind of accepting the reality of the world as it stands. These men theres not the formal nomination process. There are obviously all the things that can happen, but we have been going through the motions of primaries for months now, right . For months now, so i think its a realization, and an acceptance of like why pretend that these decisions arent made. I will say, you know, the biggest question is why two instead of three . You know, i when you tussle with the Biden Campaign, i think that they you know, they push back on that, they were a little they kind of waved me off and poohpooh away, why two instead of three, i think that it matters, right . This is a president who talks about and has shown that he cares about rules, actual written things down but also norms, and the three times that these people come together and debate is for if you miss it the first time, then you get to see it the second time, and if you only saw part of the first one, you can see the rest of the third one and watch how these people change the way that theyre speaking. Watch and see if you hear anything new as we get close to the election. Who knows if these actually happen. Trump himself was saying he wants to add. I dont see that happening from the biden point of view. A big change in the way this country does debates. Will that continue . The cpd, the folks that put this on eugene daniels, Vaughn Hillyard, matthew dowd, we will be talking a lot about this going forward. Thanks, guys. Appreciate that. Tonight watch more of senator mitt romneys conversation with Stephanie Ruhle on the 11th hour, coincidentally 11 00 p. M. Eastern right here on msnbc. In our next hour of Chris Jansing reports, well speak with a senior spokesperson for the Biden Harris Campaign about what to expect in this debate. But first, in 90 seconds, legal teams on both sides taking a breath ahead of what could be the most important day of former President Trumps hush money trial. Well dig into it next. Ps hushy trial. Well dig toin it next frizz. Dryness. Breakage. New dove 10in1 serum hair mask with peptide complex. Fortifies hair bonds at a molecular level. Helps reverse ten signs of damage in one minute. Keep living. Well keep repairing. Nothing dims my light like a migraine. With nurtec odt, i found relief. The only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. To those with migraine, i see you. For the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of Episodic Migraine in adults. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Its time we all shine. Talk to a Healthcare Provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. The trial and not to be hyperbolic, but the future of the United States could hinge on what happens inside Court Tomorrow in Donald Trumps criminal hush money case. Like a great finale from a legal drama, everyone is watching whether or not trumps attorney, todd blanche, can poke enough holes in the prosecutions star witness, Michael Cohen, when he resumes Cross Examination tomorrow. Then theres the wildest of wild cards thats still out there. Will trump testify in his own defense . I want to bring in former federal prosecutor renato mar ya tee, with me in studio, danny cevallos. I have so many questions, danny. Let me start with the whole goal for the defense, poke holes into Michael Cohens credibility and to his story. There seems to be a general agreement, no big holes were poked, so how do you adjust for tomorrow . I think reorganize. When you have a witness like Michael Cohen when theres so much out there, hes tweeted so much, hes said so much, hes written books about things that you can compare and find and you can mine those for inconsistent statements, it can be overwhelming to prepare a Cross Examination in this situation. And keep in mind, youre not just writing a script. Youre writing a script that for every question the person youre asking is looking to zing you, looking to throw you off, and to some degree Michael Cohen has done that. I wouldnt say hes been combative, maybe not quite so much like stormy daniels, but he certainly is somewhat unwilling to give a straight yes or no answer. Some witnesses are like that. Is that his biggest weakness right now . Were early in the Cross Examination. I would say thats his weakness right now. The key is will he get fatigued enough to start getting frustrated. Thats what the defense really wants, but so far i would say hes done better, i think, than expected. No one knew which Michael Cohen would show up. Would it be the demure polite Michael Cohen or the combative Michael Cohen, and what weve gotten is something in the middle. Someone whos willing to say maybe not yes but that sounds right to me when asked a leading question by the defense. So its a mixed bag. I think the defense has struggled to be organized, which i understand in Cross Examination, and i think Michael Cohen has not been as combative as he could be which is good for him, but he is showing signs of being not willing to give the answer that he thinks the defense attorney wants. I think renato, yesterday it was in the first couple of minutes that the judge called todd blanche because he immediately brought out some lets say colorful and expletive written comments that cohen had made about him, about blanche and the judge said, you know, basically this isnt about you. Dont make this about you. Do you get the sense, though, that maybe thats donald trump pursuing a political strategy in court, maybe at the expense of a good legal one. I think thats hitting the nail on the head. I think blanche is actually trying to challenge trump, show to trump, im like you, when somebody comes at me i attack them, and cohen attacked me just like hes attacking you, and so im going to go after Michael Cohen. You know, to me that is very bad legal strategy. Maybe its a strategy for getting in Donald Trumps good graces, but a very bad legal strategy. One of the issues here for the defense is theres so much to work with as danny mentioned a moment ago. So much to work with with Michael Cohen. Jurors do not like listening to lawyers drone on and on for hours, and you could spend days attacking Michael Cohen, pointing out every statement hes ever made and talking about all the baggage he has, but the problem for the defense is thats just going to go you know, at a certain point, the jury is just going to go to sleep, their eyes are going to glaze over. They have not had a focused approach on what really matter thes. The few pieces of testimony in which cohen is essentially uncorroborated and is making very key points for the prosecution, so maybe theyll come back and do that, but right no what ive seen is unfocused, uncontrolled, over the top, and at times theyre literally repeating cohens attacks on their own their own attacks on donald trump, a very poor performance on Cross Examination thus far. Danny, lets talk about the conversations that may be going on behind closed doors, hay may or may not involve donald trump about whether or not he will actually testify. The only thing we know for sure is todd blanche said, your honor, we havent made a decision yet. Im paraphrasing there. But if youre the prosecution, you have one more opportunity on redirect, right . Is there a way you want to get under Donald Trumps skin so that hell want to take the stand . Ultimately, look, ive been taking the underdog bet so far saying that donald trump might testify. Ive really only been doing that because i think id be a legend if he does and no one will remember i was wrong. I think he probably wont testify. The answer to that question and the reason todd blanche says he doesnt know is it really is ultimately up to trump. It is common for a Defense Counsel to say were not sure yet. Often that is true. It really is in many cases a last minute decision. Sometimes the client feels very strongly about testifying right up until the moment they have to get thereupon and take the stand and suddenly they have a change of heart. I dont think trump is any different from anyone else, the fact that hes made these statements that he plans to testify, i dont think you can take that to the bank on any level. I think its him, some bluster, some bravado, and ultimately the odds are realistically hes never going to take the stand. This is probably the last witness in all likelihood. Danny, thank you. Renato, youre going to stay with me. We have some Breaking News now, our team in the courtroom just told us that a jury has been seated at the Corruption Trial of new jersey senator bob menendez. Were outside the courthouse as Opening Statements are about to begin. The courthouse as Opening Statements are about to begin. 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. 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 nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer that has spread, tests positive for pdl1, 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 youve 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. Not flossing well . Then add the whoa of listerine to your routine. New science shows listerine is 5x more effective than floss at reducing plaque above the gumline. For a cleaner, healthier mouth. Ahhhhh. Listerine. Feel the whoa what causes a curve down there . Is it peyronies 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 peyronies disease, or pd. Its a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. And an estimated 1 in 10 men 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. And build a Treatment Plan with you. Setting trends is our business. We need to scale with customer demand. In real time. jen so we partner with verizon. Their solution for us . A private 5g network. ella we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. marquis with a custom private 5g network. Our customers get what they want, when they want it. jen now were even smarter and ready for whats next. vo achieve enterprise intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon. A slow network is no network for business. Thats why more choose Comcast Business. And now, were introducing ultimate speed for business our fastest plans yet. Were up to 12 times faster than verizon, at t, and tmobile. And existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds. At no additional cost. Its ultimate speed for ultimate business. Dont miss out on our fastest speed plans yet switch to Comcast Business and get started for 49. 99 a month. Plus, ask how to get up to an 800 prepaid card. Call today Breaking News just moments ago, the judge in the Corruption Trial for new jersey democratic senator Robert Menendez has announced that a jury has been seated. Menendez is on trial facing 16 criminal charges just down the block from where donald trump has been in court for weeks. He is the first senator ever indicted under the Foreign Agent statute, and the first person in the senates 235year history to be indicted twice in separate bribery cases. Prosecutors today are expected to tell the jury that he conspired to trade his influence and power in washington in exchange for everything from a Mercedes Benz convertible and mortgage payments, to gold and bundles of cash. Nbcs ken dilanian is outsides courthouse for us. Also with me, new jersey editor for politico and former federal prosecutor and Legal Affairs columnist for politico, Renato Mariotti is back with us. Ken, give us the breakdown of this july and what happens now. Reporter we have a jury of 12 citizens and 6 alternates. It took two and a half days to whittle that down from 150 prospective jurors. We expect Opening Statements the within the hour when court reconvenes after lunch. Chris, you just explained why this case is historic, the first senator twice indicted for bribery. Theres another reason its historic. Senator menendez who chaired the powerful Foreign Relations committee is not just accused of corruption, bribery, fraud, extortion. Hes accused of essentially selling his office to benefit two foreign governments, including the government of egypt and prosecutors say he provided egypts sensitive nonpublic information, including the names of u. S. Embassy personnel. That, if true, is a profound betrayal. We can expect that prosecutors will hit that point hard in their opening statement. As for his defense, we learned yesterday one thing he cant do, he wanted to call a psychiatrist, who was going to argue that the reason the fbi found nearly 500,000 in cash and gold bars in his house had to do with his familys history of having assets confiscated in cuba and the trauma that that visited on Senator Menendez and led him to want to accumulate cash. The judge is excluding that testimony. We may hear to what extent Senator Menendez plans to blame his wife, Nadine Menendez for this conduct. Shes not on trial today. She suffered an unspecified medical ailment, shell go on trial later. A lot of the evidence in this indictment came from her phone, her text messages. Prosecutors say she was clearly integrally involved in the scheme to solicit gifts and cash, including a Mercedes Benz convertible from some of these alleged bribe payers and to arrange for official acts by the senator. And in court papers, the senators lawyer suggested he may argue he wasnt in the loop on all of these things and he may not have realized the law was being violated. Well see how far down that road he intends to travel. Its a perilous one. Were going to find out in a couple of minutes the contours of these arguments. I think when we first saw the indictment, renato, there were a lot of people who were saying that they could see a defense that was heres a woman who came into his life. Shes this kind of femme fatale, and shes the one who arranged all this, that he really didnt have an understanding of what was requesting on. Where do you see the defense going . Absolutely. You hit the nail on the head, thats exactly where its going to go. Really, the defense has obtained something very important by having separate trials. The government loves to charge everyone together, have one big trial and have the defendants point fingers at each other because essentially that means that it gets all their defenses. The jury is hearing all these conflicting stories and they figure theyre all telling a falsehood. Here in a separate trial i think menendez has a real path here. Its obviously a challenging case, but essentially what he could do is say my wife was having all these communications. Shes not there. Shes not at the trial. The government cannot compel her to testify. Of course shes not going to 1 2 that trial, and as a practical matter, he can essentially say that somebody else should be blamed for this. I think thats very compelling. Obviously theres a lot of charges here. And you know, like jurys going to be inclined to believe the government, they always are in the federal criminal case. I think that there is let me ask you about the exclusive of the psychiatrist. There is still the question of all that evidence when they did the raid. I dont know about people you know, but having lots of cash and gold bars that can be traceable in your house, tough. May be tough. For sure. I said it was a tough case. Im giving it to you straight. No question about that, and thats going to be a problem for the defense. Thats why they had that expert lined up because that person could essentially tell a story but not be cross examined on anything else. They dont want to put Senator Menendez on the stand because hes going to have to answer too many questions. That would be enough to kind of get that story in front of the jury via an expert and not have to put the senator himself on the stand. I think its very challenging. Hes going to have to have an explanation for that. I think theyve telegraphed what that explanation is. Without that expert to tell it, the judge has put them in a position where they have to call their client. As you suggest, theres going to be some very tough questioning from prosecutors. Dustin, i dont know if you have any insights into senator me menendez. I know you know about him a loot. What should we expect from him in and out of court . I wouldnt expect much had from him in the court, but hes always been a fighter. Thats kind of his trademark. Thats how he came up in a very rough and tumble environment in north jersey and he got off the first time, so the first time he was charged with corruption and stood trial in 2017. So he kind of has that to sell to folks, but its a really hard sell. A lot of people are wondering, wow, its really coincidentally that you keep getting jammed up with federal authorities and landing yourself in court. He can sort of portray himself as an escape artist. Hes by his nature very defiant, and hes sure of himself and he has said repeatedly sense he got indicted in september that hes going to fight these challenges and hopefully bead them and run for reelection, which would be an amazing feat if he were able to pull that off. This case could run until june 4th. He has to be in court every day. Hell miss senate votes, hearings, what are you hearing about his prospects to continue in the u. S. Senate, and is it possible that democratic colleagues could just say were done . Hearing nothing, which is pretty extraordinary in itself for a Sitting Senator who is indicted for the second time, but thats just the way it is in washington. Im not based in washington so i dont have my ear to the ground there. From our own reporting and from our colleagues, theres only one person whos on the hill whos being vocal about it and its senator John Fetterman of pennsylvania. The rest of his colleagues, democrats and republicans theyre really not saying anything. Theyre really holding their tongue, and its interesting. I dont know why. He was admonished last time he was indicted, and the only penalty hes really had to pay to this point was to resign as the chair of the senate Foreign Relations committee. But hes still on it. I cant offer a great explanation as to why that is. Dustin, ken, renato, just the beginning of another trial that we will be following very closely. Thank you all. Up next, a new warning from unicef about the thousands of Children At Risk in the gazan city of rafah. A spokesperson for the group who was just based there will join me. And right now were keeping a close eye on wall street after the april Inflation Report was released. The nasdaq and s p 500 hitting alltime highs. What it means for your bottom line ahead in our next hour. Ne. [sniff] still fresh. Get 6x longerlasting freshness, plus odor protection. Try for under 5 Breathing Claritin clear is like. [ ] feeling the breeze instead of feeling congested. [ ] fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. Claritin plus decongestant. Live claritin clear®. Lets get started. Bill, wheres your mask . Claritin plus decongestant. I really tried sleeping with it, everybody. But im done struggling. Now i sleep with inspire. Inspire . Inspire is a Sleep Apnea Treatment that works inside my body with just the click of this button. A button . No mask . No hose . Just sleep. Yeah but you need the hose, you need the air, you need the whoooooosh. Inspire. Sleep apnea innovation. Learn more, and view Important Safety Information at inspiresleep. Com did i read this . Did i get eggs . Where are my keys . Memory and thinking issues keep piling up . It may be due to a buildup of Amyloid Plaques in the brain. Visit morethannormalaging. Com 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, americas 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. Its really Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu rejecting warnings to hold its military push into rafah where roughly half of gazas population has sought shelter. I appreciate the help weve received from the United States at the beginning of the war. President biden came in here, he sent these Battle Carrier Groups and got weapons. We do have a disagreement on gaza, rather on rafah. We have to do what we have to do, and you know, sometimes you have to. You just have to do what is required to ensure your survival and future. A massive exodus is underway in rafah. 450,000 civilians have already fled according to the u. N. , moving north to areas that are neither safe nor ready receive them. Nbcs raf sanchez is reporting from tel aviv. What more can you tell us about the situation in rafah right now and where this might go from here . Reporter chris, every day Israeli Forces are pushing deeper and deeper into that city. This started as a fairly limited operation. The israelis described it as tactical along the egyptian border, around 100,000 Palestinian Civilians were displaced on the first day of the fighting. That number, as you said, has swelled to 450,000 out of the sort of 1. 5 million or so people who are sheltering in the city, and chris, the white house continues to say that up until this point, israel has not crossed President Bidens red line and launched an allout Ground Assault on the city, but if this operation continues to get bigger and bigger, at some point, the question has to be raised where is that red line, and when does israel cross it . The rafah crossing, which is the main lifeline for humanitarian aid from egypt into gaza remains closed more than a week after it was seized by Israeli Forces. Israel is currently blaming egypt for the closure saying they want to see it open again, but chris, i have spent all day asking both the Israeli Military and a unit called cogat which was responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid, who is going to be running the gaza side of the crossing if the egyptians are allowing aid back through and nobody is able to give an explanation at this point. So the main lifeline into gaza closed with no time line at this point for when it will reopen, and humanitarian agencies are saying fuel is running out, and fuel is the absolute life blood of the Aid Distribution Effort inside of gaza. Without fuel for the trucks, you simply cannot get food, cannot get medicine to where it needs to go, and these hospitals that are still functioning are highly dependent on diesel to keep their generators going. I was speaking to an american doctor whos at the European Hospital north of rafah right now. He says that they are rationing what little fuel they have. Theyre turning off lyings in the Emergency Room trying to keep that hospital functional. Now, chris as well as a major disagreement between the u. S. And israel over rafah, we are hearing the white house continue to say to israel that it needs to come up with a clear plan for gazas future. Right now what were seeing is Israeli Forces almost playing whacamole with hamas. They go into ab area, clear it out, they leave, and hamas pops back up again. Meaning Israeli Forces have to go in once again. The u. S. Says that pattern is going to continue if israel does not have a plan to secure the peace. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that he will not allow the Palestinian Authority to go back into gaza. He has given only pretty vague explanations about allowing local gazans to run the civilian side of the strip after hamas, he says israel will maintain overall security control, but he says at this point any palestinian who offers to be part of a posthamas administration is basically putting a target on their back for assassination by the militant group. Chris. Raf sanchez, thank you. I want to bring in someone who has seen the crisis in gaza firsthand. Unicef Spokesperson Tess Ingram who was in rafah just last month. Tess, thank you so much for being with us. Based on your experience, based on what youre hearing from on the ground in gaza, what is the situation thats being faced and what would a largescale operation there mean for Palestinian Civilians including children . It already is and would become an even worse catastrophe, chris. You know, when i was there just a few weeks ago, it was a very crowded city. People living along the sidewalks in makeshift shelters. It was very difficult to move around because it was so crowded. We know that every second person in gaza is a child and you see that when youre there firsthand, it really is a city of children, and now theres this mass exodus of people maufg moving to places where there isnt the basic infrastructure and services to meet their needs, to survive. From all accounts its a real catastrophe, and were calling relentlessly for the Ground Offensive in rafah not to escalate any further. What does that mean for organizations like unicef, people who are risking their own safety in order to try to help the people there and as they make the move, are your folks moving with them . Are they evacuaing totally . Whats the situation for people who still want to try to help . Unicefs been in the state of palestine for decades. Were not going anywhere. We still have a team on the ground. Theyre still serving the people of rafah and people in the places theyve moved to, such as this socalled humanitarian zone, rawasi. I spoke to colleagues on the ground and they were telling me its so crowded, even more than it was a few weeks ago, and they can barely move amongst the tents there at the moment. Theres just an absolute lack of infrastructure, and people are exhausted, traumatized and just wondering whats going to happen to them next. I want to give you some Breaking News that we just got here, our Courtney Kube says the u. S. Has now begun moving a floating dock system for the delivery of that critical humanitarian aid boot waters off the gaza strip and expects the system now to be installed over the next 24 hours. This is according to three separate u. S. Officials she spoke with. Once its in place, officials believe the delivery of food and other aid could begin in the first 24 to 48 hours after installation. Again, based on your experience, do you think it could then move quickly . How important could this be . Look, any and all aid that we can get into the gaza strip at the moment is essential. As raf said earlier, the main aid crossings into the gaza strip have been inoperable now for more than a week. Weve struggled to get aid in. Weve struggled to get fuel in, and as a result bakeries are closing, hospitals are having to ration their fuel, and we know how critical clean water is to prevent disease and malnutrition in a population thats close to the brink of famine. So we desperately need more aid into the gaza strip. We maintain that the best way to do that is through theyre the most Cost Effective and efficient, but failing that, then, yes, this port, if it can get aid in, thats really welcomed. Tess ingram, we at t in awe of the work you and your colleagues continue to do in the face of personal safety, emotional trials we cant even imagine, and we thank you for taking the time to talktous. We appreciate it. Up next, a brand new nbc news exclusive, how mexico is helping keep u. S. Border crossings down. And new federal findings about the faa, which could mean bumpy skies for summer travel. Weve got those details ahead. Youre watching Chris Jansing reports only on msnbc. Watching reports only on msnbc i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms. With my Psoriatic Arthritis symptoms. But just ok isnt ok. And i was done settling. If you still have symptoms after a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq is different and may help. Rinvoq is a oncedaily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling in ra and psa. Relieve fatigue. And stop further joint damage. And in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. People 50 and older with a Heart Disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. Done settling . Ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. And take back whats yours. Abbvie could help you save. Its never a good time for migraine, especially when im on camera. Thats why my goto is nurtec odt. For the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of Episodic Migraine in adults. Its the only migraine medication that helps treat prevent, all in one. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. People depend on me. Without a migraine, i can be there for them. Talk to your doctor about nurtec odt today. Wanna know a secret . With new secret outlast, you can almost miss the bus. But smell like you didnt. Secret fights 99 of odorcausing bacteria. Smell fresh for up to 72 hours. Secret works its a crime to smell that good. Slowing my cancer from growing and living longer are two things i want from my Metastatic Breast Cancer treatment. And with kisqali, i can have both. Kisqali is a pill that when taken with an Aromatase Inhibitor helps delay cancer from growing and has been proven to help people live significantly longer across three separate clinical trials. So, i have the confidence to live my life. Kisqali can cause Lung Problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. It can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills, or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Long live life and long live you. Ask your doctor about kisqali today. Remember when i said we need to screen for colon cancer . Was that after i texted the age to screen was now 45 . [both] because i said cologuard® hey there where did he come from . Yup, with me you can screen at home. Just talk to your provider. [both] well screen with cologuard and do it my way. Cologuard is a oneofakind way to screen for colon cancer thats effective and noninvasive. Its for people 45 at average risk, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider for me, cologuard. Tech does your windshield have a crack . Trust safelite. This customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home. So he scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. We came to his house. Then we got to work. We replaced his windshield. And installed new wipers to protect his new glass. Customer looks great. Thank you. Tech my pleasure. Vo we come to you for free. Schedule now for Free Mobile Service at safelite. Com. Safelite repair, safelite replace. An nbc news exclusive revealing that mexico is stopping three times more migrants at its southern borders now than this time a year ago. A volatile campaign issue. Julia ainsley is one of the reporters behind this exclusive. The Biden Administration is attributing this as a win for its diplomatic relationship with mexico. What are you hearing . Yeah, the Biden Administration is saying, look, weve actually been more successful than previous administrations at getting mexico to agree that this is a shared concern between two countries. I should point out that jump in numbers is numbers that we obtained here at nbc news. Thats not something mexico puts out publicly because its a different issue for them. There are a lot of mexicans who dont want to see strong enforcement against immigration, and that plays into these talks between the u. S. And mexico. Immigration advocates, chris, are saying, look, the u. S. Is asking mexico to do their dirty work on immigration. We know a lot of these migrants are pushed directly back into guatemala or honduras without being given the right to make an asylum claim, and some are taken from Northern Mexico and bussed back down into southern mexico, which makes it all that much harder to access the u. S. Asylum system. So, chris, really in a lot of ways the Biden Administration owes what mexico is doing here for Keeping Numbers down, keeping them from seeing that usual seasonal up tick we get this time of year. In a lot of ways they may be depending too much on mexico because when the funding gets low for mexico to stop interdicting migrants, we saw numbers stop and in december, record highs. A lot more unpacking from these numbers, chris. You can see how much more they have been able to do in the past year and how thats had an impact as you can see in those numbers there on the u. S. Southern border. Julia ainsley with that new reporting. Thank you. Coming up, brand new nbc reporting on the back channel conversations between biden and trump campaigns about making these president ial debates happen. Stay close, more Chris Jansing reports right after this. Repor. In real time. jen so we partner with verizon. Their solution for us . A private 5g network. ella we now get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. marquis with a custom private 5g network. Our customers get what they want, when they want it. jen now were even smarter and ready for whats next. vo achieve enterprise intelligence. Its your vision, its your verizon. Nothing comes close to this place in the morning. Im so glad i can still come here. You see, i was diagnosed with obstructive hcm. And there were some days i was so short of breath. I thought id have to settle for never stepping foot on this trail again. I became great at making excuses. But i have people who count on me so i talked to my cardiologist. I said there must be more we can do for my symptoms. He told me about a medication called camzyos. He said camzyos works by targeting whats causing my obstructive hcm. So he prescribed it and im really glad he did. Camzyos is used to treat adults with symptomatic obstructive hcm. Camzyos may improve your symptoms and your ability to be active. Camzyos may cause serious side effects, including Heart Failure that can lead to death. A risk thats increased if you develop a serious infection or Irregular Heartbeat or when taking certain other medicines. So do not stop, start or change medicines or the dose without telling your Healthcare Provider. You must have echocardiograms before and during treatment. Seek help if you experience new or worsening symptoms of Heart Failure. Because of this risk, camzyos is only available through a restricted program. Before taking camzyos, tell your doctor about all of your medical conditions, including current or planned pregnancy. Today with camzyos, i dont lose my breath as often. My symptoms have improved, helping me go from expecting less to experiencing more. My name is mike. And this is my camzyos moment. Call your cardiologist today and see if a camzyos moment may be in your future too. My name is caron and im from brooklyn. I work for the city of new york as a police administrator. I oversee approximately 20 people and my memory just has to be sharp. And i realized, my memory was just changing. I did my own research and i decided to give prevagen a try. My memory became much sharper. I remembered more ive been taking prevagen for four years now. Its a lifechanger. Prevagen. At stores everywhere without a prescription. You know whats 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 its 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 unboring if you think about it. A slow network is no network for business. Thats why more choose Comcast Business. And now were introducing ultimate speed for business, our fastest plans yet. Were up to 12 times faster than verizon, at t, and tmobile. And existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds at no additional cost. From the company with 99. 9 Network Reliability and advanced cyber security, its ultimate speed for ultimate business. And its all from Comcast Business. It is good to be back with youhi