single gunman commit the largest mass shooting in modern american mystery. and now it could be going back on the market. we'll break down the supreme court's decision to nix a federal ban on bump stocks. plus, ukraine already short on money, short on manpower, but is it also running out of time? vladimir putin just offered his own version of a peace deal with provisions president zelenskyy has already rejected, but how long can he hold out? first, some breaking news, nbc news has just learned the princess of wales, kate middleton will make her long-awaited first public appearance tomorrow, her first since christmas, and her first since revealing she is being treated for cancer. lest get right to nbc's meagan fitzgerald live at buckingham palace for us. this sounds like good news. what do we know about this appearance and how the princess is doing? >> reporter: yeah, ana, this is incredible news coming out of kensington palace just minutes ago. in fact, we know that the princess writing a handwritten letter herself along with a picture that was released. i want to read for you part of when she said. she said i'm making good progress, but as anyone going through chemotherapy will know, there are good days and bad days. my treatment is ongoing and will be for a few more months. on the days i feel well enough, it is a joy to engage with school life, spend personal time on the things that give me energy and positivity as well as starting to do a little work from home. now, look, anybody who has experienced cancer or knows someone who has, this is certainly a very personal and humanizing letter to the world. the good days and the bad days, when she has good days, she relishes in those moments. when she has bad days she surrenders to her body. she is trying to do what she can in terms of working from home. this is huge news, the fact that we are going to be seeing her tomorrow at trooping the colour, which is the king's official birthday celebration. highly anticipated. we know that sheiling in the carriage along with her three children, and we will see her for that highly anticipated balcony moment as well. you know, there was speculation around this because, as you remember, just last week she wrote a letter to her troops apologizing for not attending the rehearsal for trooping the colour, she of course is the colonel of her -- of the irish guard, something that she took over from her husband. there was speculation we may not see her tomorrow. but again, really incredible and encouraging news coming out of the palace saying that the princess is progressing well and all eyes, ana, will be on tomorrow's event where we will see the princess for the first time since she released that video three months ago saying she's undergoing preventative chemotherapy treatment. ana. >> so great to hear that the princess is making good progress in her words. back here at home to that major supreme court decision today striking down a trump administration era ban on bump stocks in a 6-3 decision. the court ruling that the ban on a device that allows semiautomatic rifles to fire at a speed rivaling that of a machine gun is unlawful. the bump stock ban was enacted in 2018, during the trump administration after the deadliest mass shooting in modern u.s. history when one shooter killed 60 people and injured hundreds of others at a las vegas country music festival. justice clarence thomas writing for the majority saying that a firearm equipped with a bump stock doesn't meet the definition of a machine gun under federal law. now, justice sonia sotomayor strongly disagreeing writing in her dissen sent, quote when i see a bird that walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, i call that bird a duck. trump saying, quote, send me a bill and i will sign it immediately. joining us now, nbc's yamiche alcindor, and retired atf special agent in charge jim cavanaugh and civil rights attorney and former prosecutor charles coleman. what is the latest reaction we're getting to this ruling? >> well, what we're really hearing from is both sides of the political aisles here. republicans largely saying that they're going to respect or celebrate this decision and democrats saying this is a decision that really needs to be rectified by congress. so with that in mind, let's take a listen to what we've been hearing from capitol hill and the lawmakers there. >> it's a fantastic ruling, not surprising. i would expect it to be done. that's an indication of where we'll be on the pistol brace ban as well. i think it was a foolish mistake under both administrations. >> the supreme court has been on a rampage with respect to the ability of states and localities to pass reasonable gun safety measures. >> so there you have it, republicans and that republican lawmaker saying essentially i'm in favor of this ruling and then you have someone like jamie raskin, a high profile democrat saying he doesn't agree with this. i want to also read senate majority leader schumer's statement, he said as i warned the trump administration at the time the only way to permanently close this loophole is through legislation. senate democrats are ready to pass legislation to ban bump stocks, but we will need votes from senate republicans so there you have it. justice alito in his concurring opinion, which means that of course he agreed with the opinion in that 6-3 decision, justice alito was saying it has to be congress that would pass a law that would ban bump stocks. you have now senate majority leader schumer saying let's do that. we're going to need republicans on board. i want to remind people there's the presidential politics at play here. this was a 2018 ban on bump stocks that went into effect under donald trump. he was supportive of it at the time, so was the nra. the nra has backtracked. you have the trump campaign saying they're going to respect this decision but that they are still friends of the gun rights advocates community, but then you have someone like president biden and the biden campaign that are saying that this decision says that trump justices, that they are putting safety of communities behind the gun lobby. so very interesting here, that's sort of the reaction we're hearing on the political front, ana. >> yamiche, thanks so much for that reporting. the court says bump stocks don't fit the definition. saying quote, a bump stock does not alter the mechanics of a firing and the trigger must be released and reengaged to fire each additional shot. you know guns well, do you agree? >> no, i mean, the supreme court is dead wrong unfortunately for america, we're going to suffer the consequences. if you see someone fire a bump stock or have fired a bump stock, you pull the trigger back and hold that gun against your shoulder. you don't pull the trigger manually, and the 1934 firearms, national firearms act that regulated sub machine guns described a sub machine gun or machine gun as a weapon that fires more than one by a single function of the trigger. a bump stock turns a rifle into a sub machine gun. this is not even a legal question, oh, they're trying to say that the atf director doesn't have the administrative authority. they could have easily said in this case, look, if congress wants to ban the atf director's ruling says bump stocks are sub machine guns and if congress wants to make them legal, they can pass a law and do that. they could have easily said that, just the same administrative issue. congress can pass a rule and say bump stocks are illegal, but no, they allowed these things now to be out and i'm sure they're being manufactured as we speak, and we're going to see the market flooded with them. they're going to be on the street. they're going to kill our law enforcement officers. if you see a person fire these next to someone firing a sub machine gun, you can't tell the difference. it will put out 600 rounds a minute. a human being cannot pull the trigger that fast. that's why this mechanism turns the gun into a sub machine gun. you'd have to be the village idiot to say it's not. it's too clever by halfway to get by the law. the spirit of the law, the reason for the law in 1934 because of the gangsters, pretty boy floyd massacred the four law enforcement officers at the union train station in kansas city, the st. valentine's day massacre, all these, you know, bonnie and clyde killing policemen with a b.a.r. all these machine guns were ravaging america, and congress passed that law. and now we have this ruling trying to go on a legal technicality, which is nonsensical to try to tell you that it's not a sub machine gun t. is a sub machine gun. >> even many of the justices during oral arguments talked about the carnage and the intention of that machine gun ban was to limit the type of carnage and you just think about 60 people being killed with hundreds injured by one man who had this bump stock and these devices at the las vegas music festival, and by the way, when this bump stock ban initially was instituted just a few years ago, there were some 520 plus thousand of the bump stocks already circulating. charles, i'm wondering, could this ruling now sort of open the door to other challenges on other types of gun restrictions? what are the broader legal ramifications here? >> i would expect so, ana. i think that when you're looking at what this ruling signifies, it is an invitation, if you will, to a pro-second amendment folks to try and push as much as they can in the spaces that they are now questioning, and i think that the supreme court essentially punted for many of the reasons that jim already talked about. they could have directly addressed this issue. i understand legally why they took the route of saying that atf did not have the authority, if you will, to try and make these regulations, but they could have made it very clear, and it is very interesting that congress has already picked up on the notion that they've given them a pathway to fix this if you want to legislate. but what the supreme court has done with a decision like this, ana, is they've basically said, look, if you want to bring these cases, we're going to find a way to allow them to breathe, to give them breathing room, and that has dangerous implications if you're someone who is looking to have and pass and keep common sense gun legislation. >> and to save lives potentially. >> yes. >> this sort of a situation is all about saving lives. jim talking about federal versus state laws when it comes to gun rights. 18 states already have their own bump stock bans according to every town for gun safety. so what do you think atf enforcement will look like with these, you know, different state and federal regulations? >> it's going to be a scientific wild ass mess because you're going to have states that, you know, have them illegal and other manufacturers are going to be pumping these things out to make money, and you know, they can be trafficked across the state lines, but it's going to be a mess. it's unbelievable they would make that decision. really, if you shoot one of these things, you just can't believe that someone could not call it. my description, ana, is like a guy's in a boat, and he hangs four tires off the side, and the coast guard pulls up and says we want to inspect your boat. you can't inspect it because it's a car, it has four wheels. it's nonsense, it's nonsense, and it's really sad. i mean, i can't believe -- the other part of the argument, and of course charles can go deeper than me, i'm sure, but when they argue about the administrative state, again, that's a silly argument as well. look, the atf has to decide on all kinds of devices. i don't know the number exactly but scores and hundreds during the year. is this thing a silencer? is this thing a firearm? does this thing change a firearm? they're sent in by the bucket loads. are they saying that atf can't make those decisions? that everyone has to go to the supreme court? i mean, it doesn't make any sense. cops make decisions administratively every day. is this careless driving, is this reckless driving, you know. you have to make a decision based on the law. you can't call the judge and say, well, is it? you have to decide, and the atf director did, and he made the right decision and the supreme court is just dead wrong. >> charles, what do you think of justice sotomayor's dissent where she says of the decision, quote, this majority opinion casts aside congress's definition of machine gun and seizes upon one that is inconsistent with the ordinary meaning of the statutory text, and unsupported by context or purpose. >> i think that when you're trying to get to a particular conclusion that does not jive with your facts, you have to go around and say things that are nonsensical, and justice sotomayor is pointing that out. she's basically saying there's a common sense definition that has support in the law for what a machine gun is. and in order to reach this decision, in order to actually punt in the way that the majority has decided to, you had to go around that common sense definition, and she's pointing it out. she's pointing out something else, though, i think that is important, which is congress's ability to fix all of this through legislation basically saying that, look, you have found the most egregious and obscure way of looking at the interpretation of statutorily at least machine guns, but you can fix it if you basically change the definition or be more specific. the problem with that, ana, is that to jim's point, how many times are you going to have to do this with how many different accessories and attachments that weapons can have such that we don't constantly find ourselves here again and again where congress has to redefine every single attachment, a scope, a silencer, a bump stock that can be applied to a weapon to change how it functions. that's a real issue that that dissent actually points out in a subtle way. >> i think you touched on this, jim, just how concerned are you that there could now be a rapid boom to the rapid fire marketplace, now that this ban is gone, what does this mean for public safety? >> no, it's a bad day. it's a bad day at black rock here because these manufacturers are going to be pumping these things out now to make money and to make millions of dollars. there's the video that proves the supreme court's decision is wrong. you see that shooter. he's holding the trigger. he's not pulling the trigger with his finger manually. he's not moving his finger back and forth. he's just holding it against his shoulder, and it's firing the gun. they will have great lawyers like charles on there who can explain to us the supreme court and all these things, but i'm telling you this decision isn't a legal one. it's a wrong one because if you just look at the way the gun works, there's only one pull of the trigger and it's held back against your shoulder and it empties the magazine, and so they just made a wrong ruling for america, and it's going to kill and hurt a lot of people. >> i appreciate your expertise, your passion, jim cavanaugh, charles coleman and yamiche alcindor, thank you all so much. in 90 seconds, president biden showing solidarity with ukraine at the g-7 as putin lays outs new conditions for peace talks. looking at live pictures. this is in italy. we'll have what's behind the strategy and the timing of all of this next. and the timing ofl of this next power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans can help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley ♪ you need t-mobile... ♪ ♪ home internet with 5g. ♪ wait! t-mobile has home internet? ♪ what a feeling! ♪ ♪ to have t-mobile now! ♪ 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. live pictures from italy to show you where president biden is meeting with world leaders. they're discussing the race against time for ukraine with new questions about whether international pledges of support can do enough and last long muff to help them win the war with russia. and that includes that ten-year security agreement president biden signed yesterday, one without guaranteed aid. that may last only as long as he is in office. nato responding today by agreeing to take over part of the u.s.'s role in coordinating support, and "politico" says it's widely seen as an attempt to trump proof the effort in case president biden loses in the fall. meantime, russian president vladimir putin is making moves of his own offering peace talks but only in exchange for ukrainian territory, something president zelenskyy says is off the table. all of this amounting to a faceoff between putin and the west as the clock keeps ticking. and as "the new york times" writes, quote, for the first two years of the war, it was assumed time was on ukraine's side, that mr. putin would have to back down if the war stretched on too long. now no one is sure that is still the case. i want to bring in monica alba who is traveling with the president in italy. richard engel is nbc's chief foreign correspondent, he's inside ukraine, and peter baker is "new york times" chief white house correspondent and an msnbc analyst. monica, we heard president biden say putin can't wait us out. behind the scenes, just how concerned is the white house about ukraine's ability to keep up this fight without getting more help from congress and other countries? >> reporter: well, certainly, ana, during that battle on capitol hill that we saw play out over the last many months, it was unclear whether additional funding was going to be approved for ukraine. there was a lot of concern and anxiety in the white house and in the biden administration overall about what kind of message that would send to president putin and to ukraine's desires to continue its defense against that russian aggression. but once that was approved and those weapons and air defense capabilities started to roll out, there was a feeling that they could try once more to try to rally the international community around this. but, there was also this sense that this may be the last best opportunity to do so because you look domestically for the president at what americans feel in terms of continuing to support this effort and many simply don't feel that they can be convinced that their taxpayer dollars should be going there anymore. that is why he does need to turn to some of these other countries and leaders to try to bolster this. of course the fact that they have this now decade long commitment and agreement tells you everything that the president wants to be able to say here at a summit like this one in southern italy, which is that no matter who is president, no matter what administration takes over, we want this to be clear that we would like the u.s. to be standing with ukraine, of course, the sub text to all of that is that if former president trump is back in office, he could very easily walk away from this and the dynamics could change. there is an anxiety, there's a sense of that certainly within the white house, but president biden really was here trying to say last week in france and then during the course of the last couple of days that if president putin thinks that he can outlast the west's resolve and ukraine's when it comes to this war, that he would be sorely mistaken. but there is certainly concern that this may be tail end of that and that it will be hard to sustain in the future, ana. >> monica, we're looking at live pictures right now, it is 7:21 there in italy. they're six hours ahead of us here in the u.s., and we see the pope just arrived for another meeting with the world leaders. it appears they're posing for some photographs, and we know that president biden had a chance to have a one-on-one meeting with pope francis earlier today. biden once calling the pope the most significant peace warrior. what can you tell us about their meeting? >> and this is what's traditionally known at these kinds of summits as the family photo. but what's really remarkable and pretty historic about that image you're seeing on the your screen, is it's the first time that a pontiff has ever attended a g-7. so pope francis making some history for himself there with the leaders and he is going to be meeting, we understand, with president biden. they're actually running so behind schedule that their private audience hasn't taken place yet. they had a brief interaction before the pope held a session on artificial intelligence, its perils, and promise. the president was forehead to forehead with his holiness. we expect they will have a longer ability and chance to have a conversation a little bit later. the pope is actually also meeting with one on one with several other leaders while he is here in italy. he really wants to bring attention not just to ai but also to the war in ukraine and to the war in gaza, ana. >> okay, monica, thank you. richard, when it comes to putin and this apparent offer for peace talks today, what do you make of his timing and strategy? >> so the strategy seems to try to present himself, vladimir putin, as a man of peace, as man who's sensible, who's the one willing to make a compromise while president zelenskyy is the one digging in his heels. president zelenskyy is not willing to make any concessions. it's out of context in the war and it doesn't understand what happened in this country and what is happening in this country. russia invaded ukraine 2.5 years ago for no reason. there was no context to the invasion. there was no -- there was no penalty for the invasion. putin just decided to take this concern. he initially tried to take all of it. and he succeeded in capturing about 20% roughly of the territory, particularly out here in the east along the russian border, but what he's saying in order to stop his invasion, in order to stop the war, he not only wants to keep the territory that has managed to hold onto, but he wants four entire provinces from ukraine plus a fifth one, which he's not even incluing because he says that's already part of russia. the provinces are large in terms of the united states. you have to think of each one of these provinces like a state. he's asking for four states from ukraine that he does not control or controls in part, does not completely control, in exchange for entering into peace talks. ukrainians do not think this is reasonable. they're not ready to make these kind of territorial concessions. they don't think they should. they don't think they need to, especially after just yesterday the united states signed this historic agreement with ukraine promising to give them arms, intelligence, training for the next ten years and $50 billion of what is effectively russian money in the short-term. so this is something that the ukrainians do not -- they're not even considering, but i don't think that ukrainians or the biden administration or any of those leaders that you're showing at the g-7 are the audience. the audience here is the global south, what putin like i said to call the global majority, people perhaps in the united states who are tired of seeing taxpayer dollars heading toward ukraine, and he's trying to show that he's the one willing to make concessions, even though he took part of this country for no reason and he is the one who's showing flexibility even though he's asking to keep what he has and take more. >> richard engel, thank you so much for offering us that context and understanding of what's happening inside russia, the dynamics right now in the region with ukraine, and that ongoing conflict, which is a big subject matter of the g-7 summit. and here we still are with live pictures. you can see president biden there in the middle and having kind of this transition period in formal conversations with others who are taking part in this global diplomacy. peter, former president trump has also been speaking apparently about the ukraine situation, and here's what congressman matt gaetz said about a conversation or remarks made at their meeting with president trump, former president trump on the hill just yesterday. listen. >> president trump reflected on the fact that it is a travesty in our country that you've got troops who are on food stamps, who are not even getting minimum wage when you look at the hours that they're putting in, and he lamented the fact that we're sending $60 billion to ukraine and we're not paying our troops more. so president trump was explicitly a critic of the ukraine aid and a supporter of the increases in pay for american troops. >> so he points out sort of the differences in the foreign policies of president biden versus a perhaps future president trump and his views of where america's place fits here in the world on the global stage. trump has said he could end the war in russia in 24 hours. david sanger suggesting he might do that by basically agreeing to putin's demands, giving him all that ukrainian territory. so while there's no sign that this so-called peace plan that putin has put out there has any traction now, could it be something that comes back up if trump wins in november? >> yeah, i think, first of all, it's important to remember that if congress thinks that the military aren't getting high enough wages, they can vote them a pay raise. it's not related to ukraine. it doesn't have anything to do with that. that's entirely up to congress if they think that there's under pay of the united states military. what it does say is that president trump does not believe in the ukrainian cause, certainly not the way that the majority in congress and the president biden believe, and he's willing, in fact, to cut them off. it seems very clear that putin has only to wait until november and see if he might get a more flexible, more friendly face in the oval office than the one he's got right now. that's clearly his plan. the initiative is just smoke and mirrors. it's not a real plan: it's all about politics as richard said. you're right, trump has already signaled that his idea of a peace plan is basically to say, ukraine, you give up your territory. russia gets to keep it, and i'm never going to let them into nato, which is what vladimir putin is after. >> peter baker, going to leave it there for now. monica alba, thank you both. coming up, the graphic and violent messages a texas man is accused of sending an fbi agent and why. you're watching msnbc. stay right there. atching msnbc. stay right there organic soil from miracle-gro has grown me the best garden i have ever had. good soil, and you get good results. look at that! the broccoli was fantastic. that broccoli! i think some of them were six, seven pounds. 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. (♪♪) is he? claritin clear? yeah. fast relief of allergies with nasal congestion, so you can breathe better. claritin plus decongestant. live claritin clear®. norman, bad news... i never graduated clarifrom med school.stant. what? -but the good news is... xfinity mobile just got even better! now, you can automatically connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go. plus, buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. i gotta get this deal... i know... faster wifi and savings? ...i don't want to miss that. that's amazing doc. mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? welcome back, a texas man has been charged with threatening an fbi special agent involved in the investigation into hunter biden's laptop. the 42-year-old suspect allegedly called the fbi agent right after hunter's guilty verdict leaving a voice mail saying that if former president trump doesn't win the election, quote, the guns will come out and we'll hunt you expletive down and slaughter you. let's get right to nbc's ryan reilly for more on this. ryan, what are we learning about who this person is and more of the alleged threat? >> yeah, some really disturbing text here, we have also a text that says, how's the family, safe? question mark, and did you expletives really think you were going to disenfranchise 75 million americans and not die, lol. a very disturbing text. there's a huge distinction between how you saw former president donald trump react to his conviction in new york versus how we saw president joe biden react to his son's conviction in delaware. actually afterwards he said that he supported his son but respected the outcome of the trial. there's also obviously a much different approach to the cases altogether. whereas in the donald trump case you saw attacks on everyone from the judges to it potential doxing of the jurors. you saw trump supporters online try to do that. even in this case, this is a case where, again, you have donald trump supporters targeting someone who helped secure the conviction of the president's son here in the hunter biden case, it's all based on this conspiracy theory about this idea they didn't go aggressively enough against hunter biden. still even in this case when you have an fbi agent working on a case against the president's son that resulted in a conviction, you still have attacks from the right coming from people who support donald trump, ana. >> yeah, and attorney general merrick garland has been talking a lot about this, about the threats to law enforcement officials and members who serve in the judicial system. thank you so much, ryan reilly, for bringing us that report. coming up, the israeli military used a medieval style weapon along its border with lebanon. look at this. as the fighting there intensifies. we'll get a live report. but first, a brand new nbc news digital documentary is now providing an up-close look at the horrors unfolding right now in gaza. nbc news spoke to displaced families about their everyday struggle of trying to secure food in rafah. here's 10-year-old miriam abdel rabu who spends the day finding food for her family of 25. [ speaking in a global language ] >> she's such a precious girl. you can watch the full documentary, "the daily struggle for food in gaza: battling hunger in the war zone" right new on nbcnews.com. we'll be right back. e... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon 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. ♪♪ with fastsigns, create factory grade visual solutions to perfect your process. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement™. (vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. ♪♪ unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. (vo) you've had thyroid eye disease for a long time. and you've lived with the damage it caused. but even after all these years, restoration is still possible. learn how at tedhelp.com. ( ♪ ♪ ) start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. [ doorbell rings ] you must be isaac. come on in. the #1 pharmacist recommended [ sighs ] here's my pride and joy. [ romantic music plays ] ♪♪ beautiful stair renovation, sir. and they're covered with your home and auto bundle with progressive, so you get round-the-clock protection. so, is gabby coming down? oh, she said she'll meet you at the prom. (man) every time i needed a new phone, i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon welcome back. come take a look at this. israeli troops deploying a weapon not seen on the battlefield in centuries launching fire balls over the border into lebanon with this medieval style weapon, soldiers were apparently using it to clear brush after a string of deadly wildfires ignited by hezbollah rockets. since wednesday, hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets and drones into northern israel in retaliation for an israeli strike that killed one of its senior commanders. nbc's raf sanchez joins us now from tel aviv, and nbc's keir simmons is in beirut. raf, tell us more about this weapon and what israel is saying about this battle along their northern border. >> so, ana, this weapon is called a trebuchet, it left the battlefield in the 16th century, hasn't really been seen since then. and all of a sudden it pops up on the israeli border. you are seeing troops hurling fire balls over the border into lebanon. an israeli military official tells me this is not an officially sanctioned weapon. it appears to have been built by reservists who were stationed up there. while this is not part of the i df's arsenal, they were trying to burn away thick bushes, thick shrubbery on that border, which they say hezbollah fighters sometimes use to hide in, but in terms of the broader and really much more serious situation, the israeli government says that what is going on right now is intolerable and it cannot continue. you have about 70,000 israeli civilians displaced from their homes since october because of the fighting. you have near daily rocket fire, some of those rockets causing quite large fires in northern israel. we saw some of those thousands and thousands of burnt out acres when we were up there earlier, and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is under intense domestic pressure to do something about it. he says he is determined to restore calm, ideally through a diplomatic solution but that he's prepared to launch a military offensive into southern lebanon if necessary. in terms of a diplomatic solution, the u.s. and france are the main interlocutors trying to hash out some kind of deal that both israel and hezbollah can live with. at this point there doesn't seem to have been a lot of progress, and, ana, people should realize hezbollah is far, far more powerful than hamas, and a war between israel and hezbollah has the potential to be more devastating than what we've seen in gaza. ana. >> keir, it certainly seems like things could be escalating here. hezbollah has signaled they don't want a full-blown war. what are we hearing from them now? >> reporter: yeah, ana, the trouble is that it seemed like it could escalate for the past nine months, and it hasn't. now, what we have seen as raf was talking about there, we have seen an escalation in the past few days. that comes after the israelis killed a senior hezbollah commander and hezbollah basically, you know, responding. before that, the command of hezbollah has said that hezbollah doesn't want a wider war, and that's what's been said too by the leader of hezbollah over the past nine months. i think what you do see both kinetically and in terms of language, hezbollah and the israelis indicating to each other that they -- that the other side should not escalate. of course that may be the thing that leads to an escalation. we could easily have seen further escalation this week. we may well see that. you never honestly know. the numbers are interesting, there have been 13 hezbollah leaders killed in the past nine months, 341 hezbollah fighters. those numbers are low really, aren't they compared with gaza, for example, not to say that they won't have had an impact on hezbollah and often particularly when those commanders are killed, there is a response. but i think that does paint a picture that although as raf was saying, there's a huge problem, for example, in northern israel in terms of those villages there and people not being able to go home, there's a huge fear here in lebanon that could escalate, and we are seeing a senior adviser to president biden reports that he will head to israel next week, so clearly there is concern in the white house about an escalation, but still, i think right now at this point tonight here in beirut, it looks like more of the same. >> all right, keir simmons in beirut, raf sanchez in tel aviv, thank you both for those reports. and there are sweeping efforts across the u.s. to try to make it more difficult for americans to vote, but one group is trying to make registering to vote as easy and as fun as possible, and the numbers show it's working. the executive director at michelle obama's organization when we all vote, joins us to explain next. te, joins us to explain next had seen all these shows... now that we have verizon, we can stop pretending. (vo) disney+, hulu, espn+, netflix and max. all for just $20/mo. only on verizon. (mom) my turn. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. 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. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. 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. ♪ [suspenseful music] trains. [whoosh] ♪ trains that sense what isn't on the schedule. ♪ trains that use the power of dell ai and intel. ♪ to see hundreds of miles of tracks. ♪ [vroom] [train horn] [buzz] clearing the way, [whoosh] so you arrive exactly where you belong. (vo) if you have graves' disease... ...gritty eyes could be more than a rough patch. people with graves' could also get thyroid eye disease, or t-e-d, which may need a different doctor. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com. ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? same. discover the power of wegovy®. ♪ ♪ with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. ♪ ♪ and i'm keeping the weight off. wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only fda-approved weight-management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. wegovy® shouldn't be used with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take wegovy® if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop wegovy® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. wegovy® may cause low blood sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest. depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes. common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. with wegovy®, i'm losing weight, i'm keeping it off. and i'm lowering my cv risk. that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. (man) every time i needed a new phone, i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon right now, bills and rules are being introduced across the country that could add new hurdles for some people trying to vote in november. in new hampshire, for instance, a new bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. in arizona, republicans are suing to purge at least 500,000 people from voter rolls, claiming these are voters who have either died or moved out of state. it's a similar story in ohio where 150,000 voters are being purged from the rolls in the months before the election. counter that with a massive push from groups like michelle obama's nonpartisan initiative when we all vote to register new voters and today that effort includes a music festival in tennessee with headliners like lil wayne, monica and drew hill. joining us is the executive director of when we all vote, beth link. it's good to see you. it sounds like a very fun event there in tennessee. what's your plan to get people from a music festival on june 14th to the voting booth on move 5th? >> well, ana, thank you so much for having me, and you know, when we all vote for the last six years has been laser focused on changing culture and bringing voting to culture. we're also so focused through that work to increase participation in each and every election, and close the race and age voting gap. we're doing that this weekend with our partnership with the blavity house party. we're registering people to vote, supporting voter education, and getting folks energized and ready to go for this fall. to answer your question, this is an ongoing conversation, and absolutely the house party is one of the stops on our culture of democracy tour where we're encouraging, educating, and ultimately mobilizing folks to participate and make their voice heard and exercise their right and their power. >> why tennessee for this event? we know it's not an incredibly competitive state typically when we zero in on those states that could impact the election more broadly, how did you land here? >> so we are going where the klture is. one of our superpowers is to bridge culture and voting. that's why we were really exciting with our long standing media partner, blavity invited us to the house party to register folks to vote and participate in this engagement. the culture of democracy tour has many stops. we're in philadelphia at the roots picnic earlier this month. in miami. we are also planning a number of other stops in louisiana, las vegas and elsewhere, and also leveraging our network of 12,000 volunteers to have volunteer-led voter registration events in their own communities around national days of action like the upcoming holiday. >> i want to talk a little bit about some of your numbers. 71% of the people who register with when we all vote back in 2020 were young people and people of color, and you say 83% of the people you registered actually turned out to vote. so quickly, if you will, what's your secret sauce? what might campaigns be missing or not doing that's proving successful for you? >> it's really bringing voting to culture and being in the culture with the community. mrs. obama founded "when we all vote" alongside a network of cochairs. and we also work very closely with our network of ambassadors to think thoughtfully about how we are creatively talking about engaging and getting folks registered to vote, educated and ready to go. i will say, you know, we are a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan organization, so one of the things we're often talking to people about is what do you care about? what are the issues that are top of mind. for many folks, whether it's reproductive rights, whether it's climate change or gun violence, you know, the right to vote is the key to unlocking and advancing any of those issues, and ultimately that's incredibly motivating and we're showing up and having conversations in places people not expect. that's the secret sauce for us. >> thanks for your efforts of helping people engage in democracy. beth link, it's nice to have you here. have a great weekend. >> coming up, we have brand new comments from former president trump on hunter biden's conviction after president biden revealed he would not commute his son's sentence. that's coming up when alex witt picks up our coverage next. xt ie. (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon wanna know a secret? with new secret outlast, you can almost miss the bus... but smell like you didn't. secret fights 99% of odor-causing bacteria. smell fresh for up to 72 hours. secret works! it's a crime to smell that good. i was scared when i was told age related macular sedegeneration could jeopardize my vision. it was hard, but taking preservision was easy. preservision has the exact clinically proven areds 2 formula recommended by the nei. i'm taking control like millions of others. 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. (vo) in two seconds, eric will realize they're gonna need more space... (man) gotta sell the house. (vo) oh...open houses. or, skip the hassles and sell directly to opendoor. (man) wow. (vo) when life's doors open, we'll handle the house. the future is not just going to happen. you have to make it. and if you want a successful business, all it takes is an idea, and now becomes the future where you grew a dream into a reality. the all new godaddy airo. put your business online in minutes with the power of ai. what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul.com. (man) every time i needed a new phone, i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon