inspector general s investigation have even been released. and right now, arguments are set to begin in louisiana where the fate of a widely used abortion pill rests in the hands of three judges our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. yamiche alcindor is following the case in louisiana. yamiche, what can you tell us about what s happening today? starting just this hour, three conservative judges will be hearing oral arguments on whether mifepristone should remain available. each of these judges, we should put our names and faces up of people have a history of supporting restrictions on abortion, and each were nominated by republican presidents. as viewers may remember, a group of anti-abortion activists to get this pill off the market. they are arguing it is unsafe, and the fda should never have approved it when it did two decades ago. the justice department is arguing that taking the medication off the market would cause great harm to women and
of the war in ukraine cast on them both. first, the g7, where the world s most advanced economies are meeting in japan. the us has said it will support providing advanced fighterjets including us made f16s to ukraine and also back training ukrainian pilots to fly them. meanwhile, moscow s closest ally in the middle east, syria s bashar al assad, received a warm welcome at a summit of arab leaders in saudi arabia after years of international isolation. during syria s bloody civil war, it was only massive russian military support, that allowed assad, condemned by many as a war criminal, to cling onto power. the summit was also attented by the ukrainian president, volodymr zelensky, who is due tojoin the g7 group in hiroshima on sunday, where its expected he ll address leaders and hold a meeting with us presidentjoe biden. details on that later in the programme. but first, the news of more military support for ukraine. a short whie earlier, us national security advisor jake sull
there s now a little optimism on a debt ceiling deal following yesterday s meeting at it white house even though president biden is cutting short an overseas trip. we ll have the latest on those negotiations. and also ahead ron desantis goes after donald trump on the issue of abortion. we ll look at how it could impact the 2024 presidential race. good morning and welcome to way too early on this wednesday, may 17th. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. moving in today with the ongoing debt ceiling negotiations, president biden met with congressional leaders at the white house yesterday, and while both sides say that some progress has been made, no deal has yet been reached. both biden and house speaker kevin mccarthy named top negotiators to take part in talks and continue daily. and while democrats continue to insist that they will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, they are reportedly in talks about spending cuts working on a parallel track. the
shocking attack. ukraine repelling intense russian attacks on the capital. plus, the new cia video urging russians to share war secrets the future of ai the ceo behind chatgpt describing his worst fears, calling for regulation of the tech he helped create plus, our exclusive with the ceo of microsoft. and the play at the plate. when a dust devil starts suddenly, a teenaged umpire has the save of the day. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, and welcome, everyone. with the clock ticking down to america defaulting on its debt, some potentially positive signs tonight following a white house sit-down between president biden and congressional leaders. republicans and democrats are at loggerheads over raising the debt ceiling and allowing the country to continue paying its bills. underscoring the urgency of the moment, the white house says president biden is cutting short his planned trip to the asia-pacific region in order to deal with the