united states called the bankers on wall street. the current spike in gas prices is largely the fault of vladimir putin. republicans offer plenty of blame but not a single solution. they re not drilling. why not? you want to know why prices are so high? there are a number of reasons having to do with war in ukraine, destruction caused by the pandemic. bill: gas is down 50 cents over the past 30 days. every bit helps. currently sitting at 4.49 a gallon on average. still up 87% since the president took office. peter doocy starts the coverage from the north lawn. what s the explanation now? what we continue to hear from officials at the white house is that when prices go up for pretty much anything, it is putin s fault out of the president s hands. when the prices come down, it is the president s plans to thank and he deserves a lot of credit. and that is leading to new questions whether or not there is a double standard. there is no both way thinking here at all. i very m
with lester holt good evening americans feeling the heat tonight in ways and places they maybe never have where they live as high temperature records are expected to fall across much of the country. it is where we begin tonight. 38 million people across 20 states from california to the mississippi river right now living under heat alerts. record highs in the forecast today from cheyenne, wyoming where the forecast high is 99 to dallas/ft. worth airport which could reach 109. between now and wednesday nearly three dozen new record highs could be set the heat wave working its way to the east tonight, leaving the most vulnerable in its path at considerable risk experts are warning it is not summer as usual but rather another global gut check moment from a changing climate just as we face new obstacles in dealing with it. we ll get to that and the forecast from our team standing by in just a moment. let s start with miguel almaguer. reporter: shattering records and threatenin