shelby county commission just voted to send justin pearson back to the tennessee state house. his colleague justin jones was reinstated monday. both were protesting for gun reform after three kids and three school staffers were shot and killed by someone who legally bought the weapons and used them to murder school children and teachers. and both lawmakers were expelled from the state government for speaking out republicans said it was because they lacked decorum on the house floor. the backlash to the gop decision has been so intense, it s only helped to fuel the debate on guns in tennessee. and now the southern states governor is actually pushing for some gun reform. governor bill lee signed an executive order on tuesday, strengthening background checks, and he s now calling for gop state lawmakers, the same ones who expelled pearson and jones to pass a red flag law let s first listen to justin pearson. guilty of not expanding health care. guilty of not giving us educatio
good wednesday morning, i m lindsey reiser at msnbc headquarters in new york. right now escalating tensions between the u.s. and russia with ukraine front and center. in the last hour, president biden led a show of unity with leaders of the so-called bucharest nine, our eastern european nato allies and he had this blunt message about the future. today as we approach the one-year anniversary of russia s invasion, it s either more important that we continue to stand together. because what s literally at stake is not just ukraine, it s freedom. looming over it all the spector of nuclear weapons with new comments from a top putin ally this morning saying russia has the right to defend itself with, quote, any weapon including the nuclear kind. this as we also learn russia told the u.s. it was going to test an intercontinental ballistic missile before president biden s trip to ukraine. and another wrinkle during a meeting with china s top diplomat earlier, russian president v
rocket attacks in 24 hours as the military steps up its assault in ukraine. our reporters are here to cover all of the latest developments and we start there. nbc s richard engel is in dnipro, ukraine, this latest barrage of missiles, give us the latest we know about what s happening on the ground there. reporter: so ukrainians are shrugging it off. they so far say that the russian offensive, which was launched about two weeks ago, is not shaping up to be as devastating as province, the head of ukrainian intelligence earlier today said the russian offensive appears to be of such low quality that some field commanders don t even know that it has begun, that there has been intense activity from the russian side around bakhmut where we have been reporting over the last couple of weeks, but that in other areas, the russians are running so low on ammunition on artillery shells they are now in an ammunition conservation mode. so, yes, they are still able to launch rockets at unde
hitting severe turbulence. it comes as a pennsylvania man appears in court, accused of trying to bring an explosive on a plane. the alleged plot to kill jewish officials in michigan. the state s attorney general now saying she was among the targets. the house ethics committee officially launching an investigation into george santos. the surprise meeting of the g20. what secretary of state tony blinken told his russian counterpart face the face. and harry smith on the doctor inspiring america by carrying for the city s most vulnerable. announcer: this nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening and everything. there is breaking news where the alex murdaugh double murder case has reached an verdict. murdaugh on trial for the murders of his wife and 22-year-old son. let s go to catie beck right now outside the courthouse in walterboro, north carolina. catie, what can you tell us? lester, this is sort of an exceptional surprise to see a jury come back on a
announcement about his future in the nfl. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening after suffering a dehumanizing death helplessly beaten in the street, the life and the person that was tyre nichols was celebrated in a memphis church today a funeral that portrayed nichols as more than a victim of a shocking act, but also a father, a skateboard enthusiast, a photographer the service, however, was also a public outcry for police reform, attended by other families who have lost loved ones to police. also in attendance, vice president kamala harris who said this violent act was not in pursuit of public safety on that note, we have learned more about the five officers charged with nichols death, including the disciplinary histories for four of them as an apparent disconnect emerges between police accounts of the confrontation with nichols and what is seen on video recordings priscilla thompson leads us off tonight reporter: tonight, songs of sor