palestinian refugee camp. matt bradley caught in the firefight last night. good day, everyone. i m andrea mitchell in washington. we begin our second hour of andrea mitchell reports with the gun violence epidemic in our country. according to the gun violence archive, there were 17 mass shootings in 15 states over the long july 4th weekend. leaving 18 people dead and more than 100 others injured. it brings the annual tally to 351 this year on track to surpass previous records. right now in el paso, texas, sentencing is underway in one of the deadliest mass shootings in u.s. history, the 2019 walmart shooting, where the shooter pleaded guilty to federal murder and hate crime charges for targeting hispanic migrants. family members of his 23 victims are making impact statements in court later today. the gunman is likely to be sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences. in philadelphia, a 40-year-old man has been charged with five counts of murder after allegedly opening fire
following this hour. extreme heat and storms threatening holiday celebrations from california to the east coast as more than 1,000 flight delays frustrate travelers trying to reach friends and family by the fourth of july. also this hour, vladimir putin looking to strengthen ties with china after the public embarrassment of last week s armed rebellion as president zelenskyy argues the pace of ukraine s counteroffensive is not meeting its hopes. more troops occupying the west bank as president netanyahu faces criticism from the united nations. we begin this hour with what s become a record setting run-up to independence day. from busy skies to hectic highways, nearly 51 million americans are expected to travel for july 4th. friday broke records as the single busiest day in tsa history. extreme weather could slow everything down with millions under severe weather alerts an concerns over strong thunderstorms in the mid-atlantic states and portions of the northern great pla
vladimir putin today appearing with his advisors as he tries to reassert his authority, saying he is in control despite the wagner group s weekend rebellion. translator: you can see the army, society, and people were one. this has allowed us to overcome the extremely dangerous situation that the country was in. good day. i m andrea mitchell in washington. we have breaking news from the supreme court as the session comes to a close this week or next. a decision written by chief justice roberts rejecting republican efforts to allow state legislatures authority to regulate federal elections without review by state supreme courts. the decision was a big relief for voting rights groups who had feared the high court would validate republican efforts to prevent any challenges to gerrymandering of congressional districts. the dispute began in north carolina after their supreme court struck down a new congressional map drown in 2021 by the state s republican-controlled legislature
all of the political fallout to come. also this hour, florida federal judge aileen cannon sets a file date for the president s documents case as mr. trump gives his most detailed answer yet since last week s indictment about his handling of america s secrets in response to tough questions from fox news anchor bret baier. why not just hand them over then? because i had the boxes. i wanted to go through the boxes and get all of my personal things out. i didn t want to hand it over yet, and i was very busy as you ve sort of seen. yeah, you tell the aide to move to other locations after telling your lawyers you had fully complied with the subpoena when you hadn t? but i had to take all of my thing out. these boxes were interspersed with all sorts of things. and john durham to the house intelligence committee on the 206-page report that s highly critical of the fbi s investigation into the russian interference in 2016, to the republican intelligence committee chairman,
that is expected to start any minute now. we ll bring you that as soon as it begins. plus, the polarizing plea deal for the president s son. republicans blasting the agreement that lets hunter biden avoid jail time as a slap on the wrist. but some legal experts suggest that if his last name wasn t biden, he might never have faced charges in the first place. and this deal was announced just about half an hour after we learned donald trump s court date. now less than eight weeks away. does judge aileen cannon s accelerated timeline suggest this trial could be over before the primaries even begin? but, we start with the extraordinary developments developing the current and former president on the same okay that donald trump s trial date is set, president biden s son hunter has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid a trial and jail time. and we will get to that momentarily. but, first, let s take you to the coast guard briefing, the latest on the sub and the five p