venezuela, one of the filthyest oil producers on the planet and he is about to make some history for a move to further cripple us as a nation economically. biden set to tap into our rapidly vanishing oil reserve. i m harris faulkner and you are in the faulkner focus. saudi arabia leads opec+ and the biden white house has been pressuring them to do more to help us while president biden s policies have suffocated our own oil production at home. well, if we didn t know it before, we know it now. they are not interested if helping the united states. we re so addicted to foreign oil, it is a business plan for them to hurt us. and the tough words from the president calling opec s decision short sighted. that from his administration. speaking of finding your words, the white house press secretary is blaming russia. opec s decision to cut production quotas is short sighted. it is clear that opec+ is aligning with russia with today s announcement. harris: they don t have to love
plus, the latest on house speaker nancy pelosi and taiwan. the uncertain visit is straining an already tense relationship between the united states and china. and a texas man gets the longest prison sentence to date tied to the capitol attack, but his daughters want someone else locked up, too. good morning, and welcome to way too early, on this tuesday, august 2nd. i m jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. after decades on the run, the top leader of al qaeda has finally been taken off the battlefield. ayman al zawahiri was killed this last weekend by a cia drone while standing on a balcony in downtown kabul, second in command to osama bin laden during the september 11th attacks, and became the top leader when the united states killed bin laden in 2011. a senior administration official tells nbc news that the strike was so precise, none of his family inside the home were killed. in a rare evening address last night, president biden still isolating from covid said j
rain. the massive wildfire burning out of control in northern california. the fire is now the state s largest fire this year. more than 55,000 acres burned. more than 100 structures destroyed. at least two people killed, apparently trying to escape the flames. matt gutman on the fire line. ginger zee tonight on the red flag warnings in the west and the new flood watch for eastern kentucky. flood wing possible in same are monkeypox spreading in the u.s. more than 5,200 cases reported. new york city and illinois declaring public health emergencies today and the cdc warning for children 8 and under. despite growing threats from china. house speaker nancy pelosi is expected to visit taiwan during her trip to asia this week. what the white house is now saying. nfl quarterback deshaun watson suspended six games following dozens of allegations of sexual misconduct and after watson agreed to settle 23 of 24 cases against him. and paying tribute to two trail blazers on the
good evening once again, i am stephanie ruhle. we have brand-new information this evening about the january 6th committee accusing former president donald trump of trying to contact a witness during the investigation. nbc news has confirmed reporting that the witness was a member of the white house support staff. at the end of yesterday s hearing liz cheney said that the matter had been referred to the justice department. this afternoon, the committee s chair person was asked about cheney s comments. are we going to hear from this witness? i would doubt it. we re concerned obviously about the witness, and we do not want to put that witness under unnecessary pressure. is there enough evidence that there was an attempt to influence the witness? from my vantage point, it is highly unusual to do that. that s why we, more or less, put that in the hands of the justice department. is this just one missed phone call from the former president? that s all i m aware of. as
that there was an attempt to influence the witness? from my vantage point, it is highly unusual to do that. that s why we more or less, put that in the hands of the justice department. is this just one missed phone call from the former president? that s all i m aware of. as for its future plans, the panel has not ruled out additional hearings later this summer, we will hear more public testimony one week from tomorrow. one committee member says that nest thursday s hearing will focus on what trump was doing when the capital was under attack. specifically about the time period of the 187 minutes within the white house, and what the president was doing. and how he could have played a role in preventing more violence, if he had merely gone to the briefing room and asked people to leave the capitol. it comes as trump ally and former strategist steve bannon is set to go on trial on monday for contempt of congress. he is now ready to cooperate with the january 6th coope