at the capital gazette who were killed last week. that deadly shooting marks one of the deadly i attacks on journalists in american history. craig melvin is up next. >> thank you so much for that. craig melvin here. good afternoon to you. msnbc headquarters in new york city. supreme short list. nbc news reporting president trump has narrowed his list for the next supreme court down to just three. who he's considering and how he's putting pressure on vulnerable democratic senators who have to vote on their confirmation. this time in montana. also, poison investigation. british couple poisoned and the details are eerily familiar. it's the same nerve agent used to poison a former russian spy. now investigators are trying to figure out was this an accident or was it deliberate. also, tv spy. a new report looks at just how smart that smart tv of yours really is. what does it know about you?

you'd probably be surprised at how much a company can learn from what you're watching. we'll dig into all of that in just a moment. we'll start with president trump narrowing his supreme court short list to three contenders. three days before his self-imposed deadline. they are appeals court judges kavanaugh, barrett and raymond ketlledge. all relatively young. the president set that monday deadline to name the successor to retiring justice kennedy. he is flying to montana at this hour to support the gop candidate hoping to oust democrat senator jon tester in november. nbc's hans nichols is at the white house. axios reporting even though the president said he is going to be making this announcement on monday, aides would not be surprised if he jumped the gun and named his nominee in the next few days. quote, when the president has made up his mind, he wants to

go. an aide said. anyone there telling you they wouldn't be surprised if the president dropped this name early? >> that might explain a wall of reporters just a few feet where i am. right behind me, the president is leaving in about five minutes for his motorcade. it's possible he shouts out his pick to us. it's more likely he does it in a more formal way. when you look at how neil gorsuch was done, it was very formal. that was their way to do it then. we're going to hear from the president around 6:00 p.m. tonight, he'll be at that rally. he really has a delicate task. yes, he wants to get jon tester out of the senate but he may need tester for the vote for whoever he ends up nominating. you saw the awkwardness when he visited north dakota last week right before the announcement was made that justice kennedy will be retiring. he was quite critical of heidi hi hidecamp, the democratic senator there. then the next day, he had hide

camp here. remember, tester voted against the president's first supreme court nominee, neil gorsuch. we'll see how the president tries to finesse it tonight in what could be a raucous rally. >> while you were reporting that, we just received this. from the white house. the president announcing, now, that bill shine, bill shine is going to join the white house staff. he will serve as assistant to the president, also serving as deputy chief of staff for communications as well. bill shine apparently going to be running the comes department there at the white house. of course, most recently, he was the co-president of fox news. also fox business. this is something, as you know, hans, something that had been whispered about a few weeks ago, and then maybe about a week ago, those whispers ceased and people were talking about it openly and

loudly. and now it would seem to be official. former fox news executive, very close to roger ailes, the network's ousted chairman, bill shine running coms there at the white house. hans, not much of a surprise. it would seem this was more of a question of when, not if, right? >> correct, but titles are important. they always say the cheapest raise in politics is a title increase. bill shine's title is deputy chief of staff. now, there's the coms behind that. but that elevates slightly above than what a traditional communications director would be. we'll have to figure out what line his authority is. does he have a direct report to the president? or will he be reporting to john kelly and then go through the president? so titles matter. that is a slightly higher title. that's probably the one that bill shine wanted because he's not simply a communications director. he's a deputy chief of staff. and in the past, when you've had communications directors or people more on the political side in a white house get that

deputy roll, it's complicated things. i'm thinking of karl rove. remember, he was the president's adviser, but then he took a deputy chief of staff role towards the end of the bush administration and that, some people inside the bush administration, would have even said was too much power for a political person. and the deputy chief of staff role, you either want someone who can make the trains run on time, someone like a joe hagan, current slated deputy chief of staff, or you want someone who really knows the hill very well. those have been the traditional molds for deputies. having someone out there with such a messaging priority in that deputy role gives you a sense this white house is gearing up for the midterms and they want to make sure their message is firing on all cylinders, especially with conservative media outlets that can sometimes echo, often echo what the president is trying to drive home, craig. >> hans, do stand by for me, if you can. i want to bring in radio talk show host msnbc political analyst hugh hewitt.

also "washington post" political columnist dana eubank is here as well. we know sean hannity has the ear of this president. what can we make of what this announcement is going to mean for the president? what does it mean for the administration and its message? >> bill shine's a very excellent programmer. he spotted a lot of young talent, brought them into fox news. even as he amplified the reach of sean hannity and others. i think you'll see some much needed organization to the coms messaging. and a greater focus on -- as you just mentioned, the senate races in the fall. i think the supreme court rollout et cetera, that will all be added to by shine's presence in the west wing. >> dana, your response to the announcement that shine is going to become deputy chief of staff in charge of communications? >> a couple of things, craig. i think he will be the seventh or eighth in this spot. some have held it multiple times. it's a particularly difficult

one to hold because this president is essentially his own communications director. very difficult to get him on the path you want him to be on. it also is, again, a furtherance of this president's fascination with tv personalities, you know. we've seen larry kudlow, we've seen several others. he has a particular attraction, wants these people around him. we know that people like lou dobbs speak to him, sean hannity speaks to him on a regular basis. i think the obvious thing is it's just a matter of time until he comes knocking on your door as well, craig. >> i don't know if that's going to happen, dana, but thank you. is hans still at the white house for me? can i go back to hans? hey, hans, for folks who are watching and listening who might not be as femier with this job, in simplicity of terms what do the communications director do? what is shine's day-to-day responsibility? what's that going to look like? >> for your purpose, he'll be

the ones approving your interview with the president. typically the communications director is doing longer term strategy, trying to figure out what the message should be not just a couple weeks out but a couple of months out. they're really thinking over the horizon. the day-to-day back and forth, that's typically the press secretary. now, it's varied in different administrations. even within the obama administration, initially the press secretary had to direct report to the chief of staff. then they ordered things around and had the press secretary report to the communications director. so the communications director is typically slightly above the press secretary but they are thinking longer term. and the fact that bill shine is actually deputy chief of staff gives him that much more power. he's almost on a footing with the other special assistants and he can outrank some of them. i also think we should note this is an old media play. we have no idea what 2018, the midterms or 2020 are going to look like in part because the media is changing so rapidly. you just mentioned axios, a

company that wasn't around two, three years ago. so he's going with an old media executive in an environment that's going to be shifting and changing. when you look at the energy on the democratic side, they've been able to harness social media in new and interesting ways. yes, bill shine has a great deal of talent. knows how to put on television and spot talent. whether or not he can find the voters in the new media environment, that's an open question. >> this is a president who does like to surround himself with people who have demonstrated loyalty. we know that before bill shine was a fox news executive, he was a producer for sean hannity and we know how much the president enjoys watching sean hannity's program. hans, thank you so much for that at the white house. dana, let's go back to the big story of the day here, the supreme court short list. as you look at these potential nominees, is there any reason for progressives like yourself

to be optimistic? >> well, i don't think in the long run there's any reason to. there is a slim chance that democrats would be a bell to block this. we see this multimillion-dollar effort getting going on the left. targeting senators like collins, like murkowski. really they only need a vote or two. the difficulty with that is there's a mirror effort on the right to target a heidkamp and tester and manchin and done ndo. i think it outweighs the democrats here. i think if they were able to defeat one of these, well, what's to say the president wouldn't come back with another one? and it's going to be very difficult. the fight should be made but it's going to be very difficult to prevent president trump from filling this seat. >> hugh, will the conservative wing of the gop have any problems with the three names that are thought to be front-runners right now, these

three sitting judges? >> no, judges kethledge are all ten-years-plus of opinions. i think barrett probably has the greatest possibility of being rejected by the senate. if you look at the upside on the map, craig, i think judge kethledge gets the nod. because he's from the countryside, not from the capital. extraordinary intellects on both sides. but judge kethledge coming from michigan, you know, michigan undergrad. i don't know him personally, i just know what he's written in his opinions. you go with john james in michigan. you go down to mike braun in indiana. i think the president mentioning gorsuch and kethledge gets much bigger applause certainly in michigan and hunting states than it would if you mention kavanaugh. i don't think you take the risk

of barrett right now. so it's one of the ks i think. >> really quickly, the risk of barrett would be what? the greatest risk to appointing her would be what? >> that she doesn't have a record that conservatives are comfortable with at the same time that people are afraid like dianne feinstein that the dogma lives deeply within her. you still have to worry about that becoming an opportunity for a swing and a miss. he simply cannot get this wrong, craig, you cannot blow this in september. his nominee's got to get confirmed in september. >> amy conney barrett, there on your screen. jennifer mack award, professers of law at notre dame. also clerked for supreme court justice sandra day o'connor. she's also for the purposes of this conversation a longtime friend of judge amy coney barrett. she's on the short list of contenders. thank you so much for your time, jennifer. what can you tell us about your friend amy barrett?

what would make her a good supreme court justice? >> well, thanks for having me. judge barrett is truly extraordinary person and everything she does is consistently excellent. she has been a great judge so far. she's a terrific colleague. she has seven children. she's a great mother. she's truly a remarkable person. she would be a great credit to the supreme court if president trump chose her. >> perhaps you heard one of the greatest concerns is what this court would mean, what the next court would mean for roe v. wade. everyone wants to know about where judge barrett stands. do you have any sense about how she feels about it? as a matter of settled law for example? >> i have no idea how judge barrett or any nominee would vote on any case. but it seems to me that it might

not be the right question to ask. what we're trying to do is find a judicial nominee who has intelligence and experience and fair mindedness and is just a fundamentally decent person. >> so you don't think it should matter how a justice might rule on a law that has divided this country for 45 years since it essentially became law? you don't think that's an important question? >> i think the process has become so hyper partisanized that there's just no way that you're going to get an accurate answer. even if a nominee could provide one. i don't think any nominee really knows how he or she would vote once she or he ascends to the supreme court and has a real case and real controversy in front of them. i think the question we should be asking is not the partisan one, but the question of is this person qualified. >> and there's no doubt that your friend is qualified. >> i agree.

>> so your areas of expertise include relationship between congress and the courts and civil rights as well. when you look at the makeup of the court today and you look at the makeup of the court, what it might look like over the next few years, are you optimistic that civil rights, that human rights will be of paramount concern to this new court? >> i'm not sure how the questions of civil and human rights will play out. i try to be an optimistic person. but at the end of the day, i hope the supreme court remains supportive in a fundamental way. but i also think that just needs to become a priority for our society in general. to care about people who are different from us. and to respect their human dignity at every level. i think that's something we need to worry about as a society. and of course as a judicial system. but i think it's a broader question than just in the courts.

>> the question of the constitution itself, should it be interpreted strictly? >> there are different methods of interpreting the constitution. i think what's important is a judge takes that responsibility seriously. and understands that what she's doing is interpreting the constitution and the laws and not imposing her own personal preferences on the law. and judge barrett, for example, in her seventh circuit confirmation hearing, was very clear that whatever her personal beliefs are, don't have a bearing on her per gormanforman judge. >> thank you very much. enjoyed our conversation. >> thank you. a second pair of people poisoned in the united kingdom. it's the same nerve agent that was used to go after a former russian spy and his daughter earlier this year. now investigators are trying to figure out if the two incidents are connected. and swing left. it's a new push for democrats in deep blue districts to try to win over voters in swing

districts. msnbc's chris jansing talked to some volunteers about why they think they can flip the house from red to blue. >> why swing left? >> it takes a village. to flip a house. so -- >> did you make that up, it takes a village to flip a house? >> i guess i just did. a passing car.u barelyp minor accident - no big deal, right? wrong. your insurance company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change. ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. this condition has not been reported with entyvio. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's treatment isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio.

entyvio. relief and remission within reach. you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. my familyoh!in there. how did you get in the building? jumped off a super crane. what?

whoa! skyscraper. can't fix it with duct tape, then you ain't using enough duct tape. rated pg-13. a british couple remains in critical condition. they were exposed to the same

deadly nerve agent that nearly killed a former russian spy and his daughter earlier this year. they live seven miles from where sergei and julia schiphol were poisoned in march. officials announcing the two new victims were exposed to this chemical agent after handling a contaminated item. nbc's matt bradley joins us from london. he's outside scotland yard. matt what do we know about this contaminated item? >> well, like you just said, craig, they just got a new piece of breaking news, that was counterterrorism officials, housed right behind me in new scotland yard, they said they believe this couple picked up an item probably in salisbury where they had been shopping and walking around the day before. remember, as you said, salisbury was the location of the poisoning of the scrikripals ba in march. we can assume these two cases were, in fact, connected. but that's going to raise another round of questions for

the british government. why wasn't this whole area scrubbed clean as british officials said it was back in march and said it was again just today and yesterday? craig. >> as far as a connection between the two cases at this point, matt, what are officials saying about that? >> officials have said repeatedly they want to keep an open mind. because all of this is so new. at the same time, they've made the point, and it's a very clear point, that this couple has absolutely no relationship with international intrigue, with spy games or with russia. so it would seem that the most likely explanation is that this wasn't a new poisoning, that this was, in fact, just residue from the previous poisoning that afflicted the skripals and nearly killed them back in march. >> matt, keep us posted. meanwhile, back here, a surge of political organizing from democrats. our own chris jansing talked to

a group that set up its own adopt a congressional district program of sorts. >> everybody has a district nearby. usually pretty close where they can make a difference. come here, babe. ok. nasty nighttime heartburn? try new alka-seltzer pm gummies. the only fast, powerful heartburn relief plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. ♪ oh, what a relief it is! about the colonial penn program. here to tell you if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase,

and a price that fits your budget. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. and with this plan, you can pick your payment date, so you can time your premium due date to work with your budget. so call now for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, and it's yours just for calling. so call now.

so let's promote our summer travel deal on choicehotels.com like this. surfs up. earn a $50 gift card when you stay just twice this summer. or, badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com ♪

the kenya tea development agency is an organization that is owned by tea farmers. every week we sell this tea, we get paid in multiple accounts. we were looking for a bank to provide a safe and efficient technology platform to pay our farmers. citi was the only one that was able to ensure that this was done seamlessly. and today, at the touch of a button, all the farmers are able to get their money, pay school fees and improve their standard of living. with citi, we see a bright future for our farmers and their families. ♪

with just four months to go before the midterm elections, democrats today are getting a major boost from some new political players. hundreds of grassroots groups borne out of donald trump's election are now channeling their anger and frustration into political action. one group in particular known as swing left has come up with a bit of a unique plan to flip the house blue. msnbc's chris jansing got an exclusive look inside their campaign. >> reporter: in a broadway theater packed with celebrities. the night's unlikely star is a freelance writer turned political power player. he's ethan todress. after donald trump won, he felt just like these folks did. >> i was feeling, you know, despondent, depressed. >> reporter: like the new yorkers at this party, he lives in a deep blue congressional district in western massachusetts. >> i was looking for a place where i could make a difference. i found it just across the border.

>> reporter: he found out 75% of americans have a congressional swing district within 50 miles. and believed that if he could convince those blue district democrats to help out in their nearest winnable district, the house of representatives could swing left. so he came up with swingleft.org for people like chris goldberg. >> enter your zip code here. so i'm in west hollywood. very blue district. maybe one of the bluest. and the search. and it says what my closest swing district is, which is california 25. >> reporter: that's where you're standing right now? >> yes, where i've been the last year or so, coming up here almost every weekend. >> reporter: he's not alone. the website launched the day after the inauguration. by the end of the first weekend, 200,000 people had signed up. today, it's pushing 400,000. volunteers like steve and melinda. >> my husband said, let's have a party. i said sure. he put out the invitation. we got a lot of people really

quickly. then we got over 100. we realized we had to move from our house to the church. rented the church hall. >> reporter: you got over 100 people? >> we got almost 200 people. >> reporter: people just waiting for a way to channel their frustration into action. >> how many of you guys are from outside of this district? wow. keep 'em up, keep 'em up. that's amazing. >> reporter: so in california district 25, in the shadow of the reagan library, 200 people went canvassing last sunday. were you nervous about knocking on doors the first time? >> yes, i was very nervous. >> reporter: now they tell me it's cathartic, even addicting. >> i cannot go away. every time i go out and meet another democrat and they say thank you so much for coming, i can't wait to vote. >> reporter: add to that swing left manpower, money. they set up innovative district funds. you donate to a district, not a person. and the eventual primary winner gets the cash. in cal 25, that's katie hill. >> it's my great pleasure to hand over this check from the

grassroots. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: you beat a slew of other people on election night. how much money did you have left? >> we had almost nothing left. we spent pretty much down to zero. >> reporter: the group gave her over $160,000, with more coming in every day. swing left is now in 78 congressional districts in 29 states. whole families are turning out like the bartletts. why swing left? >> it takes a village to flip a house. so -- >> reporter: did you make that up, it takes a village to flip a house? >> i guess i just did. >> reporter: that's pretty good. back on broadway, ethan is winning over more converts. can mandy pitaken who's famous knock on doors? >> absolutely, that's what we do. we are absolutely going to do that. >> reporter: and the party's host, producer jordan, fresh off winning a tony, has his eye on a different prize now, control of the house. >> you either lay down or you

say i'm going to stand up, i'm going to join with you, i'm going to join with you, and i'm going to make this change. >> fascinating, chris jansing. >> it really is. a wake-up call for the party structures. you're seeing people say, you know what, it's not just about who you pick, it's about who the people who live in the district pick. the other thing about this is there's no substitute for boots on the ground. when you have somebody like katie hill who ended her primary campaign with no money, she had this list from swing left of people who wanted to come in and help her and volunteer. i think those are big points to make. >> chris jansing. thank you very much. always enjoy it. so while the grassroots groups plan for a blue wave this november, some republicans aren't so sure. conservative commentator and trump supporter candace owens tweeted this week, quote, i'm calling it now, the black community, which has been politically irrelevant for

decades, will become the most politically relevant voting group by 2020. our awakening is finally happening. author of that tweet joins me now. she's also the communications director for turning point usa, it's a conservative nonprofit organization. explain the tweet. how can you say that black voters have been politically irrelevant for decades? >> right, so politically irrelevant because if you consistently vote for just one party, then you're not going to see people competing for your votes, and that's what we have seen happen. i feel that on the republican side they weren't doing anything because they saw it as a monolith and they weren't trying to win over black voters. on the democratic side, they were able to present us a bunch of broken promises. we are seeing a huge difference. a bunch popping up, saying that they are walking away from the democratic party. it's something that hasn't gotten much air time on liberal networks and it should because it's very real. you can see that just by some of the polls that have been done that show that black people are starting to support donald

trump. >> polls like? >> like the fact that he has the most support, black support since i believe richard nixon and that's a very big deal. >> where's that poll from? >> that's a -- i want to get the exact website. i'm going to have to look it up for you. it's a poll. that's the exact poll. >> there's been a number of these polls because a number of these polls are not actually polls, they're opt-in surveys. but in terms of -- i mean, there's always been black republicans. are you asserting all of a sudden there are millions of new black donald trump supporters that we didn't know anything about before? >> we're seeing a major shift happen. and black supporters are leading the left and going over to the right. you need to pay attention to the underground movement. you're correct to say that just because a poll says something, it's right. i wasn't fooled by the polls. i thought hillary clinton was going to lose. also saying i believe black

voters are going to exit the left completely by 2020. >> you didn't vote for trump to be clear? >> i was in bed for six months and i was unable to vote. >> nbc news has learned the president has narrowed its search down to three contenders. what are you looking for in the next supreme court justice? >> i'm not looking for anything in particular, somebody that will uphold the constitution. i don't think that we should stress out until he makes a pick and then we talk about the different qualificationings. there's mass hysteria over the fact he gets to pick somebody in the same way obama got to pick two people. >> i think a lot of folks are annoyed by the third person that the president did not get to pick, merit garland who didn't get a hearing. >> he did get two picks. >> yes, that's correct. so litmus test, roe v. wade, we were just talking about that a few minutes ago. do you think there should be a litmus test with regard to roe v. wade? >> even the fact we are discussing roe v. wade is a

typical leftist tactic to get everybody upset and think that something's going to be overturned. we shouldn't be talking about it whatsoever. we should be talking about the qualifications of the person who is going in. >> the fact it's settled law? >> no, we should not be having a conversation about roe v. wade before the president makes a pick. it's a way for left to fearmonger which is what they always do. as if somehow all of their rights are going to be violated because donald trump gets a supreme court pick. >> it's not just people on the left who are doing this fearmongering. there are people who -- i have friends and lots of people on the left, and there are people who are legitimately concerned about the next supreme court justice being a bell to up-end 45 years of civil law in this country. >> name your friends, please. cnn? >> i think you and i both know that wouldn't necessarily be my friend. but to say that the entire left or the entire right is doing something, i just -- i don't

know -- first of all, it can't be accurate. you know that's not accurate. >> it's 100% accurate. it's hyperbole. this idea that every time donald trump does something, there's going to be an armageddon. it's the reason why so many people on the left have grown apathetic towards the democrats. because you guys -- i don't mean to say you guys, insinuate you're a part of that. but because of what we see in the leftist media so much, every single week, outraged over something else. you have to move on, let him pick somebody and then we start to talk about things. this fearmongering has to stop. this has to be more rationale dialogue here. >> so there's no fearmongering on either side of the political sphere? >> if you have a point? >> no, the president from time to time -- >> i don't recall while obama was in office for two terms every single day waking up thinking the world was going to end, to answer your question. >> i remember being at a number of town hall meetings after obamacare had been launched and people showing up with automatic weapons. people claiming that they wanted to take their country back.

so to say that all of a sudden the left is up in arms. right was up in arms for a while. >> about obamacare, yes. >> well, about the president in general, about the fact he wasn't born in this country, he was a secret muslim, i mean there are fringes. >> are you suggesting that there have been -- there has been this much outrage, the outrage we are seeing towards every single thing donald trump does, that his daughter does, his family does, was the same thing we experienced when obama was in office? >> i can't speak to that. >> i'm asking you to objectively say you think there was this much outrage? >> the beauty is i get to ask the questions, i don't necessarily have to -- >> i will take that as an answer. >> that's not an answer. one of the things a lot of folks have been up in arms about specifically here, scott pruitt, vp administrator. you have quite familiar, i'm sure, with a number of his scandals, some alleged, some confirmed, 15 current investigations as it relates to scott pruitt. spending and management practice. i think we've got a partial list

we can put up on the screen here. a partial list of his scandals. this is scott pruitt of course former attorney general there in oklahoma. we've tried to condense it to one screen here. and there is this -- there continues to be this bizarre story about trying to secure used mattress as well from a trump tower hotel. do you think that scott pruitt should remain epa chief? >> i think that i should remain focused on things that matter. this is not going to impact midterms. it's not going to impact trump. it's a side bar. it's something that has gotten way too much coverage with all of it, other things going on right now in the nation. >> wait a minute, you can appreciate how a president who vowed to drain the swamp might receive some legitimate criticism from journalists and -- >> absolutely, absolutely, i appreciate that. i don't have to add to the dialogue. i don't have to pretend this is something that's a pressing issue we need to discuss wall to wall coverage on any network. i choose to pay attention to what's happening and the magic

shift that's happening and choose to be on the forefront of it. >> lots of voices in this country and we like to give all voices an opportunity to be heard. >> i like you, craig, thanks for having me. >> thank you, candace, you're welcome to come back. thank you for being civil. i've read some of your tweets. all of your tweets are not civil. >> sometimes we punch back, that's all. >> we'll get to that next time. >> next time. watching tv, watching you. a new report shedding light on just how much data your smart tv could be collecting about you, based on what you watch. your mornings were made for better things than psoriatic arthritis. as you and your rheumatologist consider treatments, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for psoriatic arthritis. taken with methotrexate or similar medicines, it can reduce joint pain, swelling, and significantly improve physical function. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, and other cancers have happened.

don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't let another morning go by without talking to your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. without talking to your rheumatologist gives skin the moisture it needs and keeps it there longer with lock-in moisture technology skin is petal smooth after all, a cleanser's just a cleanser unless it's olay. booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline.

i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years. now i know i'll be able to stick with him. [ male announcer ] with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed.

so don't wait. call now and request this free decision guide to help you better understand medicare... and which aarp medicare supplement plan might be best for you. there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel - and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now - and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is.

new details at this hour. the number of migrant children who remain in this country separated from their parents. officials in a conference call that just wrapped up a few moments ago said fewer than 3,000 remain in hhs care. most of the children were separated from their parents when they were detained trying to enter the united states without documentation. msnbc mariana artencio has spent a lot of time with these migrant families. you were just on this call. what did we find out? >> it's amazing all the news that gets generated from these calls. i think we have to really mention that number again. under 3,000 children separated from their parents currently in custody. that is by far the highest number we've heard. our latest reporting said 2,047

children as of last week. under 3,000 means according to hhs that's the max number of kids that were separated and that includes about 100 kids under the age of 5, and even kids who may have been separated before the zero tolerance policy was announced on may 7th. >> i'm not math whiz but it doesn't sound like hhs has managed to move those numbers a whole lot. >> we didn't get clarity on how many reunifications have actually happened. the other thing we learned is remember there was that injunction so now there's a court ordered deadline to reunify the kids under 5 by next tuesday. they said that they're submitting dna samples to these parents and families and what they're calling family reunification pacts. but next tuesday's around the corner and the clock is ticking and we'll be watching. >> keep us posted. mariano atencio. it's a race against the rain

in northern thailand. working to save a dozen young boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave before heavy monsoon rains hit. they've been trapped for nearly two weeks now and divers are now teaching these children how to swim and dive in case they have to escape through the cabin's flooded passages. but a rain storm could make their journey even more hazardous, if not impossible. a look here at what they're up against as they try and get to those soccer players and that coach. today, a little bit earlier, i talked to a thai diver involved in the mission. >> the worst case scenario, the s.e.a.l. team is going to be there all the way through. they're not going to leave them behind. if the cave is fully flooded, they could lose communication and it's almost impossible to send resupply. >> remaining on duty for us, there with the very latest. first, what are we hearing from rescuers right now?

any new updates? >> this is a very critical 24-hour period with the rains looming. but reports that the water levels inside the cave system are much lower. there are sections of the nearly three-mile journey the boys would have to make that are actually walkable. other parts of the system, other chambers, the water is low enough that the boys would be able to float with the help of the navy divers. it's still those areas where the boys would have to do some diving that pose the greatest risk. we know they can't swim. they're trying to learn some basics. the biggest risk in that is actually panic, that these boys would get into these tight, tight passage ways where you can't even wear scuba gear and be expected to squeeze out the other side. the pumps have been working 24/7 here. they've already pushed out millions of gallons of water. the water levels are going down.

roughly half an inch every hour. the problem of course is when the rains come, they're going to rise five times faster. there's been a lot more activity here tonight. behind me, they've been getting some hoses ready to take into the cave system. they're going to be pumping fresh air into the cave system in the event of an evacuation attempt. there are a lot of really tough calculations being made here tonight. including the order of evacuation. who do they put out first? do they send the strongest? the weakest? the youngest? we know from the governor of the province, there are at least three kids they feel are not quite strong enough. the coach is also not in the best shape. these -- they've been underground now for 12 days. they're malnourished. they simply may not have the strength to pull it off. so these are the decisions that are being made. very tedious time. and they know that it's a very limited window of opportunity

with rain in the forecast for sunday. craig. >> janice mackey, for us there in thailand, thank you. snagging your personal information while you watch television. could be happening to you right now actually. how your smart tv is tracking what you watch to sell you stuff. (vo) what if this didn't have to happen? i didn't see it. (vo) what if we could go back? what if our car... could stop itself? in iihs front-end crash prevention testing, nobody beats the subaru impreza. not toyota. not honda. not ford. the subaru impreza. more than a car, it's a subaru.

. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything

so we know how to cover almost anything. even a "cactus calamity". (man 1) i read that the saguaro can live to be two hundred years old. (woman) how old do you think that one is? (man 1) my guess would be, about... (man 2) i'd say about two hundred. (man 1) yeah... (burke) gives houseplant a whole new meaning. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ come hok., babe. nasty nighttime heartburn? try new alka-seltzer pm gummies. the only fast, powerful heartburn relief plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. ♪ oh, what a relief it is!

follow me here. is your tv watching you, watching it, and then telling others what you're watching? a new report in "the new york times" says millions of smart tvs are tracking everything you watch and telling advertisers about your viewing habits. one firm behind that type of software is samba tv and it admits it has collected data from more than 13 million smart tvs in the u.s. so far. the senior editor at the atlantic and there seems to be so many ways now to figure out what somebody is watching when on this thing or the television and how to make money off of it. >> yeah. it's the business of the 21st century, right. following your eyeballs and figuring out how to use that data to sell you stuff. it's the business model of google and facebook and

increasingly amazon and now samba tv as you said. what's interesting about this technology is that it seems to be using the pixels in your smart tv to identify items on the television or even identify themes like conservative versus liberal television and connect to other devices on that wei network and tell advertisements through that. kind of ingenious but scary into would explain why if you're watching something on television and three hours later you pick up your phone, oh, wow, i was just -- >> yeah. >> not a coins it ens. >> manufactured serendipity. >> how can we protect ourselves from this invasive data collection? how do we opt out? >> you simply opt out. >> how? >> so what happens, the way that samba works you buy a new television set and when trying to set up a new tv you have to click okay, okay, okay and get through the prompts. one of the prompts is a prompt

for samba tv. so because you're in the process of clicking okay, okay, okay, just trying to -- want to watch "game of thrones" don't want to read 6,000 words of fine print to figure out how to put your tv on-line you're opting in to a system using the pixels on your television to sell you stuff on your other internet connected devices. the way to avoid this on google is not use google. the way you avoid it on facebook is not use facebook. the way on samba tv is to opt out of samba tv. the problem is we live in a kind of opt-in surveillance society. in 1984 the idea was that the government would oppress us with surveillance. the reality that came so many years later is not that the government necessarily being the one that's spying on us all the time but that companies that we allow into our lives creating a surveillance state that we are participating in. >> and i would imagine that the overwhelming majority of people who buy these televisions opt in. >> 90%.

>> 90. >> the great reporter who reported out this piece in "the new york times" says 90% of people using samba tv are opting in. people need to have a re-set when it comes to their engagement with these technologies and say do i really just want to press the okay button because it's convenient, forgetting about the surveillance that might come later or read that fine print, understand about the tech i'm opting into, and manage a little bit more of my privacy. >> derek thompson, thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> we will be back with a story to make you smile. ld portable cd player. my high school rethainer. oh don't... it's early 90s sitcom star dave coulier... cut...it...out! [laughing] what year is it? as long as stuff gets lost in the couch, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more

on car insurance. these are the specialists we're proud to call our own. experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. expert medicine works here. learn more at cancercenter.com on the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort your sleep number setting. and snoring? does your bed do that? don't miss the 4th of july specials, with the last chance for final closeout savings on the queen c2 mattress. now only $599, save $300. it's the lowest price ever. ends sunday. visit sleepnumber.com for a store near you. if yor crohn's symptoms are holding you back, and your current treatment hasn't worked well enough, it may be time for a change.

ask your doctor about entyvio, the only biologic developed and approved just for uc and crohn's. entyvio works at the site of inflammation in the gi tract and is clinically proven to help many patients achieve both symptom relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. this condition has not been reported with entyvio. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. if your uc or crohn's treatment isn't working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. entyvio. relief and remission within reach.

this is that time of the broadcast we send you off with a smile. a determined 4-year-old girl from michigan took her first steps on her own. maya tisdale known as mighty miss maya was diagnosed with cerebral palsy just before she was 2, but last sunday my ya's family joined their daughter as she reached the emotional milestone. check it out. >> i am walking. >> look at that. >> i'm walking. >> good job. >> another little step. little one. >> i'm walking! yes! >> come here. >> i'm walking. >> her mom says she still tries to do everything her brothers do and if that doesn't make you smile, nothing will on this thursday. way to go, maya. steve kornacki is standing by. that's going to wrap up this

hour. i will see you tomorrow on "today" so. >> good afternoon everybody. 2:00 here in the east, 11:00 in the west. president trump is on his way out west to montana, four hours from now he's set to hold a campaign rally. four days from now, of course, he is set to announce his supreme court pick. right now, nbc news has learned who is at the top of the president's list. the three most serious contenders are brett kavanaugh, amy coney barrett and raymond kethledge, all three are u.s. appeals court judges. back on capitol hill we are watching the political battle over that pending nomination play out. it is not just republican versus democrat on this one. it's also republican versus republican. "the washington post" highlights, quote, an intensifying debate over judge brett m. kavanaugh with conservative critics highlighting past rulings and his links to gop leaders while allies inside the white house