well, that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomorrow. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. i don't think there's any question that when you go from agency to agency and find out that key messages have been deleted, something's going on here that resembles very clearly a conspiracy. >> a damning assessment from former defense secretary and cia director leon panetta on the missing messages from multiple government agencies relate together attack on the capitol. ahead, the latest effort to hold top trump administration officials accountable for the deleted data. meanwhile, over on capitol hill, there's growing bipartisan support to close loopholes in a 19th century law in hopes of

preventing another january 6th. plus, trump's pick for governor in arizona takes a page right out of his playbook. kari lake is declaring victory before all of the votes are counted and struggles to explain how her win doesn't clash with her claims of voter fraud. good morning, welcome to "way too early." on this thursday august 4th. i'm jonathan lemire. thank you for being with us. the number two democrat in the senate is calling on the department of defense to open an internal investigation into missing texts from key officials on january 6th. in a letter yesterday, majority whip and judiciary committee chair dick durbin of illinois asked the d.o.d.'s inspector general to launch a probe into the deleted communications of several trump appointed officials, who were were tasked with deploying the national guard during the capitol riot.

the letter reads this way. the disappearance of this critical information could jeopardize efforts to learn the full truth about january 6. i don't know whether the failure to preserve these critical government texts is the result of bad faith, stunning incompetence, or outdated records management policies, but we must get to the bottom of it. tuesday, court records published by a watch dog group revealed that the cell phones of top former defense officials including the defense and army secretaries were wiped in the aftermath of the insurrection. the pentagon claims this was standard operating procedure for its departing employees. but the news comes just weeks after it was revealed that secret service and the department of homeland security officials also had their messages from january 6th erased despite orders from congress to preserve those communications. former defense secretary and cia director leon panetta was asked yesterday about the texts being wiped from government phones. here's some of what he had to

say. >> andrea, this is another major concern that obviously officials out of the trump administration were taking steps to make sure that potential evidence involved in january 6th would not be there. i really do think that the justice department has to investigate the loss of this kind of critical evidence. it is, there is no question, that this wasn't done in a manner that just kind of was bureaucracy doing what bureaucracies do. this was a deliberate effort to make sure that very important evidence regarding what the players were doing at the pentagon, at the secret service, and elsewhere, were saying and doing on january 6th. all of which is very relevant to

the investigation as to what happened. >> you're saying this was a coverup? >> i don't think there's any question that when you go from agency to agency, and find out that key messages have been deleted, something's going on here that resembles very clearly a conspiracy. >> leon panetta speaking to msnbc's andrea mitchell. we're also following a development in the justice department's probe of the january 6th attack on the capitol. nbc news has confirmed that a federal grand jury subpoenaed former white house counsel pat cipollone as part of the investigation. but we haven't heard anything from him or the d.o.j. the probe is part of the department's larger investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and not a criminal probe of former president trump himself. but congressman adam kinzinger a key member of the january 6th committee says it probably means they're interested in trump's role.

>> this is probably bad for former president trump. i hope that pat cipollone actually just tells the truth. i have no doubt that he hasn't, but there is no reason to protect potentially criminal behavior or what could potentially be criminal behavior. now to the primaries. in arizona, the race for the republican nomination for governor remains too close to call more than 24 hours after the polls closed but that didn't stop trump-backed candidate kari lake from again declaring vipgt ry during a press -- victory during a press conference yesterday. reporters pressed her repeated by her claims of voter fraud and why she is claiming victory before the official results are announced. >> why is today's press conference premature? >> what do you mean premature? >> premature because nothing has been finalized right now. >> because we know what the outcome of this is, we the people won, we won. >> you said that this election was messed up, you said that -- why should voters trust that you won this election fair and

square, if it is a such a mess. >> we have a lot of evidence of irregularities and problems and we will address those. >> will you release them? >> i'm not going to release them -- >> why not release it right now? >> i don't want to release it to a bunch of people that there was fraud and obviously fraud. >> she handled that well. >> lakes campaign attorney took over on questions saying they're moving on. we're learning more about trump's endorsements ahead of the midterms, despite several high profile losses this year, a bunch of candidates he backed won their primaries in michigan and arizona, and so far, 11 of trump's 12 endorsed candidates won in primaries for secretary of state, congress, u.s. and state senate in arizona, and all of them, all of them embrace his false claims of election fraud. with just a handful of primaries

left, 188 trump-backed candidates have won primaries after he left office, 14 have lost and two dropped out or were disqualified and two have yet to be called and 26 are still waiting for their primaries. let's move overseas now to afghanistan where taliban leaders are hoding discussions how to respond to the u.s. drone strike that killed al qaeda leader ayman al zawahiri, a senior taliban leader told the news agency that high level meetings have been going on for two days now. the leader also said they're deciding whether to react to the attack and if they do, how to go about doing that. the taliban official did not confirm that al zawahiri was in the house when the missile struck. and the al qaeda leader was killed over the weekend in a cia drone strike, while standing on the ball con at his downtown -- balcony at his downtown kabul apartment. he assumed leadership of the terror organization after the united states killed osama bin laden more than a decade ago. joining us now, fellow at

the american enterprise institute and an adviser to aei's critical threats project, katherine zimmerman. good morning. thanks for being here. let's start with what we just heard, this idea that the taliban may act to retaliate to the killing of the al qaeda leader. how do we anticipate what that reaction may be, and what does it tell us about the state of u.s./taliban relations going forward? >> the taliban has already declared that the strike was a violation of afghan sovereignty, and what we expect to see them do is actually to downplay what has happened inside, because of the requirement that the taliban has against international support, the lifting of sanctions to restore afghanistan's economy. of course, this is a challenge for the united states and the taliban relationship, we've been in talks recently with them, to unfreeze some of the afghanistan assets that we froze last year

after the withdrawal, and you know, this is going to be another hurdle, and a breakdown in trust ongoing between us. >> not a good look to be apparently giving safe harbor of a terrorist mastermind not in a cave but ryan right there in downtown kabul. so let's talk about al qaeda now, in terms of what they are possibly able to do. al qaeda sort of eclipsed by isis, you know, on this terror landscape in recent years, but give us a sense, how much of a threat do they still have, what might their reach be? >> the interesting thing about al qaeda is that even though it has been eclipsed, as you rightly said jonathan, it has expanded significantly over the last 11 years and if we look at al qaeda today, it is in more place, and more countries, and more fighters with greater expertise than before. and focused very much on the

local fights and expanding its conflicts within the muslim world. the challenge we face of course is the succession question, does the new leader of al qaeda return the group to the far jihad, will he make his mark on the global jihad and does the threat level again rise against the united states. >> this comes, this drone strike comes almost exactly a year since the u.s. had their military withdrawal from afghanistan. give us a sense of the day to day life as best you can in that country, what it's been like in the year since the taliban has retaken and what sort of rights particularly for women and girls have been rolled back? >> unsurprisingly, the taliban have taken actions to really restrict civil liberties particularly for women and girls, and have transformed the education system, have removed women from public office, and have literally told women who are holding positions to name their male successor, and have dramatically changed the lives

of every day afghans. and the quality of life has declined, as the economy has collapsed under the taliban. it's interesting, because humanitarian agencies have better access to certain places because there is less conflict, but overall, afghans are really struggling to survive day to day. >> afghans fallen from the headlines but the military withdrawal and the drone strike likely to put a spotlight on it and certainly important stories and we're glad you are here to tell us about it. thank you very much. on the heels of this week's abortion rights vote in kansas, democrats are voicing new optimism about the november midterms. what party leaders are saying about kansas as a possible bellwether. plus wnba star brittney griner's trial in miscow is coming to an end with closing arguments expected to begin later today. we'll have the latest on the effort to bring her home. those stories an a check of

the weather when we come back. m.

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we're looking at a live shot of the u.s. capitol, flags there and at the white house are flying at half-staff this morning in memory of congresswoman jackie walorski, the 58-year-old indiana republican was killed yesterday in a car accident, in elkhart county, indiana. along with her two staffers, zachary potts and emma thompson, the driver and sole occupant of the other vehicle also died. walorski had served in congress since 2013 and was one of the top republicans on the house ethics committee. house republican leader kevin mccarthy released a statement that reads in part, this news is absolutely devastating. jacky was a dear friend, trusted adviser, and the embodiment of integrity who achieved the admiration and respect of all of her colleagues in the house.

president biden also released a statement, jill and i are shocked and saddened by the death of congresswoman jackie walors kichld. we send our deepest condolences to her husband dean, to her families of her staff members and to the people of indiana's second district who lost a representative who was one of their own. overseas, in a show of force, china has begun live fire military drills around taiwan, in retaliation for house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to the self governing island. the exercises which began earlier today are taking place at six different locations around taiwan. chinese state television reports that long-range precision strikes are also being carried out in taiwan's waters and air space. beijing says the drills will end local time on sunday. taiwanese officials say the exercises violate u.n. rules and amount to a bloekd of sea and air space.

pelosi who left taiwan yesterday who has support for the nation, is in south korea. and looking at the group in taiwan, the group writes this, we call on the people's republic of china not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region, and to resolve cross-strait differences by peaceful means. the group also reiterated its shared commitment to maintaining stability across the taiwan strait and beyond. still ahead here on "way too early," brittney griner prepares for one last plea for leniency. as her drug trial wraps up in russia. plus, the nfl says a six game suspension is not enough for deshaun watson after he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than two dozen women and the punishment the commission could give to the star quarterback, part of the sports report coming up next. quarterback, paroft the sports report coming up next. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four--

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american basketball star brittney griner is expected to appear in a court today with the start of closing arguments in her trial being held in moscow. griner has pleaded guilty to drug charges and herself defense team has been trying to persuade the judge to be lenient, in a case that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. the united states and russia have signaled that griner and another american being wrongfully held in the country, former marine paul whelan could be part of a prisoner exchange. the russian officials have said that no progress in those negotiations can be made before the court before the trial is expected to wrap up in the next day or so. phil mickelson, bryson dechambeau and nine other players on the saudi backed golf circuit have filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the pga tour and challenges their suspensions and claims the pga has used monopoly power to try to eliminate competition. in a memo to players yesterday, pga tour commissioner jay monahan defended the suspensions

writing fundamentally, these suspended players who are now saudi golf league employees have walked away from the tour and now want back in. with the saudi golf league on hiatus, they're trying to use lawyers to force their way into competition alongside our members in good standing. liv golf responded with this statement. the players are right to have brought this action to challenge the pga's anti-competitive rules and to vindicate their rights as independent contractors to play where and when they choose. despite the pga tour's efforts to stifle competition, we think golfers should be allowed to play golf. the nfl is appealing the six-game suspension for cleveland browns quarterback deshaun watson, seeking a tougher penalty for violating its personal conduct policy. the league disciplinary officer presiding over watson's case handed down the punishment in the report on monday. citing egregious acts of sexualized contact with massage therapists. the nfl said it notified the players union that it is

appealing the disciplinary decision and the commissioner roger goodell will determine who will hear the appeal. a person familiar with the filing tells the associated press that the league is seeks an indefinite suspension of at least one year, plus a fine, certainly the reaction of the six game reaction was that it seemed very light. we will keep an eye on that in the days ahead. let's turn now to major league baseball and a warm welcome for the padres newly acquired juan soto as he makes his debut in san diego. >> he's really good. he went one for three with two walks and a run scored and a lesser known new addition, brandon drury launches a grand slam in the first at-bat for the padres. san diego beats the rockies 9-1. that's going to be a fun team to follow. particularly when they get jr. back in the next week or two. time now for the weather and

let's go to meteorologist michelle grossman. how is it looking out there? >> looking hot. you're not going to like it. pretty brutal in the northeast. it going to feel like over 100 degrees in spots and 71 million people impacted by a heat advisory, and the heat warning is in that hot pink color and central and southern plains in the intermountain west to the northeast, even into the morn parts of new england, and hot and humid, you add in those, and it will feel like 100 degrees this afternoon in new york city and not feeling good, and feeling like 98 in boston and 103 in baltimore. as we go throughout tomorrow, the cold front is getting closer. once the cold front moves through over the weekend or later tomorrow, we're still not going to get too much relief. new york city tomorrow, 99 degrees. that's what it will feel like on your friday afternoon. philadelphia will feel like 100 degrees. we will stay toasty in the central and southern plains in the upper midwest and the great lakes as well. and cincinnati, and temperatures in the upper 80s, over the weekend and we're looking at dc in the 90s, over friday,

saturday, and sunday. and now, this cold front is prompting some flood watches today, we're looking at the red, those are your flash flood warnings, we will watch that closely throughout the day and you can see why we have the warnings, right, we have torrential downpours and where you see the darker colors, reds, oranges, yellows, that's where we're seeing heavy rainfall. >> i'm completely opposed to the northeast forecast. >> i'll write that down. >> thank you, michelle. appreciate you being here. still ahead on "way too early," as democrats try to get their reconciliation package across the finish line, senator kyrsten sinema is reportedly eyeing a few changes to the legislation. we'll have the very latest from capitol hill. and as we go to break, a reminder that my new book "the big lie, election chaos, global opportunism and the state of american politics after 2020" on sale now and made its debut on "the new york times" best seller list. thank you all for buying and nothing stopping you from getting a second copy. thanks again. "way too early" will be right back.

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another busy day? of course it is. you're a cio in 2022. but you're covered. with security that protects your company everywhere, on-premise... in the cloud... and right here too. comcast business. powering possibilities. welcome back to "way too early," it's just before 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west, i'm jonathan lemire, and we appreciate you starting your day with us. as the midterms near, senator susan collins and joe manchin are urging the quick passage of the bipartisan electoral count reform act which would update the 19th century law that former president donald trump tried to exploit in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election. the republican and democratic senators testified yesterday before the senate rules and

administration committee, saying they desperately need to close the loopholes in the 1887 law. >> the idea that any vice president could have the power to unilaterally accept, reject, change, or halt the counting of electoral votes is antithetical to our constitutional structure and basic democratic principles. >> clarifies that the vice president is prohibited from interferes with electoral votes. >> would he were all there on january 6th. that happened. that was for for real. it was not a visit by friends from back home. and we have a duty and responsibility to make sure it never happens again. >> after days of keeping quiet about the democrat's new reconciliation deal, we are finally hearing from arizona

senator kyrsten sinema. sinema reportedly wants several changes made to the package before it can get her support and remove language from the bill about narrowing the so-called carry interest loophole that would change the way some investment income is taxed. the adjustment would cut about $14 billion from the bill's estimated revenue. also asking for roughly $5 billion in drought funding. and she wants that adding to the final package. but while kyrsten sinema is the most high profile holdout, any democrat could tank the bill if they pull support. senator bob menendez of new jersey said yesterday he would back out if extra provisions for immigration were added. >> but the way to slay that inflation reduction act is to have extraneous provisions adopted, including immigration provisions. so while this is not a perfect bill, i would have liked to have

seen help for middle class taxpayers, to get relief, i certainly cannot support it if extraneous provisions get adopted particularly pejorative immigration provisions that have nothing to do with the health, welfare and security of the american people. >> senator menendez will be our guest coming up on "morning joe." joining us now, congressional reporter for the daily beast, sam brody, good morning, sam. thanks for being here. in your latest piece, you write about how republicans who used to praise senator manchin when he went against his party are now turning and slamming him. for senator john cornyn, manchin's move seemed to provoke at least four of the five stages of grief, when manchin faced intense democratic criticism last year, cornyn routinely defended limb, in december, cornyn admitted to personally texting man clin to ask if he'd join the gop conference, calling the prospect the greatest christmas gift key imagine. after manchin rolled out the

reconciliation deal, cornyn took to the senate floor to decry an olympic-sized flip-flop for the democratic senator. cornyn tweeted well over a dozen times about his decision, questioning his analysis and economic data, and accusing him of prevarication and arguing he had lashed himself to the president joe biden is deeply popular. in one event, cornyn twisted the knife by invoking what republicans had viewed as man clin's most courageous moments. manchin is trying to pretend he killed bbb, build back better agenda, but really, he agreed to the new green deal. . so republicans not so happy about it. there is one example. give us some more. and why what good do they get out of this potentially man clin, manchin who down the road might be useful again. >> thanks for having me on. i caught up with lindsey graham and why the republicans are

having a minor freak-out about joe manchin, and i caught up with graham the other day and asked him what he thought about manchin signing the deal and graham said i'm incredibly disappointed, i thought we were beyond this and he sort of went into the reasons why he believes, and many other republicans, believe that this deal is not going to be the inflation reduction act as democrats have titled it, and what that told me, and i think what republican lawmakers and aides told me as well in the course of reporting this story that many believed that joe manchin was on principle opposed to doing basically anything like the bill the democrats are putting forward now. he spent the last year really and certainly in the last several months, casting what he could do on reconciliation as a matter of, or really as a reflection of inflation, and how the economy was doing, and making clear that he was not going to support anything in an economic environment where the issue is really dominating.

so every republican i talked to said they were genuinely surprised that joe manchin arrived at a deal, and so when john cornyn is sort of going through the stages of grief there, i think there was some denial really there at the top. i think john cornyn did really not think that joe manchin was going to agree to a deal like this. so why are they raising these complaints? i think on the one hand, some of them might feel that perhaps joe manchin could still be persuadable. i think there's some division on that point. i think the other matter is frankly just serving nakedly political. joe manchin was useful to republicans, in a lot of ways, and a lot of them liked joe manchin, they worked with him, he is still probably their democrat, but joe manchin is also up for re-election in 2024, in a state that donald trump won by a massive margin and at the end of the day if this position is what manchin is tied to, they

will hapfully run against him on that. >> a flurry of activity there on capitol hill, the white house is already scheduling two bill signings next week in the rose garden, the electoral counteract as we just heard may happen and all eyes right now on reconciliation and in particular, senator kyrsten sinema who might soon get the title of republican's favorite senator if she brings this bill down. give us a quick update as to where things stand with the arizona senator, is there a belief among her colleagues that she will eventually get on board? >> i think there is, there's a little bit of frustration that i sense this is sort of deja vu all over again, with kyrsten sinema, the issue with manchin was always, was he going to agree with what democrats are willing to spend money on and kyrsten sinema was always would she agree with the way democrats would raise the money to pay for it. and democrats i think there is a sense among some in the caucus that they're relitigating issues that were sort of done with or talked through when they were doing the build back better, and

some of these revenue razors were the same, so the corporate minimum tax which is going to be a major revenue race reyesr for deal, sin sinema issued a statement last year which she called a common sense step, using her words, in the right direction. i'm told that the language of that tax, in the proposed bill now, is more or less the same as it was last year. so some folks are baffled that, you know, sinema is voicing some opposition to it right now. cnn reported that she asked on a call this week, she asked the business leader in arizona, is this written in a bad way, and so i think there's some exasperation that these issues that were kind of thought to be settled or at least dealt with, or talked through, are kinds of on the chopping block again. but i think ultimately folks feel that she is going to get to yes at some point. >> democrats will be nervous

until she does. the daily beast, sam brody, thank you for being with us this morning. still ahead, we're going to go to c nbc for business news. the futures board is down this morning after wall street had snapped a short losing streak. we'll get an idea of what could drive the trading day next on "way too early." nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey. kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette

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some business news, tindr announced their ceo is stepping down. she's been there less than a year but ironically it is the longest ever relationship on tindr. >> not bad. time now for business. and for that let's bring in cnbc's julianna tatelbaum who joins us live from london. u.s. stocks rallied yesterday which is the first winning session in the early days of august. are investors shaking off recession fears? >> well, good morning, it certainly was a mammoth trading day yesterday. and it feels as though those recession fears are easing, they're still there but perhaps easing a little bit, equities

rally and yields fall yesterday and the big driver seems to be this key macro data that was better than investors had been anticipating. and what's interesting about the rally is that until yesterday, when we got strong data, it was not necessarily a driver of increase, or a driver of advance in markets. instead, the narrative was that weaker growth was going to potentially limit how far the fed could go, and that would drive equities higher. so yesterday, we had a real change of pace in that stronger data sent stocks higher. we'll see if that trend continues, if we get a strong report in the nonfarm payrolls report. as of right now, u.s. markets are holding steady. >> one of the themes of summer has been how terrible it has been to fly and now the federal transportation department is proposing stricter rules on what airlines have to compensate passengers for canceled or delayed flights. how will this impact both the industry and frustrated air

travelers? >> well, let me first start with the current situation. as of now, air travelers are entitled to a refund if their flights are canceled or significantly changed or delayed and choose not to travel. but what exactly does significantly mean? so far, that word hasn't been defined. so these new rules, being proposed by the transportation department, they suggest that a departure or a arrival time that is off by at least three hours, for domestic flights or at least six hours for international flights will count as significant. travellers would also be entitled to a refund if the routing changes, or if a connection is added or if the aircraft itself is downgraded significantly whereby certain amenities or features are no longer available that would have been available on their original flight. now, these are just proposed changes at this stage. the d.o.t. is now going to open to public comment, so one to watch. >> and u.s. secretary of

transportation, pete buttigieg will be a guest on "morning joe" a little later today. cnbc's julianna tatelbaum, thank you as always. she joins us live from london. still ahead here on "way too early," the vote to reject abortion restrictions in kansas was seismic and also sizing for a few reasons. we'll explain why when we come right back. my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. ruby's a1c is down with rybelsus®. my a1c wasn't at goal, now i'm down with rybelsus®. mom's a1c is down with rybelsus®. (♪ ♪) in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis.

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on the heels of this week's overwhelming win for abortion rights, democrats in congress are hoping kansas is a bellwether for the november midterms. here's some of what majority leader chuck shume her to say -- schumer had to say on the senate floor yesterday. >> kansas is the start. and if it happens in kansas, it will happen in a whole lot of states. the strong pro choice turnout we saw last night in kansas will continue well into the fall. and republicans who side with these extremist maga policies that attack women's rights do so

at their own political risk. >> and when asked by reporters what the kansas vote means for democrats heading into november, senator majority whip dick durbin says people are not staying home and they're showing up at the polls and i think thame' have an impact on in november. joining us for "politico," alice miranda olesteen, thanks for being here this morning. you reported one of many reasons why the kansas result is surprising is because it countered a structure that made a yes vote more likely. tell us the details behind that. >> that's right. so the super majority gop legislature in kansas decided to schedule this vote for the primary rather than the general election in november. and the progressives there thought that stacked the deck against them in a bunch of ways, for instance, republicans tend to have more competitive primaries in kansas, there weren't really any competitive democratic primaries on the ballot and so republicans were more expected to turn out in

higher numbers, and also, it's august, a lot of students who trend more progressive were maybe out of state, and also, unaffiliated voters who actually outnumber voters in kansas usually can't vote in primaries but in this instance, for this abortion referendum, they could, and so there was a big effort to try to knock on hundreds of thousands of doors, in the 100 degree heat, i was out there with the canvassers the past few days, and really remind people that this vote was coming up, that they were allowed to vote, and what was at stake. and the overwhelming result, you know, it wasn't even close, really shocked people, both there and around the country, so it wasn't that the one side won, it is one that they won by a huge margin and did well not just in cities and suburbs in the state, but even in very rural, very red counties, such as those along the colorado

border. >> so in your reporting, you found several polls that implied that there were signs of voters views on abortions were far more nuanced than the overall partisan leanings, team red, team for more people said they want no restrictions on

abortion than a complete ban. and other people were in the middle, of course. poles in kansas and around the country just on abortion access in general shows that most people were opposed to what with the supreme court did overturning roe v. wade and did not support restrictions on the procedure. i would say this is only brought up after the results came in. we have been here before and we have been so surprised because a bunch of these red states around the midwest and great plains region have voted over the last three years to expand medicaid. >> polls are giving the democrats hope this will be an animated issue come november. the senate overwhelmingly votes to add sweden and finland

to nato. we're going to hear from the chairman bob ma manandes and also nancy pilosi visit to thailand and what it could mean. more just a few moments away. more just a few moments away.

. the senate passed a resolution to have finland join nato. senator holly from missouri cast the only opposition. he previewed his opposition saying that we must do less in europe and elsewhere in order to prioritize china and asia. all 30 countries are to ratify before the two nations can become certain members. and now it goes on to president

biden's desk. and joining us now is washington correspondent ann marie. give us what it means in the u.s. and what the recommend if i decision will immediate in europe. >> reporter: he said that people in the town lost the focus and they think that the focus should be on asia. for schumer and mcconnell the two leaders in the senate saying this is a slam dunk. this is for the united states showing a united front, not just the europe and the rest of nato, but putin has always wanted to divide nato. this is showing a lot more resolve and strength and a win for the biden administration. we should note, as you have said, you need all 30 members

to sign off on it. turkey has raised some flags about the two countries joining the alliance. they reached the memorandum in madrid. i know you were there for that, as was i. as they continue on the path, turkey should green light this. but there is always a question mark. but it does seems like they'll be brought into the fold. finland has a land border with russia. so since the cold war, these two countries have decided that the national security was better placed staying out of nato. but russia's invasion of ukraine has completely ripped up that script. and you see the opinion poles in both of these countries. that is why they have joint another alliance.

less new oil was released yesterday. and they say it demonstrated a lot of people not wanting to help president biden. >> reporter: people are calling is a snub. i don't call it a snub because of the fact that they have limited capacity. a hundred barrels of oil a day for opec is an error. this is the smallest increase that we have ever seen opec produce. but i think we need to take a step back and look at what the group did in july. from our figures, we have saudi arabia producing just under 11 million-barrels a day. for their decade as the oil producer, this is a tremendous amount and something that we rarelily see in the kingdom. we saw the war in 2020 and the prices went negative. we never saw them hold on no this kind of level. so i don't think it was a snub. it was a token.

but it does show some goodwill. the bigger question is, where is the spare capacity to come. if opec was to do more now what is left in the tank down the road? a lot of concern in the winter when the european sanctions start to bite on the russian crews. >> decision comes not too long after president biden's visit to saudi arabia. one other quick one. nancy pilosi left taiwan yesterday, and they say this complicates the white house's attempts to have a relationship with china. >> reporter: the white house was not exactly for this trip, for nancy pilosi to go to taiwan. the military did not think it was a good idea right now. you have the national security advisers briefing nancy pilosi's team. it was obvious she was going to go and not going to back down

and dug in here heels. they wanted to make sure that the line of communication was open between washington and beijing. it is a delicate moment for the administration as they work on the china policy. there are a dozen questions in the air when they may roll back some tariffs or if they won't. what you have is china today with live military drills. you have them putting out flags to airline carriers that there are danger zones to fly over. and you have some sanctions from china to taiwan. i think the administration was trying to deal with this a lot of back and forth. >> thank you very much for being with us today. and thank you for getting up way too early with