we'll break down what this means for asylum seekers and why the biden administration is now shifting towards tougher measures along the border. plus, the jury is set in hunter biden's federal gun charges trial. we'll go over what to expect as opening statements are slated to begin later this morning. and also ahead, house republicans grilled dr. anthony fauci on capitol hill yesterday as they continue to investigate his response to the covid pandemic. we'll play those intense exchanges and show you how fauci pushed back. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this tuesday, june 4th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin this morning at the white house where president biden is expected to sign an executive order later today that would shutdown the southern border where daily migrant crossings between legal points of entry exceed 2,500 people. according to three sources familiar with discussions under the order the border would not reopen until that number falls below 1,500 migrants a day. any shutdown would not stop trade, travel, or entry by immigrants lawfully presenting themselves at points of entry. however, it would prevent migrants from applying for asylum if they cross the border during the shutdown. now, two of the sources stress the details are still being finalized, but the white house has begun discussing the order with lawmakers. one source tells nbc news the white house is acting now because it believes numbers which had remained relatively low will rise throughout the summer. department of homeland security officials say the southern border is currently seeing about 4,000 border encounters daily. joining us now national political correspondent for axios, alex thompson. alex, good morning. thanks for starting with us. let's talk a little bit about this order and why now. certainly for quite some time republicans have really hammered the biden administration on the border. white house officials had privately acknowledged earlier in the term this was a vulnerability, that they had missed just how serious this was. now we're seeing the president be proactive in doing so about five months before the election. talk to us about the political stakes. >> yeah, i mean you said the key phrase there, which is five months before the election. they understand usually border numbers do go up in the summer. the biden administration really could not move on this until mexico had its presidential election and needed buy in from mexico in order to make this happen because if you deny asylum, then those people need somewhere to go. that's also the timing because there were definitely democrats agitating to have this happen much earlier, around the "state of the union." but basically now the mexican presidential election is over, you're seeing the biden administration move very quickly. notably, two of my colleagues noted yesterday the biden administration invited most senators over for this action, but some of those vulnerable senate seat democrats still are a little bit weary even though they are probably glad the biden administration is taking action, they don't want to be in any way associated with the biden administration's policies on the border in a political way because they do also see it as a vulnerability. >> some progressive push back towards what the president is doing and a hot button issue as we head towards november. in just a few hours from now opening statements are set to begin in hunter biden's felony gun trial in delaware after a jury was selected yesterday, the first day of proceedings. the 12 jurors include six men and six women, and there are four alternates who are women. hunter biden tied to three counts of possession of a gun while using narcoticess. he has pleaded not guilty. the trial expected to last about two weeks. the president's son was joined in the courtroom yesterday by family including his wife and sister. first lady jill biden was also ipattendance spending the beginning of her birthday in court to support her son. president biden was not in court but issued this statement. quote, as the president i don't and won't comment on pending federal cases, but as a dad i have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strengthch our family has been through a lot together and jill and i are going to continue to be there for hunter and our family with our love and support. president biden has made clear he'll not pardon his son or hunter to be convicted. while some congressional republicans have long been trying to nail hunter biden for some sort of crime trying to enrich himself or his family through his father's name, perhaps even implicating his father in that, he presented no evidence. republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina said this to huff post senior politics reporter yesterday. "i think any average american who's done their taxes like hunter biden would probably face prosecution. however i don't think the average american would have been charge would the gun thing. i don't see any good coming from that." a note of humanity from senator brown. alex, you are in delaware for the trial. let's get your quick take on what we saw yesterday and what you anticipate coming in the days ahead. >> two things that really struck out from being in the courtroom yesterday. one really was the contrast with last year. in the same courtroom last year you'll remember a potential plea deal completely unraveled in front of our eyes with the lawyers arguing with each other and going back and forth and the other thing is hunter biden was alone last year in terms of family. this time you saw a really rallying around -- the circling the biden wagons around hunter wagon. he had a crew there and see next to her that's peter neil, hunter biden's son-in-law, ashley biden there, you saw hunter's wife there. he was very much surrounded by friends and family including even a documentary crew that's been following them around the last two years. one of the directors and cameramen was there, too. the other thing that stood out as we were going through the potential jurors they asked had anyone in the family suffered to addiction to alcohol or drugs, and i've got to tell you i don't know if there was more than a handful that didn't say yes. i think almost every single member of the jury all have members of their family or friends that had either od'd, suffered from alcoholism, died from drugs or alcohol, and that's a lot of what this case is about. >> yeah, and that's something that has been part of the hunter biden story line is that people close to the president say, actually, you know, this is not a gotcha. a lot of americans feel real sympathy for the bidens because they have addiction issues in their own family. alex, we do have the talk about the politics of this. as noted republicans have for years now tried to drown biden with accusations against hunter. this no success. most polls show americans simply don't care. and hunter biden is not running for office and we have the split screen with what happened with trump last week. there's more concern just about the personal toll on joe biden the father. talk to us more about the impact both politically and personally. >> yeah, completely agree with that read. the politics of attacking hunter biden are really unclear it's been successful. you have to remember the impeachment inquiry house republicans opened basically fizzled and does not exist anymore. in terms of the personal toll part of this is because joe biden feels guilty. because i think joe biden -- i've been told feels if he had not run for president, this would not have happened to hunter. and you have to look at the time line here of these alleged events with this gun felony, when hunter biden purchased a gun while he was addicted to crack cocaine and, you know, stored in a trash can, a lot of messy details here with the family. the time line here that's october 2018. six months later joe biden got into the race. basically we're going to see this very messy family soap opera that was still going on when joe biden entered the race. that's why i think in terms of the personal toll it comes from feelings of guilt. >> yeah, i think that's exactly right. and the president leaves for france tonight for commemoration of the d-day anniversary and some state events in paris. certainly he'll be continuing to follow the trial and contact his son as he does each and every day. terrific reporting to start us off this morning live from wilmington, delaware. national political correspondent for axios, alex thompson. thank you. still ahead on "way too early," dr. anthony fauci returns to capitol hill and gets grilled by republicans about the origins of covid-19. we'll take a look at some of the big moments from that hearing and later in the show talk about where we stand battling this pandemic plus the latest from israel as prime minister benjamin netanyahu denies claims he's accepted a cease-fire deal. those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. k on sports and weather when we come right back sup? 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welcome back. the country's former top infectious disease doctor, dr. anthony fauci, faced a barrage of attacks from republican lawmakers yesterday during a hearing on capitol hill. for the first time since retiring last year, dr. fauci testified publicly before the house select committee on the coronavirus pandemic, and he spent most of the hearing fending off conspiracy theories. >> do you agree there was a push to down-play the lab leak theory? >> not on part my part. >> really. >> really. >> i think most of the country would find that amazing. >> look at the facts. i've kept an open mind throughout the entire process. i don't think the concept of there being a lab leak is inherently a conspiracy theory. what is conspiracy the distortions of that particular subject, like it was a lab leak and i was parachuted into the cia like jason borne and told the cia they should really not be talking about a lab leak. >> mr. fauci, you also represent the type of science where you confess that you made up the covid rules including -- >> i didn't hear -- >> including the social distancing and masking of children. >> i didn't say i made anything up. >> are you saying this is fake news, mr. fauci? >> i didn't say i made anything up. >> what did you say? >> i said that it is not based in science, and it just appeared. >> but this is science. >> what does dogs have to do with anything we're talking about today? >> these are children -- children in school were put in plastic bubbles because of your science, your repulsive, evil science. do the american people deserve to be abused like that, mr. fauci? because you're not doctor. you're mr. fauci. we should be writing a criminal referral because you should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. you belong in prison, dr. fauci. >> after the hearing nbc's ali vitali caught up with the congresswoman who was still fuming at the way one democratic member of the subcommittee defended dr. fauci. >> dr. fauci, i want to join my colleague from florida in apologizing to you that some of our colleagues in the united states house of representatives seem to want to drag your name through the mud. they're treating you, dr. fauci, like a convicted felon. actually, you probably wish they were treating you like a convicted felon. they treat convicted felons with love and admiration. some of them blindly worship convicted felons. >> we have jamie raskin in there accusing us of worshipping trump, worshipping a convicted felon. >> he is a convicted felon. >> yes, so was george floyd. there were riots burning [ bleep ] over the country over george floyd and raskin saying we're worshipping him. i don't worship. i worship god. >> doctors and scientists adapted as quickly as they can. they try things. not everything worked. the vaccine came in record time. they did the best they could. to other headlines now. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is denying any claims he's agreed to the latest cease-fire proposal. netanyahu made the comment yesterday while speaking to a parliamentary committee. he says no agreement will be made until israel's conditions are met. in a separate closed door meeting the prime minister told lawmakers israel will not end the war without ending hamas' rule in gaza first. this conflicts with the white house's statements where president biden publicly outlined the framework deal on friday, he called it an israeli proposal. biden also told qatari officials israel is prepared to move forward and he urged doha to pressure hamas to accept the offer. the latest proposal includes three phases in which hostages would be released in exchange for palestinian prisoners. the second phase, however, calls for a permanent end to the war, which is the sticking point for israel. because of that clause two key right-wing ministers are threatening to level netanyahu's coalition. they say they'll leave and will take down the government if israel signs off on the cease-fire deal. we, of course, will stay on top of this story. still ahead we'll turn to sports and bring you some highlights from the french open as top ranked novack djokovic rallies for a win but now questions linger whether or not he'll be able to continue in the tournament. plus a major league controversy in baseball as one player faces a potential lifetime ban for allegedly betting on games. we'll be right back with that. betting on games we'll be right back with that. get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. step back out there with fasenra. ask your doctor if it's right for you. 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