summer. hey, do you work? what do you do? usually when an 81-year-old does that much traveling through europe, it's on a viking river cruise. [ laughter ] good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, june 13th. we're going to bring you the very latest from the g7 summit in italy. president biden is there meeting with world leaders and also talking support for ukraine. that's a top priority there. meanwhile, there's a lot happening today on capitol hill. donald trump will be in washington to meet with lawmakers from both chambers, setting up his first face-to-face with senate minority leader mitch mcconnell in more than three years. it comes a day after a partisan vote in the house, holding merrick garland in contempt of congress. we're going to dig into all of that straight ahead. along with joe, willie, and me, we have the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at politico, jonathan lemire. former treasury official and economic analyst steve rattner is with us. staff writer at "the atlantic," mark leibovich, is with us, as well. >> willie, last night, jonathan lemire, i'm sure, was very nervous, not just about the red sox starting the game down four -- nothing against the phillies -- but also recognizing that in the second half in dallas, the earth was flat for a while. as kyrie and the dallas mavericks just put on an absolutely torrential comeback. outscoring the celtics at one point 22-2. >> yeah. i mean, the celtics were running away with this thing, up 21 points early in the fourth quarter. cruising, it looked like, on their way to a 3-0 lead, insurmountable in the nba finals. jonathan lemire, you can always find a dark spot in the bright skies as a boston fan. >> oh, i will. >> one point on a kyrie irving jumper before holding on. the celtics did win, ultimately, are up 3-0. they can win the franchise's record 18th nba title tomorrow night. >> these are the kind of games that, i will say, this edition of the celtics team in recent years usually loses. last night they didn't. credit to them. they survived an early onslaught. dallas came out blazing at the start. celtics were down 15. tight game at the half. celtics had a tremendous third quarter, opened the big lead, which they nearly blew, but they didn't. it helped luka doncic fouled out. taking a lot of criticism for his lack of defense and complaints to the referees. not his best game. kyrie was very good, to be sure. the celtics was a balanced attack. though porzingis is out, didn't play, and likely we won't see him again these finals, both jayson tatum and jaylen brown finished strong. this is a tougher celtics team than we've seen. a big road win. one win away. tomorrow night in dallas, won't be easy. if they fall there, game five monday at home. i'm not celebrating yet. i can't celebrate yet, but one win. >> joe, john and i talked about this, this is an underrated celtics team. won 64 regular season games. 15-2 in the playoffs. in the neighborhood of the 1986 celtics team in terms of win. the '08 team, the last title they had in boston. this is a really, really -- >> they're undefeated on the road these playoffs, which is remarkable. >> wow. speaking of boston sports, jonathan lemire, the red sox came back from a 4-0 deficit to beat the best team in baseball, the phillies. of course, preparing for this weekend's showdown. i can't believe it. we ought to talk very briefly about this. mid-june, the yankees and red sox still haven't played each other. that ends this weekend. >> good win for the sox last night. they had been blanked and were lifeless the night before against the phillies. could have thrown in the towel, but they didn't. the offense came out strong in the second part of the game. nice win, 8-4. willie, red sox/yankees. >> i know. >> they changed the schedule a year or two ago, so they play fewer times. used to be 19 but now it is 12 or 13. father's day weekend, and they've not played yet. this is a chance to chip away at your 13 or so game lead. maybe we can close it to 12 or 11. >> might have turned it to 12 last night. the yankees are playing incredibly well. getting great pitching from places they didn't expect it, joe. gerrit cole not back yet. the lineup is unbelievable. aaron judge is mashing. soto is playing well despite the injury to the -- >> it's 14. >> excuse me. i was trying to give you more credit than you deserve. 14 games up on the red sox. >> yeah. >> i will say, despite the season the yankees are having, the orioles are quietly hanging right with them. they're 2.5 games back, also having a great season in baltimore. >> well, i've got to say, this yankees team is the best yankees team, i think, probably since the '27 yankees. >> expectations. >> if they don't win the world series in four games, you have to look -- >> since the last one. >> -- at a complete failure for the yankees. >> mercy rule. >> speaking of, i don't know why we're continuing to play. seriously -- >> just call it. >> -- we have no chance. let's call it right now. >> yeah. >> we're the little engine that could. let me tell you something, we're rolling back down the hill right now. >> on the last caboose. >> into the ravine. >> getting serious for a secon. we lost a dear friend yesterday. a dear friend to this show, to me, to nbc, and really to washington. if you don't believe that, look at some of the responses, mika, that howard fineman and his passing yesterday got from across washington. just a wonderful, lovely man. >> yeah, he was one of the most respected reporters inside the washington beltway. he passed away yesterday. in a social media post from his own account, fineman's wife, amy, announced his passing from pancreatic cancer. writer in part, quote, "i am heartbroken to share my brilliant and extraordinary husband passed away last night surrounded by those he loved the most, his family." after starting his career covering kentucky state politics, fineman arrived at "newsweek" in 1980. there, he quickly built his well-earned reputation by giving readers an unvarnished look at the inner workings of capitol hill and the powerful players making the decisions affecting the lives of everyday americans. that included the eight different presidents he covered in some capacity, including george w. bush, who spoke to fineman back in november of 2001 for his first extensive interview after the 9/11 attacks. in 2010, fineman left "newsweek" to become the senior politics editor and later the global editorial director at the huffing ton post. he also joined the msnbc family as an analyst at that time, where he became a familiar face on "morning joe" for viewers here for more than a decade. howard fineman was 75 years old. we are so sorry. >> i read an article yesterday calling him a titan of washington journalism. howard was a national editor and reported out of 49 of the 50 states. his time in kentucky, i think, may have been his most valuable because, as howard and i spoke, he understood politics in a way that many that were born in the northeast and went to school in the northeast and worked in the northeast may not have understood. just keen insights. i think, most importantly, as i've been talking to him over the past couple years, emailing and texting, just a wonderful, lovely man. he knew about what was in front of him and was at peace with it. but, again, just a great friend. we're going to have chris matthews and al franken on tomorrow to talk about the legacy and the life of howard fineman. mark leibovich, you knew howard and worked with him. certainly, i know, like me, you had to look up to him because, man, he was a titan at "newsweek" and beyond. >> like a lot of people in this business, i mean, who you look up to, you know them first as a byline. i remember when i was first starting out in journalism, "newsweek" was at the peak of its powers. i used to love reading "newsweek" for its political stuff. i think it was the 1992 cycle, i was in my 20s. i was up in new hampshire for the first time for a presidential primary, and i met howard fineman, this giant who i had been reading for many, many years. he was then at "newsweek," and i was somewhat in awe. he could not have been nicer. he was helpful in showing me around, introducing me to people. loved to tell stories. he kind of got the joke in that kind of wise guy, political reporter way. i always appreciated seeing someone who was so -- you know, he loved the game, he loved journalism, but also loved what was inherit to what we do. especially when we'd run into each other on the road. i'll miss that. we'll all miss reading howard, also. >> so much. >> yeah. well, we're very grateful to have known him. a good man. our thoughts and deepest prayers to his family. to our top story now, president biden is in italy this morning for the first day of the g7 summit. moments ago, he gathered with other leaders from the group of seven nations for this year's so-called family photo. the president will now attend multiple working sessions throughout today. afterwards, he'll meet with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and sign a ten-year security agreement between the u.s. and ukraine. joining us now is msnbc white house correspondent monica alba, live in bari, italy, with more. what can you tell us? >> reporter: mika, this is going to be a consequential meeting with these leaders where there's so much on the agenda. perhaps at the very top of the list, how to continue helping ukraine in its defense against russian aggression as that war stretches on for more than two years. we do expect that by the end of the next couple of days, there will be some kind of agreement between the g7 leaders on how to help ukraine get more military aid in the access of funding from seized russian assets that have been frozen. now, there was a little bit of debate over exactly how to do that and whether that would be presented to ukraine in the form of a loan that will be paid over some years based on the interest of those frozen assets. we expect those kinds of details. national security adviser jake sullivan does expect an outcome on that in the coming hours. but there is, of course, also the larger dynamic right now of the shifting winds in european politics. when you look at the different leaders who greeted president biden this morning, many of them, including president biden himself, may not be there at the next g7 summit in 2025. there have been many, of course, questions about elections in the uk, in france, in germany, where many of these leaders have fairly low approval ratings. then, of course, president biden is facing re-election in november. that is the overall backdrop to these conversations and the larger looming question of, even if there are things the leaders agree to and try to set into motion, will some of those things will undone or incomplete because of whatever happens a near from now? then we expect the leaders to also continue to discuss the potential cease-fire deal that president biden and certainly other leaders internationally have been pushing for hamas and israel to accept, end the war in gaza. we expect there will be discussion of that in addition to countering china and, specifically, trying to issue russian sanctions from the u.s. against some china-based companies that are fueling the russian war machine in ukraine. those are some of the expected thorny issues and topics that the president will be discussing with leaders. tomorrow, he is expected to meet with pope francis who is coming to the g7 in a historic manner to discuss the issue of artificial intelligence, some of the advantages of the technology and also some of the dangers that it presents. a jam-packed couple of days here for the president in southern italy. willie. >> nbc's monica alba in bari, italy, for us this morning. monica, thanks so much. john, the president running hot. he is in normandy for almost a week. comes back for a few days. going back over to italy. what does he hope to take away from this g7? what are the objectives that he may leave here in three days having achieved? >> first of all, not a bad place for a summit. >> not bad. >> looks pretty nice. >> not bad. >> this is the second trip to europe in a week. ukraine is at the forefront and will meet with president zelenskyy later today, holding a joint press conference. if the will take a few questions, the first time taking questions from reporters since the conviction of his son. there will probably be domestic matters that get asked about there. it is about this deal here, assets to support ukraine. it's to keep aid open no matter what happens with the elections. in eu, the far right making real gains recently. of course, the election in the united states in november looms. there's hope commitments can be made to ensure aid will go to ukraine even if donald trump, a ukraine skeptic, were to return to office. i also think this is the president's last major summit before the election, and i think there's going to be a note of reassurance as he tries to -- his fellow leaders of democracy, to say, look, you can count on the united states. we're not going to go anywhere. but we know there is rampant anxiety among those men and women that we're seeing in the family photo about what a donald trump return would mean, how he has threatened alliances before, how he has said that he wants a more isolationist foreign policy. this is president biden trying to say to them, look, i can't guarantee the future, but we are americans. if i win again, we can do this. even if i don't, there will be a way to keep america involved. it is a real sort of anxiety-filled summit right now there in italy. >> you know, steve rattner, we're going to be talking about this a little later, but it is fascinating this g7 summit takes place against the backdrop of the strongest u.s. economy relative to the rest of the world than there's been in decades. we had a report yesterday that the world economy is doing okay, thanks in large part because of the unexpected strength of the u.s. economy. as the world bank said, the impressive u.s. economy is powering the world. impressive resilience. growth buoyant. in the teeth of the fiercest monetary tightening in four decades. strongest dollar in almost half a century. that's the backdrop of joe biden there, about how we're powering the world right now with our strong economy. also, though, as you look at those pictures, i'm curious your thought. you have, of course, the chancellor of germany, who just suffered a blow with the far-right in germany doing so well in the eu elections. a blow to his reputation, his party's reputation, of course. same with macron especially. but fascinating, the one person who did well is actually maloni and her party. she was perceived to be an enemy of the eu, a far-right extremist because of her party's roots with mussolini, but she's ended up being really pragmatic on the world stage. talk about that. talk about the economy. general feeling about where europe is right now. >> first, on the maloni point, she is the only member of the g7 who has a higher arrival rating than joe biden, but she's still at 41%. when you look across the eu, as you said, you see leader after leader, country after country, where you're looking at arrival ratings for leaders at 24%, 28%, in the 30s. ritchie sunak has a snap election coming in july. he could be wiped out and could be one of the largest majorities for labor in a long time. i think it does relate to a considerable extent to the whole growth picture. we've grown over 9% in total, our economy, since the pandemic started. canada is at 5 something. everybody in europe is at 1, 2, 3%. the elections last weekend shouldn't have been a total surprise in the sense that europe is really, really struggling economically, including and indeed, especially, germany, which has, of course, been the powerhouse of europe for so many decades. between the impact of the ukraine war and the fact that germany is a major exporter to china and all of that is under pressure, it is a really, really difficult time for germany. europe as a whole, a mix of the effect of the war, which is something but not the only thing, but, frankly, it is simply having economies that have just not performed well over a long period of time. they don't have the flexibility of our economy. they don't have the productivity. look what's going on in a.i., for example, at the moment. we dominate a.i. there's one company in france and a couple in the uk that are kind of in the mix on a.i. everybody else in europe is just not present, and that is potentially a huge driver of future growth. there's simply a set of economies that have not delivered for their citizens and, therefore, the citizens are taking to the ballot box in a way that is very, very scary to all the rest of us. >> i've got to say, also, there is a reality, and there was an ft article about this a couple months ago, there is a new reality that approval ratings don't line up with victories or losses at polls as much as they used to. of course, the greatest example of that would be macron, who was sitting in the low 30s to the mid 30s in approval ratings in france before he had his election against le pen. he ended up with about 58%. >> there's that. >> there is angst across the western world, and it is driving approval ratings of all leaders down. >> for sure. let's go to capitol hill now. former president trump will be in washington today where he is set to meet with republican lawmakers from both sides of the hill. a senior trump campaign official tells nbc news the meetings will be focused on policy, zooming in on social security, taxes, border security, and a, quote, america first foreign policy. while trump's visit is being presented as a positive development by some in senate leadership, senator susan collins, lisa murkowski, and mitt romney will not be attending the meeting. all three claimed they have conflicting plans. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell will attend, giving him his first face-to-face with trump since 2020. take a listen to what the minority leader said yesterday when asked if he would confront the former president. >> you know, i said three years ago, right after the capitol was attacked, that i would support our nominee regardless of who it was, including him. i've said earlier this year i support him. he's been earned the nomination by the voters all across the country. of course, i'll be at the meeting tomorrow. >> that'll be an interesting dynamic, mark leibovich, to see mcconnell there with donald trump. donald trump going to visit the office buildings, will not be at the capitol. obviously, january 6th hangs heavy over this visit even though the president was not technically at the capitol that day. he held the rally that drove the people there. so what do you expect today? what is the dynamic at play, other than all of these republicans who have fallen in line, save for the small handful who have conflicting schedules, perhaps a root canal for mitt romney? >> yeah, i mean, first of all, it is notable that mcconnell kept referring to trump as "him." i don't think he mentioned his name once. he acknowledged the capitol was attacked. i also think with the dynamic this these things, especially when you hear coming in that the former president's aides say they expect the meetings to be about policy. yeah, that's always true when trump's meetings are involved. >> wonk. >> really in the weeds on this. but, i mean, look, i think this will be, i assume, when he is with the other republicans, a complete show of sycophancy, which is what the party has become. i don't know how you can ignore -- i assume they will -- but i don't know how you ignore the fact this is all taking place in what was, you know, one of the great places of disgrace of his presidency, if not the, and that's where he left