more now on the dangerous heat that she mentioned. some 21 millio americans are under alert in the midwest minneapolis/st. paul setting a new record of 101 degrees tomorrow the first official day of summer, the extreme heat will expand further to the south and to the east. now to the battle for ukraine which hangs on the far east of the country. it is where the deputy defense minister says divisive battles are taking place in the few towns still controlled by ukraine. at the same time we re tonight for the first time tonight from th kremlin about those americans captured on the front lines in ukraine now held by russia in an nbc news exclusive interview, keir simmons pressed dmitry peskov, president vladimir putin s press secretary, about the americans fate and we ll note tha russia is cracking down on journalists and limiting what they could say under the threat of imprisonment. reporter: tonight, the kremlin s first comments after two american veterans on the front lines in
repeating its warnings u.s. citizens should not travel to ukraine. meantime, the department of justice has just confirmed attorney general merrick garland is in ukraine for an unannounced meeting with ukraine s prosecutor general. he s pushing for the prosecution of war crimes. this new video just in of their meeting. russia has denied committing war crimes. we have more for you this morning on that nbc news exclusive interview where top kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov says two american veterans cap toured in ukraine will be held responsible for the crimes they ve committed. nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons spoke exclusively with peskov. we should mention the russian government is cracking down on journalists and limiting what reporters can say under threat of imprisonment. keir, what else did he tell you about these men from the united states and the ongoing war?
challenge. still to come, an nbc news exclusive interview. first reaction from the woman whose allegations of sexual assault led to bill cosby s initial conviction in 2018. she s talking about that conviction being overturned on procedural grounds. andrea constand speaking out the first time about his release from prison. i was really shocked. i was really shocked, disappointed. what does it say about the american justice system? that it is flawed. that it is flawed
points announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt good evening, everyone president biden setting the stage for his face-to-face with russia s vladimir putin later this week, warning tonight the u.s. will respond if russia does not change its behavior the president with a stronger hand to play going into that meeting after cementing the fractured american bond with nato, meeting with fellow nato ministers in brussels today president biden declaring the military alliance and its core foundation of mutual defense are rock solid. as he works to nurture a relationship derided by president trump when he was in office. the president along with the rest of the world getting what may prove to be a preview of the summit. as we hear more today from president putin in an nbc news exclusive interview. but let s begin in brussels now with nbc s peter alexander. reporter: tonight less than 48 hours ahead of that high-stakes summit with russian president
the u.s. will respond. and does he still believe that putin is a killer what he s now saying and more of our nbc news exclusive interview. putin denying responsibility for cyberattacks on the u.s. and his response when asked directly did he order the assassination attempt on kremlin critic alexei navalny our keir simmons in moscow the massive explosion and fire at a chemical plant nearby homes evacuated. why it could burn for days the uk delaying its reopening by a month as cases of the delta variant soar there. how well do the vaccines protect against it the deadly shooting inside a georgia supermarket. officials saying it all began with a dispute over a mask. it comes amid a national surge in gun violence ten mass shootings in seven states in just 72 hours extreme heat in the west and a tropical storm expected to form off the east coast and the price you pay for summer travel. are you getting the most out of your