If it's Monday, President Biden arrives in Lithuania for a wartime meeting of NATO nations,

saying now is not the time for Ukraine to join the alliance.

Warning, it could draw the U.S. into a full-blown war with Russia.

Plus, countdown to Iowa at the start of the Republican presidential primary contest is now officially on the

calendar, leaving Ron DeSantis in a crowded field of contenders just six months to try to catch up

to frontrunner Donald Trump. And extreme weather and climate concerns, historic rainfall in the

northeast as a brutal and historic heat wave scorches the southwest with no relief in sight

for millions.

Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. As the White House and much of the world have their sights set on Lithuania, where President Biden arrived today ahead of a wartime meeting of NATO countries, the summit could have major implications for the U.S., the West, and Ukraine, which is lobbying to join the defensive pact amid its war against Russia.

Facing international and even some domestic pressure, the president this weekend was clear

that he believes Ukraine should not be allowed into the alliance, at least not yet.

I don't think it's ready for membership in NATO, but here's the deal.

I spent, as you know, a great deal of time trying to hold NATO together

because I believe Putin has had an overwhelming objective from the time he launched

185,000 troops into Ukraine. And that was to break NATO. He was confident, in my view,

and many of the intelligence community, he was confident he could break NATO. So holding NATO

together is really critical. The president's comments come as the U.S. announced it will be sending

some controversial weapons to Ukraine. They're called cluster munitions. These are small bombs that can

explode after battle, sometimes injuring or killing civilians. Ahead of the summit, President Biden defended that decision, warning Ukraine was at risk

of running out of ammunition.

But it was not an easy decision, and we're not signatories to that agreement, but it took

me a while to be convinced to do it.

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