If it's Tuesday, President Biden huddles with NATO leaders in Europe as the alliance navigates a potential rift with President Zelensky over joining the Defense Pact, with an active war playing out along NATO's borders.

Plus, catastrophic and historic flooding slams the northeast as severe storms dump two months worth of rain on Vermont in just two days,

threatening to submerge the Capitol as a critical dam nears capacity.

And the plight of the right, more abortion bans, more Trump legal trouble, and more GOP infighting.

I'll talk to a Republican presidential candidate about the

top issues facing his party and his campaign.

Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington. We begin with the very latest out of the wartime NATO summit in Vilnius Lithuania, where NATO leaders announced today.

They agreed to invite Ukraine into the Security Alliance once certain conditions are met, though they did not specify what those conditions are, nor did they provide a timeline for

Ukraine's membership.

That announcement came just hours after President Zelensky lashed out at the alliance,

calling it, quote, absurd that a timeline for Ukraine's membership hasn't been established.

But after arriving in Lithuania today and ahead of his meeting tomorrow with President

Biden, Zelensky said he is, quote, grateful to our partners for

their willingness to take new steps. President Biden has expressed concern that bringing Ukraine

into NATO too soon could risk dragging the West into a full-blown war with Russia. Secretary of State

Lincoln, a national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, both echoed that warning today.

I think everyone's been clear, including President Zelensky, that in the midst of a war,

membership can't happen, but they've made real progress, and the alliance will lay out the further reforms,

both in terms of their security work and their democracy, that are necessary to keep moving down that path.

As President Biden noted, bringing Ukraine into the alliance now here in Vilnius would bring NATO

into war with Russia. There is consensus, including from Ukraine, that the question is not

Ukraine and NATO now here at Vilnius. The question is, what's the pathway towards Ukraine's future membership?

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