Today, President Donald Trump sat down with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska for their high-stakes talks on the war in Ukraine. Behind them, a banner read “Pursuing Peace” but noticeably missing from the table? Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is the one under Russian attack. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is joined by former U.S. Ambassador to Russia and NBC News International Affairs Analyst Michael McFaul to unpack what we might expect from this meeting and what he thinks Putin is like behind closed doors. NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel is also with us from Ukraine, with reaction from Ukrainians who feel shut out of a meeting that could decide the fate of their country.

So an NBC News correspondent and a Fed president walk into a donut factory… Co-host Brian Cheung takes a tour of a Springfield, Illinois donut factory with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee. The visit will help Goolsbee decide his vote when the Federal Reserve meets to set interest rates next month. And: a massive new detention center is set to open in Texas this week, but it’s running into roadblocks. NBC News Senior Homeland Security Correspondent Julia Ainsley joins to explain why it presents a problem for President Trump’s deportation goals.

With Trump and Putin set to meet in the Last Frontier Friday, Europe’s big hitters jumped on a Germany-hosted Zoom. Trump was on too, but here’s the twist: none of them are invited to the U.S.–Russia sit-down. Now alarms are ringing from Kyiv to Brussels over what a deal could mean for Ukraine and Europe’s defense if Putin pushes west. Host Yasmin Vossoughian is with NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, who is in Ukraine. Plus, an exclusive from inside New York prisons: corrections officers were caught beating inmates, part of a decades-long pattern of abuse uncovered by NBC News senior investigative producer Dan Slepian.

A new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed prices in America continuing to rise, although the full impact of tariffs remains to be seen. NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Cheung joins host Morgan Chesky to break down the latest numbers and where consumers may or may not be experiencing tariff-driven price increases. And with football season right around the corner, Fox Sports broadcaster and entrepreneur Erin Andrews joins us to talk about what storylines to watch and how she’s preparing for the upcoming season.

President Trump said Monday that he’s sending hundreds of National Guard troops to the nation’s capital and placing Washington, D.C. police under federal control. Garrett Haake, NBC News senior White House correspondent, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to explain how it’s part of a wider effort by the president to crack down on violent crime – even though the crime rate fell to a 30-year low last year. And NBC News foreign correspondent Raf Sanchez shares how evidence is mounting that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is laying the groundwork for his daughter, Kim Ju Ae, to become the country’s next leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will take over Gaza City, in a move that’s drawing condemnation from around the world. Correspondent Courtney Kube, who covers national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit, joins host Morgan Chesky with more. And NBC News correspondent Ryan Chandler joins us with an update on the redistricting battle in Texas.

President Trump’s tariffs went into effect Thursday, with steeper levies on so-called BRICS countries. Brian Cheung, co-host and NBC News business and data correspondent, joins Yasmin Vossoughian to explain why some countries are getting higher rates. And results are in from Eli Lilly’s trial of its experimental daily weight loss pill. Dr. Angela Fitch, a primary care clinician and past president of the Obesity Medicine Association, joins to explain how the pill could make GLP-1 medications more accessible.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Wednesday, working to hammer out a deal to end the war in Ukraine ahead of President Donald Trump’s Friday deadline. Keir Simmons, NBC News chief international correspondent, joins host Yasmin Vossoughian to explain why they’re unlikely to reach a deal by then. And U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is cutting $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia joins to break down what that’ll mean for medical research and health policy.