all, enjoy the weekend. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us on social media @mitchellreports. you can watch highlights on youtube. just go to msnbc.com/andrea. monday my friend katy tur hosting special coverage of the total eclipse 2:00 eastern right here on msnbc. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. good day i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. it should never have happened. the words of the idf as they announce the firing of two officers involved in the deaths of aid workers in gaza blaming their actions on a string of errors but that likely won't be the last word. secretary of state antony blinken today joining world central kitchen in calling for an independent investigation. plus, did you feel it too?

that's the question everyone around here has been asking, the rare earthquake that hit central new jersey earlier today but was felt here, it was felt as far away as maryland, massachusetts. it even shook skyscrapers in manhattan including the one i'm sitting in right now. and tensions in donald trump's classified documents case reaching a boiling point. the fight between jack smith and judge cannon that has him inching closer to trying to get her thrown off the case potentially. judge cannon's response, go ahead. but we begin with the accountability. it has started, israeli officials today dismissing two officers and blaming a string of errors for the fatal strike that killed seven aid workers. so now the wait to see what else israel will actually do after president biden issued an ultimatum, make major changes in the war in gaza now. >> the president was very clear that if we don't see meaningful

changes in the policy approaches by the israeli government, there's going to have to be meaningful changes in our own policy approach to gaza. >> at the heart of the demands, opening routes to get more aid to starving palestinians. israel quickly committed to use ashdod port to bring in assistance and open crossings to get aid into rafah, critically northern gads where the hunger is most dire. the administration is demanding that those promises must now be fully and rapidly implemented. as "politico" puts it, there's a blinking red light for israel in american politics. biden has run out of patience, but he's not prime minister netanyahu's only problem. congress is coming back into session in a few days with aid to israel still up in the air. house speaker mike johnson has yet to get a bill through the house that the senate will pass. he posted this on social media, the president's ultimatums should be going to hamas, not israel. biden should not undercut our ally amidst an existential

threat by conditioning our support. so what's next? nbc's hala gorani is reporting from jerusalem. monica alba is in washington, and also with us, peter baker "new york times" chief white house correspondent and an msnbc political analyst. monica, secretary blinken today said there should be an independent investigation into that aid convoy strike, and in a statement, world central kitchen put it a lot more bluntly. the idf cannot credibly investigate its own failure in gaza. so what do we know about how hard the white the house might push on that, or is israel's word enough? >> it's really interesting, chris, because the white house and national security council spokesman john kirby earlier today some time ago indicated that the white house was going to reserve judgment on those preliminary findings from the investigation. he was trying to make the argument that in effect this isn't israel doing its own investigation, that it was a

separate branch that doesn't report directly to the idf that made this assessment, almost trying to imply that maybe that could be perceived as some kind of an independent investigation. of course that isn't good enough for world central kitchen, and you did see secretary blinken making some remarks that also john kirby attempted to clarify saying he made those comments before we learned a bit more about what had come out of this initial report. so the white house seemingly saying we need a bit more information to decide whether we're going to fully back a separate third-party investigation into this. but here's a little bit more of what secretary blinken said overall about the major concerns the u.s. has about this unacceptable situation in their words. >> it's very important that israel is taking full responsibility for this incident. it's also important that it appears to be taking steps to hold those responsible accountable. as israel pursues any military operations against hamas, it has to prioritize the protection of civilians. it has to make that job number

one, assessing fully the report on the world central kitchen incident and looking to see not just what steps are being taken but the results that follow from them. >> reporter: so part of the calculus here, chris, is of course whether israel does make enough of the changes that the u.s. wants to see. and of course senior administration officials and the president are welcoming the fact that israel did announce these new humanitarian aid corridors and steps, even though many point out that these are things that perhaps could have happened sooner in this six-month war, but they are going to be in the coming hours and days, they say, evaluating whether that's enough for the u.s. to potentially then change any of its policy. but i think depending on what they do with that, that will also inform how much or whether the u.s. remains satisfied with the current status of another investigation into this strike that killed the aid workers, chris.

>> so hala, what exactly has israel agreed to do? and i'm very curious what the headlines are where you are, how this is being seen in israel. >> reporter: well, this is really the first time that the israeli military has taken accountability. it's not an isolated incident. what happened with the world central kitchen, you'll remember a few weeks ago over 100 palestinians lost their lives in an israeli military attack as they crowded around trucks loaded with aid. a u.n. convoy as well was hit by an israeli air strike, but this is the first time that you get the sense that the israeli military and the government faced with possible consequences by the biden administration has really, really rushed this investigation. after all, it was only on april 1st that this attack took place and that these seven relief workers were killed in not one, not two, but three israeli military strikes. they have promised to hold themselves accountable. they have dismissed two senior officers and reprimanded the

senior commander, not clear if any will face charges, but the world central kitchen there as monica mentioned, once more they're saying that the israeli military cannot adequately investigate itself, that there needs to be a real independent probe into what happened, and that there needs to be more aid delivered via land routes because the sea route that the world central kitchen was using is a very imperfect, and as we've seen, very dangerous aid delivery mechanism and the land routes are there. they're just a few miles away these delivery trucks that i saw with my own eyes a few weeks ago. and rafah on the egyptian side of the border not allowed to go in, many of them waiting for a very -- in the midst of a very laborious inspection process. the question is we've heard promises from the israeli government before. you'll remember a few weeks ago,

they had pledged to flood northern gaza with aid. that didn't happen. will this promise to open the erez in the north, and get the aid to those who need it especially in the northern part of the strip. >> we've heard secretary blinken, we've heard the president say repeatedly what we just heard that israel has to prioritize protecting sifl yans, now we've heard what they say they're going to do. what have you heard the administration is going to be looking for in what time line and are they satisfied that israel essentially is going to be policing itself, doing its own investigation? >> yeah, i mean, certainly the announcement of the opening of the crossing and the port for delivery of supplies is seen in the white house as a down payment in effect on what they believe netanyahu has agreed to give president biden in order to keep u.s. policy from changing. but they're looking for a couple

of things. they're looking for, for instance, specific procedural changes on their strikes, on their military operations to prevent or at least mitigate the risk to civilians. they want to see not just a generalized commitment to do better, but they want to see very specific strategic procedural changes that they can evaluate and say, okay, this will actually make a ditches on the ground -- difference on the ground. they want to see a commitment from the netanyahu government to the negotiations that will resume in qatar on saturday to see if they can broker a temporary cease fire in exchange for the release of hostages being held by hamas since the october 7th terror attack. they say that the negotiators need to be empowered. that's the word the white house uses, in order to make a deal. so these two other categories, these two other baskets is important to the white house in some ways as humanitarian aid and they're watching and will evaluate how israel responds. >> you're right, the white house has been pushing for a cease

fire for some time now, and there have been a number of times when it seemed like there might be hope and then those hopes were dashed. is there a sense on the u.s. side that this could be a turning point, that there is -- they're going into these talks on saturday on different footing? >> well, every time we thought there was a turning point, we have been, you know, wrong, of course. and so we have to be careful about that. but certainly i think the biden administration is doing more to put pressure on the israelis to make a deal. the question is can they get a deal from hamas. that is the other side of the table, of course, and hamas has not exactly agreed to a lot of the things proposed by americans and other intermediaries like egyptians and qataris either. it's not enough to have one side ready to agree. you have to have both sides ready to agree. bill burns will be in cairo on saturday for these talks. they will include the qataris and the egyptians, and so will the head of mossad, israeli's

spy agency. and there is some sense that netanyahu understands that biden is taking this pretty seriously at this point, that they know the americans have been the one place on the planet where they can count on support, and if they lose biden, they're really in trouble, and they want to avoid doing that obviously. >> hala, a member of the israeli war cabinet, as you know, has called for early elections. we saw these massive protests in jerusalem demanding that same thing. chuck schumer did on the senate floor. what are the chances, bibi netanyahu agrees to put his political future on the line? has the pressure amped up to the point where he'll change his mind about early elections? . >> reporter: well, of course his political survival is linked to how long he can push away some very, very tricky court cases and corruption cases against him, and so the longer he stays in power, the more he can avoid some very difficult potentially

legal issues that are -- he's been faced with for many, many years now, and so the -- his political -- the political will of benjamin netanyahu to call early elections is probably not there. what you're seeing, though, chris, in israel is more and more frustration, even among those initially -- and i've been covering this story really since october 7th, even among those initially who were in favor of the israeli military operation. we're seeing more and more questions surrounding benjamin netanyahu's strategy in gaza in terms of it not leading to the release of the remaining hostages and more voices calling for a cease fire, though i would caution that it's not a majority, but we're seeing more of that certainly pushback against the netanyahu strategy and the war cabinet's approach to this among the ordinary

israeli public, chris. >> hala gorani, monica alba, and peter baker, thank you. in 60 seconds, airport delays, school evacuations after a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake rattles new york city and the surrounding region. the latest details next. ing regn the latest details next. >> this is one of the largest earthquakes on the east coast to occur in the last century. we're going to continue to take this very seriously and make sure that we continue to update all new yorkers. sure that we continue to update all new yorkers. - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? not flossing well? then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows listerine is 5x more effective than floss at reducing plaque above the gumline. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. ahhhhh. listerine. feel the whoa!

bother the bugs. not your family. ahh! zevo is made with essential oils which attack bugs' biological systems. it wipes cleanly, plus is safe for use around people and pets. gotcha! zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. right now people across the east coast are literally all shook up after the highly unusual and unsettling 4.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the new york metropolitan area and was felt as far away as philadelphia and boston. take a listen to what some new yorkers told our local station just moments after it happened. >> i was kind of getting -- i got a lot of anxiety. when things like that happen,

especially in new york because not a lot of things like that in new york happen. it was very scary to say the least. >> listen, wedidn't feel it. we heard about it. we just thought it was opening day energy, the atmosphere out here. >> the opening day energy caused a quake. nbc's antonia hylton is reporting from brooklyn, new york. also with us nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman. good to have both of you here. this is all anybody can talk about, antonia. our phones have been going off with those alerts. is there any concerns, first of all, about an aftershock, and what else can you tell us about what happened? >> reporter: hey, chris, there is some concern here about an aftershock. i have had neighbors lining up on different corners of the block around here in williamsburg, brooklyn, talk about this. a couple of people who i spoke to were actually afraid in the moments after the earthquake to go back inside their own apartment buildings. this is an area with a lot of older buildings, prewar buildings. they're texting their landlords and hoping that someone will come and check things out.

particularly they're worried about gas lines, about the structures in staircases in some of these old brownstones in brooklyn. in those moments right around 10:30, i could hear kids at the playgrounds mind me reacting. i spoke to one student who said she could feel her classroom shaking as well. the concern about the aftershocks was confirmed when the governor spoke earlier today saying that they're taking this very seriously because of the potential, and she recommended that if that happens, people hit the floor. they protect their neck, and try to hold onto something firm. if an aftershock does happen. but people right now are reacting and trying to process, reach out to their building owners and landlords. we even saw some people post videos. they just happened to capture of that exact moment. take a look at this one video of a guy from new jersey who was playing the guitar and then the earthquake struck.

♪♪ ( [ bleep ] was that? >> reporter: i would say his reaction right there, that matches a lot of what i've seen here in the area, that kind of cracking sound, an explosion almost, and then what we saw here was a number of these buildings swaying and shaking for probably about ten seconds straight, chris. so people are a little bit shaken up, but they're very grateful that at this time there's no evidence that there have been any massive structural damages, although the governor and the mayor are going to be going out in the city surveying. they're sending experts out just to make sure that subway lines, anything near the major fault lines in new york, you know, that all of us are going to be safe, chris.

>> yeah, okay, michelle, the new york governor did say earlier today, this is one of the largest earthquakes to hit the east coast i think in the last century. i'm not sure that most new yorkers ever thought about fault lines here. what can you tell us? >> that is so true. we had one in 2011 that i remember covering, i remember feeling. it was the first time in my life where you felt that swaying. it is notable. it's jarring. this is historic. it's the third largest in history really since keeping track of earthquakes. i do some stats about aftershocks. there is a 4% chance of an aftershock that would be greater than what we saw today. if you look at an aftershock of 3 or less, we have a 48% chance. this is something we're going to be watching as we go throughout the rest of the day. we're looking at what we saw earlier in lebanon, new jersey, but felt it in new england, south jersey, probably reports more south than that. it occurred at 10:23. this is a big one in terms of -- some of us have never felt this in our life. it's historical.

it's the third strongest in 280 years of earthquake history with that magnitude. the second strongest was 5.2, not much higher than that. and that 4.8 is not set in stone. we're going to continue to track that and get some news from the usgs. the strongest was 5.3 in 1783. my little 11-year-old in school, i'm sure this is something they're going to remember the rest of their life. they have never felt that swaying ever. 2.2 in new jersey in 2023. we have had some. we normally get about 10,000 a year worldwide. >> i think your 11-year-old probably got a little lesson in what an earthquake is and what to do about it. you duck, cover and crawl. >> he's a nervous nelly, so i can't wait to hear the stories. >> you're going to have a long night. thank you, michelle, thank you, antonia. happy that everybody's okay. in taiwan, though, we're nearing the end of what is the most critical 72 hours there, and rescuers continue racing against the clock to try to find survivors after that massive 7.4

magnitude earthquake. they're digging in the mountains. they're scouring the area in helicopters and hoping to free 634 people reported trapped by debris. the quake now confirmed to have killed at least 12 people. in the hardest hit major city, roads are already being rebuilt. demolitions have started for buildings irreparably damaged. officials trying to get them knocked down even as aftershocks continue to rock the region. residents and workers at this building held a vigil for a woman who was killed inside. she had rushed in to try to save her cat from the quake. nbc's janis mackey frayer remains in taiwan for us. first of all, do we have any sense about those folks who are trapped, and what are you seeing in terms of i don't remember after an earthquake seeing so much movement to get things going so quickly. >> reporter: well, there is a level of preparedness here that is unmatched in the rest of the

world. taiwan has a lot of sbeerns experience with earthquake, so there are systems in place to prevent. to manage and then to carry out rescue and relief efforts. what you're seeing behind me, chris, is the demolition aspect of it, buildings that have been deemed structurally unsound are being demolished, and they're not wasting any time in doing so. the concern here remains aftershocks. you talk about the threat of aftershocks in new york and new jersey. there have been more than 400 of them here since the earthquake on wednesday. it feels like the ground has not stopped moving, and that's having an impact on rescue efforts in the mountains, not far from here at a national park where hundreds of people have been trapped because the roads and trails have been cut off by landslides.

helicopters have been able to get food and water to them, most of them are trapped at a hotel inside the park, but there are several people who are reported to be missing, and an all out effort is underway to try to find them. we visited the staging area just at the edge of the park where rescued people were being brought. they are getting medical attention before giving some information and then being allowed to go back home. this will continue through the weekend. the concern, of course, is rain in the forecast and these aftershocks that are hampering efforts. chris. >> janis mackey frayer, we appreciate your reporting. stay safe. thank you. and coming up, new legal punches thrown in trump's classified documents case. will special counsel jack smith hit what one legal analyst is calling the nuclear button. we'll explain that next. s calling the nuclear button we'll explain that next. [meowing] (♪♪) hi, what's your name?

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it's the legal equivalent of a street fight, special counsel jack smith and judge aileen cannon trading thinly veiled threats as they square off over donald trump's classified documents case. one in a motion this week, smith's frustration all but jumped off the page as he blasted the judge for relying on a fundamentally flawed premise

regarding jury instructions. the judge firing back thursday defending the instructions and almost daring smith to make the next move, writing quote, as always any party remains free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke. joining me now msnbc legal correspondent, lisa rubin, catherine christian is here as well. former assistant d.a. with the manhattan district attorney's office and an msnbc legal analyst. this is a little wild. i mean, over the years i was covering court cases, frankly, a lot of that i had to force myself to stay awake, not these filings. how unusual is this, and what do you make of it? . >> it's highly unusual to see parties go after a judge and to see a judge conversely go after a party like this. i was saying to someone i don't think i've seen language like this in an order from a judge about a party who was not the subject of a sanctions motion in a long time. that said, judge juan merchan the other day saying that the timing of a particular motion

basically revealed that the strategy was delay. so we are surrounded by judges right now who are saying very pointed things to the litigants before them, whether they are represented by the special counsel's office or donald trump's own lawyers. >> he thinks judge cannon's thoughts on jury instruction are way off base. she said in this motion this was a genuine attempt to understand both parties' positions. so is it grounds for smith to try to get her thrown off the case? >> not now and there are lawyers throughout the country when they hear i can get the judge on my case who hasn't made a decision in a year removed or who doesn't know the law, it doesn't work that way. and -- but this judge did, she sort of buried the lead. she granted -- i mean, she denied the motion to dismiss for trump, so she did what the special counsel wanted, but then she added but maybe we'll revisit this during the trial,

which will be horrible if it's revisited because if she decides she can basically acquit donald trump because he will say they're his personal records. she can say i agree with that and do that, but she hasn't done that yet, so there can't be the she might do this so therefore i want her removed. >> just to be clear, lisa, the trial could be over before it starts? >> the trial could be over before it starts, and here is why. the judge always has the option in any trial at the conclusion of the preview of evidence to find that the plaintiff hasn't carried their burden in proving that the crimes were committed. you can expect donald trump's lawyers to make what is a very typical motion at the conclusion of the government's case. that is when and if we get to a trial in this case. >> what would have to happen before smith could appeal? she could do it tomorrow? >> well, if she had granted the motion to dismiss, then he could have appealed that, but there

really is no ground for him to say that she should be directed to correct a mistake, the writ of mandamus. she didn't make a mistake. she denied donald trump's motion, so really, you know, you hear about this nuclear option. i don't -- i'm the outlier. i don't see him having any options to go to the 11th circuit at this point. >> so let's say you're both right, you seem to be leaning in the order of if we could get rid of every judge that we didn't like how fast or slow they are or we don't think that they're as good as a judge we might want to have, you can't just get them tossed, right? but let's say it does happen. let's say judge cannon wasn't on the case. doesn't that necessarily probably push it until after the election for sure? >> yeah, but that's not a basis for recusal. delay is not a basis for recusal. the recusal standards are set by statute, and also by reference to the cannon of judicial

conduct. and there's nothing in there that's about delay. to the extent that the special counsel were to have a basis to ask for her recusal, it would have to be upon a showing of flagrant prejudice against them, and note that the standard is about prejudice against one party, not prejudice for the other party. i think many people think that they would have to show a lot more and much more concretely than it seems like she really likes them in order to meet that standard. that having been said, yesterday and refusing to close the door to the presidential records act playing a role in this case, it is possible that the special counsel's office could appeal yesterday's order, even though to catherine's point, she did deny the motion to dismiss, they could say that the order is still not exactly what they wanted and ask for a writ of mandamus at this point. do i think that's likely? probably not but there is an order from which they could take an appeal if they chose to.

>> they'll probably lose, but they could do it. >> it's never straightforward when it comes to any of these cases. lisa rubin, catherine christian, you guys are so great. thank you so much. still ahead with no labels now officially out can a candidate with say a famous democratic name and a maga-style agenda shake up the presidential race? we've got new reaction coming up. race we've got new reaction coming up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis held me back... now with skyrizi, i'm all in with clearer skin. ♪ things are getting clearer...♪ ( ♪♪ ) ♪ i feel free... ♪ ♪ to bear my skin, yeah that's all me. ♪ ♪ nothing is everything ♪ ( ♪♪) with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and most people were clearer even at 5 years. skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions... ...and an increased risk of infections... ...or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,... ...had a vaccine, or plan to.

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one after another after another, they took a pass, so

will there be a viable third-party candidate after no labels by its own admission couldn't find one to challenge joe biden and donald trump. more than a dozen said no. >> let me say it's not for lack of trying. that's for sure. and the short answer is that the field ticket, no labels was looking for a hero and a hero never emerged. >> that largely leaves robert f. kennedy jr. he may be all in but his campaign is clearly challenged. he's only confirmed on one ballot, utah, which is hardly a battleground state and his campaign is being forced to disavow its fund-raising email blaming the vendor for writing that january 6th insurrectionists are activists who were stripped of their constitutional liberties. the campaign says that contractor has been fired. but remember when kennedy said this?

>> what's more dangerous to our republic, these, you know, the yahoos who invaded, you know, that building on january 6th which by the way, what's the worst thing that could have happened, right? >> you can rebuild a -- you know, if you eliminate the constitution, there's really nothing left of america. >> do you characterize january 6th as an insurrection? is that a word you would use? >> you know, i don't know. >> and democrats were furious earlier this week when kennedy said biden is a bigger threat to democracy than trump is. nbc's garrett haake is reporting from washington, d.c., also with us nbc senior politics reporter alex siets wald, and former rnc chair michael steele, and msnbc political analyst. what's the latest fallout from this fund-raising email, and how's the campaign positioning itself now? now they know no labels is out. >> well, chris, as you said, the campaign is distancing itself or disavowing its fund-raising

email after we published it, saying it was an error and doesn't reflect kennedy's view. but this is calling attention to his long history of comments on january 6th that show it's not that far off from his views on january 6th. robert f. kennedy jury has talked about that he would consider pardoning january 6thers if he was elected president. he's kind of down played the attack saying, you know, we can rebuild the capitol, but what joe biden has allegedly done in censoring speech with social media, he's kind of suggested that's worse. he -- there's a couple that hosted a fundraiser for him that is tied to january sixers. his campaign director spoke at a side rally. this is kind of the horseshoe theory of politics where you go on the far left and the far right, kind of wraps around. this conspiracy theory thinking that is the hallmark of rfk's

entire adult life where he sees these big forces raid against him, and it seems to at least think that some of these january sixers have been victims of the government overreach. >> garrett, what are you hearing in biden or trump world? are they concerned about rfk jr.? >> they are but at different degrees and for different reasons. the biden world is trying to nuke rfk out of this race. rfk was originally running in the democratic primary but finding little success there, he decided to mount this independent campaign. now the biden universe, if you will, is standing up multiple super pacs that could potentially go after rfks. they've got staffers at the dnc detailed specifically to try and neutralize him. they're acting as though they are quite concerned about the effects he could have in the fall. the trump campaign is responding to rfk largely the same way it responds to everything through the former president's truth social account in which he attacks rfk, but he also makes the point of trying to paint rfk as a liberal.

if he can kind of lower the relative damage that rfk does to anybody, great. and if he can paint him as a liberal and maybe that gets actual liberals to pay attention to him and it hurts biden more than trump, even better. >> rfk has this democratic name, right, but many of the ideas he's criticized for are trumpian. is his power potentially in this race that, i don't know, most people don't even know what he stands for or they simply want anyone but the two nominees, both? what do you think? >> they know what he stands for. you know, this is not an unintelligent voting population out here looking at this man and looking at this race. they know exactly what he stands for, and they don't align with it. kennedy is still running as a democrat. how do i know? he's only attacking one person in the race, and that's joe biden. he's still trying to peel off those votes from the center left and the far left. so that's that.

the other part of this is this race certainly with him in it does eat into joe biden, so they have a right to be concerned about that. but the reality of it is, there is no there there. the reality of it is he will not be the next president of the united states. he will not come close to, should he stay in this race, come close to anywhere near where ross perot put up a good fight against george bush sr. in '92. so we need to keep real eyeglasses on about this, the political consequences are real, and he hurts joe biden more than he hurts donald trump. and that's just the political reality of it. and then you have no labels, while that was the biggest waste of $80 million to ruin a brand i've ever seen, all of us were warning that this was going to end this way, and yet donors still continued to give to a narrative that was not real. it was not based in reality just

like rfk's campaign is not based in the reality. y'all know his whole family is against his race, right? >> yeah. >> that should tell you anything and everything. >> and pretty passionately against it too, michael. >> yes. >> so i mean, here's the deal, though, like we said, he's only confirmed on one ballot, but his campaign and the pac supporting him say they have signatures to get him on half a dozen other states. i mean, in this race, though, he would only need to get on one battleground state, right? and get enough votes that potentially, michael, it could swing it. >> yeah, i guess on paper. we could write that down. you still got to run a campaign. you still got to live in the political world. you got to live in the reality that you were going to havea campaign close to $200 million today will be in excess of a billion dollars plus by the time you get to september that's

going to unleash unholy hell on your campaign between now and then. so it doesn't matter what battleground state you're on. you still got to run a race against a very, very strong incumbent president and against a very, very strong republican candidate, and so the reality of it is, while the voters may pine for someone other than joe biden and donald trump, rfk jr. ain't it. no labels just proved that point. they were going after sensible, not radical crazy anti-vaxx kind of guys and couldn't get them. you mean the country's going to go, oh, yeah, give me double down crazy over here? no, i just don't see that playing out so it doesn't matter what battleground state he's on. he still has to run a race against a very big and troubling gauntlet for him politically, and i just don't see him eating

any electoral votes that's going to change the game for either one of these candidates. >> and run against an incumbent with an awful lot of money. garrett, what's with no labels now? i mean, are they going to do anything? do they still have money in the bank? where does this leave them? >> it's a great question, chris, because they do still have money, and they do still have ballot access in somewhere around 20 states around the country. they're not going to feel the candidate nationally, but it's not hard to imagine somebody trying to find their way onto that no labels line. michael kind of touched on this. i think they sort of misjudged a part of the moment here. there is so much dissatisfaction around the country with the two major party candidates who are going to be on the ballot for sure this fall, but the idea that in a country that is as polarized as this one, a democrat and a republican would be able to lock arms in the middle, i mean, imagine folks who might have disparate views on something like abortion, somebody who's more of an abortion rights advocate and somebody who's not saying for

the good of the country, we're going to run together. who does that actually work for at the end of the day. here you've got basically the political equivalent of a loaded gun left sort of sitting around on the desk here. ballot access, money, and nobody knows exactly what to do with it. it's sort of still dangerous just sitting there, but in and of itself it does nothing. >> michael, having interviewed you so many times when i heard this news about no labels, i could hear you saying, yeah, no kidding. >> exactly. exactly. the biggest i told you so on the planet right now. it's crazy. >> michael steele, garrett, alex, you guys are great. thank you. much appreciated. have a good weekend. and be sure to check out michael's show "the weekend saturdays and sundays here on msnbc. but coming up, the women's ncaa tournament more popular now than ever with iowa star caitlin clark leading the hawkeyes in tonight's final four matchup. we'll head to cleveland. and the latest forecast now causing concern as towns brace

for huge solar eclipse crowds to roll in just about 72 hours before the big event. an astronomy expert will be here for us. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. # to help us get there,ames are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen.

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we have never seen anything like this in women's basketball. we have never seen the fan interest or the name recognition or the tv ratings and the surge in ticket prices a as no, ma'am -- astronomical too. it's more expensive to buy tickets to the women's final four than the men. jesse kirsch, caitlin clark, the iowa hawk eyes have a chance to show everybody what all the hype is about. set the scene for us. >> reporter: yeah, and when you talk about those ticket prices, chris, all i can say is i am so glad we have press passes, because i do not want to pull out the credit card for what they are costing to get tickets. you hit on all of it. we're looking at a tournament that has had recognition both in person and on television like we have never seen before. the ncaa says every round leading up to this weekend for this tournament has had an attendance record set. you mentioned the tv ratings as

well. on monday, lsu and iowa played in a rematch of last year's championship game, and espn says this was the most watched women's college basketball game ever, so, again, the quarter final this year had more people watching than last year's championship to put that into perspective, and of course you would think more people would be tuning in far championship game. who knows what we're going to see tv ratings wise tonight for the final four, and then on sunday for the championship game, and of course there's one name that sticks out from everyone else. there are plenty of stars in this game, but caitlin clark certainly sticks out from the pack. she has revolutionized the focus on women's college basketball. she has legions of fans, girls, boys, people wearing 22. that's her number. we see them here in cleveland. we see them in iowa city. she has electrified arenas across the country, and tonight she plays in back-to-back final fours and she has an opportunity to go back to the championship

game. she did not win last year. the question is can she top off what has been a historic college career, a record breaking season with a national title. we caught up with some of her fans. here's what some of them had to say. pretend you guys are in the stands, what are you going to be doing in the stands? >> iowa. >> reporter: what, i can't hear you. >> i-o-w-a. >> reporter: who's your fair player? >> caitlin clark. >> reporter: you didn't even have to think about it, how come? >> she's the best shooter ever. >> reporter: have you seen her play before? what's it like watching her play? >> it feels like a dream to me. >> reporter: and, chris, i know you never need an excuse to make a trip to cleveland, so i would offer to save you a seat, but honestly i do not think the chances are very high that i would be able to hold on to it for you. >> i'm getting on a plane to come to cleveland for the eclipse, i'll be there tonight, so my only question is where are

we meeting up so i can get the press pass. >> reporter: you're breaking up, sorry, i can't hear you. kidding, exactly. i'm just ignoring you. >> jesse kirsch, have fun tonight, we'll look for you from television. thank you, jesse kirsch. coming up, president biden visits baltimore after the deadly bridge collapse and is expected to speak in just 30 minutes or so on rebuilding efforts. we're live near where the disaster happened next, so stay close, "chris jansing reports," more of it, right after this. ♪♪ [cat meow] —is she? letting her imagination run wild even though she has allergies. yeah. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc.

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