now today's other top stories. dozens are dead or missing following two israeli airstrikes in gaza city. the israeli military says jets hit two hamas military infrastructure sites. hamas says the attack targeted the civilian population. nasa has once again delayed the return of the starliner from the international space station. the wednesday return is an pushback to allow the admissions team to review propulsion data. nasa says the crew has more than enough supplies to remain in orbit. new data just out shows home prices hitting a record high and existing home sales sitting at a 30 year low. national association of realtors, the median price for a home in may was $419,000. five days and counting to the president of debates. in moments in donald trump's and hillary clinton's debate.

how to prepare when your opponent plays fast and loose with the facts. top of the hour with a good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we begin with extreme weather, with more than 90 million americans under heat alerts as temperatures reach triple digits in some areas. at the columbus, ohio zoo, workers are working around the clock to keep those animals cool. >> our polar bears have a cool pool. they also have access to an air-conditioned building. are red pandas have boxes and they have air-conditioning in them, and we allow that has many choices and options as possible, so they can use the environment to alleviate themselves from the seat. meanwhile, people are flocking to the beach today from some relief from the sweltering temperatures. we have several reporters in place covering all these developers for us. we will begin with nbc's george sully's outside a hospital in philadelphia. i hope it is not too busy in

the e.r. with heat related concerns. what is it like? >> yeah, alex, doctors are telling us they are seeing a spike in people coming in with heat related injuries across the health systems. that is mainly have comorbidities or pre-existing conditions. nevertheless, it tells you just how seriously officials are taking these days of unrelenting heat in and around the philadelphia region. we know the new york has had a lot of brutal heat, as well. i was there a few days ago in central park, and it was brutal. in fact, just because we are talking about what the temperature feels like, it is that heat index. i have a thermometer here, kind of taking a gauge of different attempts. at the as is rating at 120 degrees fahrenheit. obviously these are not temperatures to be playing around in. drinking water, wearing loosefitting clothing, finding

the shade, all things important to listen to. in philadelphia proper they have opened up the cooling centers, which are essential for those who do not have access to air conditioning. the pools are open, something new york city hopes to do next week. nevertheless, though, at this point no heat -related deaths in this part of the country we can report. but it is something officials are obviously keeping a close eye on. every single year, according to the cdc, you are talking about thousands of people who can succumb to heat related deaths because these temperatures are getting more and more brutal. one thing to keep in mind is that june was a bit of a milder season, if you will. so it is taking some time for our bodies to acclimate to this extreme heat. we just wrapped up an interview with the doctor here at the hospital who tells us yes, we are seeing more people coming in because they are maybe extending themselves a little too much. they are hanging outside, maybe not listening to their bodies. so it is so important to do all of those things when these temperatures are sweltering, as they have been. and here in philadelphia, in the area, we are expected to break a 100+ year record for this heat. that tells you how hot it has

been getting and how long the summers are starting to prolong. some people say look, we were complaining about how cold it was a few seasons ago. but this heat is something you definitely don't want to fool around it, alex. >> no, not at all. don't do anything in this heat, if you can. thank you so much, george solis. let's now go to the out-of- control wildfires in new mexico. steve patterson with the latest. steve, to you. >> yeah, alex, this has to be one of the most harsh double- edged swords we have seen in central new mexico and quite sometimes. the fires that have been chewing through this area, now more than 20,000 acres in total, destroying 14 structures, what is thought to be 500 homes have continued to lay seeds to communities here. they are starting to slow, and that is because of the significant rainfall that we had it just yesterday, dumping rain on those fire zones, obviously creating more humidity , cooling temperatures, as well. that is good news, it has slowed the progress of those fires and has led to, finally, firefighters adding somewhat of a foothold on the two huge

fires that have been burning now. there is some containment, as well, nearly 30% containment on one fire, the south fork buyer. and nearly seven containment on the salt fire. firefighters making significant progress. but with the rain came another is a disaster. flash flooding. some areas got up to eight inches of rain, which they don't see necessarily in the entirety of a single year. dumping on the firefighting effort, needing some first responders had to be evacuated themselves on the front of the fire lines. it led to, of course, downed power lines, gas lines that were ruptured, localized flooding remains in certain areas. it is a disaster situation on both fronts. but, good news to residents now hearing that they may be returning to their homes soon because the fire growth has slowed so much. for the first time you can go outside and you can't smell any smoke, you

can't see any hint of the fire near population centers. they have managed to push that away, but they are still dealing with erratic winds. the conditions obviously still pretty poor here, although improving. still very dangerous for firefighters on the front lines. still about 1000 fire personnel dealing with this. we have the governor who is here, she will tour some of the devastation that is left over in what has really been a dual disaster for these communities dealing with not only fire, but flooding. back to you. >> all those plumes of smoke, very scary. now to decision 2024, preparations underway for the first high-stakes debate between donald trump and joe biden, now five days away. >> mr. president, how is debate prep going? >> president biden signaling confidence as he headed off to camp david, where he is surrounded by advisers this weekend, honing his attack lines and policy proposals. donald trump, meanwhile, is taking a more informal approach, practicing on the campaign trail today. first at a conservative

christian event in washington, then at a rally in philadelphia. but the debate is on his mind. >> i look forward to the debate on thursday night, and we have to show that the man is grossly incompetent, he doesn't know what he's doing. >> both candidates are expected to paint the other as unfit for office. biden's message, trump is even worse than before. let's go now to nbc's julie sirkin in washington, where donald trump is headlining the faith and freedom coalition conference, as we mentioned. what are you hearing from the former president about expectations? >> reporter: alex, he just took the stage about 15 minutes ago. he says that this is his ninth time speaking at this event. that is something the organizer of the faith and freedom coalition also pointed out in introducing the former president. he started this speech appealing to conservative christians, to activists, to those who perhaps feel like they were wrong somehow. to those who want their

religion, christianity, to be at the pinnacle of government in the u.s. certainly that is why trump has started speaking about culture war issues. he has talked about the border extensively, for example. so far, though, in contrast to his speech last year which came also a couple of days before the anniversary of the supreme court decision has not brought up abortion yet, something a lot in the audience tell me they do want to hear him talking about. i spoke to two interesting perspectives. there are two women from california who are antiabortion activists. one of them, the first you will hear from, is actually a noncitizen. she says she is married to a citizen, however, so she cannot vote. the second describes herself as a progressive. watch this. >> i don't know what i would do. i don't know if i would vote for him or not. i am a one issue voter, even though i can't vote. but if i were able to vote, that would be, i would lean towards know. >> i am undecided. i don't know, i have a lot of issues that i care about.

i do think abortion is a huge issue. that is one of my main priorities. there are a lot of other issues. i actually consider myself a progressive, but i have trouble voting for progressive presidents for the abortion issue, pretty much. i am undecided. i might vote one way or the other. it really depends. if he wants to strengthen his pro-life position, it would be something that would make me more enticed to vote for him. >> reporter: so, alex, i spoke to michael watley, the head of the rnc, just before trump took the stage. he told me on abortion he expects the former president to say what he has been saying privately with republicans, and publicly, which is that there should be exceptions for the procedure, it should be back to the states. that clearly does not go far enough for some of the people in this room. but trump is going to touch on other issues. just yesterday he posted on his truth social platform, standing behind the new law in louisiana that would force public schools to post the 10 commandments in their classrooms. this is something that is favored by this crowd behind me. certainly at the beginning of

trump's speech, he still has a lot of topics to get through, and we expect him to touch on those. >> that is interesting. it has been suggested that donald trump is using this platform to help prep his debate, that he is getting out and campaigning, and that is how he is honing in prep for thursday night. what are you hearing on that? >> that's interesting that you bring that up. has towards the beginning of his remarks he did talk about the debate briefly. he said who is even going to watch that in this room? he was making fun of president biden's performance, of course, as he has done so often, as republicans have done, literally behind me right now he is talking about president biden once again, and that the debate. looking forward to that on tuesday. he has a reality -- rally in philadelphia, going nonstop until the election day. he also mentioned quickly that this was not supposed to be a stop on his campaign trail this week. this is something he felt like he needed to add back.

certainly trying to appeal to a lot of conservative christians, the activists in this room. and talking about those culture issues is, perhaps, a preview to what his platform will be on thursday on the debate stage. >> we will see how much he gets in the policy. thank you very much, julie. this hour i will be talking to ramin setoodeh , author of a new book on donald trump on the apprentice. his observations and audiotapes from those interviews a bit later on. meantime, the who, what, and where behind a story that has many attorneys in america scratching their heads. the biggest question, we don't have an answer to this one. why? back in 90 seconds. for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. and stay married. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source.

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ahead of the final week of the supreme court's turn, 14 decision still to come. and they include donald trump's claim he should be immune from prosecution, whether january 6th federal obstruction charges were proper, as well as cases on abortion care, opioids, homelessness, and the power of federal agencies. meanwhile, the court ruled yesterday toppled a federal law that prohibits people subjected to domestic violence restraining orders from having firearms in an 8-1 decision with only justice clarence thomas dissenting. the court ruled the law does not violate the second amendment right to bear arms. joining me now is leah littman, professor at the university of michigan law school, and host of the strict scrutiny podcast.

a former clerk to supreme court justice anthony kennedy. welcome, i am so glad to talk with you about all of this. let's begin with the gun decision. how significant was this ruling? >> it is a significant decision in that they supreme court finally found a gun regulation it was willing toppled. but i think the reality is the supreme court opened up this avenue for courts to strike down commonsense gun regulations when, two years ago, they announced their decision in berlin that said a gun regulation is constitutional only if it falls within the nation's tradition of firearm regulation. and, importantly, the author of that decision was justice thomas. he dissented from the ruling yesterday, and the majority which upheld the law did not disavow that test, the brewing test. so, lower courts are still going to be left to sort out exactly how similar does a gun regulation have to be to previous forms of gun

regulation for them to uphold it? >> let's take this into this one dissenting opinion a little further. because justice thomas upheld his view, as you are saying, that the history of similar laws at the time of the nations founding is determinative, writing not a single historical regulation justifies this statute an issue. this is interesting, because some legal scholars are suggesting amy coney barrett, the newest conservative on the court, may be pulling away from that originalist view. how much could this philosophical clash, if you will, apply to any other cases we are waiting on? >> well, i am not sure that she is pulling away from original is him, as such, she is just taking a view that originalist them actually require something different than justice thomas says that it does. and, interestingly, in this case you had several justices explaining what they believe original is and requires. and they all seem to think it means something different, at a different level of generality that you are supposed to be looking for particular historical tradition. i think that suggests original

is him may not be the restraining force that some of its proponents thought that it would be. has different justices are applying it in different ways, and, in fact, describing in a different terms. >> that brings me to this question. there are five different opinions on the view of originalism. are they looking at that the review of history? are they looking at present-day interpretation? are they looking at that was good then, so that has to stand? it is hard to figure out. >> it is hard to figure out, and i think that is part of the problem. i think all of the opinions are really doing something different. justice thomas is doing something that i think is very clearly originalism . he is saying look, i need to find basically an exact replica of a gun regulation around the time that the second amendment or the 14th amendment were adopted. whereas the majority opinion written by chief justice roberts says no, what we are looking for is kind of the principles undergirding the second in the, and looking to

see whether a law is consistent with those principles. justice barrett wrote separately to say she was doing something she described as original contours originalism, which included some type of traditions which, in some ways, is not originalism since it considers evidence well after the founding and ratification. and in that respect is kind of a living constitutionalism, more similar to what democratic appointees are set to do. it really includes many things, which we saw on display in yesterday's opinion. >> can i ask, before we move on, the more liberal leaning justices, are they typically as divided on something like this? or do they tend to be more a cohesive group? >> so, they wrote separately to say they agreed that this law was constitutional and they agreed it was constitutional under the majority's clarification about what the legal test for the second amendment is. they also said we disagree with

bruins focus on history and tradition, because we think that is misguided. i think it is somewhat common for the democratic appointees to vote together in these high profile cases. but i think that is more reflection, not, but instead of the fact that the republican justices are hearing a lot of cases and deciding a lot of cases in which they are changing the law, and moving it in a more conservative direction that favors republican interests. so it is not that surprising that you would see the democratic appointees basically saying look, let's just keep the law as it is and respect precedent. >> lets me do what we are waiting on, a big one. presidential immunity. specifically whether donald trump should be immune from prosecution on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election. president obama's attorney general, eric holder, is concerned about what is holding up the court. he spoke with my colleague, nicolle wallace. take a listen to this.

>> the notion, for instance, that apparently some justices are fooling around with, well, if the president violated the criminal law but was doing so in his official capacity, there may be some basis to say that is okay. we need to step back and think about that. wait a minute, a president can violate the american criminal law if he or she is doing something in their official capacity? that is an absurd and dangerous conclusion. and i am worried, given the length of time that it has taken for the supreme court to decide this case, that something along those lines might come out of the supreme court. >> then there is that new york times op-ed in which you write that there is reason to be suspect about the delay, even to think something is rotten at the court. what are you worried about? >> so, one of the things i'm concerned about is that the supreme court, even if it ultimately rejects donald trump's a very broad claim of immunity, which, to be honest, is a little ridiculous from a legal perspective, that they have effectively given him a type of pre-election immunity

by slow walking the case and delaying its resolution. and that events a trial before the election, so there won't be a jury of his peers that will determine whether he interfered with the peaceful transition of power, and attempted to basically overturn the results of a validly conducted election. and that is a real problem for our democracy, to basically not let the american people here what a jury of their peers decided the former president did as he was leaving office. >> so, this slow walking, is it with intent to do that? or are the justices trying to parse every syllable, every tiny detail and do a very thorough job in their rulings? >> i think it's a little bit difficult to say exactly what is motivating them. but two of the things i pointed out in that piece you are highlighting that raise concerns for me are, one, that they don't actually have to say a bunch of things or resolve

any big question in this case. because whatever the precise scope of a president's official duties include, it does not include attempting to throw out the results of a validly conducted election or interfere with the peaceful transition of power. you don't have to confront those difficult questions in this case. and second, we have seen the move much more quickly to decide cases, when the outcome of those cases favor donald trump or republican interests. if you remember, back to earlier this year when supreme court decided the case involving whether colorado and other states could disqualify donald trump from the ballot, well, the time it took for the supreme court to decide to hear that case to a decision that was around 50 days. we are already at 115 days from the time the court decided to take the immunity case to now, and they still haven't reached

a decision. so it is a little bit alarming that they seem willing to move more quickly in some cases rather than others, particularly when, in this immunity case, they don't actually have to decide many big questions. >> all right, so here is how the immunity case is likely to go. justices, let's see, they could reject trump's claim, which could clear the way for a criminal trial. the court could find trump has complete immunity, that would essentially kill jack smith's case against trump. or the justices could make a split decision, and that would require judge chutkan two separate actions trump took in his official capacity as president from those he took as a political candidate. you have a sense of which one is most likely, and when, if we could get a trial on the calendar? >> i think it's difficult to know. i don't think it is that likely that a majority of the court would uphold trump's claim of immunity in its entirety. but, from the oral argument, it was not clear that there were five justices. just straight up reject the claim of immunity.

the most likely situation is some sort of mixed decision in which they suggest that some kind of part additional proceedings are necessary in order to determine whether donald trump is entitled to immunity for some or all claims of allegations in the indictment. if that is the case, that is going to further delay the possibility of a trial, because judge chutkan will have to conduct additional proceedings, require additional briefings, and resolve the dispute between the parties. she had already said she was going to give the parties about 80 some days of pretrial prep, and the government has said a trial in this case would likely last between four and six weeks. if you add that up, that is already past, likely, the election day in november from here. and that is deeply troubling. >> okay, leah littman, a professor at the university michigan law school. i want to say, i am envious of your students. thank you for the few minutes of education we all just got here. thank you so much. so, how do you prepare for an event that can make or break

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with just days to go before the first presidential debate, vice president, harris is talking about what president biden needs to do to come out ahead when he faces former president trump thursday night. >> joe biden in this debate will make clear the contrast. you know, of the many issues in our country and our world that are complex and nuanced, november of 2024 is binary. and when you look at the difference , i would ask people to really imagine what the world would be like on january 20th. 2025. on the one hand, you have joe biden, who has spent his life and career fighting for the

well-being of other people, including healthcare. on the other hand, you have the former president, who spent full time when he was president trying to get rid of the affordable care act, which, if he is successful as president, again, it would mean over 100 million people would be stripped of healthcare coverage. you have, on the one hand, joe biden who, under his leadership, bipartisan support for the first meaningful gun safety legislation in 30 years. and on the other hand, the former president, who, when speaking of survivors of her in this gun violence says get over it and will probably talk about , to the nra, about how he did nothing on the issue. i could go on and on. i think the debate is going to make clear the contrast between our president, the current president, who works on behalf of the american people, fight for the american people, and the former president, who pretty much spends full-time fighting for himself. >> you can watch the rest of the exclusive interview on

morning joe, monday morning, that starts at 6:00 a.m. eastern on in this nbc. joining me now, deputy assistant secretary of state and spokesperson for hillary clinton. he played donald trump during hillary clinton's debate rehearsals. good to see you again, felipe. let's talk about debate. it is usually shrouded in secrecy, all the prep. but we know the president is surrounded by multiple advisers, some of whom you know very well. describe what you think is going on in that room in camp david this weekend, and how do you expect biden is preparing for thursday's debate? >> well, i will start with the clip you just showed. because they are starting from a point of saying exactly what vice president harris said, that it is a contrast and she laid out the argument perfectly. it is being led, the debate camp at camp david, by someone that is probably the best at this, the president's first chief of staff. he has done

this for biden in the past, for hillary clinton, for president obama. the other hand for this, there is someone there who, while kamala harris, imagine if while she was speaking miko is just yelling at her, every couple of seconds saying that is not true, what are you talking about, i didn't say that. i didn't do that. that is the challenge here. now, obviously there are some technical formatting differences to try to mitigate that. but i think the easiest way to think about what is going on at camp david is mostly conversations between the president and his advisers, where, probably a fair amount of do i really have to do this, why do i have to do this, can i get out of doing this. you have to remember, it has been 1400 days since these two men have been in the same place. we talk about them all the time as if they spend day in and day out on the campaign trail together. they have not.

they never see each other and they really don't like each other. there's a certain amount of grounding that has to take place, where you come out and you have to remember, there are 90 million people watching, or 100 million, or 70, whatever it is. there will be no bigger audience between now and election day. that means you have the opportunity to say to the american people what you are trying to say every day of the week, but to the largest audience ever. you are trying to do what kamala harris said. you are trying to say hey, look at me. this is what i want to do. look at him, this is what he did. that's interesting, because this is the first time in 134 years we have had two guys that have served back to back. so it is not a hypothetical about if this guy is president. it is remember when that guy was president, this is what happened. and when i am president now, this is what's happening. a very different dynamic. but the very basic idea is you are going through scenarios, whether it is talking or whether it is at the podium, with, i believe, bob bauer, one

of the president's advisers who is pretending to be donald trump. and it is not an snl skit, it is more serious event. what you want the president or, in my case, hillary, to get used to standing next to this roman candle of anger that is going off around you while trying to keep your head, and speaking to the camera, to people. it's very hard. >> yeah, you mentioned bob bauer. let's play a cliff. he spoke with my colleague, andrea mitchell, about debate prep. take it away. >> to be honest, it's hard to say some of the things he says. some of which are very fact free. and it is hard sometimes to take on that tone, just because it is not an actual tone for me. but you are playing a role. you are trying to make the experience as realistic for the person you are working with as possible. >> you mentioned something there that is critical. fact checking. that is hard to do under any circumstances. live, off-the-cuff, knowing it. it is my understanding that president biden will, nor will

former president trump have campaign advisers or anyone around them that they are able to speak to during commercial breaks. that means you have to have all this right there to be able to fight back. how hard is that, how do you prep that? >> well, it is incredibly hard, and it is incredibly hard based on what i said a couple of minutes ago. because these men passed the baton off to each other. when they debate about inflation, donald trump is not yelling about inflation in a vacuum. she handed an economy to the president, and the economy can then say well, the seeds for economy started and how you handled covid. donald trump can say well, the gains you have made in employment started when i handed it to you. and there is a lot of ways you can cut data. you talk about this on your show all the time. you have people on, economists can look at it different ways. to some extent, there is an honest disagreement.

now, when you pile on and lay her on donald trump's dishonest interpretation of numbers, you are going to have a real problem. because donald trump's strategy, to the extent that he has one coming in is probably going to be to try to confuse president biden. because that is his overall how he tries to paint the president, as not capable and not with it. and he will, i think, use this barrage, this avalanche of numbers in the context of the economy, in the context of immigration, which is just so data heavy. and by just throwing them out there, there is no human being that would be on the other side of that that can absorb that. and that includes the moderators. >> we don't even know if the numbers that donald trump there is i would be accurate and truthful. >> i am going to go out on a limb and say that they are not. >> that's really not a limit. >> but it is worth saying, because i think that the format is different.

as you well know, the lack of audience. the audience, i don't think, this is not a college football game. the kind of people that go to these debates don't whoop and holler. and in 2020 there was minimal audience because of covid. the muting, i will talk about how it affects president biden and former president trump. for those of us trying to watch, it is very helpful. anyone who watched the first debate in 2020, it was an absolute mess. there had to be some kind of muting. but what i'm thinking, the group dynamic on stage for us as moderators, the two moderators have to also be able to do what you just asked me about, which is to also try to stay on top of facts, figures, lying. the fact that there will be muting when one person is speaking and the other person is trying to lie but can't will really work down to everyone's

favor. because it is impossible when two people are speaking at the same time, and one is trying to talk over that, and one of them is saying unemployment stands at 3.9% and the other is saying that's not true, it is a 4.6. there is no human being that could be a moderator table that can keep up with that. at least this will give them some time to breathe and process. >> right, but here's the thing. it's a little bit tricky, because the mics will be off for the person who the question has not been directed to. again, we played this moment earlier, and i have to say that i laughed and i thought that biden was brilliant in it when he said would you shut up, man? when donald trump was just badgering, badgering, badgering. it was ridiculous. if he were to do something like that, it might come off odd if the audience has not been able to hear it. >> yeah, i was joking around last night that president biden could be trying to give a normal answer and donald trump could be a little kid taunting him and saying hey, joe, what's your favorite food, what's your favorite food, what's your

favorite food, and finally biden says catfish! and then you have people saying why is the guy alerting out catfish? i believe that president trump is going to present he did not know about the meeting. he will put this in the larger being treated badly. oh, they want me in jail. they mute me, they gag me. this is his little trick with microphones and teleprompters. but, on the whole, it will make it less cacophonous, which can only help. the real thing that would help donald trump, if i were his campaign i would have demanded for his microphone to be muted for the entire 90 minutes. >> that is not surprising coming from you. great chat, thank you so much. my next guest spoke with donald trump for hours for a new book on the apprentice. the many, many surprising things that trump said, next. i don't have a problem with my memory." memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight.

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a new book is shedding light on how the reality tv show, the apprentice created the image of donald trump is a brilliant businessman, and ultimately helped him hook voters into sending him to the white house. and in it new takes of interviews the books author conducted with trump, the former president making a remarkable slip, admitting he lost the 2020 election despite raging for nearly four years that it was stolen from him. take a listen. >> what was geraldo like? >> he was good, he did a good

job. he was smart, cunning. he did a good job. >> and are you guys still close, or? >> no, i don't think so. he is, after i lost the election , i won the election, but when they said we lost he called me up three or four times. >> joining me now is the author of apprentice in wonderland, how donald trump and mark burnett took america through the looking glass. ramin setoodeh. ramin is also the co-editor-in- chief for variety, so he is running a lot of things. my really good friend, and so glad to have you back here. so, when trump said that, after the election i lost, that instant thing, did you think wait a minute, what he does admit to? i am curious how you interpreted that. >> to me it was this is all an act. he denied that he lost the election. it was part of performance art.

he is a very successful reality star for many years, for 14 seasons. and one of the arguments of the book is that donald trump is a reality star, and he is running the country as a reality star. his campaigning as a reality star. he knows how to get headlines, he knows how to energize his base. he is using the same techniques gijon on the apprentice in the oval office. so, for me, that was a very telling moment. and he was honest. and then he kind of did a u- turn and corrected himself, and continued with these election lies and this act that he has been keeping up in public. >> i am thinking about how he is going about selecting a vice president right now. it seems very apprentice like, reality tv like. >> it is like he is looking for the winner of the apprentice, he is looking for a co-star. on the show, what is always interesting, the winners of the apprentice would become spokespeople for the trump organization. he would say i am looking for the next great business leader, but they were really helping promote donald trump. he was helping himself. >> so, you spent hours, more than any other journalist put together. i mean, you have more hours interviewing him since he left the white house. give me your sense of a take away, how he feels about

hosting the apprentice. because you write trump sees his campaigns and his presidency as extensions of his reality show. his experience on it informs how he makes decisions. >> it does. he was always rewarded on the apprentice by ratings. that is why he is obsessed with crowd size, that is why he is obsessed with numbers, that is why he wants the most headlines, the most tv hits. he really is very attuned to how the media covers him and is very sensitive about negative coverage. but everything he learned on the apprentice he continues on as a politician. >> it's interesting, because hasn't he called on president biden to take some sort of a cognitive test before this debate, and yet, when you did an interview with him, one that you had apparently done just a short time, maybe a couple months before, he had no recollection of? i mean, what is your sense of his cognitive fortitude? >> i think he struggles with short-term memory.

his long-term memory works, he can remember things that happened years ago. but when it comes to short-term memory it is not as sharp. the first interview with him was in may of 21. he loved it. i actually had a mask with me, which i didn't wear because he wasn't wearing a mask. when i went back to get it i overheard them saying it was the best interview had ever done, and he was so happy to talk about the apprentice. and when i returned to trump tower a few months later he had no recollection of our conversation or of me. >> i mean, how did you react to that? >> i thought it was very strange. it was not like we had just met, it was a lengthy conversation that was different than everything else he had been doing at the time because he got to talk about the apprentice, his favorite thing. >> another thing he does during interviews, we are going to put together two pieces of the tape offered to us. the part where he talks about joan rivers, and intelligence briefings relative to afghanistan. let's play that. >> joan said she was a republican. did you know that? >> i thought she might have

been a republican. i know one thing, she voted for me, according to what she said. the reason i'm doing this and devoting a lot of time to it, i have to get back up. because, you know, during the whole thing with afghanistan. has he blown afghanistan. >> okay, joan rivers, how could she have voted for him? she died in 2014. >> she did die in 2014. he was confused about that. that is when i talk about his short-term memory not working, that was an example of that when he perceives something to be true that wasn't true. >> that's what i wanted to bring up. he perceives something to be true that is not true. how flagrant is that line of behavior? >> he is consistent with who he is right now. and i think because of his past, being on a reality show, he could create whatever reality he wanted and then editors would find a way to make the narrative work. so part of it also is conditioning, of all the seasons of the apprentice, he got a call the shots. and when he made stuff up, producers would find a way to make the falsehoods reality.

>> interesting. the afghanistan line, the invocation being that he knows what's happening in afghanistan, and yet we know that president biden cut him off from the intelligence briefings once he left the white house. so how could he know? what is he looking into afghanistan? >> that was on, as well. it felt like an actor who is playing a part, again. he was acting like he was president of the united states and he had access to information on afghanistan, and he clearly didn't. >> here's an interesting assessment of the book. it frames trump's rise to power not as a failure per for our political system, but as a monster manufactured by reality tv and the trump voters still drunk on the buzz of celebrity. >> that's from the washington post review of the book. and one of the arguments of the book is that this is the key to understanding donald trump. the key to understanding how he is the nominee and how he could become president of the united states again. and it is because of reality tv. the way he appealed to millions of voters around the country, was invited into a living room, living rooms across the country. people really like the trump family because of the apprentice.

and i think anyone who wants to cover trump or understand trump, any voter in this upcoming election needs to understand his origin story. that's what i really try to uncover in my book. >> talking about his penchant for making as much money as he possibly can, what all went down when he was going for $6 million an episode at the time when friends was, i guess, approaching his last and final season? what happened there? >> in the first season of the apprentice donald trump was making $25,000 an episode. not very much money by tv standards. for the second season, once it became successful, he asked jeff sachar, running in bc the time, for the combined salaries of all the friends stars. there were six stars on her and so are making $1 million an episode. so he asked for $6 million an episode, which was a ridiculous figure for someone playing himself on a reality show. he is not jennifer aniston, lisa kudrow, and all the friends combined. but donald trump always had a very high opinion of himself. >> said he did not get a lot of the 6 million? >> you did not get 6 million. but he got a lot of product placement on the show, because

they engineered a deal where they got all the prophets -- >> you mean like the doritos? >> doritos, cars, whatever brand was on the show in the earlier seasons, donald trump got to pocket all those monies. sometimes these brands would write checks for millions of dollars which went directly to donald trump, which is why he was always promoting different things on the show. >> what you want folks to take away from reading it? >> i wanted to have a front row seat to what donald trump is really like and get a real sense of where he is. >> i think you have done it in this book. thank you very much, my friend. breaking news on two new terms and the war that is plaguing the middle east. dle e the therapeutic benefits of a warm, soothing bath that can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and even improve sleep! or, if you prefer, you can take a refreshing shower.

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news he and the biden administration have not been able to come to an agreement on supplying weapons to israel. the white house maintains it is not withholding aid. joining me now from london, nbc's josh letterman. josh, welcome. what you tell us about these strikes today and the state of relations between netanyahu and resident biden? >> these strikes apparently took place in a refugee camp in gaza, as well as in a neighborhood of rafah were 70 palestinians have been sheltering for the last many months. according to palestinian officials, they say at least some of these strikes actually took lace and a humanitarian zone that had been designated by israel as a safe place for civilians to flee. we have after the israeli military for comment on this, so far they have not addressed these strikes. although they do say that some type of comment will be forthcoming. but this ongoing fighting is taking place as prime minister netanyahu is blaming israel's shortage of weapons needed to continue this war on the biden administration, in that new interview with punch bowl. a d.c. publication right and president biden's backyard, he

says that weapons deliveries from the u.s. have slowed to a trickle, and that it was absolutely necessary that here these grievances in public, because efforts behind the scenes to work this out privately with the biden administration had simply not been successful. now, the biden administration maintains they don't know what he's talking about. they say it is only one shipment of large bombs that they put on hold, pending review out of fear that they could be used in a way that would hurt civilians in rafah. here's what state department spokesman matt miller had to say about it. >> it's not a bottleneck. that's a policy review. other shipments of weapons have been moving regularly to israel. i am not exactly sure what the prime minister is talking about or what he was trying to accomplish. all i can tell you is what the secretary told the prime minister directly, in his meeting in israel last week, which is that our commitment to israel's security is sacrosanct. >> reporter: even as the intense fighting continues in gaza, there are renewed

concerns about a second front in this war opening up on israel's northern border with lebanon. just today, israel's military says that it killed a senior hamas operative. not hezbollah, which we usually talk about in lebanon, but a hamas operative who was present in southern lebanon. they say that that strike was successful and they will continue to take all necessary actions to secure israelis who are living in northern israel from the threat on its northern border. >> josh letterman, thank you so much. hotter than hot. how people are coping with the dangerous situation across much of the country today. ntry toda you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen,

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