very good day to all of you

from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone to alex witt reports. we begin with decision 2024 and 66 days until election day, 10 days until the first residential debate, and six days until voting by mail starts in north carolina. new today, another push by the harris campaign for open microphones at the september 10th debate with donald trump. we will have more on that in just a moment. also new, reaction from the first gen z member of congress, touring college campuses and talking with potential student voters. maxwell frost is telling my colleagues at msnbc's, the weekend, that young people are energized. >> people are fired up all across the entire country. north carolina, arizona, ending today in pennsylvania. the rooms are packed. students are assigned to go organize. young voters have been so neglected in politics for generations, and we are seeing a candidate run a full campaign to court the youth about, and

people are saying, this is out of this world. morning reaction from trump on the controversy over his recent visit to arlington national cemetery with gold star families. >> i stood with different people, over different graves, and took pictures. i didn't want to take pictures, but i wanted to take them if they wanted to take them. the former president of the united states, they are very happy about that, and that i get a call that night, sir, we are getting a complaint from the white house that you used the soldiers for publicity pictures and for public relations, and i said, i can't believe it. also new, trump's seemingly shifting position on florida's abortion ballot measure, after telling nbc news a six week ban is too short. he now says he intends to vote against the measure. here is senator elizabeth warren on trump's evolving position and recent remarks on

ivf. >> donald trump is dithering and he is dithering because he is shocked to discover that we can actually hear him when he talks to other people. when he thinks he is talking to his radical base, he says, how radical do you need for me to be, and donald trump will go there and go further. the harris campaign will kickoff a reproductive freedom bus tour in trump's hometown of palm beach on tuesday. we've got a number of reporters in place covering all of these new developments, and we began with aaron gilchrist in washington, where vice president harris is resting a bit before kicking off a camp lane -- campaign blitz, turning blue-collar voters in rust belt states. there is some new word today from the vice president on the upcoming debate. what are we hearing? remake this debate over the debate won't seem to go away. vice president harris launching

a latest salvo on x, she wrote, donald trump is surrendering to his advisers, who won't allow him to debate with a live microphone. harris ended with, let's debate in a transparent way with the microphones on the whole time. that proposal was a response to washington post reporting that the harris team has not yet accepted the rules that abc sent to the campaigns, while the trump campaign has. the newspaper saying the rules state the microphones will be live, only for the candidates whose turn it is to speak. we know that the trump campaign has said it wants the same rules it agreed to when president biden was the democratic nominee. donald trump has said the same thing, he wants those rules, but he has also said he prefers the microphones on all the time, and there is the confusion that exists at this point. all indications are that both trump and harris will end up showing up for this debate, but the way things are going right now, alex, we may not know the

final rules until the moderator says them out loud on tv on september 10th, and as you noted, the vice president is expected to ramp up her debate prep next week. first, she will go out on the campaign trail in michigan and pennsylvania on labor day, joining president biden for their first joint appearance in pittsburgh. that evening, we are told that they will highlight the importance of american workers and they will talk about unions , and their importance, their value to building a strong middle class. alex. >> okay, we may not know the final rules until september 10th, but i know i will go back and forth with you between now and then. do stay with me. we are going to bring in natasha korecki. i want to get back to the slimming debate question. your new articles headline the real story behind the harris trump hot mike max feed. what is the back story? >> the back story is, the last

debate went awfully poorly for democrats, and it went awfully well for donald trump, and that was with the muted mics. why? trump can't control and smoke -- himself. he interrupts repeatedly and that ends up shifting the focus. if you remember with the joe biden debate, obviously, it was devastating for biden, but there was no banter back and forth. there was no little distractions when it was biden's turn. the spotlight was very on him and very quiet. that puts less emphasis on trump and who trump really is, and they want americans to know who trump is, they say. kamala harris, we talked to some strategists that say that kamala harris wants to show americans that she can stand up to trump and she wants to do it

in a real authentic way, in a real authentic exchange with trump, not in some sort of artificial way, where it is very quiet and she is responding to nothing. i think that is sort of the back story on that. >> okay, that makes sense. we never know, he might get up and move from behind the podium, much like he did, looming over hillary clinton. he might do that. let me ask you about another developing story, those remarks from trump about the arlington national cemetery controversy, and vice president harris tweeting, let me be clear, the former president disrespected sacred ground, all for the sake of a political stunt. where does this controversy stand, natasha? >> obviously, there is a lot of back-and-forth here. we heard some things from families, who trump participated with, and they were very happy about trump being there, and honored by it, but for him to say it wasn't political, there was social

media, tiktok showed this, showing grave sites for others who did not agree to have their loved ones shown and their grave sites shown. what it, ultimately, ended up doing, was obfuscating what the trump team wanted to do, and what they wanted to do was really hit home at the afghanistan withdrawal, that it was a disaster for joe biden. is anyone talking about that? no, they are all talking about this incident with trump in the back-and-forth. it really blew up in his face. >> let's be clear, there is nothing wrong with the gold star family inviting donald trump to join them at arlington national cemetery and pay tribute to their fallen loved ones. there's nothing wrong with that at all. nobody is making that a problem. it's the pictures, the video, publicizing that, that is where the rules have been broken. standby. i do want to get to some new news.

it's mixed messages from donald trump on his abortion rights stance. here is what he told foxnews. >> six weeks, you need more time than six weeks. i disagreed with that right from the early primaries when i heard about it. i disagreed with it. at the same time, the democrats are radical because nine months is just a ridiculous situation, so i will be voting no for that reason. >> he now says he will vote against florida's abortion- rights measure after conservative backlash, as this headline is noting. nbc's vaughn hillyard is joining me now. >> this was a significant announcement by donald trump, because for months, he has avoided directly answering the question as to how he would vote on this florida referendum. making the announcement that he will vote no, he effectively stands behind what is the current florida state law, and that is a six-week abortion ban.

he said last night that he believes that six weeks is too restrictive, but the referendum that is on the ballot in florida would codify reproductive rights in the state up to 24 weeks, and so donald trump making the decision to stand behind the six-week law, versus, particularly after pushback from the antiabortion activists, that he would not vote to codify protections erqu point out the fact that he made this decision on such a referendum, to choose between the six-week abortion ban, and one that would codify protections up to 24 weeks. it is because donald trump, himself, we understand he is proud of overturning roe v. wade by nominating three conservative supreme court justices, who were in the majority opinion overturning it two summers ago, and that is

what led to the states having the decision, which he has said he is proud that states are the ones now making this decision, but it has left voters, including him as a florida resident, with decisions like this. this is all coming at a time in which, a majority of americans are supportive of women's reproductive rights, and donald trump, just two years ago, with republicans losing major senate and gubernatorial races, donald trump placed a lot of that blame on those republicans positions on abortion, believing they were too stringent, and that voters rejected them because of it. he is politically cognizant of the implications of such announcements as this, but he is making a decision with this announcement to stand behind the more restrictive ban, one that, harris's campaign is calling extreme. >> thank you so much for that. joining me once again is aaron gilchrist and natasha korecki.

how much has the harris campaign weighed in on this abortion mixed messaging from trump? >> alex, i think the harris campaign is taking advantage of the moment to try to tie former president trump again to project 2025. releasing a statement last night, saying that trump would limit access to birth control, that he would threaten access to fertility treatments and ban abortion nationwide. you see this post on x again, this morning, she made that point a second time with the tweet that you see on your screen. the harris campaign, at this point, really trying to paint trump as trying to rewrite his record on reproductive healthcare. of course, the vice president saying plainly, that a president harris would fight to restore row protections and she would sign a bill that does just that. on tuesday, we know the campaign will launch a reproductive freedom bus tour in palm beach florida. former president trump's backyard, if you will, taking their argument right to him.

>> thanks for that. natasha, how about this? there is another article in which you report that harris and walz are making a play for trump territory, which traditionally, are red states. what are they doing? >> one of the things they are doing, i'm told, as we will see a lot more of tim walz hunting with a shotgun in his hand and going after pheasant. what different campaign officials told us was, that they want to reclaim these things that republicans, some of these issues that republicans have made their own, and some of it is good old- fashioned patriotism. hunting and using rifles to hunt or using shotguns to hunt, not, obviously -- there are different measures that walz has come out against, and they are trying to go -- ultimately, what they are trying to do is campaign more vigorously in the rural areas. they are trying to reach out in the rural areas. she mentioned that when it was biden's campaign, they started some of this months ago.

they put offices in these parts that democrats had never been in, including in georgia, north carolina and wisconsin. they are in places like north carolina, where medicaid expansion is very popular, and they are trying to relive message hard on that. saying, this is what the administration did for you. there are reasons to support democrats. what they say they are seeing are more democrats coming to events, more independents or moderates coming to events. some of these white working- class voters coming to some of their events and what they said is, they just needed an invitation. they are trying. they know they're not going to win the rural's, they're trying to narrow the margin in the rural parts of some of these battleground states, because they know that will ultimately make a difference in what could be a very close election. >> which, leads me to this question, because you report that democrats are hopeful harris can reignite the magic of obama's 2008 run. what about harris?

is there enough magic for harris to win north carolina, like obama did? >> well, that is a tall order. it remains to be seen, but what they are seeing on the ground right now, they are really liking, and they are engaging a lot of women, engaging young people and engaging african americans, and there are in places like north carolina and georgia, there rural counties are very diverse, unlike some of these other states, so they like what they are seeing there. and, if you look at some of the other markers, it's not just that it feels like 2008, this is a gut feeling. there is data supporting this. there are first time donors, who are donating five dollars. there are first-time volunteers coming out. hundreds of thousands of volunteers have come forward once kamala joined the campaign, and you look at the fundraising. we had a source tell us that kamala harris could raise $1 billion just from july to

november, and that is unprecedented. these are all signs that we are seeing something we haven't seen in a long time in the democratic party. >> got it, aaron, natasha, thank you so much. speaking of natasha, steve kornacki will break down the race in north carolina and how it is making a shift toward, harris, and he will join me at 3:00 eastern. meantime, we have some breaking news from the middle east. the u.s. military raid in iraq killed at least 15 islamic state fighters. at least six u.s. soldiers suffered injuries, though, none of them described as life- threatening. the joint operation with iraqi security forces happen thursday in the country's western desert. the isis militants were armed with numerous weapons, grenades, and explosive suicide belts. some of the dead were members of the terrorist groups leadership. later, we will talk about the impact of kamala harris's first interview since becoming

the nominee, plus what the roads and airports look like for the final escape of this summer. back in 90 seconds. chase knows how to put the hart in your local community. evan! you're helping them with savings, right? (♪♪) somebody just got their first debit card! ice cream on you? your money is a part of your community, so your bank should be too. like, chase! i thought i was sleeping ok... but i was waking up so tired. then i tried new zzzquil sleep nasal strips. their four—point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. and stay married.

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but, some weather worries today for travelers, more rain is on the way this weekend from the east coast to the south, already today, flightaware is reporting more than 100 cancellations in the u.s. and even more delays. joining me now from chicago's o'hare international airport, we have nbc's adrian brought up. any issues there with delays and cancellations? what is it looking like? >> no major issues here, but in the last two hours, charlotte denver and houston airports have seen the greatest number of delays and cancellations, according to flightaware. we just checked minutes ago, nationwide, there are more than 1600 delays and about 181 cancellations. that number has ebbed and flowed throughout the day, leaving some travelers frustrated. >> reporter: if the final escape of the summer. >> it feels very busy. >> reporter: millions of

americans flying into a busy travel we can. >> i am from washington, d.c., so there airport, i thought that was bad. this takes it to a whole new level. >> reporter: aaa says bookings for domestic travel are up by 9% compared to last year. that includes flights, rental cars and cruises, but the price- to-book has dropped by 2%. some of the top destinations include chicago, new york, boston, las vegas and even alaska. >> it's busy, but it's pretty organized. >> reporter: officials with tsa hope the busy weekend remain smooth, but they are prepared for rough moments. >> we try to have available spare parts on hand in the event we experience any type of technical difficulties or challenges and make sure the equipment is ready to be replaced efficiently and effectively. >> reporter: across the country, severe weather led to more than 400 cancellations and over 7000 delays on friday. >> i thought it was going to be worse, so i was like, we should get here early. >> reporter: with an estimated

70 million americans expected to travel, aaa says the best times to avoid heavy traffic is in the early morning and evenings. some drivers are getting a break when filling up. in atlanta, gas prices are $3.25 per gallon, below the national average of $3.34. down nearly $0.50 compared to this time last year. a busy weekend on the roads and in the sky, as people try to fit in one final break. alex, by now, millions have made it to their destination, but some people did not have the luxury to leave yesterday, they had to wait until today, and for those passing through security checkpoint lines here at chicago o'hare, the average wait time has been about 20 minutes for general boarding, a little less than 10 minutes for those with tsa precheck. we spoke with the top tsa agent, who tells us their goal is to not have people wait in line longer than 30 minutes, so, success for some here today.

>> that doesn't sound too bad. we will think it. thank you very much, adrienne . radically normal, we go through the reviews from kamala harris's first sitdown interview. congresswoman jasmine crockett of texas joins me to give her take, next. ♪ far ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ask your doctor about farxiga.

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new reaction, the first big interview of vice president kamala harris's presidential campaign. the guardian declares that radically normal, said she did

enough to do herself no harm, and the ap said she defended shifting from liberal positions and insisted her values have not changed. >> the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is, my values have not changed. we have set goals for the united states of america, and by extension, the globe, around when we should meet certain standards for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. as an example. that value has not changed. my value around but we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed. >> joining me now, congresswoman jasmine crockett, democrat from texas, serves on the house oversight and agricultural committees, and is now national co-chair of the harris walz campaign, which is pretty cool for you. it's good to see you. how do you assess the vice president interview performance, and will my values have not changed -- is that going to be a mantra going forward?

>> absolutely, because first of all, we know that the alternative has no values, but i think it's most important that she kind of went through the process and got it done, because i think that it's not really that the american people were saying, this is what we want, it was more so the media is like, this is what we do, so we need you to sit down, but the reality is, she and governor walz have been working. they have been taking their message directly to the people, and i think that that is what adds the most value to this campaign. you see one team that wants to sit down and talk to either social media or traditional media all day long, and you see another team that says no, we are going to come and meet you where you are, and then you can decide which one has really shown you that they are willing to do the work to earn your support. >> here's the thing, several of those interview questions, they were related to donald trump's talking points, and vp harris has been criticized for leaving

some gaps on policy detail, but you get the sense she is saving those details for the september 10th debate? >> yeah, the debate where we don't know if he's going to show or not. yes. listen. i think that is something that the american people want to see. they want to see them side-by- side. when you do the sitdown interview, it's a very one- sided thing. we know that trump will only go on fox news. i encourage msnbc to reach out to the trump team and ask him if he will do a sitdown. we know that the vice president chose to do cnn, which a lot of people were like, how and why cnn? i have my thoughts, but i won't share them at this moment, but i will say that seeing the contrast is what the american people want to see. when they are asked, specifically, what are you going to do for the middle class, what are you going to do about housing? i anticipate we will hear from the vice president when she says, i understand you are

struggling, i understand that you can't buy a home. while i can't set the interest rate as the president of the united states, what i can do is make sure i push for legislation that will offer up to $25,000 for down payment assistance for first-time homebuyers. while donald trump does not have a plan, beyond helping out those at the very top, which is why he is fighting to get back in, because those trump tax cuts, they are going to expire in 2025, and so we know that he and his very rich friends are now going to start to have to pay their fair share. >> there was one thing you said about msnbc and reaching out for an interview. i will say, he did speak with dasha burns, our colleague. it was not a sitdown interview. actually, there is the proof, right there. she did extract some interesting statements from him, and we have been working with those as well, but here is something else. this is from nbc. the vice presidents debate plan is to keep calm and get under

trump's skin. among the issues the vp might raise our trump's failure to get mexico to pay for the ball, his covid response, his failure to come up with an affordable care act alternative, his failure to pass it up a structure bill, and the critical role he played in killing a bipartisan border bill. so, what is behind the harris strategy on this? >> i think that she wants to appear as if she is the adult in the room, and she is. what we will see is, this winding child, who will sit there and won't give direct answers, and honestly, will distract and be a bumbling fool. we have seen it on the trail, but he starts talking about wind and he starts complaining about sharks. i mean, the guy is really weird , and off his rocker.

i think that she really wants to, number one, assure the american people that she has a grasp on the issues, as well as, remind them of why we kicked him out in the first place, and remind them as to why we don't want to go back, because right now, it has been a glorification, but people are talking about those freezer tracks that had deceased body sitting in them, because he botched covid-19. we are not talking about the millions of people that died. we are not talking about the reason that small businesses had to shut down was because he failed to acknowledge that we even had a pandemic going on, and that he was telling people to inject themselves with bleach. what they don't want to talk about is how they lost all these jobs, or the fact that we went $1 trillion into debt in one term under trump's, because it was never about the rest of us. it was always about him and his friends. i think that the contrast will be clear, that she can remain

cool in all situations, but also, she will get to the facts. >> let me ask you quickly about the latest polls, which show that harris got a postconvention bump, leading trump slightly, still within the margin of error, and the vice president appears to be performing strongly with likely voters 18 to 34, hispanic and black likely voters, and likely voters earning under $20,000 a year. does this help explain her focus over a couple of days this week in rural parts of georgia? >> yeah, i think for the longest, we have really taken for granted rural america, to the extent that we are not engaging in conversation. now, do i think that she is necessarily going to win rural america over? not necessarily, but it is important that we acknowledge that there are democrats, there are independents, and there are even republicans that really understand that when we pass bills, that brought about

broadband access, that benefited rural america, as much, if not more than urban america, because as someone who lived in east texas, i can tell you personally that we were always hoping that the tire plant did not shut down, that the international paper plant did not shut down, that the chicken plant did not shut down, because we know in some of these communities, they are completely dependent upon a specific industry, but now, if you have access to broadband, you can work from home too. we also know, especially in states like texas, that hospitals are shutting down in rural texas because the republicans that are in control refused to expand and accept medicaid dollars, and therefore, hospitals are shutting down. it is not fair that your life expectancy in rural texas is nothing like your life expectancy in urban texas, simply because of the people that have been put in charge. it is important that we give them the facts and give them

more than fox news has been giving them and tell them the truth. the democrats, we are in office, we don't just fight for those that put us in the office, we fight for all americans, and so i think it is absolutely important that they are taking their message to rural america, and letting them know, that when she becomes president of the united states, she will be a president for all americans, and not just some. >> okay, our friend, jasmine crockett, it's good to see. thank you so much. so is it a one and done, or is there more to come? the expectations after the vice presidents for sitdown interview since becoming the nominee.

new reaction now to vice president kamala harris's first national interview as the democratic nominee. >> i think, sadly, in the last decade, we have had in the former president, someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is about diminishing the character and strength of who we are as americans. i really -- dividing our nation, and i think that people are ready to turn the page on that. >> let's bring in megan hayes, former special assistant to president biden, and white house director of message planning could good to see you again, megan. what is the vice president's goal with this interview?

simply to do no harm or to win over more voters? do you have a sense of which effort would have prevailed here? is harris saving more details for the debate? >> i think this is practice lead up to the debate. these are steps you take. she is out there with governor walz, reintroducing herself, doing one-on-one interviews that she needs to do. a lot of this is box checking, building a narrative in the media. but, she did it, she had a lot of examples. she talked a lot about the future, and governor walz talked about the convention and his vision of being on the ticket, so i think the interview was great and it did what it needed to do. >> what about president biden, who was criticized for doing -- not doing more interviews and press conferences? do you think vice president harris will give the press more access in these final weeks, or focus on connecting directly with voters? by the way, can those two concepts work together? maybe more local news

interviews? >> in 2020, we had a local media strategy. we did tons of local media every stop. i would think that the harris walz campaign would do the same thing on all of their stops. these events they are doing, the bus tour, the reproductive rights bus tour they're doing, governor walz announced that he is going to pennsylvania. that will get a ton of local media attention, and that is really what matters. that is what really impacts voters or really reaches voters where they are. most folks are not sitting at home all day watching cnn and msnbc, like my friends and colleagues that live in washington, so they are reaching people. they are also on tiktok, on social media doing a lot of things, reaching people. one third of young people get their news from tiktok, so all of these avenues are important, but i agree that they have to do both things, and i think she will sit down for more interviews, most likely after the debate because that is the next important step in the campaign. >> we are learning more about her debate prep, her team aims to get under trump's skin and

go full donald trump, and highlight also his diminished mental state. how does she balance needling him with focusing on substance? >> i think that is a really tough thing for her to do. calling out his lies and inaccuracies over and over again is going to be really tough because it's going to get really challenging to do that while pointing out what you want to do and what you have done in the last 3.5 years, so it's going to be a tough act for them, a high wire balancing act. obviously, she is very capable, she's a prosecutor, but i do think them needling him before the debate is a smart strategy because they are getting him to react, and during the debate he will also react to some of the needling they are doing on x right now. >> there is a new bloomberg morning consult pole that has aris leading by an average of two points among registered voters, this across seven battleground states. that lead is only one point among likely voters, certainly, all within the margin of error.

what do these numbers tell you? do they need to be significantly higher for democrats to feel confident? what did president biden learn about the numbers in 2020 that you can apply to this year? >> i am a person that has always said you can't live and die by the polls, they will be up and down, and no polls matter except the actual results on election day, so the campaign needs to stick to the strategy, they need to be out there talking to voters, they need to continue ground efforts in organizing efforts before the president stepped aside, there was a massive operation, ground operation already on the ground that the vice president inherited, so they have a lot of the bones of a campaign already in place, doing this work and going door-to-door talking to people. if i were advising the campaign now, do not get complacent, do not look at the polls, just continue to do what you're doing, continue to have the momentum at your back and continue to talk to voters about the issues they care about most. >> megan hayes, always good to talk with you. thank you. donald trump under

pressure, why his calendar is about to get really crowded, and it's not from campaign rallies.

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let's go let's go now to breaking news. donald trump is filed two new briefs before a new york appeals court, related to his loss in the civil fraud case before judge arthur engoron. trump was ordered to pay $450 million in fines for defrauding the state of new york. his lawyers are now making many of the same arguments they have in the past, saying the case should've been barred by the statute of limitations, and adding that there were no victims, no word on when to expect response from the court. also new today, donald trump pushing for another delay in his d.c. election interference case. this one, all the way to january 27th, 2025. at next thursday's court hearing, special counsel jack smith will argue to restart that case immediately. also next thursday, trump's new jersey club will host an awards gala to celebrate january 6th rioters.

but after that, mail-in voting begins in north carolina. on september 10th, trump will debate vice president kamala harris. september 16th, ruling is expected on how trump's immunity impacts the hush money case, and then on september 18th, if necessary, trump will be sentenced on his 34 felony count conviction. that is a lot to get through. doing it right now, we are joined by timothy havey, the former federal prosecutor and lead investigator to the january 6th mac select committee. let's go first 10, with the delay in trump's case until after the next president is sworn in. is that reasonable to you? >> i don't know about reasonable, alex, but it's inevitable given how long the appeal to the supreme court took to resolve, the immunity case. i think the special counsel is trying to once again hasten the path to trial in that matter by filing a superseding indictment and arguing to judge check in

that it complies with the supreme court and therefore, she ought to reschedule the case le, as soon as possible. unfortunately, the former president has an opportunity to say no, the superseding indictment does not comport with the supreme court's immunity ruling, and whatever judge check and rules can be appealed, so we are looking at another series of interlocking tori appeals, things that go to the appellate court before a case is tried and resolved, so we are into 2025 now, regardless. >> let me drill down further, because trump's proposed delay came after the new super and seating -- superseding indictment. smith held fresh grand jury heating -- hearings. you have trump's lawyers, forcing they're going to seek to get this indictment dismissed because former vice president mike pence was mentioned to the grand jury.

does the immunity ruling mean that evidence about mike pence is off-limits? >> that is one of the precise questions before judge chutkan. the special counsel in describing the interaction with the vice president, with mike pence, described him as the president of the senate. not only the vice president of the executive branch, the president of the senate, presides over that legislative body. the special counsel theory, and this will be resolved by judge chutkan, is that when president trump is communicating with vice president pence, it's a vice presidential candidate talking to the president of the senate, and therefore, not within the president's official function, and not immune from a criminal case. >> thank you for clearing all of that up. let's talk about what happened this week, justice ketanji brown jackson speaking out about the supreme court majority granting trump unlimited immunity. let's watch that. >> i was concerned about a system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual

under one set of circumstances. when we have a criminal justice system that had, ordinarily, treated everyone the same. >> tim, do you agree, and do you think the immunity ruling will reduce the prospects of a conviction in this case? >> i agree with justice jackson that everyone should be the same in the eyes of the law, that we should not have any case that directly bears upon just one person or is designed to facilitate or help one person. i don't know, though, alex, that the ultimate result here will be changed very much by what the supreme court said. again, they left a lot of room for unofficial conduct, or even some official conduct to be prosecuted if that prosecution would not impair the functioning of the executive branch. that is a very vague standard that judges below will have to

interpret, so i think what you have seen is the special counsel saying, all right, we have a couple fewer cards perhaps, in her hand, but we still have a winning hand, and that is what the superseding indictment reflects. all of this has to be adjudicated by judge chutkan, but there is a good chance that enough of the case remains, enough evidence of the conspiracy of the four charge counts, that the former president can be convicted, with some of those acts that were originally immunized. >> what about trump's new jersey club hosting an event called the january 6th awards gala. what are your thoughts on the trump property hosting an event to honor and celebrate those being prosecuted in connection with the capitol attack? >> it is just another extension of his irresponsible rhetoric, praising the rioters. i think it hurts him in his criminal case. if he wants to distance himself

from the actions, the violent actions of the rioters, while he is holding a fundraiser that raises money for their legal defense, it aligns him, in terms of his intent, alex, with their actions, which could be directly relevant evidence of his intent in the pending criminal cases. it is, not only morally wrong for him to be defending the actions of these people that have been convicted of crimes, some violent crimes and assaults on police officers, but it effectively hurts his legal defense. >> okay, tim heaphy, it's always good to have you on the show. we will see you soon. the new concern in the northeast for anyone spending time outdoors this holiday weekend.

growing fear this holiday weekend over the potential spread of mosquito borne viruses. the big concern, the west nile strain, which typically peaks in late august and early september, so right about now. there are also some worries

about the triple eve irish. joining me now is antonia hylton. how serious is this? >> alex, these are rare, but incredibly serious illnesses that can lead to death, and that is why you see officials here in new york and all over the country spraying for mosquitoes really aggressively right now, releasing all of these alerts and warnings to people, as everyone heads to the lake and their boats to relax for the weekend holiday, this is what mosquitoes love. that's the kind of place where they hang out, so you need to be wearing long sleeves, you need to have sprays with things like deet. there have been a handful of cases of triple e, which is really rare, and for the west nile virus, we are up to 289 cases across 33 states. i think that is most -- more than most americans have thought. new jersey announcing two more deaths.

of thing can happen. again, if you are planning to celebrate this weekend by the water, long sleeves, even if it is hot outside. sprays, if you are camping, have nets and screens. it really is worth it to take that kind of precaution. >>