all right, that's it for us tonight. i'm victor blackwell. be sure to join us on cnn newsroom tomorrow at 2 pm eastern. i'll be back here tomorrow night at nine. don lemon tonight starts right now. >> i want to chat because i know we're waiting we're always waiting for something right, waiting on the doj, waiting, waiting, waiting. >> yeah, we've been. waiting now we've got two hours to this deadline. i asked sharon, why do they wait to the very last minute to -- >> because they want to uproot our, lies they want to ruin our -- >> the night that the former president got covid, he waited till i signed off to send out a note confirming he had covid. but guess what, i went right back on the air. >> put your glasses right back

on, and sat down. >> you know the breaking news beckons. >> yeah when, the breaking news beckons. >> thank you, victor, i'll see you tomorrow. this is don lemon tonight, and won't be long now, because it's got to happen before midnight, any minute now we're expecting the doj's response to team trump's request for a special master to drop. and this is not just some routine paperwork, it's going to get a lot here. it's gonna be a, doozy so you want to stay tuned. again, it's supposed to happen before midnight, so it's supposed to happen in the hours that were on. now the justice department got special permission from the judge to submit an extra long response, up to 40 pages, twice as long as a usual 20-page lemon. the doj says they need to quote, adequately address the legal and factual issues raised by trump's filings. what is in those 40 something pages? we should know soon. but those factual issues, it certainly sounds intriguing, doesn't it? so remember, this is all about

trump's plea for a special master, a third party attorney to look over the documents seized in the search of mar-a-lago three weeks ago, including 11 sets a classified material, some marked top secret, which should have never i've been there in the first place. so the big question is, why is he gone to so much trouble to take these documents and keep them under wraps? why? well, once upon a time, he shirt seem to care about classified information. >> my administration, i'm going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. >> so, you've got to -- listen, it took so long for them to do all of this. this is out of trump's playbook, right, delay, delay, delay. that, as president joe biden, in a fiery speech in pennsylvania, defending the fbi in the face of increasing threats following the mar-a-lago search. and doubles down, condemning what he calls mega republicans

who claimed to be the party of law on order, but called the january 6th insurrectionists patriots. >> let me say this to my maga republican friends in congress, do not tell me support law enforcement if you will not condemn what happened to us on january 6th. do not tell me. you're on the side of a mob, the side of the police. you can be pro law enforcement, and pro insurrection. you cannot be a party of law on order and call the people who attacked the police on january 6th patriots. you cannot do that. >> i cannot see that he's wrong there. i'm going to get right to cnn political correspondent sara murray, cnn legal correspondent elie honig, and cnn senior political analyst john avlon. and again, as we wait on all of this, good evening, everyone, we're waiting on these papers

to drop. and so, we will continue on till it happens. it should happen at any moment now. we will definitely know, hopefully before midnight. probably before midnight, yes? so we should know. >> sarah, i'm gonna start with you. the doj, to address legal and factual issues in this 40 page filing. what can you tell us about it, do you know anything? >> well, obviously, we are all waiting to see, as there is a midnight deadline. but you know, the fact they asked for these additional pages, they said they want to address legal and factual issues that the trump team brought up in their filing, tells you that they do want to give their sort of robust version of events. you know, in the trump filing, team trump argued the former president was very cooperative, talking about how these search at mar-a-lago was over the top. so, we would expect the justice department lay out why the search was necessary, lay out some of we have learned before. but you, know the former president was not fully cooperative, he was not fully forthcoming in returning these documents. and of course, even at the end of this, we are still not going

to know the answer to whether or not there's going to be a special master, that's why he's gonna continue, don, in the next few days. >> so, ali, let's bring you an, a lot of criticism over trump's legal filing, asking for a special master. what kind of detail do you think we can expect from the doj's? responds >> well, they are certainly going have plenty of pages to do it. it is unusual, by the way, asked for doubles the page limit, that's something i never did in my 14 years as a prosecutor. >> was the reason for that, you think? >> because they have a lot to say. i mean, you do not do that lightly. 20 pages. it's quite a bit the main thing that is different about this filing, is that this is the first time we're hearing from doj after the search. was done because we saw the, affidavit we saw the search warn itself, we saw the receiver property. that's all stuff that's done before the search. that's all stuff they did to get permission to do the. search so, we have not heard from doj in a robust way since the search has happened. so, i think they probably have a lot on the chest. there's a lot of things trump has said attacking doj, attacking fbi, perhaps

mischaracterizing the nature of the documents that they want to set the record straight on. >> so, they probably want to dispute some of that, right, as he said, they're trying to set the record straight. the doj could push back on the claim from trump's allies that the president, the former, present was cooperating. because if you look at, again, i have to show this timeline that i have here. this is a timeline of, like, all the interactions and all the times they try to get the documents or get trump to cooperate and he did not. >> right. >> and his team did not. >> right. but his team >>'s representatives that go on television, the president has been cooperating, the former president has been cooperating. i saw no need for this raid. that is all a bunch of bs. >> yeah, it's a lie. >> so the doj will probably want to fight back, push back on that. >> pushed the -- set the record straight is a perpetual process when working with ultra. because the impulse to, lie or lie on his behalf, is almost overwhelming. and we saw over and over again in the argument, that was being totally cooperative. and we know he was. we know that -- so let's call it what it is,

his instincts, his political instincts when it translates to tactics and politics is always deny, delay, deflect, project. and this is all a denial game right now, right? he denied, now he's trying to delay. he said maybe, look, i'm go to throw whatever i can and see what sticks to the wall to slow this process down because it might benefit me politically. because he's nervous. he seems to be scared. you look at the post he's been putting up lately, they are on hand. >> yeah -- >> even by his standards. >> because what was, it 60 times in a 12 hour span. but here's the thing, it is unhinged. but nothing he has come from -- he keeps demanding information, and demanding information. every time the information comes out, it is not helpful to him. >> yeah, the defenses that we've heard so far may have backfired largely, if anything. i mean, one of the defenses we've heard is this was timed out intentionally by doj and the fbi to land it as closely as possible to midterms.

they said, what took you so? long doj and fbi? you know they couldn't solve, that by not taking the documents in the first place, or by turning them over last year. look, delay is certainly part of the strategy here, maybe the predominant strategy here, i think, by the trump team. generally speaking, prosecutors hate delay. i was always trying to get to the jury as soon as possible, trying to get an indictment, trying to get to a jury's soon as possible. and generally speaking, it's better for people who are being investigated maybe become defended someday, to try and delay, drag it out, see how things happen. and particularly acute here, we have the political dynamics overlaying this potential announcement of a candidacy. >> and what about this whole claim of executive privilege? it's how you think doj will respond to? but i >> think the audit will give the back of the hand. i think it will argue tonight that there is no merit to it, and we do not need a special master. i think trump disagrees though. >> sarah, trump's legal team will have a data respond to this doj filing. what are we expecting? >> well, don, you'll be thrilled to know they have an 8 pm deadline on wednesday. so, we won't be waiting until midnight for the trump team to

respond. we look at the filing by 8 pm, according to the judge. look, we expect that they are going to continue to push for the special master. you know, we know from earlier filings in the justice department that they have already start digging through these materials. they've already set up a filter team. they've already identified some materials that could contain, potentially, attorney-client privilege information. but we've also heard publicly and privately from the trump team they do not feel like they can trust the justice department. they believe this was an overly politicized, you know, investigation. and they want the special master, this independent party. and so, we do not believe they are gonna back off from that. and of course, we do not expect a resolution to this tomorrow. the drug has set a hearing for this on thursday. so, like i, said this is a fight that is going to continue playing out over the next couple days, albeit not as late tomorrow night. >> john, if the judge -- let say the judge rules in favor of the special master for trump. it may delay this whole thing. do you think an independent arbiter could work in the doj's favor by shutting down

accusations of politics? >> it could, but it won't stop the trump team from making that accusation. >> from trying. >> right, it's a question of if the special master is adopted by this judge, a trump appointee who's want to play down the middle, the question will be are there any constraints on the time? especially given the fact that it appears the doj has already gone through many of these documents, you know, the horse is kind of out of the barn on this one. so,, so in a rational world, that would actually give added credibility. but, you know, that would be the triumph of hope over experience when dealing with the trump team. >> i think part of what doj is going to do is say judge, if you do put a special master, and let's put strict time limits on it. this should not set us back six months. let's get this done in a month or so. >> yeah, i mean, every time, right, there's some sort of delay or whatever. look, -- anyways. >> that's where the strategy, that's part of. it >> it is, merrick garland came out, but the documents,

and said no one is above the law. >> but let me say this. >> maybe? >> but everyone fights. >> not like this. >> el rincon, former federal prosecutor, if you had done this, where would you be now? >> i'll be fighting just as hard as donald trump is fighting. >> but would you have been, would something have happened to that would have some repercussions by? now >> yeah, it's different, because i would not have any, the only way i could've gotten to those documents by breaking into the white house. they are factual distinctions here. but look, we should not hold it against someone because they fight like mad against the doj. you're allowed to fight against doj. >> you're right about that, everyone deserves a defense and all that. i get that. innocent until proven guilty, but the fact is we are arguing over he is guilty or not. of course he is, he took the documents. now we are talking about just how bad the documents are, how top, top secret they are. not that he did something wrong. >> i cannot sign on to that, because as a prosecutor, i know you had the burden of proof

beyond a reasonable doubt. and you cannot just take a bunch of newspaper articles, we've not even seen the articles, and declare they are -- >> so there are no top secret documents? now >> well, there certainly were. >> where they're documents taken from the white house -- >> yes. >> that were not supposed to be taken, that was beating because the of the national archive. >> yes, but do we have proof that donald trump saw those documents, followers in them, had intent to violate the law? opposed to just disorder -- >> but you have to prove that in court, i know that's a process. but the fact is it was an act that happened, right, so whether it's donald trump or someone in the white house, they were in his possession. >> that is not shown knowledge or intent. >> and we know some documents were handed over, and others were held on. to here's what dawn is looking for -- >> you can jump in anytime. i'm gonna let you all have this. >> i'm just watching them fight it out. >> but, here's the basic deal, look, equal justice under law,

innocent until proven guilty, all that is true. but if you wanted to ask if, took a top secret document with you, and said something to sandy berger, and walked out with documents, you would be in a totally different situation. you've been a world of legal hurt. >> got into a skiff -- >> i agree. >> if someone in your employ, where does the bucks talk? >> someone in your employ, where the buck stops? >> i don't play with anybody. >> somebody in your employ. >> when, in, when -- >> the buck stops with who. >> whoever you can show, knew it was in those documents -- >> elie, elie. >> i do think the big difference is that this time around donald trump is the former president. and we are talking don about how he is managed to -- >> i think a big difference is this time around is donald trump is a former president. so, when you talk about how, again and again, he has managed to evade the judicial system, a lot of the stuff was stuff that was happening when he was a sitting president.

when he had protections. when he had the ability to have all these documents, to see all these documents, to, you know, how these documents in his possession. we are now talk about a different playing field. we are talking about someone who is a former president, but still believes he is entitled to a lot of the same challenges that he had when he was president. i think that is why we have seen allies around donald trump so much more nervous this time around, and pressing him to bring on real attorneys this time around, because they did not feel he was fully grasping the exposure you could. have >> sarah mary, thank you. >> i think she's on my. side >> she explained it better than us dudes sitting here, by a lot. very succinctly. and smartly. and intelligently. sarah, thank you. i do not think she is on your. side everybody stick around, listen, we're sitting around and waiting on these documents to drop at any moment, waiting for the doj's response to teams trump plea for a special master. that could come at any moment now. our team of reporters, legal experts, standing by, to go

through it all for you, we're going to report the news for you as soon as we get it. and up next, president joe biden's message today in the wake of lindsey graham's riots in the streets remark. >> no one expects politics to be a pattycake. sometimes it's, mean as. but the idea, you turn on a television, and see senior centers and congressman saying if such and such happens, there will be blood in the street. where the are we

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>> okay, so, the doj's response to -- a special master expected any minute now. we will carry it for you live. that is president joe biden takes on what he calls maga republicans in a campaign speech today in pennsylvania. the president also calling for a ban on assault weapons. we will talk more about the speech with cnn commentators ashley allison and alice stewart. also, tara palmieri, a senior correspondent for putt. so glad to have you on. tara, i'm going to start with you. -- again, this time for not

supporting law enforcement in the wake of january 6th. a clear strategy from biden. what do you think is behind this? >> i think biden is doing with a lot of his allies have wanted him to do. they want him to draw a contrast between himself and the republican party. it is not a natural place for biden to lean. he likes to be the uniter. he likes to be the consoler. he likes to be the consensus builder. he is, after all, a census centrist democrat. -- no, if you are getting all out there and you are going to campaign for midterm elections you have to hit them and you have to draw contrast and you have show them as extremist because that is exactly what they do. they are painting the left of the party as extremist and you have to show that there are extremists in the republican side of the party so he is out there on a more offensive stance and i think he was not able to break through before. and it's an election year. >> he is breaking through -- >> he is breaking through. >> there's news coverage and sometimes this controversy surrounding it. but that's the way you breakthrough -- you say things that --

it may hurt some folks years, like what we have been discussing. but he is talking about the maga republicans. he went after -- he went after lindsey graham for saying that they are going to be rights in the streets of trump's prosecuted. was graham wrong to say that was biden right to go after him? >> graham should not have said that. look, there will be people that are frustrated. trump's base, his supporters, think that this doj and fbi probe and search of mar-a-lago is prosecutorial overreach. and they're disappointed with it and they are very frustrated. but for lindsey graham to say that, i think, was inappropriate. here is my thing with president biden's speech today. talk about him pushing or leaning in -- he did that last week when he called republicans fascist. today he goes on, over and over, calling republicans maga republicans and talking about how republicans are not a party of law and order -- >> but aren't they -- why is that defensive, to be called a mega republican? are they not maga republican?

>> he is referring to maga republican as the extreme, far right fringe of the republican party, not the majority of republicans are not -- >> i know. i just want to be clear here, alice. because, honestly, he is making a distinction between republicans. he called out sensible republicans, he gives them their credit. but the maga republicans are the people who believe that the election lie who make excuses for the people at the capitol. who are saying nasty things about people and are going along with the histrionics of the former president. what is wrong with being called a mega republican? because that is when i go republicans are doing. >> when he makes the distinction that there is the difference between the extreme part of the party and the rational republicans, which i consider myself one, that does not buy into all of that. and here's the thing that i think was, from a political standpoint, as we were talking earlier, there is a great speech of a democrat to identify crime and be tough on crime -- but the problem is, when you pull americans, the ipsos abc

poll shows that more americans, when they were asked, who they trust to addressed crime more, more trust republicans to fight crime, less people trust democrats in order to fight crime -- and joe biden is low in the polls. and so he is clearly leaning into an issue that republicans have the upper hand on. >> but isn't that the hypocrisy that he is pointing out, actually? isn't that the hypocrisy he's pointing, out because the republicans are supposed to be the law and order party, but they make excuses -- lindsey graham saying they're gonna be right if trump is prosecuted. listen, just in conversation i said that, but he did something wrong. i mean, trump did something wrong by allowing the papers to go out, when we are talking about whatever, when we are talking about guilty -- but he did do something wrong. the papers were in his possession. so, when it comes to joe biden and pointing out, isn't he pointing out the pac russi of republicans by saying law and order? yet we make excuses for our own when they beat up law enforcement? >> absolutely, you can't have

it both ways, just to the earlier point. you can't say donald trump is a threat to our democracy, january 6th should not have happened, this is why the president was saying today, and then, say don't collect mike republicans. that is what they stand for. and they are not running from it. they're probably denying the election, they did it in their primary,, so stay by their, truth but they don't want to, because they know that voters don't want to elect people. and the hockey of law enforcement is, police officers died at the capital. died. and you still have people who actually hold elected office who won't condemn january 6th. and then you have people of your party saying defund the fbi. and everyone's cricket silent. no one is calling it out. one second, go on. >> if we want to talk about hypocrisy, let's talk about hypocrisy about the democrats who did say defend the police. let's talk about -- >> job i never did say defund the police. >> and how democrats, let's talk about vice president

kamala harris. >> alice, that's not a boxy. those who said to fund the police were called out on saying to fund the police. joe biden said i never said defund the police. they were sensible, democrats democrats who did not believe in defund the police, saying this was never part of the democratic platform. there are extremists in the democratic party who were called out, and whether you want to call them progressives or whatever, but they do not find anything wrong with being called progressive. why, when maga republicans find anything wrong with being called maga republicans if that's what they are? >> and people who say defund the police stand by their word, and still believe that. and that is never been joe biden's position, i know, because i join that campaign the week after george floyd was murdered in the streets of our country. and we saw the outcry. he ran for president in the moment of the largest racial uprising in our country's history as ever seen. and it took a lot of courage for him to stand by his policy believe. now, i do not totally agree with the way the president is

approaching police reform. but he said over and over, he talked to the floyd, family he talked to people and said i believe we need the reform policing, but i do not believe in defund the police. he is not being hypocritical on that. >> but there's also something i think you'll agree with, alison, whether him saying this semi fascism comment, whether he realized that was a gaffe or maybe his sticking by, it i do not know. or that he should be more careful with his language, because he is not saying that anymore. we have a lot to discuss as we wait on the information from the doj as regards the special master. don't go anywhere, we will be right back. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. and by s switching, you could even save $652. thank you, liberty mutual. now, contestants ready? go! why? why? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

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president biden's trip to

pennsylvania today is the first of three he is making there over the next week. he is going to deliver a primetime address in philadelphia on thursday, and visit pittsburgh on monday, that's labor day. and it is easy to see what he is focusing on pennsylvania weeks before the midterm elections. it's a key battleground state. cnn's john king at the magic wall for us, john? >> don, what makes this fascinating is the president today is in a place on the map that will teach us a ton come election night, ten weeks from today, when we are counting the votes. the presidents event here in wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, you see all the red around wilkes-barre, pennsylvania, this is the 2020 presidential election, joe biden narrowly won pennsylvania by 81,000 votes. but let's look at this particular county, right here, roxbury is in lucerne county, that's trump county. you see president trump carrying this county quite convincingly two years ago. he carried it back in 2016, when he won pennsylvania over secretary clinton as well. so this is one way to look at the map and say this is trump

country, why is the president? there but pennsylvania is incredibly complicated. and the commonwealth has some neat races this year. let's look at it from the house perspective, you see blue all of a sudden. the president is in the district today of democrat matt cartwright. cartwright won narrowly two years ago, he's running for reelection again. democrats are trying to keep the house. this is one the seat we can see, candidates defy history? so, it's a democratic congressional district, but again, if you go back to the presidential race two years ago, won those districts donald trump carried, but is represented by a democrat in congress. so what does that make it? it makes it, as pennsylvania picks candidates for governor this year, as president picks a senator this year, as matt cartwright tries to win reelection again this year in a tough year for democrats, don, the president today in when those battleground within a battleground, try to give its democratic votes to turn out, trying to convince democrats to stick with the democrats. and if he can, give it a few republicans right here in what can be a red part of the state, but is a struggle part of the state to come his way, don?

>> john king, thank you very much. the stakes in pennsylvania are incredibly high. will the democrats be able to pick up a critical senate seat? well, i've got the experts back with me, there they are. raring to go, after the break. [laughghs]

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>> so, back now with me, cnn political commentators alice stewart and ashley allison and also tara palmeri, senior political correspondent at the puck. -- special master following the search of his mar-a-lago resort. meanwhile, president biden making a campaign blitz all across the paddle ground state of pennsylvania. okay, so, back now, let's talk about this. alice, i said we were going to talk about. this the president did not go as far as he did in the fund-raiser last week, likening

the mega republican philosophy to semi-fascism. do you think he has to be careful with his words, because do you think this is going to stick? and is he focusing too much on the maga wing of the gop? >> he has to be more careful that the call have the country fascist. because, again, he campaigned on anti-one and he gave an acceptance speech on being the great unifier and lowering the temperature and let's take a big, deep breath and i will bring this country together and kumbaya, and here he is, being extremely disparaging to many people in this country. tomorrow night, or thursday night, he's going to have another speech talking about bringing the country together. i will be interested to see what kind of rhetoric eases for half of the country. but this is classic joe biden. when people don't agree with his policies or his administration or his efforts, he resorts to name-calling and attacking and it is just not the way to go, given the fact he is the man that promised to

unify the country. >> listen, let's move on now. because we have beaten a dead horse here -- >> i disagree. [laughs] that says it all, right there. >> i knew you were going to -- >> i just can't! but we will move on. >> but i want to move on -- >> joe biden did not call half of america fascist. he said that it goes beyond trump and it was a philosophy. and it is. and i say to you, alice -- >> is it the beginning of the death knell of an extreme maga philosophy -- it is not just trump, it is the entire philosophy that is going to -- it's like semi fascism. so -- >> if you think the 2020 election is accurate, if you think that we should teach a comprehensive history of our country, then he was not referring to, because you don't believe in that philosophy. >> okay. >> but we have to call things -- out >> i will just go on,

record democrat maggie hassan from new hampshire said that he spoke to disparagingly, he painted all republicans with a broad batch brush. that is a democrat who herself has [inaudible] >> okay, let's move. on tara, john moved outlined the importance -- [inaudible] democrats a chance to win in the senate see there and the governor's office there. -- right now, do you think? >> absolutely. right now we have an incumbent republican, and an incumbent democrat, two senators, split, in pennsylvania. biden won pennsylvania by one point. trump fought that and said that he actually believed he won pennsylvania and called for a recount. it's an incredibly important state. i legislature there at the state level there is republican, to have a republican governor. and if anything goes, mastriano, doug mastriano, is running, is calling for a pretty extreme anti abortion policy. and so this really matters.

the thing that i find interesting is that joe biden has three trips to pennsylvania over five or six days. it makes sense, it's his natural constituency, these towns are labor towns. he's the son of scranton. maybe helps with some turnout. but none of these candidates who want -- they will be at the same parade with him in picks bergh and john fetterman says, okay, i will talk about marijuana policy, but they're not really asking him to [inaudible] >> are they treating him, as my mom would, say with a long handle spoon? >> exactly. >> i think pennsylvania is really diverse state. you have pittsburgh, which is part of the still [inaudible] country, very close to ohio, which also has a contested senate race. so, i think some of that media will go over into those markets. then you have the middle of pennsylvania, which is rural. and i think it's interesting that he picked wilkes-barre to go to to talk about guns, to say, like, i believe in the second amendment but let's talk about banning assault rifles. and then philadelphia, where

there is a larger one black population where you're going to need to drive our turnout. so, i think it's really strategic. also, he is talking about using philly the backdrop of independents, -- >> so, philadelphia actually has four syllables instead of five. it's philadelphia. [laughs] let me ask you -- are they actually -- is not a smart thing for them to do to sort of distance themselves from the current president who has actually, over the last couple of, weeks been getting a lot done? i think if you asked back in 2000 during the whole clinton thing and if you asked democrats if they should have distance themselves from clinton, they would tell, you they should not have done that, that that was a bad strategy. >> yeah -- >> the vice president distancing himself is what caused him to lose. i >> don't think they're distancing themselves. if a candidate does not want people to come, they will say,

please, stay out of my state. i think what they are doing, though, is all these candidates really need to keep these races local. and he sees about people having conversations at their kitchen table. they don't want to nationalize this race and i have been saying that for a really long time. and i think it goes across the map. people want to know that their senator or their governor is going to represent them and not be a big washington figure. >> go ahead, alice. >> the bottom line is, the real clear politics average shows joe biden's approval at around 42%. 42%. that is not good. while it is an uptick from weeks and months in the past, it is still not good. fetterman was not there today. he did not show up at this event today. that is a clear indication he wants to distance himself from the president. he is expected to be at one of the other events. but when you are not there for the president of the united states comes, that sends a resounding message. and whether or not that is politically strategic for fetterman's campaign, we will see. right now, he is up by about five points in his race and whether or not that will

continue, i think, it's going to hurt him tremendously, since he announced today he is not going to -- >> that was my next question -- >> participate in a debate with dr. oz, that's going to be real telling, in his last ten weeks, leading to the last the general election, if he's not going to get on that debate stage, that is going to cost him -- >> -- do you think it's going to hurt him, not being in this debate with dr. oz? >> i do think so and i think his health, obviously, it really does matter. and while the oz campaign has been tactless of attacked him, ford i think ultimately at the end of the day it's a gamble for a lot of voters, because they don't know what kind of health condition he is in. he has done a remarkable job doing a digital campaign, paid advertisements. he has done -- how long could you do that? >> exactly, i think eventually the voters want to see you. they want to see your face. but he's not the only person running for office in this debate right. now >> but is it, i'm sure, they've been dipping their toe

in the water to criticize fetterman for his health condition, to capitalize on it. but they have to be really careful there. there's plenty of reasons to go after fetterman's policy on record. you don't have to go after his health. and the key thing moving forward, he has run a tremendous digital and video campaign, which is fine. but come labor day weekend, it is off to the races through the election. and he needs to get out there. >> i think the awes campaign did more than dip their toe in the water, they made a pretty big splash and distasteful about talking about eating vegetables to fetterman. >> that was his campaign reserve that said that, right? you would've thought they would've learned their lesson. >> but i still think fetterman, i hope his health is stable. i hope maybe they would have a doctor come out and talk to them about it, to reassure voters. but he does need to get on the campaign trail again. >> thank you all. i love this conversation, this is the way people talk at home,

don't you think? >> exactly, sit around the table. >> it's challenging. and there is no food to throw, so we are good. >> no wineglasses, no catch up. >> a major water crisis in jackson, mississippi, more than 180,000 residents now without enough water to drink, flush toilets, or even brush their teeth. and the deadline for the doj filing in the mar-a-lago case, just a little more than an hour away. our reporters are experts standing by in this very busy news night, so stay with us.

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♪ 180,000 people in mississippi's capital city are without clean drinking water right now. no drinking water means no blessing your teeth, no cooking, no bathing, no dishwashing, no flushing your toilet, no water to fight fires, no school. residents today lined up for hours to get water. that is, until they ran out. so, joining me now,

mississippi's state senator david blunt, he is vice chairman of mississippi senate democratic caucus. senator, so happy you're here. so sorry you are dealing with this. the city's main water treatment facility began failing on monday, and officials are blaming flooding and long-standing water system problems. but, just how bad are things right now? >> well, the immediate problem is a problem of water pressure. and that is there are homes and schools and businesses in town that have literally no water at all, so they cannot flush the toilet, and they cannot do anything that involves -- there is no water coming out of the pipe at all. that's the immediate crisis. we are now in our fifth week of a boil water noticed. where people, prior to a few days ago, were able to get water in their homes, but they were not allowed to drink it, they're told not to drink it until after the water had been boiled because the water is not safe to drink. so, the first thing we have got to do is restore pressure, and then we have got to make sure

the water that comes on the faucet is safe to drink. >> listen, the national guard has been called in to help, but water is a basic necessity for life. what else needs to be done to get people clean water there? >> well, as i said, the first short term's selection is pressure. the next step is to make sure the water safe to drink. and in the long term solution is to invest the money that's required, money that was sent to mississippi by president biden and the american rescue plan, to fix the overall water and sewer system here in jackson, so we do not have this problem again. >> i want to talk to you about that. but let me just get to some immediate answer to the question. do you have any sort of timeline for when people can expect to have clean water? i mean, if the systems have such long-standing problems, it's not gonna be a quick fix. >> that is right. we are hopeful we can avoid catastrophe this week, survive into the week. we are told that if a major pump is replaced, we can solve the pressure issue and get past the immediate crisis.

then, the focus will be on whether we can get water that is safe to drink. we do not know the answer to that yet. the health department and the city, and the mississippi emergency management agency are there right now. that will be the next thing, to make sure that we fix. that the immediate problem is pressure. >> all right, let's talk about what we're missing, which i promise to get to. and that's president biden as restructure mitt bill. it allocates $75 million for clean water across mississippi, that includes 30 million to service water lines and to replace lead pipes, with another 19 million for safe drinking water investments. so, do you think that is going to help? >> it will help. and we are very fortunate for the president. in addition to that, the legislature, earlier this year, appropriated $450 million of american rescue plan money to cities that will be available in all cities of the state. jackson needs to be at the front of the line for that money, and that money could be

as much as $90 million in state and local funds on top of the money you just mentioned. but even that is not going to be enough. so, we are already talking to our congressman, we're talking to the president, the governor after the original amount of money has been expanded we have to open our system to fix these problems once it for all. >> senator blount, jackson's public works director was reassigned to a new position on monday. i mean, as you mentioned, there's been a boil water notice since late july. people say problems have existed for years. how did things get so bad? >> it's a combination of factors, to be honest with you. there have been a lot of problems in management, in staffing, the state has not stepped up when the state could have stepped up. but that situation is different now. again, for the first time in history, mississippi has a lot of money in the bank, money that came to the state through the american rescue plan. mississippi has 2.5 billion dollars in the bank to fix

problems just like this. and so, what we have got to do, those of us who live here, those of us who are democrats, we are gonna reach across the aisle to our republican friends, and try to fix this once and for all. it's going to be a major undertaking. we're going to be looking to washington. but now that the state has some money, we are going to have a partnership with the city, and we need a comprehensive solution. >> let's hope everyone can get together and fix it, because an obvious urgent need, it's a dire situation right. now thank you senator blount. >> it is, i'm tired of boiling by water. >> i'm sure you are. thank you sir, i appreciate you joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> at any moment now, we're expecting the doj to file a response to trump's bid for a special master to oversee documents seized at mar-a-lago. what we can expect, next. bother the bugs... gotcha. ...not your family. zevo is made with essential oils whicich attack bugs' biological systems. it gets rid of the bugs plus is safe for use around people and pets. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly.

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for decades, i've worked at the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness. so when prop 27 promised solutions to homelessness, i took a good, hard look. it's not a solution. 90% of the money goes to the out-of-state corporations who wrote it.

very little is left for the homeless. don't let corporations exploit homelessness to pad their profits. vote no on 27. all right, hello, everyone, we

are standing by for the justice department to respond to trump's request for a special master to review documents seized from mar-a-lago. their deadline is midnight, so, getting close. the response could come at any minute. it is expected to be roughly 40 pages. that is double the courts usual limit, but the doj got permission to submit a long response, because apparently we've got a lot to say. so let's bring in cnn senior legal justice correspondent mr. evan perez, attorney mr. george conway, and legal analyst elliott williams. good evening sir's, one and all. evan, i'm going to start with you, because the doj, just minutes away from that midnight deadline, literally, they've got an hour, right, to respond to trump's special master. >> yeah, i keep refreshing my screen, trying to see if, you know, it's like waiting, waiting, waiting. >> are you looking for, what do you expect? >> well, we're waiting to see the filing come in. and don, the fact that they are asking for doubl