new york. a jam-packed hour ahead of us and a whole lot of open questions about really unprecedented event in american history. an fbi search of the private home of a former president of the united states. a senior government official telling nbc news agents spent a majority of monday at donald trump's mar-a-lago estate in palm beach, florida, and he was not home at the time. the former president was in new york at that time and was first to announce that search and described it as a, quote, raid, adding in his lengthy statement, quote, they even broke into my safe. another source telling nbc news that search was tied to classified information that trump allegedly took with him from the white house. trump's own lawyer confirming the fbi, quote, seized paper from mar-a-lago. tonight about a dozen house republicans are planning on having dinner with trump in bedminster, new jersey, the site of one of his golf clubs. this hour, the significance of that meeting, why some sitting

republican lawmakers are calling for the fbi to be defended and what this says about trump's on going legal jeopardy. we'll begin with nbc kerry sanders in florida for us today, justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian in washington. kerry, i'll start with you outside mar-a-lago. tell us what you're seeing and what happened there yesterday? >> i'm just across the water from mar-a-lago. it's very quiet today. yesterday was a very different situation. the secret service was notified by the fbi they would be coming by to serve a search warrant. the former president, donald trump, was not here at mar-a-lago when they came in. they did spend a tremendous amount of the day executing this search warrant. there was a lawyer who represents donald trump who was here. she says there was a cooperative experience with the fbi, that they were able to work with the

fbi and the department of justice as they were executing the search warrant. it's important to note that while we have not really seen anything, and you just pointed out it was the former president who let the world know the fbi had been at plg executing the search warrant. there is a tremendous amount of video security at the facility there across the way, the estate, as well as the fbi would likely be shooting video and taking images themselves just for what may turn out to be a differing point of view of how this search warrant was executed. already the former president has called it a raid. and the veteran fbi officials telling us it's more of a simple search, which is something they do routinely. what will we see happen today? probably not much. it looks like all the work has been completed here. the paperwork for the search is something we do not have our hands on yet.

that would likely tell us two things at least. it would describe what they were looking for, assuming that could be public, because sources have told nbc news that it's classified documents that may have been in here and that's what they were looking for, that the former president allegedly brought here, and it would also tell us which federal judge signed the search warrant. of course, we would be very curious which administration appointed that federal judge. as veteran fbi officials said, to reach this unprecedented and historic execution of a search warrant takes it to a level that is extremely high. there must have been some very strong evidence presented to the federal judge who then signed off on the search warrant. aaron. >> to that point, kerry, i want to turn to ken dilanian who covers the justice department in washington. the justice department is keeping a tight lid on this which is not all that unusual. talk to us about what it has said and when we might hear more about why the fbi was there and

what exactly those agents were looking for. >> aaron, what we've been able to glean from government sources as well as sources close to president trump's legal team is that this appearance to be principally about former president trump taking documents from the oval office to his residence in mar-a-lago. recall back in january the national archives retrieved 15 boxes of documents from mar-a-lago. trump agreed to that. they found classified documents and they made a referral to the department of justice and asked them to investigate. it's not clear how we got to this point. what is evident is that something broke down. there were attempts by them to get documents back, and the fbi or justice department didn't think a subpoena, a demand for documents would cut it. they took the extraordinary step of going to a judge and getting a search warrant.

what that would have required is for them to demonstrate to that judge that probable cause existed, that there was evidence of a crime at this location, at mar-a-lago, at the particular time they were searching and there was no other way to get that information. so that's a big deal. that's a big hurdle. they executed this -- people shorthand it as a raid because the search did give the fbi the authority to break down the door if they needed to. they didn't need to. they were greeted at the door by the secret service. it was done in a low profile way. then you have former president trump saying the fbi broke into his safe. we're unclear of the truth of that allegation. that's the allegation he's making. the other big question here, aaron, is it just about these documents, or could there be some other element to this? is this in any way related to the grand jury investigated january 6th and president trump's effort to overturn the election? we don't know the answer to

that. we can't rule it out. >> ken dilanian in washington, kerry sanders in florida, thank you both. for mao i want to bring in glenn kirschner, nbc legal analyst as well as kim wheelie, former assistant u.s. attorney and counsel in the white water investigation and professor at american university. glenn, as we pick this apart, how high of a bar would the fbi need to clear in order to get a sign-off on a search like this? >> aaron, there's the official word and the unofficial word. the official word is probable cause is probable cause regardless of the place to be searched. the reality is this is a maiden legal voyage. obtaining a search warrant for the home of a former president of the united states. i don't think anybody went into this endeavor with what we call bare probable cause, the absolute minimum amount of

evidence needed to acquire a search warrant. i have a feeling they had probable cause plus, plus, plus. i'm certain this was vetted through the highest levels of the department of justice, probably through the number two person, the deputy attorney general, lisa monaco, up to merrick garland. this is sort of a shift in the legal tectonic plates. when you are searching the home of a former president of the united states because a judge determined that there was likely to be evidence of crime located on the property of mar-a-lago. i think this search warrant was probably extremely strong. >> you mentioned merrick garland, the attorney general. i can't help but to wonder, it would have to go through him before you even go to the judge for the search warrant. does the a.g. for something like this, have to sign off, yes, i agree all the ducks are in a row and every possible argument

could be made for obtaining this search warrant, go get it? >> not necessarily under standard doj protocol and procedures, but there's nothing standard about the search of a former president's home. i strongly suspect merrick garland was apprised of it and in agreement with it at a minimum. >> kim, let me bring you in here. what does this tell you that trump made the announcement of the search himself. does that come with any legal risk? >> well, you know, it's hard to give credence to anything that comes out of donald trump's mouth after tens of thousands of lies that came out of the white house when he was there. of course, we know that his attorneys are already telling him to not talk to people like mark meadows and it's hard to know what he was thinking prior to issuing that, but i agree with glenn completely. yesterday was the anniversary of richard nixon resigning the white house in the last really

constitutional crisis in the presidency. it's kind of ironic that that's the day that, as glenn indicates, this historic warrant was executed. and it probably not just went through attorney general merrick garland, but also through fbi director christopher wray who donald trump actually appointed. to call it a raid is not a legal term. this is how the constitution was intended to function. the framers didn't like that king george iii had general warrants where you could roam around people's businesses and their homes. this is carefully circumscribed process and if i were donald trump -- frankly, those close to him, including members of congress pro participated in the january 6th insurrection, i would be nervous about this moment. >> kim, let me ask you about the documents we believe to be at the center of the search

warrants. what are the consequences of removing government documents? how serious is that, especially for someone like former president trump who is likely to be considering another run for president? >> the fact that it's trump throws a constitutional question mark into it. lots of things came out of congress after watergate to stop shenanigans by presidents. there's no enforcement mechanism for the presidential records act. but the idea is that he doesn't own these documents, the american people do. he has to turn them over to the archivist. and he didn't. we know there were communications with north korea dictator kim jong-un, and i think there's probably a question as to what happened to missing documents. there's word of donald trump famously flushing things down the toilet, destroying documents. if it's classified, it's a crime to destroy classified documents.

destroying federal records is also a crime. one of the statutes does forbid people from holding office if they're convicted. again, the fact that he was a president, he could declassify documents at will when he was president and this broader constitutional question as to the extent to which congress could circumscribe those powers i think are all there. let's keep in mind as well, however, that the 14th amendment to the constitution specifically allows congress to pass legislation to ban people from office if they participated in an insurrection. i don't think any existing statutes we're talking about here would apply, but we cannot -- we can't set aside the idea that the implications here are not just potential criminal prosecution for donald trump, but also making it harder, if not impossible, to run for office. of course, that would have to be sorted out in the courts all the way to the u.s. supreme court.

this is all new ground for american democracy. >> glenn, just a few seconds left. i want to ask you last, how likely is it that we see even more fbi action now that it's taken this step? i know we won't necessarily get a heads-up about that. how likely are we to see more? >> a legal barrier has been broken in searching the property, the home of a former president of the united states. merrick garland has made a decision that law enforcement requires the use of all of its tools including obtaining and executing search warrants against the president. i suspect you're going to see more of this kind of legal process moving forward. >> we will leave it there for now. glenn kirschner, kim wehle, we appreciate your time. thank you both. still ahead, more on the fbi's search of mar-a-lago. i'll speak with two former fbi agents about the level of secrecy required in this kind of operation. plus, it's primary day for four states, including

wisconsin, a battleground state the former president lost in the election. and how gop voters are reacting the the search. we'll go live to capitol hill where trump allies are mobilizing to defend him at this hour. we're back after a quick break. . businesses "open". fields "open". who doesn't love "open"? offices. homes. stages. possibilities. your world. open. and you can help keep it that way. ♪♪ the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer.

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an fbi search like no other in u.s. history, even though what happened at mar-a-lago was unprecedented, there are clear rules for any search the fbi undertakes, from how it gets permission to what the agents can look for. joining me now are two former fbi special agents, clint watts, now an msnbc national security analyst and asha rangapa. former president trump called this s&p of his home unprecedented. we know it certainly was that. we do have an idea of what agents would do here. walk us through how they would go about their work in a case

like this. >> sure, one of the things that ken brought up earlier in the broadcast, they have to make a decision how they want to present themselves. it sounds like from ken's notes they didn't want to make a big splash. i find it interesting that the way we found out about this is from the president himself. they visited mar-a-lago, kept it very low key. i also note they probably had a very limited mandate for what they could search for in the house. not only you're talking to glenn kirschner right before this, he was talking about what's the standard to do a search warrant of the president's home. i think in this case it's also how small of a search warrant can they probably do, meaning it's very limited. is not like search warrants you might have seen on tv. this is going after specific items. i think the next part is, it seems to go around the idea of classified documents being taken and kept there at the home. they're probably looking for something very specific and the president themself told us they cracked his safe open. in all cases i imagine they knew

exactly where they wanted to go at plg, exactly what they were searching for and they had a limited mandate on what they were going to go through. this was probably a very well-rehearsed, well-planned and very detailed search weren't they were executing yesterday. >> asha, he walked us through what likely happened on the ground in florida. this would certainly have to be cleared at the highest level. we've talked about that as well. what sort of evidence would the fbi need to go before a judge, to put before a judge, before that judge would sign off on the warrant? >> yes, aaron, as you say, if you swing at the king or former king, you best not miss. i think that they would be very cautious in drafting the search warrant. the kind of evidence that they're looking for really depends on the violation that they are alleging, the crime they are alleging has occurred. i think that one clue here that we can look at is to actually rewind a little bit to last

june. trump got a visit by people from the counterintelligence and export control section of the department of justice. this is a section of doj that is concerned with national security, foreign affairs and military commodities and technology. by the way, they want them to put a padlock on the door where these documents were stored which suggests to me that they were very concerned about certain kinds of information potentially be accessible. i think this would go to the highest levels. i agree with clint that this would be pretty surgical, and that they have a national security interest here in terms of trying to prevent the disclosure of information or maybe retrieving documents they may believe has already been disclosed, wittingly or unwittingly. >> clint, we heard from local officials they didn't have any prior knowledge about a search happening at mar-a-lago. the fbi alerted the secret

service a few hours before that search was executed. how closely held would this have been? exceptionally so, or sort of in a standard way? >> i would say second only to the bin laden raid if i had to guess. they probably didn't let anyone in on it except for a very small circle. i imagine they prepared it well in advance in terms of how to control the scene, how to control the scenario and probably rehearsed reactions to things that might unfold. oftentimes search warrants, they can go wrong, meaning people don't understand what the situation is. we've seen a very confrontational president before. i would imagine they went in quite prepared. separately, in terms of the way they conduct this, you always keep it to the bare minimum number of people that need to know about a search warrant because you wouldn't want anyone inside with access to the evidence to potentially destroy it or try to hide it or move it to another location. this is essential to all investigations. in terms of who knew and how

many, i would say a very select group of people knew and they kept it probably tighter than just about anything in the history of the department of justice. >> asha, we know, also, the fbi left mar-a-lago with boxes of documents after the search. we learned in february the national archives was looking for boxes from the trump white house. what's the next steps for that evidence, the boxes taken by those agents yesterday? >> the next steps is that they're going to inventory what's in those boxes. they will probably have an intermediary team, a team to go through -- do a first run-through to make sure there aren't privileged documents in there, things that they took that don't actually pertain to what was the target of the search. and then whatever gets through that sive will move on to doj. the steps after that really depend on what the violation is here. is it just the unauthorized

removal and retention of classified documents? has there been unauthorized disclosure? they implicate different statutes. how they proceed after that depends on what the alleged crime is here. >> i was going to ask you about those documents. what sorts of materials would necessitate a search like this as it relates to documents that the national archives should have? >> as i said, i think this is a national security issue. if there are items missing which they believe are unsecure, which threaten our national security, which may reveal sources and methods of information, which may reveal defense secrets, things that we just don't want in the wrong hands, that would necessitate taking the step. i think it's important to note that, again, the doj visited trump, or his lawyers at least, in june, that they were working together to kind of identify these documents.

for them to take this step means that they believed what was being told to them, what was being shown to them was not the full story. i don't think that they would take this kind of huge step if they didn't believe there were things being hidden or that trump was not being forthcoming and they needed to get their hands on these documents as soon as possible. >> we'll all be looking to sew exactly what was taken as a result of this search. asha and clint, thank you both. still ahead, how the fbi search of the former president's house is complicating what was supposed to be a week of wins. also reaction from trump's defenders on capitol hill. that's coming up next. at's comi. new astepro allergy. no allergy spray is faster. with the speed of astepro,

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unless you happen to be a dog. president biden signing the bipartisan chip manufacturing bill. he didn't answer questions about the questions shouted about the fbi search of his predecessor's home in florida. the white house says it found out about the search just like

everybody else, from trump's statement and news reports. monica alba at her post today. the white house says it found out the same way we all did. what reaction are you getting out of the white house to this search? >> reporter: exactly, aaron. the white house yesterday saying they learned the reported action just like everyone else. they had no advanced notice and they also referred everybody to the department of justice which, if you ask legal experts, that's exactly how something like this is supposed to work. it wouldn't have been something that would have been common for the white house to know of this search and seizure of the former president's home in mar-a-lago. today they are not talking about this either. they're very focused on the legislation that the president just signed on the south lawn where we did attempt to ask questions to see if he could hear us and provide a reaction. it's a little tricky sometimes when the music is playing, and it's unclear he could hear them, although he did look in our direction and seemed to know what we were asking about.

if i can predict, what the white house is going to continue to say in the press briefing and later today is that they defer this to the department of justice. they don't see themselves as having any need o to comment on or a role in this since there's still so much we do not know. that's the important thing to underscore, this current white house and administration does not necessarily have any kind of a special briefing or knowledge necessarily that we know of when it comes to what happened at mar-a-lago yesterday. as we wait to learn a lot more details, the white house wanting to focus on these legislative victories like what we just saw here on the south lawn. >> this was supposed to be a week for that, monica, a week for big legislative wins for president biden and a chance to put those front and center. this has to be frustrating for the white house looking ahead to the midterms having to now deal with the former president again in the news cycle. >> reporter: it's nothing new to this white house, officials tell me. they're used to this.

they know there have been, in their words, distractions, other things that take over the news cycle. they continue to press ahead and focus on the work of this administration and its agenda. they're going to continue to tout u what we're going to see here tomorrow which is the president signing this legislation that will benefit veterans exposed to burn pits. he's going to do that in the rose garden similar to what we saw today with this major $280 billion investment in chips and semiconductor manufacturing. this is a white house that has always said we can talk and chew gum at the same time. we don't want to be necessarily distracted by what's going on outside of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the political reality is clear, that it does overshadow, given, of course, many questions about what could happen in 2024 if former president trump does decide to run given this huge news yesterday down in florida, aaron. >> monica alba for us at the white house, thank you. nbc news has confirmed that a dozen republican house members

will travel to bedminster, new jersey, this evening for dinner with donald trump. that development first reported by punchbowl. it comes as trump's hill allies staunchly defend him and criticize the department of justice. minority leader kevin mccarthy threatened to investigate the doj and the attorney general, telling merrick garland, quote, preserve your documents and clear your calendar. senator ted cruz called the search, corrupt and an abuse of power. accusing the biden administration of weaponizing the doj and the fbi. a reminder, the white house has insisted, as we've been reporting here, it had no prior knowledge of the search yesterday. joining me ali vitali and "washington post" senior political correspondent ashley parker, also an msnbc political analyst. ali, congress is on recess this week. talk to us about what you're hearing from republicans today. >> reporter: aaron, they're not hiding their reactions to this.

even if they're not in the building at the capitol, you referenced a few of the responses we saw so far. senator lindsey graham who in a tweet said no one is above the law, but capped that off by saying time will tell on this most recent investigation into trump. launching such an investigation of a former president this close to an election is beyond problematic. that's one of the threads seeming to emerge from the f can side of this. the important counter to that is the idea that the former president is not on the ballot in 2022 despite the fact he's making en dormants and making the rounds on the campaign trail. i do think the other piece of this is as much as democrats may not want to talk about this, because you and monica were rightly pointing out, they really expected this week to be a moment of momentum, facing off with a whole slew of accomplishments over the course of the last few weeks, from the burn pit act to the latest accomplishment on

reconciliation. they were happy to be going into august and september with that kind of momentum, certainly a moment like this stops that and turns the focus. you're watching democrats not say too much about this. for example, chuck schumer and nancy pelosi both not offering too much here, but saying they only know what's in the public domain. republicans certainly offering an illuminating path forward, not just in the way they're defending the former president, but the way the now number one republican saying, if he were to take that top speaker spot, if republicans would in november, it would be what we expected, which is investigation after investigation of the biden administration and now in this case of the department of justice for this latest move. >> ashley, you've covered this topic of classified material at mar-a-lago for months now. talk to us about some of the implications this investigation could have on the former president if, in fact, he runs which we expect he will for president again in 2024. >> well, we have to start with

there's a lot of open questions which is we don't really know much beyond that there was a raid of his house in mar-a-lago -- his private club in mar-a-lago. we don't know what specifically prompted it. we don't know who signed off on the warrant, what specifically they were looking for, why they chose this exact moment, what they found. but broadly speaking, the presidential records act, as we have been reporting on for a number of months, is something that seemed quite clear that former president trump violated. when he left the white house, he brought with him 15 boxes to mar-a-lago which the national archives sort of realized were missing through the natural course of business as they were going through and looking, well, do we have this, do we have that, and they didn't. that prompted them to go down and try to find the things they were missing. as we reported, we know that former president trump took everything from his letter with the north korean leader kim

jong-un to a memento, a menu from a dinner party to, more problematically, classified information. not just classified documents, but documents that were marked top secret and documents that are so sensitive that they cannot even be summarized in broad terms in the public domain. so that, again, acknowledging all these questions is what we expect would be the focus of the fbi and what they would be looking for. you don't typically do something like this because the former president absconded with a miniature model of air force one. >> ashley, this search, is this the sort of thing that could speed up the timing of an announcement about 2024 from trump, with him wanting to sort of seize the momentum to portray himself as a persecuted party? >> it absolutely could. it was interesting, even just last night watching the president's allies and people

close to him like his daughter-in-law, lara trump, they were saying what those of us who report on him have long known, he's set to run and announce a run in 2024. of course, if he was an actual declared candidate for office, this is a former president who loves to portray himself and his supporters as victims, it would give him more credence, he believes, to this idea that he's being persecuted again by the baden justice department because he's going to take on biden in 2024. of course, there are different standards when someone is running for office, and if he were to win, when someone is the sitting president, about how law enforcement officials handled these sorts of inquiries. >> ali, before i let you go, i know there's news today as well on the january 6th investigation. bring us up to speed on the former secretary of state mike pompeo's expected meeting with the committee today. >> reporter: this is the latest

meeting that we're hearing from the january 6th committee. the former secretary of state and trump close ally, mike pompeo, expected to meet with them today virtually according to what sources are telling myself and my colleagues here. this is not the first meeting and not the first deposition that we know the committee has had over the course of the last few weeks. publicly they've been dormant in terms of no public hearings. of course, behind the scenes they're actively fact gathering. the thing with pompeo we've heard over the course of the hearings bs, and specifically from cassidy hutchinson during her testimony, is pompeo gave a heads-up to then chief of staff mark meadows, there's conversation about trump not necessarily being fit for office after january 6th, just thought you should know. certainly that's something they're going to ask pompeo about in the larger scheme of january 6th and that investigation. >> all right. ali vitali on the hill, ashley parker with us as well from "the washington post." thank you both. it has been a long hot

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ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. the groom's parents? they just found out they can redeem rewards for a second honeymoon. romance is in the air. like these two. he's realizing he's in love. and that his dating app just went up. must be fate. and phil. he forgot a gift, so he's sending the happy couple some money. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do? well, while the fbi searched donald trump's florida home, he was in new york dealing with another legal headache. he was in the city as he prepares to give a deposition in the new york attorney general's civil probe into the trump organization's finances. joining me now, nbc news

national correspondent gabe gutierrez outside trump tower in new york city, and charles coleman, civil rights attorney and former prosecutor. gabe, get us up to speed on this federal investigation into the former president. >> reporter: good morning, aaron. as you mentioned, former president trump is expected to give a deposition in that probe in the coming days. this comes after two of his adult children, donald jr. and ivanka trump testified in depositions over the last several weeks, and just several days ago we learned that a commercial real estate firm, cushman and wakefield turned over nearly 36,000 documents related to the investigation. this comes after that commercial real estate firm had been held in contempt of court. aaron, as you know, attorney general letitia james' office is considering whether to file a civil suit related to mr. trump's financial statements saying in court filings that her

office has uncovered substantial evidence establishing numerous misrepresentations in mr. trump's financial statements. of course, aaron, the former president has long said that these are political persecutions and he is no longer here at trump tower. he left trump tower late yesterday evening after news of the search at mar-a-lago broke, did not answer questions from reporters, but put out the written statement calling it a raid, calling it political persecution. republicans throughout the day, as you've been reporting, saying that they are appalled and have grave concerns about this. as we understand it, former president trump is now at his golf club in new jersey preparing to host gop lawmakers at a dinner later tonight. >> charles, gabe mentioned it. donald trump jr. and ivanka have been questioned. the former real estate appraiser handing over thousands of documents, too.

what would you expect would be the next thing we'd see in this case? >> a lot of that will depend on how the deposition with donald trump goes. at this point attorney general letitia james is trying to understand what are the pieces on the board she has and where do they fit. what she's going to be looking for within the course of this deposition is trying to see how much he can connect donald trump himself to some of tin accurate filings and inaccurate statements that her office has uncovered. once she's done that, her office will have to make the difficult decision as to whether to move forward with the civil charge n. which case suing donald trump could be a number of years in the courts in terms of legal entanglements, not being sure you'll get a victory out of this, versus trying to pursue a civil settlement from the trump organization which will result in a number of cash payouts to the state as a result of malfeasance and/or fraudulent violence. >> charles, we have several

legal tracks to keep track of for the former president, mar-a-lago, the new york probe, the january 6th investigation, election interference in georgia. where would his legal team be trying to focus right now? what's happening in their office? >> that's a great question. i think honestly in terms of all the different things his team is likely trying to triage, the civil suit from ms. james might not be at the top. i would be focusing on fulton county, georgia and bonnie willis, she has the track for criminal -- what i'm referring to in terms of the second investigation is the da in manhattan whose investigation seemed to have cooled, but depending on how this deposition shakes out, with the civil trial, if there are any discrepancies or inaccuracies,

that could result in new life for that investigation as well. however, in terms of what's right and most concerning, my top priorities will be what's going on in fulton county, georgia, and everything surrounding january 6th and the department of justice. >> so much to watch for sure. charles cole man, we appreciate your time and perspective today. thank you. still ahead, it is primary day in wisconsin. the political proxy battle between the former president and his involvement in that state's governor's race. what the candidates are saying about the fbi's search at mar-a-lago and how voters are reacting. that's next. bubbles bubbles so many bubbles! as an expedia member you earn points on your travels, and that's on top of your airline miles. so you can go and see... or taste or do absolutely nothing with all those bubbles. without ever wondering if you're getting the most out of your trip.

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shaq, you will start with you. what are you hearing from the candidates there? >> reporter: they are trying to use that breaking news to drive turnout in the race that's expected to be extremely close. you mentioned that former president trump has loomed large over this race. he endorsed tim michaels, candidate who says he is an outsider, a businessman, over the former lieutenant governor of the state of wisconsin. she is backed by former vice president mike pence. she's backed by the popular, among republican voters, governor of wisconsin, scott walker. this is a race that's being seen as an opportunity to check in on where republican voters want to send their party, what direction they want to lead this party. you have both of the candidates in this campaign singing from the same tune as they reacted to what we saw out of mar-a-lago. listen to what they said in response to the fbi search.

>> i remain shocked by what i saw and what i'm hearing. i sure hope that the president and his family are okay. >> it's scary to wake up this morning and see that the government has raided the house of the former president. if they can do it to the former president, they can do it to anybody. that's very concerning. what can you do about it today? today, you can go vote. let your voice be heard. >> reporter: i know you have been reporting this. it bears repeating, there's nothing to suggest there was anything wrong with the search in terms of it being signed off by a judge or the process in which it was conducted. one thing to note here in wisconsin, although it's a less competitive race, also on the democratic ballot is the race to take on republican senator ron johnson. he is viewed as a vulnerable republican senator. one of the most vulnerable in the country. he is facing a challenge by the lieutenant governor. he is someone who saw that field clear out for him in the past couple of weeks. he is expected to win tonight.

although it's not a competitive race we are watching on the democratic side right now, we can expect things to heat up almost immediately as we head closer to november. >> reed, let me bring you in. you wrote about how trump's false claims about the 2020 election are a factor in this wisconsin republican race for governor. how much is the 2020 outcome really on the minds of voters, republican voters in wisconsin today? >> you hear it all the time from voters in wisconsin. people are very angry about what they view as an injustice that was placed on president trump two years ago. we saw several weeks ago the wisconsin supreme court ruled drop boxes are illegal in the state. that has really sparked a movement to try to overturn the results of the election two years later, which, of course, is something that can't be done. and yet it's still -- we have seen this from voters, we have

seen there's a third candidate in the race who built his campaign around the idea that if he is governor, he will decertify the election. tim michaels has said he will consider it if he is elected. rebecca, who moved to the right, close to trump as far as trafficking in some of these false claims about the election, she has though said that she would not decertify the election and has correctly said that it is not something that is constitutionally possible. >> very quickly, reed, is there an appetite among republican voters there in wisconsin for for a trump 2024 run? >> we have seen that trump is still very popular among republican voters. tim michaels last week said he would endorse president trump the day he announces. rebecca told me in an interview she thinks there's good republican options out there. she's not committed to president trump. >> reed, shaquille, thank you both.

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♪♪ good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. we are following the fast moving developments on the stunning news from mar-a-lago that for the first time in american history, the fbi has conducted a search of the home of a former president of the united states. a source familiar with the matter tells nbc news the warrant was tied to classified information that trump allegedly took with him from washington to palm beach after leaving the white house on inauguration day in 2021. nbc news has learned that the fbi notified trump's secret service detail guarding the property in advance and presented their warrant