from watching you, by downloading the app today. duckduckgo: privacy, simplified. breaking news in the fight over those classified documents seized from donald trump. a federal judge in florida has granted the former president's request for a special master to review the materials. it's something the justice department has argued against. joining me now is nbc justice

reporter ryan riley and kelly o'donnell. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. ryan, can you get us up to speed on the latest? in my read of this, she is also enjoining the government from using the seized materials for investigative purposes, but is not preventing the director of national intelligence from proceeding with the damage assessment, correct? >> that's right. it's a pretty devastating ruling for the government. the biggest question here was whether or not the special master was going to have authority over the executive privilege claims. that was really the biggest issue. if this was solely limited to attorney/client privilege, i don't think we'd see as much strong opposition necessarily from doj. it would have been something they could have potentially lived with, because it's such a limited amount of the materials. but when you get into these questions of executive privilege, this really blows up the investigation and could really be a major setback to the

investigation. legal scholars largely agree it's really not up to the former president to decide the matters of executive privilege. but that belongs in the hand of the current executive, of course, president joe biden. i'd expect to hear more. i just put in a request to doj. i don't know if this will be the last word necessarily with we're going to hear from this trump appointed judge. >> they do have the right to appeal this as well. kelly o'donnell, one thing that strikes me -- and i am just reading something just handed to me. it's 24 pages. i'm reading the order itself, the summary and the conclusion. i haven't read all the legal justifications for it. we'll wait for experts who are now reading this as fast as they can. one thing that strikes me in

summarizing what is at issue, she's talking about personal papers that have been seized. unless she's talking about pre-presidential papers or non-presidential papers, there's no such thing as a presidential paper from his term of office written in the white house that is not national archives material by definition of the presidential records act, correct? >> reporter: one of the filings from the trump lawyers had included some discussion of personal papers that they put in the category of diaries, although i've never heard of donald trump keeping a diary, but personal notes, correspondence, medical related material, things that might fall into the category of his personal life perhaps since he left office. those would definitely not be presidential record, but might have been in his office drawers in his personal residence and were swept up in the search and commingled with other papers and

might, in fact, be included there. we saw that his passports were part of the items seized, so that may be part of it. i noted that the judge says the intelligence community's assessment of damage can continue separate from the department of justice and its investigative work. she's not putting the brakes on the ic determining any damage from the potential release of whatever materials the former president had in his possession. so that goes on. she also lays out a timeline of september 9th, which is just a matter of days for the government and the trump side to talk about potential candidates to fill this role as special master. we've learned from listening to legal experts that it sometimes is a person who's a former federal judge. they all have agreed this person needs to have classified status,

perhaps someone who had it in the past and it could be renewed. that, of course, is an issue when you consider the fact in public, never in legal documents, the former president has talked about whether some of the materials taken have been declassified. he said that in his public speech, but not in legal filings. his lawyers agreed it would be appropriate for the special master to have the kinds of clearances to view and handle highly sensitive documents, which sort of makes it implicit that the contents of what was seized would have included highly sensitive documents. so there are some other steps along the way and certainly the government said there needed to be a timeline on this of trying to get it all wrapped up by september. i've not yet seen if judge cannon goes along with that. but certainly timeliness is important. by september 10th, we're at the 60-day clock toward the midterms

in terms of the justice department not taking any actions that could be perceived as political when it comes to their investigative work. there's a lot more to learn here, but on the surface this is something the former president wanted and he has been granted. that is a win. does it affect the overarching case that the government may build or the evidence they're assessing? that's really a different question and one that is not necessarily impeded by the presence of a special master. it certainly could slow things down and that may affect things we're not aware of. who that special master will be will certainly be a factor. donald trump will certainly tout this as a victory. a judge that he appointed granted him this prerogative today. are there attorney/client privilege matters in here? is she saying there's executive privilege? once he no longer was president, that privilege now resides with

joe biden, who is the current president. there are a lot of issues to be sorted out here as they go forward. >> let's bring in barbara mcquade. one argument was the passports were relevant because they showed the lack of security in the way these classified documents were being held, as well as the presidential record act, because he could no longer claim things were personal, those things that came from his office and from his presidency. there's a lot here she's denied and in slowing the investigation you have witnesses and the like who could be lost to the government, as well as pointing any special master who doesn't currently hold that special clearance would really slow it down because those clearances

take a long time. even if you've had it before, just to renew it, my experience with people who have been in government when they are back in document, they have to start from scratch and it is a lengthy process for this kind of top clearance. >> i think if i were the government, the most important thing to me would be that time is of the essence. although i think the judge is wrong here in finding executive privilege, she also based her order in part on attorney/client privilege. the government has already acknowledged at least some of the documents are apparently protected by attorney/client privilege. the biggest sigh of relief for the document is the fact she is not stopping the intelligence community from conducting the damage assessment. that's the most important thing that will happen. delaying the criminal investigation certainly is something that is concerning, but if they can get this special master appointed quickly and have the review conducted quickly, that could be faster than appealing the order.

if they wanted to appeal, they're probably pushing it out by weeks, if not months. but their original proposed response, the justice department said they would like to conclude the review by september 30th. so if they can get someone with clearance -- and by the way, all federal judges don't need clearances. you could find a magistrate judge or a district judge to do this right away or somebody who's in government, or there are certain people who retain their clearances even after leaving government, people in the defense department, for example, who could be appointed and wouldn't need to get a new or renewed security clearance. if i were the justice department, i would cut my losses and find someone they could agree to. she's asked for names and a timeline for this. >> weigh in here on the law and the way she arrived at her conclusions. >> i agree with everything barbara said, including that i

don't share the judge's view of the need or even the sort of lawful authority to appoint a special master on the executive privilege front. be that as it may, she's issued this order. now i think the department of justice and the executive branch will have some tactical decisions to make. do they want to appeal it? and if they believe this order is not really well supported by the law, they may need to appeal it. not that a trial court judge's decision has precedential value, it will have atmospheric precedential value. i agree with barb that it is comforting that the judge didn't order a stop to the national security assessment to see what kind of damage might have been done by these documents being

compromised, but i'm really troubled, as a former career prosecutor, that she stopped the criminal investigation. andrea, does that mean that if as a result of seizing these documents we have witnesses subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury tomorrow? we have to withdraw that subpoena? does it mean if these documents have been submitted for forensic testing, because we do fingerprint testing on documents, we do dna testing on documents, we can do handwriting analysis testing on documents. does all of that have to stop dead in its tracks? i think there are a number of reasons that the department of justice will need to think long and hard about appealing this decision rather than letting it lie. >> we've also seen the former president speaking on this subject for the first time over the weekend.

i want to go to some of what he incorrectly said about the court ordered raid itself. let's watch. >> the shameful raid and break-in of my home mar-a-lago was a travesty of justice. [ crowd reacts ] that made a mockery of america's laws, traditions and principles. they go in and take documents, dump them on the floor, stage a photo shoot and pretend that i had done it, like i had put them all over the floor. this egregious abuse of the law is going to produce a backlash the likes of which nobody has ever seen before. >> that's the raw politics of it. he was in pennsylvania following on the heels of, of course, president biden being there. again, back in pennsylvania today as pennsylvania becomes a real center piece of the midterm

campaign and today is campaign kickoff day. >> reporter: very much so. we have seen how the former president has such sway and such influence over his supporters who come to these events and believe what he says, even though point by point in each of those clips there were factual errors there. this was a court approved search. it was not a violation of his fourth amendment rights. of course, there was probable cause to go in. he talked about the first lady's closet and his 16-year-old son's room being searched. the affidavit made clear that the entire residence belonging to the trump family was within the scope, the premises within the scope, all of the places where the former president had direct access were considered within the scope. the only part of mar-a-lago not available for the fbi to search were any places that were being rented to third parties, like club members, unlikely during

the summer months because that's when mar-a-lago is typically closed for the season. he talks about this in a way that certainly stirs the passions of his supporters, who then feel anger toward the department of justice or the fbi. he uses it to not only say he's been a victim but to try to bring them into it and say his movement has been victimized by political persecution. so it is a tactic that he has used before. he invoked the impeachments, he invoked the russia investigation. he's now tying this together and saying it's one more attempt for what he claims are forces trying to keep him from returning to the white house. so this is potent material that he uses. i watched all of that. he never explained why he had classified documents. he never explained what the purpose of that was. he never offered any reason for why he would have retained government property at his private home and club in

florida. that's politics. but as he does this, he has such sway over his supporters who turned out to see him. >> the other piece of this is that he never explained the fact that in june one of his lawyers had affirmed to the justice department that everything had been turned over after a year and a half of trying to get the material. then they found all that material still there when they went in in august in a legal search. barbara mcquade, i want to ask you about reports in the "new york times" that the justice department was considering already whether to delay the unwritten 60 day rule where you don't have justice department investigations within 60 days of an election, even though the former president is not on the ballot. he's certainly by all polling

the most important figure in the republican party right now this close to the midterms. whether they were going to delay the january 6th investigation as well as this investigation or at least suspend active witnesses perhaps. >> the memo at the justice department says that prosecutors should not take action for the purpose of influencing an election. i think it depends how broadly you read that and how cautious one wants to be. certainly investigating january 6th or investigating mar-a-lago is not being done for the purpose of influencing an election, but it could have the effect of influencing an election. for that reason, i imagine they will continue to investigate but to do so quietly. i don't think we'll see an indictment filed before election day. i don't think we'll see more search warrants executed. but i think in terms of putting people on the grand jury or

conducting interviews, all of that may continue, because it would be done quietly outside of the press and the public. we're now within about that 60-day time period. i wouldn't expect any charges to be filed until after that date. >> thank you all for jumping on top of this breaking news. after the break, biden on the trail, the president in milwaukee for his labor day fall campaign kickoff. what we expect to hear from the president in milwaukee. to hear president in milwaukee when you can't sleep... try zzzquil pure zzz's gummies. they help you fall asleep naturally with an optimal dose of melatonin. and a complementary botanical blend. so you can wake up refreshed. for better sleep, like never before.

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president biden is on the midterm trail for the traditional labor day fall campaign kickoff, appearing in two key states with senate races critical to any hopes democrats

have of keeping their slim senate majority. the president will be speaking this afternoon in milwaukee, wisconsin. then the president heads to more familiar turf in pennsylvania, where he has spent every labor day ever since running for office. he'll be campaigning in pittsburgh with john fetterman, who's trying to defeat dr. memet oz for an open senate seat currently held by republicans. the wisconsin senate race could decide the senate majority in 2023. what do we expect to hear from the president this afternoon? and the explanation for barnes for not wanting to appear with the president? >> reporter: as you mention,

president biden is in pennsylvania and wisconsin on this labor day kicking off the final stretch to midterms. it shows that democrats are really trying to play offense, especially with regards to the senate where they think they can even pick up a few seats. as you mentioned, you have john fetterman expected to appear with biden in pennsylvania, but the democratic senate candidate hear mandela barnes is not expected to appear with the president. he's actually right now marching in a parade here in milwaukee, but has other planned stops at other labor fest events throughout the city. a campaign aide said his focus today is on milwaukee. it's not about catering to any type of visitor, stressing that the wisconsin race in their eyes is a state race, not a national race. it does underscore that the candidates across the board in these midterm races are deciding whether or not to embrace president biden and his agenda

and his remarks or to keep their distance and stay a bit more independent. today will be a little bit of a test of that as he stops first here in milwaukee. it is a labor fest union event. he'll been joined by labor secretary marty walsh and another congresswoman. so you really feel the energy here. i talked to a lot of voters as they entered this event, a lot of union shirts. one voter said they're excited for the president to be here and call him the first in many moons to really understand the importance of labor. president biden's visit really trying to make this an issues based race. >> let's look at the big picture here. both of these states also have big governor races which is more important heading toward 2024. you have the wisconsin senate

race among four tossups. the pennsylvania race is now leaning democratic, but of course the health issue of john fetterman very much in play. do you think the democrats are going to be able to keep the majority and try to build on it? >> republicans had high hopes that they would be able to pick up an open seat in arizona. they thought they were going to beat raphael warnock in georgia with herschel walker. they had high hopes in pennsylvania. they thought they kind of had it. now each of those races are much more problematic for them. so that means that wisconsin becomes more important. north carolina becomes more important. frankly, i think that one of the biggest noneconomic events from now until the end of the election will be a week from tomorrow when new hampshire has its primary, because one of the two republican candidates would

give a really good race. the other probably wouldn't be a very strong candidate. so the senate is far more up for grabs now than it was 30 or 60 days ago. >> in new hampshire, charlie, is that another case where democrats are intervening in trying to give the democratic candidate an election denying trump backed candidate who would be the weaker of the two? >> i'm not sure whether they're playing in there or not. i haven't seen any evidence of it, but it's a very clear call of which would be the more formidable candidate. behind the scenes or a last-minute push, might democrats be doing that? yes, they might be. probably wouldn't be the worst

idea they ever had. new hampshire has suddenly become a lot more important than it was 60 or 90 days ago. it wasn't necessarily at the very top of the focus when they were making plans for all of this three, four or five months ago. >> getting back to pennsylvania, how do you see those matchups with the josh shapiro race against mastriano for the governorship and the senate race? >> republicans nominated their weakest candidates. i think john fetterman, the democratic lieutenant governor and senate nominee, i don't think he's a particularly strong candidate, but so far he's been largely out of the scene because of health issues. the only really strong candidate of the four is josh shapiro, the

democratic gubernatorial candidate. it shows how close the state is that even the governor's race is a very close race. as you say, governor's races in some of these close states like wisconsin and pennsylvania, it becomes critically important for 2024 on many levels. >> thanks so much to both of you. and a new prime minister in the u.k. britain's conservative party has chosen its new leader, the third woman in history that will be holding the role of prime minister. just who is liz truss and how will she take on the u.k.'s growing economic challenges? u. growing economic challenges? welcome to my digestive system. it's pretty calm in here with align probiotic. you see... your gut has good and bad bacteria.

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britain's conservative party has chosen liz truss to take the reins as the country's prime minister. once truss is appointed by the queen, she'll inherit historic inflation and sky high energy prices. she addressed those challenges just a few hours ago. >> i will deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy. i will deliver on the energy crisis, dealing with people's energy bills, but also dealing with the long-term issues we have on energy supply. >> keir simmons is in london. interestingly, she will not be presenting her credentials to the queen at buckingham palace as is traditional. she'll be flying a thousand

miles to scotland. that's unusual. all of this is unusual, isn't it? >> reporter: it is. that's unprecedented in the reign of queen elizabeth. she would normally be around the corner at buckingham palace. instead she's 500 miles away. so many things have not been seen for decades here in the u.k. liz truss comes in facing this cost of living crisis, the war in ukraine. she has been adamant that she will 100% support ukraine. another example of the challenges she faces, trying to improve relations between downing street and the biden administration. i had the opportunity to talk to the man who will likely be the next foreign secretary today. i asked him about how they're going to shift relations with

the u.s., that important partner. >> she knows how important our international relationships are and how important our relationships with freedom loving countries like the united states of america is. i have no doubt that relationship will continue. >> reporter: is there work to be done to improve relations with the biden administration? >> it's always in our mutual interest for the u.k. and the u.s. to have a working relationship. liz understands that. >> reporter: just another issue as an example, the energy prices here in europe, it looks like governments are going to have to spend billions to defend their businesses like pubs up and down the u.k. that are warning many of them may have to close in the winter because they simply don't have the money just to heat their premises.

>> thank you so much. i want to read a little bit from the associated press to get an idea of the challenges facing the u.k. right now with household energy bills set to increase by 80%. next month charities warn as many as 1 in 3 households will face fuel poverty this winter, leaving many to choose between eating and heating their homes. how are they going to differ from boris johnson, who was ousted after a series of scandals? >> the main difference with boris johnson is the problems are probably twice as bad. we have got extremely high inflation right now in the u.k.

i'm actually in the u.k. right now visiting family. people are talking a lot about the cost of living crisis. you can really feel it everywhere. you've also got, of course, all the hangovers of brexit which continue to plague the british economy and make businesses face doubly big challenges. the really big one that's at the top of everyone's mind right now is the energy issue. we had some news out of russia today that essentially vladimir putin is cutting off nord stream one, cutting off gas to continental europe. though the u.k. doesn't get that much of its gas from nord stream one, the whole environment of rising energy prices is really putting pressure on britain and it's going to put pressure on liz truss. one of the first things she said is she's going to take action to try and soften the blow of rising energy prices. the question everyone has right now is what can she do other than pray desperately for one of those famously mild british winters with lots of rain and

not much else. >> one of the strategies that the g7 announced on friday when they interviewed janet yellen is to try to cap russian experts, cap prices on russian exports. if you cap oil prices and to do it by tying that to russia's ability to get shipping insurance for the oil above an agreed upon price limit, but how that's going to actually work practically, how are they going to regulate it, how can it work without india and china limiting the price on their russian oil. yellen told me india is already making long-term contracts with russia at lower prices. >> absolutely. >> china's the outlier, right? >> it's a very challenging issue. kyiv has been begging western

leaders for weeks now to get serious about trying to find a way to stop the flow of dollars going to russia in exchange for its oil export. one of the terrible ghastly ironies of the last six months is moscow has had a huge surge of money because oil prices have been rising. much of that money is going straight into the war effort. they're looking at ways to try and stop that other than outright fan. one of the most important weapons the west has which has not really been discussed much recently but is starting to be seriously embraced is this idea of trying to act on shipping insurance. it's critical, because if tankers can't carry the oil around, that would potentially hurt the russian government.

one of the biggest problems is one of the biggest single sources of gripping right now is greece inside the european union. it will be interesting to see what happens next in terms of brussels and washington and how much pressure they can bring on the shipping industry. >> boy, is it complicated. thank you so very much. and nuclear fears, growing concerns about radiation disaster as fighting continues in ukraine near europe's largest nuclear facility. near europe'st nuclear facility ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you see, son, with a little elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert.

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just one of the station's six reactors is operating in the plant, which has been under russian control for six months. it's on the front lines of the most recent fighting, with both side blaming each other for attacks nearby. the iaea inspectors said they're very worried about the integrity of the plant. what should people know about the risks? >> the risks are high. it's extraordinarily dangerous. we're hanging by a thread. one of those threats was just cut. they've been cut off from the main ukrainian power grid for a couple of days now. the russians have shelled methodically the four power

lines going into the plant, cutting them off one by one. there was a local power line going to a local thermal plant and that has now been cut off according to the ukrainian minister of energy. as soon as the iaea inspectors left, leaving two of their colleagues behind, the russians shelled that remaining line. a fire broke out. they had to cut it off. right now the only electricity in the plant is being provided by that one lone reactor to fuel the pumps to keep the reactor cool. if that should fail and the backup generators should also fail, then you're looking at a meltdown situation where the fuel rods heat up, burst through the reactor vessel and the containment field and we get a fukushima type nuclear disaster. that is the worst case scenario right now. >> from my previous reporting on

this very plant, their containment facilities are not as good as other more modern europe containment facilities and the american facilities. they've just never had that kind of safety procedures that are present elsewhere in europe. >> that's exactly right. this is better than chernobyl, which had no containment. so we're not looking at a chernobyl level disaster here, but still quite serious, one that could spread radioactivity through hundreds of thousands of kilometers through europe. >> what can we expect? the international inspectors came out and gave a very troubling report on friday night after inspecting and finally

getting in. fortunately the reactors were still operating, but those operators are operating under guard and their conditions are at best really very, very difficult. >> yeah. i think we need to be very clear about what we're facing here. this is not just some possible accident that may be happening in the middle of a war. this is part of a very deliberate russian strategy. it's the russians who are shelling the plant. it is not the ukrainians. they're doing it in a very deliberate fashion to cut off power supply to these plants. they ultimately want to take control of the plant not only physically but the electricity that gets produced to make sure it is not being sent to the rest of ukraine but only to the parts that are now occupied by ukraine. it's a very deliberate russian strategy to try to blame the other side for something it's doing itself. it's been doing this for seven months in ukraine and for many

years when it comes to the west. we hope that the u.n. security council will have a unanimous sentiment that what the russians are doing is completely and totally unacceptable. it's the first time we have a war in which a major nuclear power plant is in the middle of the battlefield. it is part of a deliberate russian strategy to try to force the international community to end the war in order to make sure that the russians get what they want, which is as much control of ukrainian territory, if not all of ukraine, and using threats and now real fundamental nuclear dangers to get their way. it's a very dangerous game they're playing. >> i want to ask you also about john sullivan, about our u.s. ambassador in russia. they announced yesterday he's stepping down. he's been an extraordinary public servant. he was originally sent there by

donald trump. he's worked for decades in different roles in government. he was sent there by donald trump as the ambassador and has been operating under terrible circumstances, very short staffed. the local staff, russian staff were withdrawn from the embassy. as well as all the issues over the griner case and other cases and is now stepping down. we're left without an ambassador in moscow. >> i don't know the particulars of the situation that led them to make this decision, but he has served extraordinarily in the most difficult of possible times when the russians have really shut down normal living for foreign diplomats and particularly american diplomats in the midst of this war. he's probably the only person i can think of who was a political

appointee in the trump administration and was asked to stay on by president biden. he's done extraordinary work and we should be thankful for everything he's done. >> indeed. thank you very much. both of you on the very, very critical situation in ukraine. and the extreme weather here at home, flooding state of emergency in georgia. record heat in california. massive wildfires threatening oregon's border. millions could be left without power out west. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on labor day on msnbc. c . try zzzquil pure zzz's gummies. they help you fall asleep naturally with an optimal dose of melatonin. and a complementary botanical blend. so you can wake up refreshed. for better sleep, like never before. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools,

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this labor day holiday is a day where much of the country is suffering severe weather threats. in northwest georgia, more rainfall is compounding flooding problems across the region, leading the governor to declare a state of emergency. and there are problems throughout california with record heat putting pressure on the power grid and the mill fire destroying homes near the oregon border. steve patterson joins me now. steve, it's going to be 90 degree temperatures in l.a. where you are every day this week. it was over 100 last week. what kind of pressure is that putting on the power grid? >> reporter: tremendous amount of pressure. but first, let's talk about how it's fuelling the fires. firefighters in northern california have their hands full near the oregon border. firefighters are contenting with two separate fires just a few miles apart. that mill fire started friday and moved very quickly. the same pattern we've been

seeing since this climate crisis started. it started in a neighborhood, so instead of taking free after free, it was home after home. more than 100 structures burned, at least 1,000 people displaced. firefighters again, dealing with that second fire, the mountain fire to the north. much larger, about 9,000 acres. thankfully in a much more rural area. these two fires combined burning about 20 square miles, and all fueled by this extreme heatwave that we're in. so andrea, it's expected to now go into the week, at least thursday or friday, putting a tremendous, a tremendous amount of stress on the power grid. grid managers are estimating that we could hit 50,000 mega watts by tuesday. that is an extreme amount of pressure. it means that we've been instituting these flex alerts day by day for the last five days or so, begging people to conserve energy from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. if they don't, and there's too

much stress, we could have more demand than there is supply. if that happens, it could lead to rolling blackouts, the likes we haven't seen since 2020. grid managers are trying to avoid that situation. but it is so hot, every single day for the last seven days, if this continues, it could very well lead to that if there's no solution. andrea? >> steve patterson, thank you so much. that does it for this hour. joe biden is set to deliver labor day marks in just about 20 minutes. we'll bring that to you live after the break. stay with us. you're watching msnbc. atching m. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ are you feeling sluggish or weighed down? metamucil's new fiber plus collagen can help. when taken daily, it supports your health,

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and thank you for staying with us for this hour of "chris jansing reports." i'm andrea mitchell. following breaking news from florida from a trump appointed federal judge granted the former president legal's team a request for a special master to review the items seized by agents. a special master has not yet been named. there will be a meeting by september 9th. this hour, joe biden is expected to speak in milwaukee. he arrives there and will