i'm "jose diaz-balart reports." you can reach my on twitter at jdbalart and watch us online. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. and right now, on "andrea mitchell reports," former president trump lashing out at special counsel jack smith, attorney general merrick garland and president biden as another federal indictment could be imminent. and ron desantis finds himself far behind mr. trump in the polls as other republican rivals are narrowing the gap in key states. as desantis tried to reboot his campaign to reassure donors after hemorrhaging cash. north korea opening the doors for the first talks possibly over arrest of american soldier travis king, by reaching out to a u.n. general from the dmz joint security zone. we'll have unprecedented

protests in israel in the first phase of prime minister benjamin netanyahu overhaul of the supreme court. a rare change that is bringing rare public criticism from president biden. i'll speak to a leading climate expert as extreme weather and heat across the country sparks concerns over the global warming crisis. ♪♪ good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell back in washington with huge thanks to peter alexander who was filling in while i was at the aspen security conference. former president trump today ramping up his taxi on the justice department, the special counsel and the white house on social media. repeating his unsubstantiated claims of election interference and issuing veiled threats about the passion of his supporters, while his team argues he shouldn't even have to stand trial while running for president, joining me is andrew

wiseman, former fbi counselor and former prosecutor for the investigation into russia's interference in the 2016 election. so many questions to ask you about, andrew. first of all, will the president face any consequences from judge cannon, the presiding judge in florida, for the escalating rhetoric online as he's reciting on the campaign trail and what are your thoughts about whether we could see an indictment as soon as this week? >> so to answer your question about the upcoming indictment, i think there's no question, given the announcement of the target letter that we're going to see charges. the big question is to when. i'm still waiting to hear that defense counsel's gone into the department of justice to make their last-ditch effort to forestall what i think is the inevitable. it's fairly typical that they're given that opportunity and that they take it. so it's the one piece of

reporting that i think they need to wait on. with respect to the former president's conduct, let's remember that he is out on bail in not one, but two criminal cases. one in manhattan. one before aileen cannon, as you noted, andrea. and it's also important to note that if he's indicted in d.c., d.c. has as part of its standing order, free press, fair trial rules that limit what a defendant can say that could taint a jury. and so is whether the two judges that he's in front of right now take action -- and they could, but i suspect they won't, unless the government raises it. in d.c., where i think it is anticipated he will be charged, there are standing rules that comply -- that apply to every single defendant. and so, this kind of conduct, and these statements, would

violate those rules. so i suspect in that upcoming case, he will be given strong admonitions by the court as to what he can and cannot say. >> and andrew, let's bring in nbc's garrett haake to the conversation. garrett, to that point, we saw in the previous case, involving one of the president's closest allies, the federal judge really coming down hard on him when he actually tweeted something with a bull's-eye that could be threatening to her. >> yeah, i don't think the former president's going to be backed off of the way he's been describing these cases on social media and on the campaign trail with anything less than a contempt order maybe from a judge. he has made -- the idea that the justice department is going after him for being president biden's chief rival essential part of this campaign message. this is not an afterthought. it's what's driving his social media post. the campaign has videos on it.

he's made it a regular part of the stump speech. and it's working add least in the republican party context by forcing other republicans to pick sides is, you're either with the weaponized justice department or hour with him, and the indictments thus far have to be political i have a very hard time seeing him mopping back that language anytime soon. >> and andrew, do you expect more indictments from potential co-conspirators? and what is the downside of that i heard someone argue, maybe it was you, in fact, i've watched you so often on our network, that will nauta really shouldn't indicted because that doubles -- extends the case. because then you've got two defense lawyers doing cross examines, and two doing opening statements, and it doubles the time of the trial. >> well, that is the downside of having more than one defendant,

that it's potentially a longer case. and one way that the government could decide to proceed is having a solo case against donald trump and indicting other people in separate cases. and so, that is one possibility. i do think that there's certain people where if the government has proof beyond a reasonable doubt, i'm fairly confident they're going to want to proceed. i'm thinks, for instance, somebody like jeffrey clark, a former department of justice official who appears to have committed 1,001 violations lying to justice department, he is the person essentially willing to undermine his boss, the acting attorney general to do the bidding of the former president. so, he's the kind of person, if there is proof by connecting beyond a reasonable doubt i think they're going to be very

interested in prosecuting heim because of what he did to the department of justice and the consequences to the country. so, you're right, whether he's brought in the same indictment, or whether it's been charged separately, is something we have to wait and see. >> in fact, i think he was acting a.g. for a couple hours. he was listed that way on the white house secret service entry. the so-called waive notices in the president actually backed down after severe protests from his general counsel. let's follow up on clark, garrett. >> is there was no one else other than donald trump who received a target letter up in this point to this particular investigation. it's one of the fascinating elements of this because we know there's so much overlap between jack smith's investigates and some going on in places like georgia and arizona and michigan that we learned the fake elects

faced state level charges. you could think, if they're proceeding at a pace or looking at stuff, you might see overlaps in the targets here. as to now, there's been 91 at least publicly reported, and it speaks to the indictments not happening at the same time. or perhaps many of these people who have already had an opportunity to come testify to the grand jury which mr. trump had but did not avail himself of wouldn't have received a target letter at all. they've said their peace and we'll find out when the indictment gets unsealed. >> and what do you know about mark meadows? mark meadows continue to be the most mysterious person in this. after he turned over his text messages to the january 6th without being subpoenaed, he's gone almost dark. he's been the most talkative throughout his tenure here. he's gone aground. and people have not seen much of

him. that sort of paper trail he's left behind has been crucial evidence, all along the way in all of the investigations. but what he has or has not said to prosecutors is an open question, and where he fits in the puzzle once we see the whole thing is a huge open question. >> andrew, to paraphrase, he was in the room where it happened over and over again, now there's email traffic, text traffic, involving his son and the son acknowledges in a jocular way knowing that the election was indeed lost and that the president realized that, too. >> absolutely. that is receiving increased attention. it is worth noting that the january 6th committee actually cited those text messages in its report. so they were the ones who really did, you know, the leg work, as garrett noted, that was information turned over by mark meadows who appears to be trying

to avoid an indictment and trying not to take sides. i agree, this is a big open question, whether he's a cooperating witness, whether he'll be a defendant or whether he skates and does not get charged at all. >> and from your experience, do you an opinion about how they coordinate, if they coordinate, between a potential collision on the january 6th issues between fani willis and the feds? because it seems like, you know, she's been doing it for two years. jack smith's been playing catch-up, but really almost arrived at the finish line at the same time. >> i think that, to the extent that they have not coordinated so far, i think they have to simply because there's, i think that the georgia case is really a subset of what we expect jack smith to charge. and so they're going to have the same witnesses that they're going to need to interview. they're not going to want to have them interviewed twice. they're going to want to share interview notes that were taken by the respective agents.

so there is going to need to be some coordination by the two offices. and that's not unusual to have that in a situation like this. >> garrett, you're going to have to go to law school in the next months because they're all intertwined. we will learn what we can from andrew weissmann and his colleagues and contributors. thanks. and the power shift, israel, passing the beginning of that radical judicial overhaul limiting the independence of the country's supreme court. what is it means for israeli democracy. that's next. "andrea mitchell reports" is back in 60 seconds on msnbc. don't go anywhere. (crashing sounds) everyone's gonna need more tide. it's a mess out there. that's why there's 85% more tide in every power pod. -see? -baby: ah.

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and it includes an important vote of the supreme court. today, six months of escalating protests, demonstrators dressed as judges chained themselves together and marching outside of the parliament ahead of the vote. police used a water cannon to disperse them over the weekend. now, a political crisis could become a security crisis as hundreds of air force reservists and reservists are saying they will not show up for duty. >> we're not going to continue to risk our lives going to an air force of the country that is not democratic. it's as simple as that. israeli democracy will not be the same. and if this means confrontation with our brothers in israel who think differently, then we're sorry, but this is what it's going to be. you're either for this kind of legislation or you're fighting against it. and this is something that has never happened, 75 years of existence of israel, and, frankly, it's frightening.

>> prime minister benjamin netanyahu was at today's vote, despite being rushed to the hospital into the weekend and fitted with a pacemaker after they discovered an irregular heartbeat. he was on a monitor since going to the hospital last weekend. joining me from the protests, raf, what's been the action since that vote took place today? >> reporter: well, andrea, you can see behind me that several hours after the vote in parliament, the protesters are still on the streets here in jerusalem, as they have been in cities across this country for the last seven months. they say this fight is not over. that they will continue battling on. in their words, to protect israeli democracy. now, when the details of the vote actually reached the crowd here, there was a kind of cry of anger, of despair, on people here. one woman we spoke to had tears

in her eyes. she said she did not know what she was going to say to her children tonight about their country's future as a democracy. if prime minister benjamin netanyahu were with us, he would say that this bill is necessary to curb the hour of unelected supreme court judges, who he says, are standing in the way of his government delivering the platform it was elected on. and all 64 members, andrea, of that right-wing religious government voted for the bill. but opposition lawmakers stormed out of the knesset chamber. they did not take part in the vote. so the ultimate vote was 64 to zero. but andrea, the scale of the opposition, i don't think should be measured in parliamentary votes or how many people are here on the streets. major israeli businesses have also shut their doors in protest. and as you said, thousands of military reservists said they will not show up for duty because they signed up to serve

the reserve of a democratic country. some who showed up were from the same unit that netanyahu and his younger brother served in. they say they cannot believe the course that their fellow veteran is taking the country on. and the prime minister also ignoring a call from president biden who pleaded last night, in quite an unusual state on the eve of the vote for netanyahu to pause this legislation saying it looks like the current judicial reform proposal is becoming more divisive, not less. given the range of threats and challenges confronting israel right now, it doesn't make sense for israeli leaders to rush this. and yet, netanyahu rushing this anyway, pushing this through the parliament. earlier today, 64 to zero. andrea, real questions about what this means for palestinians in the occupied west bank, for women, for the lgbtq community here in israeli.

and also for the future of the u.s./israeli relationship. andrea. >> raf, thank you so very much. that tees us up wonderfully for the ambassador from israel. and it was martin who led the promising, at least, peace talks with the israeli prime minister back in 2014. it's been that long. it's so good to see you again, ambassador. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> it's a difficult time for friends of israel, including president biden. we just updated a statement, with what came from the white house, martin, which it says, as a life long friend of israel, president biden has publicly and privately expressed his views that major changes in democracy to be enduring must have as

broad consensus as possible. it's unfortunate that the vote took place with the slimmest of majority. and to form a compromise with the knesset. the united states will continue the support the evidence of president herzog and other israeli leaders, as they seek to build a broader consensus through political dialogue. emphasis was on, of course, president herzog was here just last week for a visit to the oval office. and meeting, a joint meeting in congress, a speech which i'm told was deeply upsetting to netanyahu that still has not been formally invited. and it was discussed in a phone call that they would meet on the outskirts probably the u.n., general assembly of new york, but not a white house visit. with all of that said, in your

great experience, martin indyk, where do we go next? >> well, in history, 75 years on, countries have never experienced such division. and because the legislation is now passed, that division is getting greater. it's not going to go away. there's been a long list of other legislation that the government has in line to complete its judicial coup and to undermine the independence of the judiciary. and the knesset, however, will go into recess, for the next, a couple months. and so there will be polls at least in the legislative agenda. and as president biden said, it's hoping to use that time to try to forge a new consensus. i doubt that president herzog has not been able to play his

role to any good effect, unfortunately, not for want of trying, and i doubt that the sides both dug in now and the opposition is even more determined to start the next step in the legislation. that it will be possible to reach a compromise. so i think we're in uncharted territory, and inevitably, it will affect the relationship with the united states. >> do you think that we be we should be revisiting something that would be very politically explosive back here, with donald trump and most of the other republican candidates, ultimately in bibi netanyahu's camp? which would mean revisiting the administration by which israel, since the camp david accords of 1979, gets more military aid

than any other country? >> i actually doubt so. what i think part of this is, is recalling for reconsideration of israel's dependence on american military assistance. my view is that's something that israel should do for its own good, for its own independence, and for its own ability to stand on its own two feets. the u.s. assistance is large by comparison to what we give to other countries, except, of course, to ukraine. minimis whe comes to israel's gdp. so i think israel will be well off to basically do this. but assistance to israel is a holy cow in american politics that i don't believe president biden would want to touch it.

where the strains in the relationship will show, is, first of all, in continuing to keep distance from prime minister netanyahu, maybe there will be a drive-by date at the u.n. general assembly, but i don't think he's going to be welcome anytime soon since he's repeatedly ignored the gentle efforts by president biden to get him to pause the legislation. it was, after all, not a big ask on the president's part. i think rather than touching israel's security assistance which is important for dealing with the adversaries, we could see a waning in american diplomatic and political support for israel in international forums and elsewhere because the satellite government is questioning the very values, democratic value, on which the relationship depends. >> martin indyk, ambassador, as

i said, great to see you and have your experience on the program. >> thank you, andrea. >> thanks so much. >> thank. and the heat wave has record-breaking triple digit temperatures. what that is for the planet and us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. add-on tre atr severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

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of extremes with one unprecedented weather event after another. record heat within the nation from california to florida. phoenix today is going to be hit with 25 straight days of highs above 110, a trend likely to persist throughout the week. tucson could tie its record of 39 consecutive days of 100-plus degree temperatures. the heat index in miami continuously topping 100 degrees. that could hit 114 degrees today. all cities are regularly reporting their hottest julys ever. 29 million people today across 11 states are under heat alerts. if that weren't enough, wildfires are tripping across the midwest. and overseas, 19,000 people have been forced off the greek island of rhodes because of wildfires. joining me is michael mann, professor of environmental science at university of pennsylvania. he's also a director at penn

center for science and he's author of the upcoming book "our fragile moment." michael, this is not just el nino, as some are saying, this summer warming is right in line with what climate scientists have been predicting for years. but you say the impacts are far exceeding the predictions. what's the difference between the prediction and impact? >> yeah, andrea, good to be with you. what we're seeing is kind of a perfect storm. there's a little extra juice because of el nino event in the global pacific that elevates temperatures a little bit but that's on top of the tide of global pollution and fossil fuels. and those two things are now combining to give us truly unprecedented extreme weather events. not just the heat domes, heat waves, the wildfires, the floods, the superstorms.

this is climate change. it's not off in the future. it's here. and we need to determine what we're going to do about it. >> well, when it comes to the politics, you know, you already have red states backing off of the president's legislation, you have gridlock with secretary kerry coming back from china. and china saying thanks, but no thanks, we'll do it our own way, and refusing to shut down coal-fired plant which is make it very difficult for any kind of success between now and november, with cop28, the global summit in abu dhabi. >> yeah, there's no question, you laid it out there. we have a challenge in front of us. we haven't seen the level action that's necessary. we've got an uphill climb. we've got to lower carbon emissions by 50% this decade. obviously, that's going to take leadership in the united states. elections have consequences, if voters want to see meaningful

climate action. they're going to have to vote in, in the next election, politicians willing to act on global climate. not politicians who too often to pay into and acting in their own interests. >> we've seen more oppressive heat waves, days and days on end, is that the burning of fossil fuels and wildfires? >> yeah, it's not rocket science, andrea. you warm up the planet, you're going to get more intense heat waves. you warm up the ground, you dry the soils. worse drought and wildfires like we've seen. of course, warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, so when it does rain, you get more flooding events. there's one extra ingredient. that's the way the jet stream is changing. and we're increasingly understanding that the warming of the planet, the pattern is actually changing the jet

stream. it's giving us more of these stuck weather patterns that are associated with the heat domes, the floods that we're seeing right now. so, this will all only get worse if we continue down this road. the good news, we can prevent it from getting worse if we see the action is necessary. >> it's funny you should say that. i was just going to ask you about it, someone showed me a graphic this morning. i was asking about the jet stream. we get back from l.a. faster than we otherwise would have. it's not a continuous thing. it's now this big bump which is capturing the heat. is that a very unsophisticated way of explaining it? >> that would get an a-plus in my class at penn, andrea. >> by the way, i got no a-pluses while i was there. >> you know, you get these high pressure systems that get stuck in place, those are the heat domes. and the heat -- you know, the jet stream gets more wavy. and when it's more wavy, you have big high pressures.

those are heat domes. you have big low pressures, those are the floods. the low pressure systems that produce all of that flooding. the wavier, jet streams, more it gets and fingerprint of global warming all over it. >> professor mann, thank you very much. >> appreciate it. what is the u.s. saying about the soldier who bolted krs the most heavily guarded border? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." rts. unbearable itch. this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks. it could make your workday feel impossible. the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older,

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welcome back. there were hopes earlier today that there been a breakthrough in communications in the case involving that u.s. soldier detained in north korea. it was reported incredibly from the u.n. general that was in charge in the demilitarized zone. the first time pyongyang has been discussing the case that travis king who, of course, crossed north korea last week. the deputy commander of the u.n. addressed the status of communications at a media briefing in seoul, south korea. let's see what he had to say. >> the first is the primary concern for us is private king's welfare. and a conversation has commenced with the kpa through the

mechanisms of the armistice agreement. and i wouldn't say anything that could prejudice that process. >> and joining me now from seoul is msnbc's matt bradley up all night with this. matt, i just this moment, got a clarification that a senior administration official says this was not a fresh communication, after all. this was miscommunication on the part of the u.n. general. this was the initial communication last week that was all reported that pyongyang acknowledged, yes, we have travis king. or the west, or the swedish or the diplomats trying to reach through or anyone else. so that puts us back to square one, frankly, if washington is

correct about this. matt. >> reporter: yeah, i mean if washington is correct about this, i mean, you heard from the general, you know, it was an interesting little tidbit there. he used the word "conversation" which does imply that there was give or take. he didn't walk back those comments, listening to what you just said, andrea, he did not walk back the comments and used the word "conversation" does say there is a breakthrough. but you're right, the initial tweet that the u.n. command sent back when travis king first started crossing the border or he's referring to ongoing dialogue that's happening between the two. so, this is something that's is kind of confusing, i don't know if we're left back in square one, as you just mentioned. but there could be some kind of daylight here and i don't know whether the united states' government is necessarily in a position to know, this is a british general, he worked in the united nations command. gut, again, lots of confusion

but it does look like maybe there's a hint of breakthrough here. andrea. >> thanks so much, matt bradley, we appreciate it. and criminal intent. former vice president mike pence said he is not 100% sure that donald trump's actions january 6 were victim. of course, he's a rival to donald trump in this year's campaign. we'll have more on that and a lot more coming up, next. ( ♪♪ ) can't stop adding stuff to your cart? get the bank of america customized cash rewards card, choose the online shopping category and earn 3% cash back. hey bud. wow. what's all this? hawaii was too expensive so i brought it here. you know with priceline you could actually take that trip for less than all this. i made a horrible mistake. ♪ go to your happy price ♪ ♪ priceline ♪

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governor ron desantis is looking for a reboot in his bid for the presidency for the republican nomination. according to "the new york times," desantis advisers are promising allies a quote, leaner, meaner, desantis campaign due to layoffs reported by nbc news. the "times" is noting that the governor and his wife prefer to travel by private planes which adds significant costs. campaign filings, in it, the quarterly filing shows $175,000 in chartered plane costs, 148,000 in spending labeled travel. one solution, spending more time in iowa. the first contest which comes just six months. the governor is three points behind mr. trump in a new fox business poll iowa caucusgoers.

and five points behind jim scott of south carolina. the "financial times" reporting billionaires are rebacking their concerns over desantis' concerns that he's geared too far right. joining us, tim miller, a former communications director to jeb bush in 2016, and "usa today" susan paige. . eugene robinson. and what do they need to do to reimagine it and he was considered the trump alternative? >> he was. and with the elevator pitch last christmas after the midterms, saying i can be aware. i needs a maga policy, if you want, but actually effective in putting them through. that was a compelling elevator pitch for republican primary voters. but the devil has been in the details for them.

and going to trump's right on the cultural issues and just pussyfoot around trump on the electability questions, on the questions of his legal challenges that he's going to face next year. that argument has been deflated, right? and if the republican primary voters, if they're looking at somebody and they're like i'm going to run to trump's right on cultural issues, not demonstrate that i can stand up to him on electability matters, on legal matters who is that primary for? it's very reminisce center of the ted cruz campaign for 2016 which obviously had fallen well short. >> and yamiche, you saw conflicting, if you will, governor desantis as his curriculum changes, he's not responsible for the specific enactment of the changes he and

vice president harris clashing in a major way last week how african american studies in slavery basically is taught in florida's public schools. the new standards from florida's board of education includes language about how, quote, slaves develop skills which is some in instances could be applied for their personal benefit, closed quote. i want to play the back and forthright now. >> adults know what slavery really involved. it involved rape. it involved torture. how is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities, that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization? >> i thought it was absolutely ridiculous. it's totally outrageous. these are the most robust standards in african american history, probably anywhere in the country. she's going to come down to the

state of florida and try to chirp and demagogue. you should talk to them about it. i didn't do it, some of the folks that eventually parlayed, you know, being a black smith into doing things later in life. >> eugene, "the washington post" editorial board says today that desantis is trying to whitewash slavery. what do you say? >> andrea, i spent the morning going through those educational standards of teaching african american hist another schools. i understand, yes, desantis didn't write them, but he defended them, his board of education with them. and my conclusion is that vice president harris and our editorial board are right here. because not only in that passage, but in other passages as well, these standards seem, to me, to be attempting to sort of contextualize america

slavery in the wrong context. to normalize it. really, saying other people at other times had slavery. and they don't in my estimation, adequately explain the unique horror that was american americl slavery. it was unique in the history of the world. the manner in which it was done, the scale on which it was practiced, the brutality, the hereditary nature of slavery, the racial nature of slavery here, this is a unique horror. my rule in writing columns has been never compare anything to the holocaust, and never compare anything to american slavery because they were both unique horrors. these standards break that rule. >> susan page, mike pence, another one of the candidates who is well behind desantis,

well behind certainly as tim scott has moved into second place in iowa has yet to meet the 40,000 donor threshold to get on the stage. he was asked about the january 6th insurrection on cnn this weekend and about another potential indictment of donald trump. this is the man, of course, whose life and his family's lives were threatened by the riot. here is what he said. >> the president's words were reckless that day. i had no right to overturn the election. while his words were reckless, based on what i know, i'm not yet convinced that they were criminal. i do think the department of justice has lost the confidence of the american people. >> susan, of course, that was with my friend dana bash. let's talk about this. mike pence can't force himself

to criticize donald trump on these issues. he's been critical of trump in his book in other ways, but in this campaign he seems to be trying to find excuses for it. >> i think this is a needle that just cannot be threaded. you're either running as a partner, somebody who respects donald trump, although maybe he made a little mistake, or you're the vice president that he put in such peril that his life was in danger. i think aside of how difficult this is for pence, as you mentioned, he hasn't reached the number of donors to get on the debate stage next month. if mike pence doesn't make that debate stage, it's unlikely he'll make it to the iowa caucuses which is likely his best electorate that he'll face in those early connest ts. >> sabrina saddiqui, let's talk about new detailed reporting from nbc news about how the campaign and the white house

staff is adjusting to the, quote, age issue, principally since a notable trip on the commencement stage at the annapolis naval academy. let's watch the tape here. they're using a shorter staircase more often than the longer staircase when he boards air force one. they've broken it down. it's much more frequently and not just when there's a weather reason to do it. also being self-deprecating about his age, as ronald reagan perfected the art. what are you observing? >> i think the biden campaign and the white house know there's a lot of focus on the president's age. it's a vulnerability and they're trying to make adjustments and avoid vulnerable moments where he might fall or there will be focus on whether or not his physical well-being -- i think

that the challenge for president biden has been -- you look at the center fees of his re-election campaign, focus on his economy, on his accomplishments, some is being overshadowed by the concerns around his age. i've heard from voters, independents who voted for him in 2020. there is this disconnect because the labor market is strong, added 1.5 million jobs this year alone, consumer confidence is high, the housing market is stabilizing. you're seeing him go across the country touting the implementation of his bills and inflation at its lowest point in over two years, yet president biden's approval ratings are still fairly low. you see even disapproval in some of the surveys around his handling of the economy. so i think some of it is this conversation around his age, and that's something the campaign i think is now trying to address more head-on. they also see it as all the more reason why you'll see the president travel across the country really trying to place

more emphasis on what his administration has delivered in this first term and make this case around biden economics, again, as he seeks a second term in the white house and trying to kind of cast the age issue as more of a distraction and something for him to embrace more with a sense of humor and, also, i think, try to redefine as a source of his experience here in washington. >> sabrina saddiqui, tim miller, susan page and eugene robinson, thank you so much for a great panel. coming up, the border battle. the controversial floating wall in the rio grande is the subject of the latest showdown between the federal government and the governor of texas. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports. this is msnbc. it's your business. it's your verizon.

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according to the justice department the state of texas has one more hour to commit to removing those controversial thousand foot-long buoys, the wall of buoys on the rio grande or the biden administration says lit go to court. the justice department saying the barrier violates federal law, raises humanitarian concerns and threatens public safety. governor greg abbott refuses to back down, sending a letter to the white house reading "we will see you in court, mr. president." here with me now is homeland security reporter julia ainsley who has been down there so often

and knows exactly what the lay of the land is and how troubling this is for the migrants, many of whom have the legal right to apply for asylum. >> sure, to come here and claim asylum and see whether or not they're eligible. there are new restrictions on that as well. it's an incredibly dangerous area. there were already over 300 drownings in a single year. these bowies make it harder. they're very large, they spin if you get on them. in between the buoys there are sharp objects. we heard about a father who said he got cut pulling his 15-year-old off a barrel that was wrapped in wire. these are things that texas state troopers have called inhumane. texas governor greg abbott sees this as his moment, that he spent billions of taxpayer money on is going to come up against the biden administration. we have to point out really what

texas is able to do here is a drop in the bucket. they may be able to intervene 1% of the total migrants that border patrol would intervene. the fallout is a lot of people getting hurt. border patrol saying it's actually making it harder for them to do their job, andrea. we might see this go all the way to court. >> really, really tough issue. thank you so much, julia. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc in new york city. bad judgment, reckless words. just some of the new justifications for donald trump's actions on january 6th. not from his lawyers but from his republican opponents. with a third indictment possible this week, will the loyal base start to wonder if he can win. furious