you, thanks for being with us. you have a good, safe weekend. stay indoors if you can in air-conditioning. drink, watch for signs of heat stroke. it is very, very dangerous. and that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show online, on fake and on twitter @mitch@mitchellreports,s jansing reports" starts right now. good afternoon, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. devastating new details and a scrupulous time line. today the new charges against donald trump bring to mind an axiom from watergate, if the crime doesn't get you, the cover-up will. the superseding indictment in the special counsel's documents case alleges a cover-up scheme involving trump and his co-defendants to avoid turning over video that had been subpoenaed by prosecutors. it's a story of last minute

changes to travel plans, flashlights and tunnels, orders from the boss to delete a server and a haunting question from one person caught up in the alleged plan, what are we going to do? all allegations not proven and just hours ago, trump defiant made it clear that nothing will pull him away from his presidential bid. >> if -- if going forward, right, you get these indictments. there ends up -- you got a jury if in d.c., you get convicted and sentenced, does that stop your campaign for president? if you're sentenced. >> not at all. there's nothing in the constitution to say that it could and not at all. >> and with almost all of his republican primary rivals gathering at a major event in iowa tonight, will any of them seize the opportunity to go after the front runner? one candidate is already taking a swing. also this hour, raging

storms through dramatic video in the skies over connecticut and high winds in massachusetts, lashing placing already sweltering from dangerous heat. more than 150 million people now under extreme weather watches. but we begin with 40. that's the total number of federal charges that have now been filed against donald trump, the latest accusation in a superseding indictment alleges trump attempted to, quote, alter, destroy, mutilate or conceal evidence, and adds a third defendant to the documents case, maintenance worker carlos deole vary ra in addition to walt nauta. the indictment reads like a spy novel describing how the two men walked through a dark tunnel with a flashlight to the room where boxes of classified documents were watched by security cameras. within a few days de oliveira told another employee that the boss wanted security footage from the room deleted. that stunning news on the same

day trump met with prosecutors over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. for trump, today it's more candidate than defendant as he continues to hit the campaign trail. nbc's garrett haake follows the trump campaign and is outside the d.c. courthouse for us, or actually he looks like he is not. nbc justice correspondent ken dilanian and former federal prosecutor shan wu with me here in studio, and former brooklyn prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst charles coleman. ken, let me start with all of this stuff, meetings behind bushels, tunnels with flashlights. talk about who this third co-defendant is and what else stands out to you in this superseing indictment? >> it's a remarkable new dimension to this case, chris. carlos de oliveira is described as the property manager at mar-a-lago. what prosecutors are alleging here is that further conspiracy to obstruct justice. they say that just three days after donald trump got a subpoena demanding video

surveillance footage, his co-defendant and butler walt nauta went down on an unscheduled trip to mar-a-lago, met with de oliveira and discussed destroying that footage and others heard him saying the boss wanted the server deleted, which sounds like something out of a mob movie, not just a spy movie. now, what's not clear in this superseing indictment is whether the government has any evidence that any of that footage actually was destroyed, and the other thing that's missing from this is any direct recounting of a conversation with donald trump because de oliveira is the one who spoke to trump. nauta also spoke to trump. both of those men are defendants, they're not cooperating. a lot of employees at mar-a-lago have testified about this. they've gotten text messages. so look, even if people don't understand the classified documents portion of this case, i think everyone american can understand hiding and trying to destroy evidence when the government is investigating you.

we all know that's a crime. it's very clear. the other deeply significant thing about this indictment, this superseding indictment is that it makes clear that the government has possession of that classified document drake military options for iran, potentially attacking iran that donald trump allegedly was waving around at a meeting with some authors who were working on a book about mark meadows where he was trying to refute some allegations by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. trump said that document doesn't exist. well, the government now says they have had it since january 2022, chris. >> charles, you told many i colleague stephanie ruhle, jack smith is giving a master class in what it is to take away a defendant's defense before they've even opened their mouth. what do you make of the new information in this superseding indictment? >> he's making it harder and harder for them to come out and advance any of the narratives that they've tried to previously. first, it was he had the

authority to declassify these documents on his own. he could declassify them just by thinking about them. well, when you're now caught basically trying to eliminate or erase videotape and moving documents almost as if you're playing some sort of three-card monte with the federal government, all of that undercuts the idea you had a right to have them in the first place. all of these things are putting donald trump's defense team in a very, very difficult place because of how much talking he's done before and what he's already said. now that more evidence is coming out and that we have more cooperating witnesses, which is, by the way, littered throughout this superseding indictment, the evidence of cooperating witnesses being there is something that we haven't necessarily seen as much, and it's coming out more and more. now that you're seeing all that, it really undercuts all of their defense's theories. >> let me pick up on that, shan. one of the things that we've heard from voters out on the

campaign trail, people who were defending donald trump is, you know it's just papers, right? and i wonder if you see it the way charles does and frankly the way ken sees it as well. he's building a story that any american can understand. >> absolutely. i agree with both charles and ken. to a jury, they're going to think, hey, you're not going to try to destroy evidence that helps you. it's only going to be evidence that proves your guilty that you're interested in getting rid of. atmospherically that's a big help in making it understandable to the jury. also, from an evidentiary standpoint, it's very helpful that they have that classified document relating to iran because not only does it make trump out to be a liar because he claimed he didn't have it, but they can now more easily get in the audiotape from bedminster. before that there'd be some

arguments from his lawyers saying that's inadmissible, i think even judge aileen cannon might have a hard time keeping that out. >> own a larger level there's a bigger piece of this people may not necessarily be seeing. when you step back and start to look at how these things are compiling one after the other. you have to realize jack smith doesn't need this many bites at the apple to get a conviction. so more and more you're seeing how few options donald trump has. attorneys met in d.c. can the department of justice trying to make their last plea around a january 6th indictment and avoiding that. even with this superseding indictment, you're starting to see the web and the network and the existence of these cooperators and just how deep the evidence that jack smith has goes. if you're donald trump, you have to be concerned because it's uncanny that the conviction rate that the doj has, but when you give them multiple opportunity, they're not going to miss this much. it's one of those things you're saying to yourself and your

attorneys, maybe we can try and fight this one or beat this one. you're never going to be able to beat the department of justice this many times. >> shan, here's another possibility here. the indictment details how another employee assured nauta that de oliveira was loyal, would not do anything to affect his relationship with trump who allegedly said he would get de oliveira an attorney. with two co-defendants now. >> not in these circumstances. i think the time for them to flip if they have good defense counsel, it's like musical chairs, you don't want to be the last person standing when the music stops. the music stopping is the indictment. the time to cooperate would have been before they're indicted. the fact that they haven't cooperate. the fact that there's such strong evidence against de oliveira and he didn't plead shows they're in there for the long haul with trump. normally, i totally agree with

charles, it's building a very strong case against trump. normally a defendant faced in this situation, there's another indictment looming. they just superseded this one. they added a charge. that's a pretty ripe time to try to discuss a deal. it's not going to happen with trump because for him his legal strategy and his campaign strategy are now one and the same. and the financing for his legal strategy, his defense is also one and the same with his campaign. so unlike most defendants, he's not doing the calculus that a reasonable defendant would do. it's a very unusual situation. >> which is the perfect segue to garrett. garrett, what's happening behind the scenes in trump world? what are you hearing in terms of reaction? >> reporter: that analysis is exactly right. the trump campaign is never one to let a political or legal challenge prevent them from seizing a political opportunity. they've already sent out fund-raising emails on this point saying that once again, the former president's being targeted, they argue, for purely political reasons because he's the leading candidate in a

republican primary, and they're asking their supporters to donate to his defense both legally and politically. you can see one of these fund-raising emails on your screen just now. it's been a pretty steady stream of similar sounding emails over the last couple days. now they're once again focused on the documents case. the former president was on the radio today trying to make the case this is an effort to do exactly as our other panelists were suggesting here. target those who work for him as a way to get to him. here's what he had to say this morning sfwlchlt they went after two fine employees yesterday, fine people. and i don't think they think that the tapes were even changed. these were my tapes that we gave to them. and they basically then say that's not enough. we don't -- i don't think we would have to give it. i'm not sure we even would have had to give it. these are security tapes. we handed them over to them, i doubt we would have -- if we wanted to fight, that i doubt we would have had to give it.

regardless, we gave it. >> they gave it pursuant to a subpoena, which is kind of how this whole thing got kicked off, if you look at the time line. it was very clear that the fbi was interested in finding these tapes. that set off a series of conversations that led to the haphazard effort to try to get them deleted. i should point out we know that at least some of this video survived this effort because it shows up in the fbi's affidavit for what became the big search of mar-a-lago that brought this story into public view. walt nauta on tape going in and out of the storage room carrying boxes. >> so shan, all of that happening while we're still waiting to see if there will be a third potential indictment tied to jack smith's election interference case. trump's team met with the special counsel's office yesterday. does that meeting tell us anything about the possible timing? >> that meeting will tend to happen pretty close to the end of when the indictment's going to come out. last time i predicted totally erroneously it was not going to come out for a couple of weeks, so i'm not going to hazard a

guess. that kind of last ditch effort to appeal to hold off is what happens when it's very close to the indictment. >> in your experience, does that ever really work? if somebody's been working on a case, especially with the amount that we've already seen, the kind of stuff that he's able to bring together and that we anticipate might be an indictment, is there any chance that trump's lawyers were able to go in there and make a case, even against potentially, again, we don't know what's going on a single count? >> very unlikely. those conversations tend to be happening much earlier and sometimes very early in the process you might be able to slightly change the trajectory. by the time you're going in because they said indictment's imminent and you're trying to do a last ditch effort, that's really just to slightly delay and maybe you're posturing for your client. the chances of that succeeding are very low. >> shan wu, garrett haake, ken dilanian, charles coleman, thank you all so much. later in the show, we're going to get into how the

escalations in trump's legal battle are playing out for 2024 as republican candidates right now are gathering in iowa. but first, just when you think it has to be ending, high temperature records shattered again in parts of the u.s. today, more than 150 million people under weather warnings. we're back in 60 seconds. 're bas (mom) the moment i loved our subaru outback most... was the moment they walked away from it. (daughter) mom! (mom) oh, thank goodness. and that's why our family will only drive a subaru. (vo) subaru. more iihs top safety pick plus awards than any other brand. love. it's what makes subaru, subaru. (vo) crabfest is back at red lobster. when you can choose your crab, and one of three new flavors like honey sriracha... ...this is not your grandpa's crabfest... ...unless grandpa's got flavor. dayumm!

crabfest is here for a limited time. welcome to fun dining. (vo) verizon small business days are coming. from august 7th to the 13th. now is the time to partner with our experts. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. today could be the hottest day of the year in the northeast. deadly heat that has scorched the south all summer long, 156 million people from burbank to kansas to philly, currently on alert for stifling temperatures and humidity. in phoenix, medical examiners say they have been overwhelmed with heat-related deaths after another record was broken for the city's longest stretch of days above 115 degrees. and severe storms are threatening more than 50 million americans through tomorrow night. we've already seen massive clouds, hail, torrential rain

knocking out power to almost 100 million people, wreaking havoc in the midwest entirely uprooting trees across this neighborhood in detroit. and then there's this surreal video of a sandblast in ohio. wind gusts whipping up a storm at a beach. george solis, at least you're by the pool, but i'm sure it's not feeling great out there. what resources are in place to keep people safe? these are dangerous conditions, george. >> reporter: that's right, chris, not just uncomfortable but deadly. yesterday we had the benefit of a little cloud cover here in philadelphia. if i wasn't micced up i would be jumping in the pool with all of these children trying to cool off. may do that this afternoon. the city of philadelphia has everything in place right now to make sure people say safe. they have a heat advisory in effect right now, which means

there are pools open. there are spray grounds open, cooling centers made available to people. there are a number of people at agencies just responding to anything that they can to make sure people don't succumb to this heat. one of the things that the city is advising people to do is of course limit their time outdoors and avoid direct exposure, if you're not in a body of water, making sure you wear that loose clothing and of course making sure you stay hydrated. we got done speaking with the parks and rec department about their pool safety. turns out there was a pretty big lifeguard shortage earlier in the season. the city says they now have all lifeguards in place at their 50 or so pools. the goal is to have all 60 pools in the city open by the end of the summer. they were able to raise some money to make sure these lifeguards got a bonus for the first time ever. so a lot of incentives to make sure they are fully and adequately staffed when conditions are this brutal. we're told a few days ago this pool had a huge line around it of people trying to get inside because of the intense heat.

the pool is slowly starting to fill up, chris. this heat is absolutely no joke. the heat indices in the triple digits. so it is not something you should be fooling around with by any stretch, and our team here of course doing their part to make sure we also stay safe because, again, it is brutal out here, chris. >> you take care, george, and i hope you actually do get to take a dip in that pool. thank you for your report. up next, a big night in iowa for republicans running for president. will new charges against trump mean a new strategy for his opponents, or will trump ignore his opponents and battle the special counsel instead? plus, we're watching for the biggest military justice overhaul since the code of military justice was created in the '50s. on "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. "chris jansing report on msnbc now is the time to partner with our experts. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon.

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the superseding indictment and the three serious new charges against donald trump have put the former president in fighting mode, defiantly promising on a radio show today to keep campaigning even if convicted, and campaigning he is with two events in iowa tonight and a rally tomorrow in erie, pennsylvania. the question for the other 12 candidates speaking tonight at the lincoln dinner in iowa is whether those detailed new accusations put them into fight mode. will the former president continue to dominate, or could it be as former white house

communications director asks, a possible turning point. >> their big lincoln dinner, that's all happening in iowa. trump will be there, desantis will be there, most of the candidates are going to be there. this is the moment if you're going to try to start make an argument, a real argument against him. >> nbc us vaughn hillyard is nearby former president trump's bedminster golf club. also with me former white house press secretary under president obama and msnbc political analyst, robert gibbs. vaughn, there was a famous commercial back in the '80s and it had the tag line never let them see you sweat. if trump is sweating the superseding indictment, he doesn't want to show it. what do we expect to hear from him today, tonight, tomorrow? >> reporter: well, it's funny, chris, because actually in that very same deodorant add there's also a line about never giving a heckler the last word. tonight the iowa republican party is doing just that. donald trump has the final time slot after the other slew of republican candidates are going

to be taking to that dinner. if anybody comes on the attack, notably asa hutchinson is the anti-trump candidate, if you will, who will be appearing at that dinner tonight and speaking before trump, you can expect the for former president to go on the attack. over the course of the last 12 hours his social media account has been littered with defenses and attacks. one just within the last hour calling jack smith deranged saying that he is the one who ought to be thrown in prison. i think it's important to note that right now donald trump's presidential candidacy in 2024 is so intrinsically tied to his legal defenses. his potential freedom is on the line against these federal charges. look at the fund raising emails that go out, 90% if you go on and click on one of those fund-raising emails and click to donate, 90% of your donation will go to the trump 2024 campaign, but the other 10% goes

to the save america leadership pac. that pac has been paying over the course of the last year, not only donald trump's legal bills but also been going to law firms representing multiple trump allies including the two co-defendants as part of this superseding indictment that came down last night. so folks that are donating, it's not only going to the campaign, but it's also going to the legal defense for donald trump. that is white the stakes of tonight are so important to rattle and to galvanize that support of republican voters around him. >> so robert, one fellow republican candidate will hurd is at least, i guess, trying to seize the moment. he says donald trump is running for president in order for him to stay out of jail, but does jen palmieri have a point, if ever somebody was going to make a move, this is the time. do it now? >> yeah, absolutely. i thought when you were talking about that great '80s commercial, i thought you were talking about that great ad about where's the beef, and i think for the other candidates tonight you're going to be asking where's the beef?

what are you -- what are you going to outline? what are you going to say? what is your case and your message to be the nominee? because we know a few things, there's a little bit more than 24 weeks left on the calendar before iowa, and while your head tells you that sounds like a lot, these are big moments. this group of activists are going to come together, they're going to talk to their friends and family afterwards. they're going to communicate around their network, so this is a big moment to start that momentum piece, but look, we all know this, if you look at the polls, regardless of what's happened inside of courtrooms or grand juries, donald trump's stronger now than he was six months ago, and so that means somebody's going to have to go through donald trump in order to be the nominee and that's got to start with tonight. you've got to start outlining a case about why it is you and not him if you're running to try and beat him. >> the most vociferous trump critic among the republicans is

chris christie and he's not even in iowa tonight. he's focusing his hopes on new hampshire. if there's any candidate who might roll the dice, take a shot, and actually make it matter, who might that be? >> well, i don't know that -- i would separate them into two different areas. i think you'll see an asa hutchinson or a will hurd who are long shots at best to be the nominee try to go at it that way. i'm more interested in seeing what does a desantis, what does a tim scott, what do they say about why me and not him? and look, some of it may be subtle. you don't have to walk up on that stage and go kind of fully frontal at donald trump and attack him, but you do have to set up a series of arguments in which lay out questions that you're the answer and he's not. and these are going to be big moments for that. i look at the campaigns and the

candidates that look like they'll have a chance and they're building momentum here. i'll also look for the reaction about somebody like mike pence, normally this would be his crowd. social conservatives dominate for republicans. we've seen him booed at some of these events and out on the trail, and it will be interesting to see what his message is tonight and how each of them look to make themselves a bit different than the person who right now is not just dominating this race, but dominating every single republican news cycle. >> i would make the argument on a typical summer weekend if it's beautiful out, maybe not a lot of people are going to be paying attention. there may be more people staying home and watching tv. if you get that clip that all the cable tv stations play over and over and over again, vaughn, that definitely might be to your advantage. i'm wondering from where you're standing, is there someone, anyone in this field that makes team trump more nervous than

others? >> reporter: i think it's a good question. right now they have never shown really having fear of anybody, even ron desantis' campaign, and i think through these last weeks they've only lended more credibility to their lack of fear of what his campaign and particularly the candidate is able to offer. i think nikki haley remains a particularly interesting individual because while they have -- donald trump has offered praise for the likes of tim scott, calling him a good man, kind of views him in the way of a potential vice presidentable candidate, vivek ramaswamy has not gone on the attack. nikki haley remains that one variable among this field that is above 5% who if on a debate stage could land some punches and has some credibility behind her having served in the administration because donald trump chose her to serve as the u.n. ambassador, and so for nikki haley, she hasn't had the chance to go in a head-to-head

matchup with trump in that debate stage august 23rd, less than a month from now would be that opportunity for her to turn to donors and say ron desantis is not cutting it. tim scott doesn't have interest in being the nominee, and i am the alternative at this point as robert just laid out. nikki haley could be that alternative. >> is a night like tonight when you might test reason some lines that you might to want use in a debate or --? yeah? >> absolutely i'd be surprised if they haven't been testing lines out both with staff, out on the stump and getting reaction from activists. we did this all the time. i'm going to be fascinated, let's watch ron desantis, we've spent maybe two weeks talking about this reset that's happening. i think most people that have heard him out on the stump haven't heard a lot that's

different. tonight's a great time to open up a whole new speech, to open up a whole new line of introducing yourself and talking about what you're going to do in a way that's different than the way people have been seeing this. remember, in iowa politics is a serious sport, right? and these are activists who are going to see these candidates five, six, seven, eight times, sometimes longer, more than that before they make up their mind. they've heard a lot of these lines. is there something new from a ron desantis or other candidates? >> robert gibbs, vaughn hillyard, thanks, guys, appreciate it. those moments of confusion sparking more serious discussions about age and term limits. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. ching "cg reports" only on msnbc s are coming. from august 7th to the 13th. now is the time to partner with our experts. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. tide is busting laundry's biggest myth... that cold water can't clean.

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today there are growing questions and concerns, and they boil down to a simple question. how old is too told to serve? following two moments this week involving 81-year-old mitch mcconnell and 90-year-old senator dianne feinstein. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: republicans standing by mitch mcconnell. >> mitch is strong. he's stubborn as a mule. >> reporter: but concern remaining after the senate minority leader froze for nearly 20 seconds wednesday before being led away from the cameras. later the 81-year-old brushing off health concerns and back on the senate floor. meanwhile, democrat senator dianne feinstein who at 90 is

the oldest member of congress appearing confused in a committee meeting thursday interrupted after she began to make a speech when she was only supposed to say aye or nay on a bill. >> it funds priorities submitted -- >> yeah, just say aye. >> okay. just -- aye. >> reporter: feinstein's office saying the morning was chaotic and that the senator was preoccupied. feinstein has faced scrutiny since returning from a two-month medical leave for shingles. both she and mcconnell are among the nearly half of u.s. senators at or above 67, the retirement age for most americans. with the 2024 campaign ramping up, age is an issue that could increasingly play a role in how americans vote. president biden is 80, the gop front runner former president trump is 77. a recent nbc news poll found compared to 2020, voters are increasingly concerned about either of them having the necessary physical and mental health to hold office.

more than half for mr. trump and more than two-thirds for mr. biden who recently joked about his senior status. >> i know i'm 198 years old. >> reporter: but after tripping and falling over a sandbag last month and falling several times climbing the stairs to board air force one, the president has started using a shorter staircase more frequently, a sign of just how important optics can be for voters. >> i'm 84, so i know what age means. >> 84. do you think a president should be 84 years old? >> no, no, no. >> it would be nice to have a choice that is not an octogenarian. >> isn't there something to be said, though, for experience is and wisdom? >> yeah, but when you're not cognitive, what good is that. >> reporter: gabe gutierrez nbc news. >> joining me now co-anchor of pbs news hour and msnbc political contributor geoff bennett, always good to see you my friend. the average age in the senate is nearly 65. the house it's 58.

senator mcconnell said he has no intention of stepping down. he plans to serve his full term. but what's the buzz around d.c.? look, they're aware of how voters feel about aging people who are in public service. >> yeah, and chris, first of all, it's great to see you, but there have always been these persistent questions about the gerentocracy that runs washington politics. i think it's notable how they quickly tried to brush off questions about his health concerns, political standing because senator mcconnell has never really entertained questions about or challenges to his leadership, and he has never been willing to show any signs of weakness. he at 81 years old is the longest serving senate party leader of all time. his grip on power has been durable. it has withstood changes in the white house. it has withstood a barrage of attacks from donald trump, and

he has something of an insurance policy in that his three deputies, the so called three johns, senators john barrasso, john thune, and john cornyn are allies of his, and at least publicly they have displayed no signs or intentions of trying to undermine his leadership, and it's also true, chris, that given mcconnell's decades in power, there is a whole network of aides and lobbyists and other folks here in d.c. whose livelihoods depend on him holding the position that he does. so at least as it stands right now, senator mcconnell says he will serve out the remaining 17 months of his term as conference leader, and we'll see from there. mcconnell's showing no signs of going anywhere. senator feinstein is a different story. she has said she will not seek another term at age 90 at 2024, and there's already a hotly contested race right now replace her, which some people point to the reason she will not step

down because it could put governor gavin newsom in a touch position to appoint her interim replacement. she has had health issues. she's had memory issues that make it really difficult if not impossible for her to function alone in the senate right now. these are -- it's frankly tough to watch as folks grow older and as they're in these high profile positions that demand a lot of them, but in these two cases with senators feinstein and mcconnell, they say that they have what it takes to do these really powerful and demanding jobs. >> look, critics argue and they're -- you know, they have a right to their own opinions, they would argue that sometimes the people who are at the center of these are the last people who really know what should be done, right? but you're also talking about people with records. i mean, mcconnell and feinstein who both have a long history in the senate, both of whom, you

know, have many accomplishments and obviously in the case of mcconnell has gone very high, about as high as you can go in the senate, does that override for a lot of folks any concerns there might be even if they have questions about their ability to do the job. it's just frankly a certain level of respect. >> that's right. respect and an acknowledgment that someone like senator mcconnell, politics aside, he understands how the levers of power work, and he understands how to use them, but look, if members of congress need a road map for how to do this, they only need to look over to the house and see what happened last year with speaker pelosi stepping down after two decades at the top. she's now speaker emerita. she's in this position now where she's able to give advice and counsel to the current leadership team as requested, but she also gives them space to lead as they see fit. so in many ways, that is a case study for how the upper chamber could do it, if they so choose.

>> geoff bennett, always good to see you. thank you so much for being on the program. and after the break, the former supreme allied commander of nato joins me on the major move to reshake the military justice code, president biden just signed that. . and in the next hour, a fiery moment on the house floor involving an accusation of racist legislation. >> the house will be in order. >> you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. jansing reports" only on msnbc (vo) verizon small business days are coming. from august 7th to the 13th. now is the time to partner with our experts. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

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in a ground breaking shake-up, president biden signed an -- oh, this is the president right now live. he's talking about bidenomics in auburn, maine, driving a manufacturing boom. he says bidenomics is in the united states. but a big point that he's making there is that he wants anybody who's an innovator, an inventor to make more of their products in the u.s. so we're going to continue to follow that. in the meantime, it's been a busy day for the president because in that ground breaking shake-up i mentioned, he signed an executive order stripping military leadership of its power to oversee sexual assault, rape, murder, and other serious crimes. an army study from this year found that in 2021, just 40% of women age 16 to 28 believed they could trust the military to

ensure their safety in cases of sexual assault. that is a stunningly precipitous drop from three years earler. you can see the number then was 69% trusted. so those cases will now be handled by independent military prosecutors, outside the chain of command. it represents the i want to bring in retired admiral james stavridis, nbc's chief international analyst. it's good to see you admiral. how big of a deal is this, and what impact do you think it will have? >> it's an enormous big deal, and first i want to give credit to senator kristen gillibrand and her bipartisan colleague who helped push this through, senator, and also military officer joni ernst. they were the ones on the forefront of this. it's a good thing and a big deal. what it effectively does was

take those really big crimes. you mentioned the murder, rape, child molestation. these are horrific events inside the military, and it takes adjudication out of the hands of the chain of command who too often have been close to potential protagonists, and it puts that prosecution just like we do in the civilian world in the hands of an independent prosecutor. that prosecutor is a military officer but not someone who is beholden to that chain of command. i've had six commands in my 37 years in the military. i think this is an appropriate, sensible and entirely league thing to do. >> why did it take until now, admiral. this was not a problem that wasn't known. i can tell you when i was correspondent at the white house, i remember talking to a member of the military who is now very well known on capitol

hill, and that was her main focus of the conversation about how when you're a member of congress, you get asked for help in getting into the service academies, right, and she didn't know in good conscience she could recommend it to a young woman. >> boy, that breaks my heart, and, of course, my own daughter, julia, was a proud navy nurse. otc out of georgetown. she served her four years very honorably. there are many good experiences out there, but unfortunately, chris, we have all been witness to terrible cases of harassment, up to and including actual rape and murder. it's something that's been a dark secret in the military, i think, for decades. this will help address it. and the other individual i really want to credit here is secretary of defense lloyd austin. let's recall that secretary austin was general austin, like

me, had multiple commands. was a driving force in this in 2022, to study it hard and make this decision. again, hopefully we will begin to overcome the hole that we dug ourselves into in the middle with these kind of sexual crimes. >> talking about the whole that's been dug, that study i mentioned earlier also found that 61% of women between 16 and 28 believe they would be sexually assaulted in the army. given the struggles that the military is having convincing young people to enlist, what more can be done. obviously what the president just signed is a step. what else can be done to make women feel if they are a member of the military, they will be protected? >> we have to put even more safeguards in place in everything from how and where we physically assign women to what is reported on, if you see

something, say something. enlist the bystanders. we need to continue to push this in everything we do, and you're showing pictures right now of individuals in boot camp. it's got to begin at the very moment of entrance into the military. and then, chris, and this is even the harder part, we've got to turn around to civilian society and make the case that we get it, and the way to do that, i think, is to put on the forefront outstanding women who have become leaders, somebody i think of as vice admiral, sarah joiner, well known in washington, combat aviator, first woman to command a carrier air group. let her get and out and tell the story of, look, we've had many years not doing the right thing, but we're learning, we're improving. i think we're going to need to enlist the aid of women in the armed forces to help us get this message across, even as we

continue to improve. >> admiral james stavridis, it is always an honor to have you on the program. thank you, sir, appreciate it. we want to remember a founding member of the eagles, randy meisner who died at 77. the eagles sold more albums than any other band in the 70s. meisner was uncomfortable with fame. he left the band in 1977. former band mate don feldman called him the sweetest man in the music business. the sky high vocal range behind one of the band's most enduring hits, "take it to the limit." ♪ nobody seems to care ♪ ♪ and you can't find it no can't find it anywhere ♪ ♪ when there's nothing to believe in ♪♪ ♪ ♪ when there's nothing to

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we are back with our second hour of "chris jansing reports," and at this hour, former president donald trump now accused in a plan to delete surveillance footage in the mar-a-lago documents case. the new charges and secret conversations revealed in an updated indictment. plus, the mystery over that classified document trump bragged about on tape to people without a security clearance. he tried to claim it wasn't real but the special counsel says, yes, it was. and now they're charging him for it. a heated moment on the hill, a democratic congresswoman yells your bills are racist, to a republican member of the house, leading to calls to strike her words from the record. how it all