thanks for being here, chloe melas. that does it for us today. thank you for joining me. i'll be back tomorrow, same time, same place, as always, jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. >> good morning, it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, well a.m. pacific, i'm jose diaz-balart. rudy giuliani heading to atlanta as more defendants turn themselves in in georgia's election interference case. and we're just one day away from when the former president says he will turn himself in. we all have timing on when that will happen. meantime, trump is skipping tonight's highly anticipated first gop presidential debate in the critical battleground state of wisconsin. and we have just learned one of the candidates might not make it to the stage. in maui, the number of people unaccounted for and deadly wild fires is back up over a thousand. search teams continue to sift through the ashes for any remains. in tennessee, members of the public kicked out of a hearing on gun safety laws.

we'll talk to a mom who attended the hearing about what she saw. we begin with breaking news on the legal trouble surrounding former president donald trump. more of trump's co-defendants in the georgia election interference case are turning themselves in. a short time ago, lawyers kenneth chesebro and ray smith surrendered to authorities in fulton county, georgia. this came hours after david shafer and cathy latham turned themselves in. one time trump attorney rudy giuliani says he is heading to atlanta today. >> i'm going to fulton county to comply with the law, which i always do. i'll -- i don't know if i'll plead today, but if i do, i'll plead not guilty and i'll get photographed. isn't that nice? a mug shot for the man who probably put the worst criminals in the 20th century in jail. >> and now a source familiar with his plan says donald trump

will travel to georgia tomorrow afternoon and turn himself in tomorrow night. there is also plenty of drama surrounding two other co-defendants. a federal judge in georgia is giving fulton county district attorney fani willis until 3:00 p.m. to respond to motions by former white house chief of staff mark meadows and former justice department official jeffrey clark to stop them from having to turn themselves in by noon on friday. they're trying to get their cases moved from state court to federal court. with us now, blayne alexander in atlanta and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney who is now a professor at the university of alabama law school, also an msnbc legal analyst. so, blayne, what will happen today, vis-a-vis rudy giuliani and what do we know about the other co-defendants as well? >> reporter: well, jose, let's start with rudy giuliani. he's officially begun the process to surrender. we heard from him there as he was leaving new york. he's expected to make his way to georgia and really be here anytime. what we understand, according to

people who are familiar with this process of what he's planning for the day is that he's flying down here with his new york counsel. they're going to go to the law offices of his local counsel, which he has just recently retained to represent him here in georgia. he's going to stay at that law office and his local counsel will do what we have seen from so many other attorneys for defendants here is come here to the fulton county d.a.'s office, meet with her team, and discuss the terms of surrender. once all of that is ironed out and there is a consent bond agreement in place, then we understand that rudy giuliani himself will go over to the rice street jail, he will surrender, go in, likely have a mug shot, fingerprints taken and go through the normal booking process there. you heard him in new york, though, said he would plead not guilty. but certainly we do know he's begun the process to surrender here in georgia today. now, as for the others, it is the same kind of familiar cadence we have seen. once a consent bond agreement comes out, then almost assuredly

just not too long afterwards that's when we're going to see people go to the jail and turn themselves in. we just have gotten a new consent bond agreement for sidney powell, that bond is set at $100,000. that means we're on watch for surrender, really any moment, jose. >> and, joyce, we're going to witness a former new york city mayor, former federal prosecutor turning themselve in. what are your thoughts on that? >> well, this would be a routine process if it was any other case, jose. defendants typically aren't given this much courtesy and leeway about showing up to surrender and begin the process. here fani willis decided that that was the right thing to do. but when rudy giuliani makes the comment that you played earlier, talking about how he was the prosecutor who put some of the most important crime figures of the last century in prison, he's talking about the work he engaged in prosecuting members of the mafia. and it is a stunning sort of moment to see rudy giuliani accused under the same criminal

statute he used against so many people involved at high levels in the mob, this rico racketeering prosecution that he is now accused of being a part of himself. >> joyce, you say that it is a little different as far as how the process normally is, versus for the 18 plus co-defendants. how is it different? >> well, the rice street jail, this is the jail that fulton county uses to book people and hold people pretrial is an unpleasant jail at best. it is under investigation by the justice department to see whether or not it violates eighth amendment guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. not a setting that many of these people would hope to find themselves in. and for a typical defendant, they show up, there can be a delay of several hours, of many hours during which they're placed in a holding cell while the process is worked out. that's the routine process. it will be a little bit more

participant friendly for these defendants. their lawyers will go over and prenegotiate their bond amounts. then they will be booked, they will be fingerprinted, they will have their mug shots taken, there will be conversation about what they must and must not do until they appear during the week of september 5th for arraignment. this happens in every criminal case. our hyperfocus here is allowing us to understand how this process works. for every other defendant in the criminal justice system, to the extent that people like rudy giuliani are suggesting that it is something remarkable or unusual, the only thing unusual is that they're receiving a little bit of extra deference to speed the process through. >> and, blayne, three of the trump co-defendants, we were just talking about that, mark meadows, jeffrey clark and david shafer are trying to get their cases moved to federal court. what is the latest on that? >> reporter: it is a race against time on several fronts.

initially the judge, a federal judge set a hearing for next monday to kind of hear the merits of mark meadows' case for removal. but now that his attorneys are really asking for this entire process to be sped up because either that or asking a judge to block fani willis from arresting him. remember, the deadline to surrender is friday at noon. mark meadows is trying to basically not have to do that because he's trying to get this moved to federal court. fani willis, through an email she sent to meadows' attorneys that they included in this filing has made it clear she will not hesitate to issue arrest warrants if people don't show up and surrender by the deadline she set forward. she said it is a remarkably generous deadline, that meadows is no different than any other person who has been charged in the state of georgia, and that if he doesn't turn himself in, she will issue warrants at 12:30 p.m. on friday. so, that's why you're seeing his attorneys ask for some sort of quickened decision on whether or not this will be removed and the deadline for response.

>> joyce, all of this comes amid a new test in the classified documents case. according to court documents, mar-a-lago employee actually changed his testimony to implicate trump and his two co-defendants, walt nauta and carlos de oliveira to delete surveillance video from trump's club. how do you see this? is this something that could potentially put pressure on others to switch sides? >> yes. absolutely, jose. because what we're learning about this witness, is something that happened months ago, before the mar-a-lago superseding indictment where trump and his co-defendants were charged with additional acts of obstruction of justice. now we learned that that happened after the lawyer was -- after the defendant was given -- or the witness was given access to a lawyer in d.c. you can see how confusing this all gets. when the witness spoke with a

lawyer from the public defender's office, he realized his peril because he had previously lied in the grand jury, he came clean, he is now a witness and not a defendant because he told the truth. we learned about this because of additional proceedings in mar-a-lago, where the government has asked that the court hold the same kind of hearing for trump's co-defendants. for nauta and de oliveira. they have the same issue. here's the problem. their lawyer represents them, but he has also in the past represented the witness taveras. it is a conflict of interest for those co-defendants of trump if they were to come clean, they would find themselves implicating folks, but at the same time their lawyer can't vigorously cross-examine his former client and there is a real problem here for these defendants, where they need to have independent counsel who can advise them, should they continue as they are as defendants, might there be

information that they should offer the government. of course, all of this will happen in front of judge aileen cannon in mar-a-lago, in that area. >> blayne alexander and joyce vance, thank you so much for being with us this morning. up next, the big night in milwaukee for eight republican presidential hopefuls, but one candidate's appearance at the debate is now in question. we'll explain why. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ing diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon.

(christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. 11 past the hour. today, all eyes are on milwaukee, where eight gop contenders will take the stage for the very first presidential debate of the 2024 election season. and while we knew donald trump would not be there, we have learned one expected participant may not be in attendance. sources close to north dakota governor doug burgum confirmed to nbc news he injured his leg playing basketball before being taken to a milwaukee hospital.

joining us now from wisconsin, nbc's dasha burns in milwaukee and shaquille brewster in waukesha. also with us, jeremy peters, "new york times" reporter and msnbc contributor. dasha, tonight marks the first chance for these contenders to make their pitch to voters on the national level. what can we expect? >> reporter: well, that's absolutely right, jose. that's why it is really unfortunate timing for governor burgum to have that injury. we're not sure if he's going to be able to make it on that stage or not. because for candidates like him, who is lesser known, doesn't have that sort of name recognition, it is a huge opportunity to try to introduce himself to voters who might be tuning in really for the first time, jose, after the dog days of summer. now, the folks with the highest stakes, the most to lose, number one on that list is the front-runner who will be on that stage, florida governor ron desantis. we expect and he certainly expects along with his team that he will be taking the majority of the arrows tonight. there are a couple of ways to look at this.

with trump's absence, it is going to be a challenge for these candidates that while he's not there, he's going to be ever present because we know the hosts will be asking him questions, asking the candidates questions about the former president. we know that he's going to be counterprogramming the event. there is the looming indictment and he'll be turning himself in the following day. he's there, right? they're going to have to figure out how to create a contrast with him without alienating his base, which is something that as i've been on the campaign trail following these candidates, a lot of them have really struggled to find their footing. how do you attack him without attacking him? this is going to be the moment where they're confronted with that head on with a lot of eyes. the other way to look at this, though, is this is an opportunity to show voters what a post trump political world could potentially look like. for florida governor ron desantis, an opportunity to show what a non-trump front-runner looks like. this could be an opportunity, but it certainly will be a challenge to crawl out from under trump's shadow and see,

you know, how much are they going to go after one another here as well, how many fireworks are we going to see tonight, jose? >> yeah. and, shaquille, what are republican voters say they're watching for tonight? >> reporter: this is republican voters, these are republican voters in this republican stronghold of waukesha. it is very republican in this state, they get a large chunk of their votes. i want you to listen directly from them to what they're looking for and watching for tonight. >> i am a trump supporter. i will not be backing christie. i know that for a fact. and so i really want to hear some of the fresh ideas. >> if i see that they have good stuff to offer, new changes in things that the latino community can benefit from, they have my vote. >> we'll have to see what

positions they have an the economy and certainly on foreign affairs, especially with ukraine and the war. >> reporter: a common theme that i heard, jose, is that so many voters are looking to see who is the best candidate to take on joe biden in the general election. but they also say they want to see a candidate who talks about bringing people together, who can go above the clashes, the political clashes that you see all the time happening in washington, d.c. it is a sign and a signal to the candidates there is a line they have to walk even as they're thwarting those attacks and set that contrast on the debate stage, jose. >> and, jeremy, you've been so closely following how donald trump and those in the circle are watching as this primary unfolds. what about trump's decision to skip this debate? >> he believes, jose, that he doesn't need to be there. why subject himself to the slings and arrows of others and the unknowns on the -- that can

occur on live television when you don't have to, when you're so far ahead? there is a lot of logic to that decision. people who are trump fans and people who are real trump critics both tell me they agree with trump's strategic decision here. now, the question becomes how many more of these debates can he afford to skip? he's indicated he may skip the second one, broadcast on fox business. if he gets to the third and still not there, i think that could cause some problems for him because what often happens in these debates is they can really make and break second tier candidates. i'm thinking back to 2012 when governor rick perry of texas had that infamous oops moment he forgot the names of the government agencies he wanted to eliminate or newt gingrich also in 2012 when he shot to the top and carried south carolina in the primary because he was such

a formidable antagonist and edged out mitt romney. so, these, you know, these candidates who are not in first place really do see some benefit here if they can, you know, find an opening. and i think that's what worries the trump campaign and his advisers the most, is who rises to the top here in a way that could be threatening. >> yeah. i mean, jeremy, and this is an opportunity for this to be a post trump political world stage tonight. but how -- it just seems as though the former president is still controlling the oxygen, the talks and the discussions, even when he's not there. >> mm-hmm. and from our reporting in the "times," we have spelled out that fox plans to make trump center stage in this debate, regardless of whether or not he's physically there. they are going to use video of

him, he's going to be the subject of the questions that the moderators ask the other candidates, so, he will very much be there, whether or not that's in -- we know it is not going to be in physical form, but he's going to continue to dominate the stage and you can imagine that the moderators are going to try to put candidates like desantis and vivek ramaswamy on the spot, how much can you tolerate, how much can you condone, what we know were highly unethical and really immoral things that he did in and around january 6th? i expect that to take up quite a bit of this debate because what the moderators are going to want to do is get the candidates on the record. what -- how much of trump's, you know, bad behavior are you willing to stand behind? >> dasha burns, shaquille brewster, jeremy peters, thank you so very much. stay with msnbc for

continuing coverage tonight, rachel maddow, joy reid and nicolle wallace lead expert analysis following the debate, all starting at 11:00 p.m. eastern, that's 8:00 p.m. pacific on msnbc and streaming on peacock. up next, we'll hear from maui's fire chief about the latest efforts to help those who have lost everything in the deadly wildfires. plus, why home sales in the u.s. are going way down. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. o. you're watching "jose diaz-balart rertpos" on msnbc. just between us, you know what's better than mopping? anything! ugh. well, i switched to swiffer wetjet, and it's awesome. it's an all-in-one, that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. and it helps prevent streaks and haze. wetjet is so worth it. love it, or your money back. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone.

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23 past the hour. turning now to hawaii as the full scope of the devastation from the wildfires continues to come into focus, officials revised the number of missing people from 850 back up to 1100, saying 1400 others have been found safe. but the death toll still stands at 115. my colleague sam brock spoke to the family of a 71-year-old

donna gomez, they found out she had died from a viral video where they say they saw her body lying on the road. >> we were close. we were really close. she pretty much raised me, so a lot of things that are instilled in me and that i grew up doing and knowing is because of her. >> nbc's steve patterson joins us this morning. steve, what's the latest there today? >> reporter: the search is now moving into another phase, jose. we mentioned this yesterday, but it is now in full fledge force, it is basically moving from single family residences to multifamily and multistory residences and complexes. so, instead of single home where you might find one set of remains, you're moving to malls and strip malls and moving to apartment complexes and condos where crews have to deal with multiple levels and scenes that are very sensitive because the

remains themselves are very sensitive as well. they're trying to get dna to those families so they can match so they can pair down the list, but the navigation of that makes it very, very difficult and even more slow than it already has been. meanwhile, residents finally got a chance to air grievances. a city counsel meeting where residents got to interface with their public officials, face to face, talking about things that have been on their mind for last two and a half weeks, where it comes to housing, the response to the fires themselves. we spoke to a fire battalion chief who was there who talked about the number one problem that he says he's hearing from residents, which is communication. listen to this. >> the need to relocate this meeting so that the public that has been most affected can actually get here. >> of paramount importance in my estimation right now is for elected officials to be visible

and accessible to the people that were affected. the fastest we can get this information, these resources and show our strength as a community through our community leaders, through our elected officials, out to our community, that's what will best serve. >> reporter: you can hear it, there is a lot of frustration, a lot of anger, but a lot of it stems from fear, people here just don't know what's going to happen. that's what the government assistance that they're getting with the housing situation that has been so difficult to navigate. public officials both at the county and state have promised a more open dialogue. they want to do this more so they can hear more from the community. jose? >> steve patterson, thank you very much. 115 people lost their lives, 1100 still missing. just what a tragedy. steve, thank you. we are in other news getting a new look this morning at where things stand with the housing market. cnbc's dominic chu is with us this morning. dom, good morning. we got numbers of new home sales? what do they tell you in. >> so, what they say is that if

you really want to buy a home and can't find a preowned one for sale, you find one in new construction. we got more evidence of that. new home sales data shows 4.4% increase in sales between last month and this month, july, for single family homes, which would, by the way, put the numbers at 31.5% higher in terms of new home sales than in july of last year. that's how much demand there is for new home construction. by the way, that translates into an annualized rate of 714,000 homes. in other words, if you take the number of new home sales in july, and then made some assumptions about that pace carrying all year long, you would hypothetically see 714,000 new homes sold in a year. i mention that stat because it is important for context. sales of new homes are a very small part of the overall residential real estate market. preowned homes or existing home sales are much bigger.

but what this further reinforces is there is still a lot of demand for housing. what is interesting here, though, is the prices paid of a new home sales piece of data. that median price of a new house in america actually fell by 8.7% from the same time last year, that now stands at roughly $436,000. what it does indicate perhaps, jose, is that home building companies are looking towards things like discounts and incentives to get would be home buyers to sign on the dotted line. >> dominic chu, thank you very much, appreciate it. coming up, an emotional day at tennessee special session on gun safety legislation. several people that were there were kicked out of a committee hearing. we'll talk to one of the moms who was there, next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. . you're watchg in"jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen.

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legislative session to debate the state's gun laws, three members of the public have already been escorted out of the chamber for holding up signs advocating for gun reform. the special session comes in the wake of the covenant school shooting where three children and three adults were shot and killed in march. want to bring in nbc's lindsey reiser following the story for us. good morning. what happened here? >> jose, this took place in a civil justice subcommittee hearing yesterday. and there were many people in the gallery including parents of some students who go to covenant, the school where that shooting took place. and some of the moms were holding up 8 1/2 by 11 signs, you see them on your screen now, saying one kid greater than all the guns. according to new special session rules that were approved monday evening, you can't have signs in the gallery. so these moms were asked to put their signs down and when they refused, they were escorted out by troopers. then, during the discussion for a bill that would allow those with enhanced gun permit to carry on school property, that was shelved.

and then there was what some describe as light clapping. well, the chair of this subcommittee says are we going to calm down and listen or do i have to clear the room? after the third round of the light clapping, he asked troopers to clear the room. i have a note in to ask whether this constitutes a material disruption of official legislative business, that's according to the rules where you can't have disorderly conduct. i haven't heard back yet. the aclu is now suing the speaker of the house, the chief clerk, the sergeant at arms, the colonel of highway patrol saying that this ban on holding signs undermines the first amendment right to express their opinions on issues that affect them and their families. i talked to one of the moms escorted out before the room was cleared, and this is what she told me about what happened. >> i raised it, just needing to express how -- how frustrated i was and how we were there for the kids. because we have very little

areas to express ourselves. we have very little room to impact this process, if any, despite all the work we did. i lifted mine up. the same man who was in charge of that security of the room, the committee rooms, came in and said you have to put that down and i was just, like, i can't. and he called a trooper and the trooper escorted me out. >> and no comment yet from the speaker of the house. but, jose, minority leader karen camper set out a statement saying in part for a committee chair person to use their position to banish it grieving tennesseans from the committee room is beyond pale. this needs to be explained why people were removed and the room was cleared after citizens took the time and effort to be present in their government. this is embarrassing, what are we doing? and, jose, the mom who we just heard from, she's worried that nothing substantive will come from the special session on gun safety. jose? >> lindsey reiser, thank you so very much. joining us now, one of the parents in that committee room yesterday, melissa alexander,

her son was at the covenant school on the day of the shooting. thank you so much for being with us this morning. you were there yesterday, how did you see it? >> so, thank you, jose, for having me on. as a parent of the covenant school, and a mom of a fourth grader who was on the second floor that day, we have been advocating all summer long, putting our efforts forward to meet with over 60 legislators peacefully. we asked for peaceful demonstrations. so when we came in to session, special session on monday, i know you're showing a picture of us holding these signs right now, we were caught off guard when the rules stated that you clearly couldn't hold a sign up. you know, one of our main points, focuses as preserving --

we want to preserve the dignity of the covenant school victims. as you noted, we had six victims. we also have 200 plus survivors including children. and so the fact that we had these signs, i have one myself, i'm a republican, i'm a gun owner, i'm a life-long tennessean, this is the way we felt we could identify ourselves peacefully, quietly, in these meetings. >> and, i mean, melissa, you mentioned that, you know, your son was one of the survivors, you're talking about 200 plus people who were there that day. your son survived that day. you told "the washington post" that he saw his friends dead on the ground. how has this been for you and for your family? how is your son doing? >> so, trauma is not linear. it comes in waves, right? and so we deal with that trauma on a daily basis.

every family is different. every family experienced something different. my son just happened to be upstairs. and we knew who passed away the minute we were able to reunite with him because he told us the names of the kids he saw lying on the ground. and so no 9-year-old child should have to see that. no 9-year-old child should have to die. and so one of the main bills that we are trying to get passed, again, back to that preserving the dignity of victims, is a bill that protects the privacy of minor autopsies. and so if we feel like we have wide support for this bill, and if we can get, it already passed two house committees now, if we can get the senate to hear this bill, we really do feel like this will be a win, not only for our victims, but our survivors as well because nobody needs to read the graphic details of their friends in the media

sensationalized for click bait. >> so that would be a way -- so this bill would in a way protect the privacy of those victims? >> absolutely. if you think about it, we are parents, we bore these children, we raised these children, we spend birthdays with them, we celebrate christmas with them, these are our hopes and our dreams. and the fact that their records are private in life should be the same in death. >> melissa alexander, thank you so much for being with us this morning. very much appreciate your time. >> thank you. up next, defying woke. how the word has gone from a term of empowerment to a politically charged insult. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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43 past the hour. breaking news out of pittsburgh. officials say there is an active shooter situation unfolding in the garfield neighborhood of the city and they are warning people to avoid the area. now, pittsburgh police safety officials say it is an extremely active situation right now. take a look at this just comment just right now out of the pittsburgh public safety division. this is an extremely active situation with shots continuing to be fired. they're asking people to please avoid the area at this time. once again, an active shooter situation undergoing right now in pittsburgh. we will, of course, keep you updated on this scene as it progresses. but right now, officials say it is an active shooter situation ongoing. we will, of course, keep you

updated on that. we're going to talk a little bit now about the debate tonight, when the republican presidential candidates take the stage. there is one word voters should expect to hear. woke. msnbc's trymaine lee is with us. the word woke means so many different things to different people. where does it come from? >> that's right, jose. for generations the term woke was a part of black american in speak. it meant to keep your eyes open, stay aware to the forces that might be around you that might want to cause you harm, be vigilant. but in recent years it has been co-opted, some would say hijacked by far right wing conservatives and turned into anything but a feeling of awareness or warning for awareness. take a look. >> and i think -- >> reporter: by now you probably heard it. >> woke ideology. >> weak and woke. >> wokeism. >> reporter: over --

>> woke. >> reporter: -- and over -- >> woke beliefs and policies. >> reporter: -- and over again. woke has become a charged political catch-all phrase, often used as a battering ram and battle cry and to many a slur. >> it is almost another way of saying black. it is another way of saying the "n" word. >> they weaponize the civil rights movement and said it was a communist movement. >> reporter: before it was a pejorative, woke was about black safety and empowerment. in the early 20th century, when jim crow had its grip on america, white supremacist danger and violence was a constant threat. so black folks had to keep their eyes open, literally and figuratively. they had to stay woke. what is the real actual definition of the term woke? >> it is to be awake to what's happening around you, particularly when it comes to systemic injustice. >> reporter: the roots of woke run deep, to the heart of black america's fight for equality. in the 1930s, blues man led

billy penned a protest song in honor of the scotts borough buys, group teens falsely accused in alabama of raping two white women. ♪♪ >> reporter: since then it has become part of the cultural lexicon and that's what it's always meant to black people for almost 100 years now. by the late '80s, woke was showing up in black art, like spike lee's classic film "school days." and later giving new electricity by erica badu after the killings of trayvon martin and michael brown. and in 2020, woke crossed over from black culture to the mainstream, following the murder of george floyd. >> no justice, no peace. >> no one is talking about woke as much as we have in the past

two years. this was in speak in the black community. there is a lot of terror in seeing what was happening in 2020, seeing the multiracial, multiethnic coalitions of people who really rallied around, understanding more about antiblackness, understanding more about systemic racism. >> reporter: today woke has become an ideological lightning rod and dividing line, a warhead in the latest culture wars. >> once it became political football, particularly as we see with the gop, it seemed like a mass message went out. wokeness is what we're targeting. >> they mean it as a slur, but the people who are for these policies, for these specific goals, who think that i want my children to learn about the history of this country and not just the white history of this country, that's not a slur to me. and if you call it woke or whatever you call it, i am proud of representing those things and i want them in policy. >> reporter: jose, there is concern that even though the term has become everything and

nothing at once that it is not just the punch line, it is actually feeling policy that is hostile to the very people and very communities that created this term in the first place. that hijacked, weaponized and turned against them, jose. >> trymaine lee, thank you very much. into tonight's debate, polling finds a striking 65% of likely republican caucusgoers in iowa say they are more likely to back a candidate who fights the, quote, left's woke agenda. joining us from milwaukee, congressman carlos curbelo. >> this gop field is going to be speaking exclusively to the republican base tonight. so you can expect a lot of cultural issues. you can expect to hear that word woke a lot because it has become a symbol for conservatives of

fighting the culture that they believe that the left is trying to impose on them. so you're going to see, you know, some focus on economic issues, but the red meat in this debate, what the candidates are going to go for are these cultural issues that are going to motivate those gop voters. hopefully for these candidates, start getting them to look at them instead of at donald trump. >> among the things that this polling was showing us is that 77% of those same voters say they would be more likely to favor a candidate who supports using the military to secure the southern border. what do you make of that, carlos? >> jose, i think this highlights what a unique state iowa is. it highlights the difference between polling the general election population, the country more broadly, and the bases of each of the two parties. the number one issue for most

voters tends to be the economy, jobs. not in a republican primary. the number one issue is immigration for republicans in iowa. and they want tough on immigration policies. there's some irony there because iowans depend on immigrants for migrant workers for their farms for the ag industry in the state. it looks like the chaos at the southern border over the last couple years has pushed these voters to take a very hard position on this issue of immigration. >> what are you watching for tonight as far as the potential winners and the potential losers? >> well, two figures that i'm focusing on tonight. a lot of pressure on ron desantis. ron desantis really has to turn in a strong performance. the expectations for ron desantis were very high when he came to this race. and he hasn't met those expectations. his poll numbers have struggled. he did get good news in iowa

where he has a high favorable rating, according to an nbc news poll there. the other figure that is going to try to break through tonight -- he is popular among republicans who participate actively on social media, listen to podcasts, but ramaswamy is going to try to become more mainstream tonight. he is going to try to have broader appeal. he will have to address some of the statements -- more controversial statements he has made in recent days. those are the two. >> thank you very much. appreciate you being with us this morning. >> thank you. the new security alert for americans in ukraine. this as "the new york times" reports ukraine's counteroffensive is struggling. you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. boost® high pr otein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor.

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there may be an increase in drone attacks over the next several days and nights. it comes amid new reporting from "the new york times" saying u.s. and western officials believe ukraine's forces and fire power are misallocated. what does the u.s. think is happening when it comes to the ukrainian troops and the counteroffensive? >> thanks for having me. this is one of those situations where the ukrainian troops have gotten sort of caught in the middle of both their aspirations and what they actually can pull off. american officials would like to see and have told the ukrainians that they would be better off if they focus on the south of the country, focus on one big point

where they can push through russian defenses. that area is in the south. if they can push through, they can put crimea in risk by striking -- in radius enough to strike the land bridge that connects crimea. it's a huge logistical and supply point for the russian military. if the ukrainians can cut off that land bridge, they would have a huge leg up. the problem right now is that more ukrainian troops are in the east and in other parts of the country where they are fighting well around the areas of bakhmut. they are spread too thin.

one american official compared it to being spread like peanut butter at the moment. one of the reasons though why the ukrainian troops are in this area in the east is so they can -- they call it in military terms fixing the russian, so they can stop russian troops from being able to get through to help russia -- other russian troops in the south. that's where you can see the sense of what ukraine is trying to do. but their inability -- it becomes a question of numbers to actually pull that off. there was a video conference call on august 10th between general milley, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the top american commander in europe as well as the ukraine chief of general staff and his uk counterpart. the brits and the americans were very impressed on how much they

think the general needed to add forces and reinforce the south and focus on one big counteroffensive push in the south. they think that he said yes. they are saying he said yes, he is going to try doing that. we will wait and see what happens. >> helene cooper, thank you very much. appreciate it. >> thank you. good news coming out of pakistan. rescuers really performed a miracle 900 feet in the air. yesterday, we were talking about these. these kids were trapped on that a cable car. a group of children and their teacher were rescued after dangling in that car for 12 hours. they had become trapped high above this ravine early yesterday after a cable snapped, stopping the gondola. they were able to -- it's amazing. military commandos hanging from helicopters rescued some of the children. the choppers had to land at night.

they used a zip line to get everybody out. incredible end to a 12 hours for the loved ones of the people trapped. needless to say, the people trapped for that many hours, they get to go home. what an extraordinary story. before we go, some exciting news about the rolling stones. a london newspaper ad teased what appears to be the album of the rolling stones that everybody has been waiting for. in the ad, it showcases a new glass repair store established in 1962. that's the year the stones were formed. it references some of the band's most popular songs. when you say give me shelter, we will fix your shattered windows, as you can see. they are promising satisfaction. the ad says that something is going to be coming in september. fans are interpreting this as a

release date. the stones have yet to confirm the news. it would mark their 31st studio album. the first since 2016. there are all kinds of rumors make mccartney played one or two, ringo and more. we will see. that wraps up the lawyer for me. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," donald trump doubling down on his false claims of a rigged election, a day before he is set to surrender. >> every occasion, i'm telling the truth and they are lying. this will be p