specifically leading up to this debate. shaq brewster, thank you very much for bringing us all of that. that's going to do it for us here today. so great to have you with us. i'll be back tomorrow, friday! same time, same place. can you tell i'm excited? until then, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. >> good morning. it is 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we're just hours away from former president donald trump having to be a primetime surrender to authorities in atlanta, charged in an alleged scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in georgia. it comes less than a day before the deadline for all 18 of his co-defendants that turned themselves in. nine having surrendered so far. trump skipped last night's republican presidential debate, but his shadow loomed large over the stage. we'll break down the biggest moments. the kremlin, eerily silent this morning after the man who led an uprising against vladimir

putin reportedly died in a mysterious plane crash. we begin this hour with breaking news on the ongoing legal drama surrounding former president donald trump who is expected to head to atlanta later today to turn himself in on racketeering and conspiracy charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. hours before that expected surrender, nbc news has confirmed the former president is shaking up his legal team. trump slammed the georgia indictment and fulton county district attorney, fani willis, in an interview with former fox news host tucker carlson. >> i got indicted four times, all trivia, nonsense, [ bleep ]. it is horrible when you lok and look at what they're doing. basically she said trump doesn't have the right to -- to

criticize an election. >> this is more of his co-defendants turn themselves in, including rudy giuliani, jenna ellis and sidney powell. the rest of the co-defendants have just about 25 hours left to do the same. with us now to talk more about all of this, nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez outside the fulton county jail in atlanta, and nbc news senior legal correspondent laura jarrett, catherine christian, former assistant district attorney in manhattan and an msnbc legal analyst. so, gabe, what can we expect to happen where you are today? >> reporter: hi there, jose, good morning. first i want to talk about what's happening in the last hour or so. we noticed a significant security presence here ramping up, more barricades put up. as you can see behind me, there have been more protesters and counterprotesters as well that have shown up here outside of the main entrance of the fulton county jail. this is on rice street. we have another camera position that we had on -- around the corner on jefferson street. that other position is where the former president is expected to

be brought here via his motorcade later on this afternoon into the evening perhaps. but this ground standing where we see this other camera with live pictures of the pro-trump demonstrators, this is the main entrance of this jail. of course, the fulton county jail under federal investigation because of the conditions there, it has a reputation for having very difficult conditions inside the jail, violent conditions as well. so, this very well known here in the atlanta area. again, jose, sheriff deputies here are taking security very seriously. nothing unruly here so far. just several dozen demonstrators at this point. later on this afternoon, we expect the former president to travel down to atlanta. he'll be fingerprinted and processed, booked here, unclear at this hour whether he will take a mug shot like his other co-defendants so far. but as you mentioned, the ones that have not turned themselves in have until noon tomorrow to do so or the d.a. has said they'll face arrest.

jose? >> and, laura, i'm wondering what the significance of trump changing lawyers as he's about to surrender there in georgia? >> it makes you wonder if there is part of some strategy, though it is also a pattern we have seen, jose. back in june he switched lawyers very late in the day after he was indicted in the federal case for allegedly mishandling documents. and so we have seen this before. it is unclear sort of what motivated it, whether they were pushed out or resigned on their own. that we don't know. but the person that he has hired, steven sato, is someone well known as a georgia attorney there, well known criminal defense attorney and somebody who has been outspoken at how he thinks racketeering charges have been in his view misused in the past. and so perhaps not surprising that this is someone the former president has now chosen to be his attorney. >> and, catherine, we saw yesterday rudy giuliani, former federal prosecutor, former mayor of new york city turn himself in. we have seen his mug shot. what is your reaction to that? >> the reaction actually, it is

sad to me. someone as a lawyer, to see that there are eight lawyers that have been indicted in this case. and rudy giuliani is -- the former southern district attorney, considered the most elite u.s. attorney's office in the country. and i'm a new yorker. but it doesn't mean that he's above the law. i think, and i'm not misinterpreting the way he was speaking yesterday, sort of, like, don't you know who i am? well, we all know who you are and unfortunately he's charged with very serious crimes. they're not being charged with, you know, their free speech, exercising their free speech. we're talking about voting machine breaches, that has nothing to do with free speech. we're talking about the intimidation and threatening of election workers. that's not free speech. we're talking about fraudulent certifications, that's not free speech. we're talking about fake electors and making false statements to state legislatures to get them to overturn an election. that's not free speech.

so, the defense may be free speech, but when the jury sees, you know, people coming in to coffey county, strange people, and breaching voting machines, they see ruby freeman at a police station and kanye west former publicist telling her she committed election fraud and she needs help or seeing someone outside of her house trying to speak to her or here's giuliani on tape, you know, slurring her and her daughter, they'll see this is not a free speech case. it is very sad. >> and, so, gabe, back to where you are, what is the situation like as far as security there? >> reporter: well, jose, we, again, we have noticed a significant security ramping up here the last two hours or so. nothing unruly so far. people have been, you know, behind these barricades, there have been a few anti-trump

demonstrators here supporting the d.a., fani willis. they have gotten into some verbal arguments with the trump supporters, which tell us the same thing we have heard from trump supporters throughout the entire process, that they are discrediting this indictment, all the indictments so far against the former president. and, again, the security presence -- the security situation here seems very under control. but, again, these barricades that were just put up, there is a parking lot where the media is set up, more barricades were put there earlier this morning. it is all an effort by the local officials here to try to maintain order here ahead of this surrender. which is, again, expected later today. this whole street also has been blocked off and we expect that to continue and for the security presence to be ramping up by the local authorities as we head closer to the former president's surrender in primetime tonight. >> and, laura, a federal judge denied the bid by former white house chief of staff mark meadows and former justice department official jeffrey clark to immediately remove

their cases and send them to federal court, blocking their arrest in fulton county. what does this say this is going to mean going forward for the case? >> i think what it suggests is the judge didn't buy their argument in terms of getting that relief to block them from having to surrender. but it doesn't necessarily mean the judge won't go for their arguments about having the entire case removed to federal court. i think it is too early to tell on that point. as for getting the case blocked or at least getting it temporarily paused so that they wouldn't have to get arrested, on that point the judge said, look, you don't have a good argument, it is not supported by the law, the law is clear that in a situation like this, the state case continues to go on, even while you're making all of your motions in federal court until the thing is actually removed. at this point it hasn't actually been removed, so therefore you have to go ahead and surrender. and the d.a. has made it really clear, jose, she's not providing any extensions, she provided two

weeks for people to turn themselves in, and despite this sort of last ditch effort to get a federal court to intervene, it hasn't been successful, so they need to turn themselves in by 12:00 p.m. tomorrow or they're going to be subject to arrest. >> and, catherine, alleged co-conspirator kevin chesebro filed a motion demanding a speedy trial. what could that mean for how this case proceeds? >> in georgia, you're allowed to do that and he's entitled to have his case tried first week of november. there are 18 co-defendants, and most of them do not want to go to trial the first week of november. so, it is really what he's doing is asking for a motion to sever, separate his case from the other 18, who, of course, are most of them are going to say, no, i'm not going to trial. it is a brilliant move or bone head move and what i mean by that is by going to trial, saying you want to be tried in four months, you as a defense attorney are waving your right to make motions, to suppress evidence. you're also basically waving

your right to receive all of the discovery to be able to read it and master it in time to try the case effectively. so if the d.a. calls their bluff and says, okay, you want a trial the first week of november, we're ready, the question is will his defense attorneys then be ready? and actually be able to give an effective defense? because these d.a.s have had the case for two and a half years, investigating for two and a half years. and from my prior experience, i know, you have in your head your opening statement and summations ready to go. them having to try it again with other defendants, so what, they now know the evidence. and if he is convicted, and it is a strong case, well, what does that say to the other defendants about the case? so, it is an interesting strategy. i think it is more of a i'm going to get the d.a., you know, and show them that they have to try this case and they won't be ready. well, if they are ready, it will be interesting. >> yeah, indeed.

and, gabe, nine other -- we have been talking about that -- nine other co-defendants still need to turn themselves in by tomorrow at noon. do we know any about when that will happen? >> reporter: well, jose, we don't. we're still trying to find out more information on when the next wave of people turning themselves in might be. we have not heard about any so far today. laura was just mentioning, if they don't do that, if mark meadows doesn't do that by noon tomorrow, they could face arrest. and fani willis said by 12:30 anyone who has not turned themselves in, she will file an arrest warrant for whoever it is. we expect this process again to play out over the next 24 hours or so. and, again, as more of demonstrators are here outside of the fulton county jail for this surrender of former president trump later on this evening. as for the other defendants, the clock is ticking, noon tomorrow is when they have to be here by. jose?

>> that's real time. gabe gutierrez, laura jarrett, catherine christian, thank you for being with us. up next, new reaction this morning to last night's republican presidential debate. we'll talk to two former presidential contenders who have been on the debate stage about who is now in damage control. we're back in 60 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. es you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon.

(josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. 12 past the hour. today, reactions are pouring in from the latest first presidential debate of the 2024 election season when republican contenders made their campaign pitches on the national stage. but, noticeably missing from this crowded field of candidates, the front-runner, former president trump. last night candidates were asked about his legal troubles, specifically if they would support the former president as the nominee even if he were convicted. >> if former president trump is

convicted in a court of law, would you still support him as your party's choice? please raise your hand if you would. >> joining us now with more is nbc's ali vitali live from milwaukee. great seeing you. which campaigns are celebrating and which ones are in recovery mode? >> reporter: well, you know what the spin room is like after the debate, jose. everybody won and everyone's candidate was the best. but certainly that's not always the truth or what we saw on the stage last night. for people like vivek ramaswamy, they were able to introduce themselves in fiery fashion to the american public. the largest viewing audience that we have seen for this republican party primary so far. but ramaswamy was also the target of many of the attacks last night. former vice president mike pence mixing it up with him, as did former south carolina governor nikki haley. now, you can see around me that

politics comes at you fast because the debate is over and you can hear the debate stage coming down around me here in milwaukee. but for the candidates, they're still going to have to ride this wave after them as they get back out on the campaign trail, specifically moments like the one that you just showed, where many of them raised their hand to say they would still support the former president if he were indicted and still became the nominee. you look at the polls, it looks pretty likely that could be a scenario that we see over the course of the next six to eight months. for someone like former vice president mike pence, it was fascinating to watch him raise his hand on that stage, and he later explained it was because in order to get on the stage, they had to sign a pledge that said they would be loyal to supporting whoever the gop nominee was. so that's pence's explanation for why he raised his hand that way. but in my conversations with sources, especially those who still align themselves with the former president, they say that that moment, and frankly the whole debate writ large was an example of what the former president has said all along, which is that this is a partyff

image and he's the standard bearer. in the midst of the debate last night as it was wrapping up, they were saying it was a car crash. at a few points in the debate, it seems like we lost the plot, people were going at each other, very fiery, and a competition that is effectively for second place. >> and, ali, so what was that source telling you was the car crash per se? >> reporter: the entire thing. look, there were multiple moments where it really did go off the rails. candidates talking over each other, moderators not enforcing the fact that you theoretically have 30 seconds to respond when your name is invoked. that's the nature of these debates sometimes, jose. you and i are not strangers to what tends to happen when politicians all want to get a word in. but it really was a clash of multiple different and competing visions of what it means to be a republican in this era of trump. and i think it was really telling the ways that they dealt

with the former president more as an issue that these contenders had to speak to, rather than a direct rival, especially when most of them didn't want to engage him directly as that. >> ali vitali, thank you so very much. great seeing you. joining us now, former ohio governor and 2016 presidential contender, john kasich, julian castro, 2020 presidential candidate, both msnbc political analysts and tara setmayor, former gop communications director and senior adviser at the lincoln project. so, let's do a lightning round with you all. who was the biggest winner and who was the biggest loser and let me start with you, tara. >> biggest winner, obviously, donald trump. his position hasn't changed at all. it is clear the party is still very much his and he is very much the front-runner, no one, i think, did anything to change that last night. but i would also say that nikki haley overperformed last night

as well as mike pence. who didn't overperform, though, was ron desantis, who was awkward, overshadowed, and very angry the entire time, which is not going to help his standing at all whatsoever. he only has anywhere to go but down. >> who was the biggest winner and the loser, john? >> my sense was that frankly it was no breakout for anybody. i think she is right. i think nikki did well. i kind of had a different view of desantis. i think he got out of the debate. did he go down? i don't think he went down, but, you know, he stood out there, he didn't have that moment where he could kind of recover where he was, but, you know, all and all, i think there was not a great breakout moment. frankly it seemed to me at times that the moderators wanted to kind of run the show. they seemed to do more talking sometimes than even the candidates. but it is a difficult situation when you have eight people on,

you have, you know, one minute to talk, 30 seconds to respond, and bells are going off, it is difficult to break out. but, you know, i think my sense is that there was no giant breakout star last night. >> julian, when i was moderating the debate you were at, it was ten candidates for two different nights. but it is very difficult. who do you see, julian, as the winners and the losers? >> well, i think, jose, the biggest winner is joe biden because the public got treated to a whole heap of crazy last night. and the dnc now has minutes and minutes of ads they can run over the next year or so. but of the people on stage, ramaswamy, in these debates you have to come in with a plan of how you're going to introduce yourself, be likable, show your electability and also have those big moments that are going to get replayed in this case on fox news and get into the blood stream of that base that you want to court. ramaswamy, more than anybody

else, had that on several occasions. he was, to them, look a breath of fresh air that can appeal to a trump crowd and young conservatives in a way that other folks cannot. i thought the biggest losers were mike pence, he comes in with a certain stature as the former vice president, but then he's completely underwhelming, boring, i don't think exciting anybody. and ron desantis, i mean, here is a guy a few months ago was basically almost tied with donald trump and has been bleeding support, he was underwhelming last night, did not have those big moments that get replayed over and over. and gain you some support. and also importantly in this day and age, gain you a lot of online fund-raising. i bet if you compare the online fund-raising for ramaswamy today versus desantis, it would be an eye opener in terms of revealing who won that debate. >> also, john, interesting that ramaswamy was actually the one most attacked and who was unleashing the most attacks. what does it tell you about how

the field sees him? >> well, you know, obviously he's become a point of great interest to people inside the republican party. the question is last night was his demeanor, was his performance such that you would have said, wow. i don't think so. he did get a lot of time. he was attacked a lot. but what is this going to do in terms of his numbers? i suppose we're going to have to keep a look out for what happens to the numbers. do i think number is going to have a big significant surge in numbers? no. and i kind of disagree with the two guests that i'm on with regard to desantis. the real interesting question for him is do his supporters, the people who have been his contributors, did they look at last night and say i've had enough, or, you know, he did okay, he didn't do great, but he did okay, and he stood up there and he did fine. that, to me, is really the question. did the numbers move? at this point, i don't think you're going to see significant

movement one way or the other. nikki haley, she'll get support. people are saying she performed pretty well last night. >> yeah, i mean, and tara, let's look at that. nikki haley did spar with other candidates like ramaswamy on foreign policy. take a look at this. >> you want to go and defund israel, you want to go and give ukraine -- he will make america less safe. under your swatch, you will make america less safe. you have no foreign policy experience and it shows. it shows. >> tara, that was a moment there. what did you see in that moment? >> well, i saw someone who is actually an experienced foreign policy person, she was the u.n. ambassador, she knows what she's talking about. and she was defending democracy

and our strategic alliances that are critically important to someone who is a car salesman with, you know, the smirk of a car salesman amateur who, you know, has focus groups, certain lines to a very specific group of people who are pro-trump and isolationist. and she exposed him for the amateur that he is. so i thought it was the line of the night and good for her. i want to address two points about desantis and ramaswamy really quickly here. the fact that vivek ramaswamy is catching fire here should be alarming to anyone who thinks the republican party has any opportunity of going back to the days of reagan and bush because vivek ramaswamy has positions that are so anathema to what traditional republicans believe, all the way down to his foreign policy, which we heard last night, but also he was asked in the post debate spin room about whether he thought that vice president pence handled january 6th properly. and he said that he would have done it differently. and that he would have called for new elections on january

7th, with paper ballots. that is unconstitutional. this is a guy who wants to engage in unconstitutional behavior and that should alarm every republican. all the flash and the quips and the remarks, that might be good for reality television, but for our country and democracy, he is disqualified. he is unqualified to be president of the united states and the fact that he's the one catching fire tells you everything you need to know about this, quote, new republican party. >> julian, eerily reminiscent of another candidate who had very similar positions and is doing quite well in that republican primary. >> well, that's what i was going to say. i agree with everything that tara said and at the same time i think that that was exactly what was said about donald trump in 2016 when he was new and fresh to this gop base and also astonishingly awful in terms of his positions and just outlandish on what he was

saying, and yet there was a real market for that in the republican party. now, i don't think that ramaswamy is as talented as trump when it comes to charming that gop base. and that he's going to have as much success as trump had. but i do think that he's going to get a boost from last night, he came off for them, i think, as likable, even though i think he turned off a lot of people in the middle and certainly democrats. he held his own. he's young. you always get a little bit of a boost and if there is pizzazz there with a young candidate. and he was able to beat back those attacks from christie, from haley, pence, pretty well, especially for a first-timer. so that's bound to impress people, and, again, i think his online fund-raising is going to go through the roof. that's going to give him more opportunity to put ads out there, to get himself even more well known in iowa and new hampshire, and let's see what happens. >> yeah, john, is this, do you think, what happened last night in any way moving the needle to what as of right now seems a

very clear trajectory for donald trump? >> no. i don't think -- i've been saying i think last night, no breakout star. and, again, some of this is theater. you take a look at what vivek was saying last night, and people are going to dig down a little bit deeper and they're going to like the fact they have a fresh new face out there. but at the end, we're really talking about somebody who could be president of the united states. and, you know, you take a look at his position, i heard that thing about i would have had a new election, i would have had paper ballots, i mean, over time i think that really sells. it is not very solid. i think what people are looking for is when they take a look, somebody who could be president, somebody who could be the commander in chief, that's what i think they're looking for. and so -- but at this point, i don't see the breakout. i just don't see who it is that is going to narrow it. we have long time to go, we have

more debates to come, we have a lot of shoes to drop in terms of donald trump. but the one thing we do know is that there are a number of people in iowa say my mind is made up, i'm for trump and nothing is going to change it. and that has got to be alarming to all the people who are currently competing. >> secretary julian castro, john kasich and tara setmayor, thank you for being with us this morning. up next, breaking news overnight, another deadly mass shooting, this time in california. plus, still no comment yet from russian leader vladimir putin after the man who publicly challenged putin's authority presumably dead after a mysterious plane crash. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. h you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ♪♪ with fastsigns, signage that gets you noticed turns hot lots into homes. ♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement.

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31 past the hour. we're following breaking news out of california. an investigation under way after a deadly shooting at a popular biker bar in orange county last

night. three people were killed, six others injured. the suspected gunman was also killed in a shootout with sheriff deputies. three law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation say the gunman was a former law enforcement officer himself who targeted his wife, but they say it is not clear whether she was among the dead or wounded. the identities of the gunman and the victims have yet to be released. turning now to a development out of russia after the man who led a failed rebellion against vladimir putin was presumed killed in a plane crash. wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin along with nine other people died. the recovery crews have been working to clear the scene as russian officials say they're investigating the case and have yet to confirm whether prigozhin's body has been found. earlier today, ukrainian president zelenskyy said his country was not involved. here's how president biden responded to the crash yesterday.

>> do you believe putin is behind this, sir? >> there is not much that happens in russia -- >> joining us now, richard engel who has covered the wagner group as no one else has. richard, it is good to see. just thinking, you know, this is such a -- if you look at the history of russia and the putin's admiration for the soviet union, this kind of stuff isn't surprising, but what are you seeing here? >> reporter: well, the plot continues to thicken. we know a few facts about this incident. we know that this plane went down, that it went down in incredibly suspicious circumstances. but we don't exactly know what caused it to break apart in midair and what caused it to crash. and there is a lot of speculation online by wagner supporters and wagner opponents that this was some sort of -- there was a bomb planted on the

plane, but just in the last hour or so, reuters and only reuters at this point is reporting that, quote, u.s. officials believe that the plane was shot down by a surface to air missile. we do not have that reporting. but we are working for confirmation of that. but if true, that would be a significant development. that would change things quite significantly because only a few people in russia would be able to fire a surface to air missile, presumably the military, intelligence services, a government-controlled operation. so far, vladimir putin and the kremlin aren't saying much of anything. they have been largely silent on this, only leaving it to aviation officials to talk in generalities saying that an investigation is under way, that prigozhin's name was on the manifest, that he was believed to be a passenger on this, but

they have not provided any kind of proof or evidence, any pictures or anything of that nature. so, it is still very much a mystery. still very much a developing story and we're watching this latest report from reuters, which could turn this story on its head, if we were able to confirm it. >> yeah, and richard, prigozhin's right-hand man was also presumed to be on that flight. athi mean if they were both taken out? what could this mean for the wagner group going forward? >> reporter: well, it would be a decapitation attack against wagner to eliminate prigozhin, the leader of the group, the undisputed leader, and his right-hand man, his military commander who commanded the day to day operations, had a lot of close contact with the fighters of wagner. so far today fighters from

wagner have been making some appearances on mostly on social media, they held a small vigil wearing their uniforms, wearing ski masks, generally the wagner fighters try to cover their faces in public, laying flowers and paying tribute to what they believe is their fallen leader. generally, so far we have seen coming from wagner is that wagner does believe that he was killed. but it is hard to know what is true in this case coming out of russia at this sensitive time. we're trying to piece it all together, jose. >> richard engel, thank you. i'm reminded of david king's the comisar vanishes book and documentary when under stalin they would get the people they were close to including trotsky and eliminate him and paint him out of the picture like he didn't exist. history repeating itself. good to see you. thank you for being with us.

>> absolutely. coming up, we're following breaking news out of atlanta where former president donald trump is just hours away from surrendering on racketeering charges in georgia. we're going to go there live next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. nt you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon.

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39 past the hour. more breaking news on the fulton county case and mark meadows. let's get back to nbc's gabe

gutierrez in atlanta. what do we know? >> reporter: hey there, jose. good morning. we're here outside of the fulton county jail. we have this breaking news just in the last few minutes. we understand that now brad raffensperger, election investigator frances watson, have been subpoenaed to testify on monday at the evidentiary hearing of the federal court hearing on charges against mark meadows. as you know, jose, mark meadows, former president trump's chief of staff, has been trying to get the charges in georgia moved to federal court. there is a hearing on monday to discuss whether to do that and now we understand brad raffensperger, at the center of all these georgia charges that notorious phone call that former president trump made to georgia officials back on december of 2020, december, january, 2020, brad raffensperger being subpoenaed to appear at this hearing on monday, along with the election investigator

frances watts. that breaking news just within the past few moments. we can tell you that mark meadows still expected to surrender here in atlanta by noon tomorrow or face arrest according to fani willis. this is -- he's still trying as this whole process plays out to move these georgia charges to federal court and that hearing on monday and now two georgia election officials have been subpoenaed to appear at that hearing on monday. that break news just within the past few moments as we await former president trump to surrender here at the fulton county jail later on tonight. jose? >> gabe gutierrez, thank you very much. meantime, on capitol hill, house judiciary committee chair jim jordan sent a letter to the fulton county district attorney fani willis demanding information related to her investigation. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles is with us this morning. ryan, good morning. what do we know? >> reporter: well, this is not surprising by any stretch of the imagination, jose, including the timing of this letter from the

house judiciary chairman jim jordan, it comes on the same day that the former president of course is expected to turn himself over and it is a letter requesting information about the district attorney's investigation in any way, shape or form that would touch the federal government. in particular, jim jordan is interested in any communication or coordination between willis and the special counsel's office of jack smith, and his investigation and subsequent indictment into the former president and many of the same charges that fani willis is accusing donald trump of being guilty of. at the same time, they're asking for any sort of use of federal funds in the process of this particular investigation and also whether or not there was any interface with the department of justice as well. this is almost identical to the pattern that we saw play out when alvin bragg, the manhattan district attorney indicted the former president. and you can see that jim jordan here is trying to really, you know, thread a very thin needle

here because fani willis' investigation at the state level, it has almost no federal jurisdiction and so what the federal government is trying to do here in terms of the house judiciary committee is trying to find examples of where she is working with the federal government, either through the funding of her office or through the interactions that she may have had with the department of justice. we should also point out, jose, there is nothing that says that fani willis can't talk to members of the department of justice as part of her investigation, share information and try and determine exactly what could help or hurt her investigation. but, it is just another example of these house republicans trying to provide cover for the former president as he is scheduled to be arrested later today in atlanta. jose? >> ryan nobles on capitol hill, thank you so very much. up next, presidential hopeful ron desantis promising to send troops into mexico if elected president. we'll get reaction from congressman robert garcia, a member of the biden campaign's national advisory board, next.

congressman, good to see you. we'll chat in a second. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. cd you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. (josh allen) is this your plan to watch the game today? (hero fan) i have to watch my neighbors' nfl sunday ticket. (josh allen) it's not your best plan. but you know what is? myplan from verizon. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on 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.

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florida governor ron desantis took one of the strongest positions. take a listen to this. >> governor desantis, so, as president, would you support sending u.s. special forces over the border into mexico to take out drug cartel operations, would you support that kind of american military use? >> yes. and i will do it, on day one. >> joining us now, congressman robert garcia of california, serves as a member of the national advisory board for the biden/harris campaign. you actually posted that what desantis said is, quote, literally an insane position. what did you mean by that? >> i mean, look, i think that obviously ron desantis had a lot to do last night trying to actually breakthrough in this primary and he completely failed on this question. and he literally advocated for us to essentially invade our neighbor mexico, invade someone

who is an ally, we share a huge economy with and if he's trying to grow his base, that's not the way do it. this idea we're going to send troops on day one over the border and invade a sovereign nation was truly one of the craziest moments of the debate and he clearly has no idea what he's thattalking about and has interest in growing the latino base in the party. a complete failure. he had the biggest flop of the night and just really a shame to see how far the republican party has come. >> congressman, you know, this the u.s. never shied away from interfering in other countries, using military force whenever it thought it wanted to or needed to. so, what do you do about drug production facilities in mexico and the violent organizations behind them if the mexican government is not doing anything about them? >> well, i mean, first let's be very clear. fentanyl in this country is mostly coming from ports of entry, legal ports of entry that are coming to the united states. and so if we really want to stop

fentanyl, we have to stop american citizens from bringing others from bringing fentanyl in through the legal ports of entry. we know that's where a vast majority of fentanyl is coming from and the biden administration as well as mexico are working on that issue. we're also in no situation are we going to we invade our sovereign nation to the south. last night was basically a show of what could be more maga, more extremist, more conservative. there was no new ideas that were presented to the american public. it was a very good night for president joe biden, who is clearly leading this country in a good direction, who is trying to deal with big issues, not just around fentanyl but around bringing the economy back. i think ron desantis proved that he did continue to drop in his own primary and that this maga republican party continues to rally around donald trump. >> congressman, let's talk about the issue of immigration. it was briefly mentioned in a way last night.

i think it was to the former governor of new jersey about what to do with the millions of people that have come to this country in just the last couple of years to request asylum. my question is, what is the policy -- what should be the policy, not only vis-a-vis these millions of people who have come in in the last couple of years, but then what about the 12.5 million people who have been here contributing to this country for decades and have been here and contribute, what do you do about the dreamers who know no other country but this one? how do you draw the line? or do you? between the people that have been here for decades, the dreamers, and the five, six, seven -- however many have come in? >> i'm an immigrant. i came to the u.s. when i was a kid. i came with my family. i was undocumented for a good part of my life. i'm grateful the u.s. was able

to provide us a home, i was able to earn citizenship along with i had family. i know what the american dream is. immigrants want to be a part of this country. they are patriots as well. this idea that we have this system where we are rejecting what this country was based on and founded on is really quite shameful. we know that the people that are here, the 12 million folks that are here deserve some type of pathway to citizenship, to be able to work and to be able to be within this community and continue to contribute what they are doing in neighborhoods across the united states. asylum is legal in this country. to have a strong asylum system that works is incredibly important. in looking at this labor shortage we have going on, it's critical. finally, let's be very clear, democrats also want border security. we are -- we understand that having safe and secure borders in your country is really important. we also care about the humanity of people that are fleeing their countries for a variety of

reasons. we understand that immigrants have uplifted and created not just incredible jobs in this country but businesses. they are leaders. they are members of congress. they are doctors. i think we have to continue to uplift immigrants whenever possible. >> congressman robert garcia, thank you for your time. >> thanks so much. up next, why the number of dead and missing after the maui wildfires might not be known for months. you are watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. c. . but you know what is? myplan from verizon. (vo) for a limited time get nfl sunday ticket from youtubetv on us. a $449 value. plus, get a free samsung galaxy z flip5. only on verizon. ♪♪ with fastsigns, create striking custom visuals that inspire pride district-wide. ♪♪

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57 past the hour. it has been 16 days since brutal wildfires tore through hawaii, leaving at least 115 people dead and thousands still missing. first responders are stepping up the search at the harbor after people jumped in the water fleeing the flames.

sam brock joins us from maui. good morning. what's the latest there? >> reporter: good morning. it's almost 6:00 a.m. local. today starts with the same weight. the confirmed death toll is 115. as you talk to folks here, it's not like they each know one or two people who are unaccounted for at the moment. many know 10 to 15, lending credence to the idea the death toll could climb by the hundreds. officials say it's too premature to speculate on that. as far as on the ground, there are buildings that are layered that have to be pulled, layers taken off so the structural integrity can be ensured. then forensic experts can go inside. in the sea, we have dive units who arrived to search. there is the issue of job loss. i spoke to a woman yesterday. she's from mexico.

she is one of thousands of people who are undocumented here who lost their jobs and they are not sure where to turn. the same folks working the service jobs in hotels and restaurants on front street. here is what she described about the challenges they are facing. >> for us, this situation is very hard for the people undocumented. i have try to get some help for the federal. they asking, what are you doing here? how you come to maui? because you are supposed -- you no have paper. i lose my job. we don't have any help. >> reporter: one last point, there's 104 dna samples. there are more than 1,000 people who are unaccounted for. part of the issue is fear. part as well right now the fact there's no spanish translation. this population of people not

sure what exactly they are supposed to be doing. >> sam brock, thank you for shining that light. i appreciate that. that wraps up the hour for me. you can always reach me on my social media. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the trump surrender. donald trump's highly orchestrated arrival for booking at the fulton county jail on racketeering charges for an alleged criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election. this follows rudy giuliani's defiant appearance yesterday and trump co-defendants mark meadows and jeffrey clark losing their appeals to prevent their arrests before tomorrow's noon deadline. fight night in wisconsin. donald trump dominated the republican primary debate, even without showing up. >> if former president trump is