charging availability. >> wow. the fact that it's tesla, because ev charging availability, if they don't work, the charging system doesn't work, it is equally as bad. teslas seem to always be working. great seeing you. thank you so much. it's good to see you. that wraps up the hour for me. ryan nobles is in for andrea mitchell. thank you. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the fallout from a georgia superior court judge's ruling in a key case that could impact former president trump's defense. this hour, we will take a deeper dive into the new legal jeopardy facing hunter biden. mitch mcconnell brushing aside questions about his health. >> what his report addressed was concerns people might have of

some things that happened to me did happen. they didn't. i'm going to finish my term as leader. i'm going to finish my senate term. andrea's exclusive on the front lines of a humanitarian crisis in africa with the u.n. ambassador, as 400,000 displaced refugees hope for a better future after escaping the horrors in sudan. >> you feel for their families. you feel particularly for the young kids. you feel for their futures. you know that what you are doing -- i know that what i am doing, bringing this to life, bringing this to the people of america, that it's going to make a difference for these people. ♪♪ hello and welcome. i'm ryan nobles in washington. andrea will join us from africa this hour with more of exclusive reporting after traveling to a

refugee camp with the u.n. ambassador. we begin today in georgia. former president trump, his legal team and his co-defendants assess the legal ramifications from wednesday's hearing in fulton county. superior court judge scott mcafee expressing his skepticism over fani willis' plan to put all 19 defendants on trial next month. >> it just seems a bit unrealistic to think we can handle all 19 in 40 something days. that's my initial reaction. >> judge mcafee also denying requests by former trump campaign lawyer sidney powell and former trump legal advisor kenneth chesebro to sever their cases from each other. joining me, garrett haake and harry litman. what's going on behind the scenes in trump world? >> i don't think anything about what we saw yesterday surprised

the trump team. they have been taking the over on the georgia case in terms of how they have been preparing for it. everything about the time line jives with what they are trying to do, which is delay, delay, delay. now that we have at least some of the cases severed, it sounds like, probably not all 19 going -- starting in october, you are looking at months of jury selection, then four months of trial, then months of jury selection, then four months of trial. there's almost no way this case gets started before november. as far as the trump team is concerned, they see the opportunity to fund-raise, make it a talking point for him as part of the larger constellation of political prosecutions against him, the way he categorized it. i don't detect any angst about the progression of this case from trump world. >> harry, you are the lawyer in this conversation. you are the one that can best answer this next question. it seems to me, 150 witnesses, a four-month trial, the judge seemed to think that that was

just not realistic. was he right? how on earth could they pull this off? >> they can't. nevertheless, there's no clear legal path, at least in how they normally do severance. he was expressing that. he made several good points. he was really on top of things, was mcafee. that's the first time we saw him. he was poised and prepared. he telegraphed. he said it's my initial reaction. when you hear a judge say that, he is giving the state one last chance to file a brief. he is not going to clump them all together as the state has requested. that means at least two trials and i think exactly that it makes it very unlikely -- barely possible, but if somebody sneezes, it will be enough to make the extra delay to get it over the line for november, which is what trump is looking for. i think that was sort of the second headline or maybe the first from the case and his rulings yesterday.

>> garrett, we did get somewhat of an inkling as to what president trump is thinking about. listen to what he said yesterday. >> absolutely is what he said. we can go down the list of things that donald trump claims he is going to do that he doesn't follow through on. is he serious? >> i think he is serious enough. i don't think his lawyers will feel the same way about it. i think this is a useful window into the way he thinks about the cases. he sees them as political. as political problems he can talk his way out of as he has done in his career, both in politics and business before that. he has the utmost confidence to talk himself out of any jam. when and if these cases get to trial, i think it's highly likely you will have attorneys

who say this can do more harm than good. perhaps he will use that another way of saying, my attorneys have reeled me back in and said i shouldn't do this, but i want to talk to you. it speaks to the fact that he is not at any juncture going to stop talking about these cases. he will do it on social media, on the stand, at debates if he decides to show up. he is making the legal cases political as part of a legal strategy, frankly. >> harry, would that terrify you if you were representing donald trump if he insisted that he needed to testify in his own defense? >> it would. but it won't happen. axium number one, donald trump cannot testify. donald trump will not testify. that's just off the table for any real criminal trial proceedings. >> take it from the lawyer. >> we will clip that and bring it back if it goes. very good. thank you both. we appreciate it.

indictment expected. new developments in the criminal case against the president's son. the latest from the special counsel. that's when "andrea mitchell reports" is back in 60 seconds only on msnbc. mlb chooses t-mobile for business for 5g solutions... ...to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. ♪ today, my friend you did it, you did it, you did it... ♪ centrum silver is now clinically shown to support cognitive health in older adults. it's one more step towards taking charge of your health. so every day, you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum silver. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle.

hunter biden's legal problems are piling up once again with the potential grand jury indictment just around the corner after the special counsel appointed to oversee the federal investigation into the president's son tells the judge his office is ready to move forward by the end of the month. ken dilanian joins me now. ken, what should we expect from special counsel david weiss in the upcoming weeks? >> he is telling us indictments. this has snowballed into a more serious legal situation than it had been previously for hunter biden who thought he had a deal to plead guilty to two miss demeanors and enter a diversion

program and serve no time in jail. a republican said it was a sweetheart deal. his lawyers said he was being treated unfairly. that fell apart. now the clock is ticking. the special counsel is saying he will move to indict hunter biden before the end of the month. he mentioned both the tax charges and the gun charge. we know from those whistle-blowers who have gone to congress who investigated hunter biden, they say there's evidence of felony tax charges that could be brought. whether that could be proven in court is another matter. it's possible we will see more serious tax charges brought because after all, this is not a plea deal. prosecutors will give it everything they've got. a serious situation for hunter biden and a political nightmare for president biden. >> explain -- while we talk about the legal part of this, explain why the statute of limitations is important in this case. >> under the speedy trial act, special counsel weiss has until the end of september to file an indictment or drop it. he is on a bit of a clock here. he is going to do that.

frankly, this would have happened anyway. once garland appointed weiss special counsel, gave him the authority to file tax cases in the jurisdictions where they occurred which would be central california or washington, d.c., that process will underway. this is the logical extension of the plea agreement falling apart, much to the regret the hunter biden's lawyers. >> let's talk about the politics of it. i want to play an interview i did with ken buck about the possibility of impeachment against the backdrop of this investigation into hunter biden. >> i don't see any reason to start an impeachment inquiry at this point in time when all the power, all the resources that we can muster are now being used to investigate whether joe biden received money from hunter biden or hunter biden's activities or whether he in some way knew about hunter biden's activities. i don't think there's a need to have an impeachment inquiry when

we have three committees doing great work developing the kind of evidence that would lead to an impeachment inquiry. >> buck said that he hasn't seen any evidence yet that directly ties the president to all of this. my question for you, ken, is first, how much of the political impact did this have on weiss deciding to move forward? could it extend to the president from a legal perspective, especially now that he has special counsel status? >> hunter biden's attorneys certainly believe that weiss caved to political pressure from the republicans. it's an interesting interview. as you know well, ryan, there's a lot of smoke when it comes to hunter biden and his overseas business dealings, but no evidence president biden profited. whether he turned a blind eye, that's an ethics question. it's not legal. these claims that joe biden committed impeachable offenses or broke the law with regard to hunter biden's businesses, nobody produced evidence to support those. >> ken dilanian, thank you so

much. this story is far from over. we appreciate it. thank you. turning now to that urgent manhunt for an escaped killer in the philly suburbs in the second week. prison security shows him crab walking up a wall before pushing through razor wire to escape. it took prison guards an hour to realize that he was gone. the officer on duty in the guard tower is on administrative leave. officials say it was the same route another convict used to flee in may before being quickly ap apprehended. he has been on the week with no credible sightings since tuesday night. police will give an update in two hours. no plans to step down. the senate minority leader vowing to stay on despite concerns about his health. how it is complicating republican attacks on president biden. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. mitchell reports" only on msnbc

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 (vo) you were diagnosed with thyroid eye disease now aa long time ago.abon® bakery-inspired flavor. and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your thyroid eye disease could still change. restoration is still possible. learn how you could give your eyes a fresh start at tedhelp.com.

have fun, sis! ♪♪ can't stop adding stuff to your cart? get the bank of america customized cash rewards card, choose the online shopping category and earn 3% cash back.

[sneeze] (♪♪) astepro allergy, steroid free allergy relief that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. with astepro's unbeatably fast allergy relief you can astepro and go! we moved out of the city so our little sophie with astepro's unbeatably fast allergy relief could appreciate nature. but then he got us t-mobile home internet. i was just trying to improve our signal, so some of the trees had to go. i might've taken it a step too far. (chainsaw revs) (tree crashes) (chainsaw continues) (daughter screams) let's pretend for a second that you didn't let down your entire family. what would that reality look like? well i guess i would've gotten us xfinity... and we'd have a better view. do you need mulch? what, we have a ton of mulch.

here's why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch, it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today.

senate republican leader mitch mcconnell is vowing to finish out his term and he is waving off concerns about his health after freezing up twice in public. reporters pressed the 81-year-old for more details about his diagnosis wednesday. mcconnell kept referring to a letter from the capitol physician saying he didn't have a stroke or a seizure. >> what have doctors said is the medical reason for those two

freeze-ups? >> what dr. manahan's report addressed was concerns people might have of some things that happened to me did happen. well, they didn't. it's really -- i have nothing to add to that. i think you pretty well covered the subject. i'm going to finish my term as leader, and i'm going to finish my senate term. >> joining me now is john kasich, a former ohio governor and congressman. he was a former candidate for president. thank you for being here. you worked on the hill. you have been around mitch mcconnell. are you satisfied with his explanation, or do you think he needs to be more transparent about what happened to him? >> i think it's fine, ryan. look, there are infirmiies on both sides of the aisle. mitch mcconnell's situation and his future really is in the hands of people who love him, the people who care about him. if he says he is equipped to move forward, then i think he

should move forward. if they begin to lose confidence in his ability to carry out his job, i think they will make it clear to him. look, these are human beings, ryan. these are not cardboard cutouts and we treat them as something -- a piece of a chess move, a pawn on a chess board. that's not the way we ought to be doing it. let him figure out what he wants to do. most important, as my wife said to me, his loved ones need to be there. they need to be talking to him and doing what's in his best interest. >> let's widn out to it. you have senator feinstein, who is 90. her health has been under scrutiny. you mentioned loved ones kind of guiding the members to help them make the decision when it's time to step down. aren't you concerned that in some of the cases, loved ones aren't the ones with the loudest voices in these conversations? how do we sensitivity deal with

these leaders who have made a distance but are aging while still holding on to power? >> ryan, you know, i think the family is what matters here. if i was having a big problem somewhere, my wife or my kids would come to me. my dearest friends would come to me and say, you have to face the music here. that's how i think these things should be handled. it's not just feinstein. there are other people on the hill who are having these struggles. we have people in the press who have struggles. i think if we try to treat people more with the dignity every human being deserves, we don't need to figure out every political angle. to me, let's just see how this plays out. i believe that mcconnell's family loves him. i think they're going to be the loudest voice in his ear. i don't think any aide is going to trump his wife or his kids. >> okay. let's turn to the spending fight on capitol hill. there's a shutdown deadline at the end of the month.

how confident are you that speaker mccarthy will get the far right members of his caucus to back down to avoid a shutdown? >> ryan, you might recall -- you were up on the hill. maybe you didn't see the interviewed. i said all along that there needed to be a coalition of moderate conservative republicans joining with democrats who are sort of centrists. that's the way the house should have been run. that's how they should have picked the leader. that's how they should govern. sometimes a leaders like a person like mccarthy, you have to put the country first. ryan, i'm not some -- i will say, when i endorsed joe biden at the democratic convention, i knew my political career was over as a republican. right? sometimes you have to do what you have to do for the good of the country. right now, there's too much extremism in the house. i think a golden opportunity was missed. i think mccarthy missed an

opportunity. i think the democrats missed an opportunity. i tell you, country would have loved had we got a chunk of democrats and a chunk of republicans to run the house together to set the policy together and be able to marginalize those people who were on the extremes. that's what should have happened. but it didn't. now we are sort of stuck here. i don't know how it's all going to turn out. i'm sure something will happen here. mccarthy should be talking to democrats about how we do something that forms a consensus and puts the country first. >> that's ultimately what they did in the debt ceiling negotiations. you would think that there would be a pathway to doing that. that requires the democrats to agree to help him stay in power if they end up cutting a deal like that. >> yeah. ryan, maybe stay in power. maybe not. sometimes in politics or in life, sometimes you just gotta do the right thing. then you see -- you figure out what happens at the end. i've been watching this incredible series by ken burns

on the civil war. abraham lincoln at every point did what was in the best interest of the republic. if it cost him the presidency, he didn't care. he was going to do what was right. we see many acts of courage among politicians. that's what we need to see more of today. we don't see those acts of political courage as much as you and i and the rest of the country would like to see. it's not about him scrambling to keep his job. it's scrambling to put the country first and let the chips fall where they may. that's the way i think we have to do things. life is short. you are not going to hang on to that forever. you know it as well as anybody, ryan. you understands it and covers it. thank you. >> thank you, we will see if it plays out that way. we appreciate you being here. an nbc news exclusive. andrea mitchell is touring refugee camps. the u.n. ambassador's message to

chad and the world. >> thank you and thank chad for the hospitality that coming fro difficult circumstances. the fact that you are welcoming them here is really very, very honorable. honorable. n for a surprise. meet arexvy. ( ♪♪ ) the first fda-approved rsv vaccine. arexvy is used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can severely affect the lungs and lower airways. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. ( ♪♪ ) arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients.

those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. rsv can be serious. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about arexvy today. rsv? make it arexvy. (ella) fashion moves fast. setting trends is our business. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about arexvy today. we need to scale with customer demand... ...in real time.

(jen) so we partner with verizon to take our operations to the next level. (marquis) with a custom private 5g network. (ella) with verizon business, we get more control of production, efficiencies, and greater agility. (marquis) so our customers get what they want, when they want it. (jen) it's not just a network. it's enterprise intelligence. (vo) learn more. it's your vision, it's your verizon. ♪ chevy silverado has what it takes to do it all. with up to 13 camera views. and the z71 off-road package. ♪ you ok? yeah. any truck can help you make a living. this one helps you build a life. chevy silverado. oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. see?

this one looks brand new. saves me money? i'm starting to like downy. downy saves loads. with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. (jennifer) the reason why golo customers have such long term success e*trade from morgan stanley. is because we focus on real foods in the right balance so you won't miss an opportunity. so you get the results you want. when i tell people how easy it was for me to lose weight on golo, they don't believe me.

they don't believe i can eat real food and lose this much weight. the release supplement makes losing weight easy. release sets you up for successful weight loss because it supports your blood sugar levels between meals so you aren't hungry or fatigued. after i started taking release, the weight just started falling off. since starting golo and taking release, i've gone from a size 12 to a 4. before golo, i was hungry all the time and constantly thinking about food. after taking release, that stopped. with release, i didn't feel that hunger that comes with dieting. which made the golo plan really easy to stick to. since starting golo and release, i have dropped seven pant sizes and i've kept it off. golo is real, our customers are real, and our success stories are real. why not give it a try? turning to central africa, where the u.n. is investigating

allegations of genocide in sudan. the anchor of this program, andrea mitchell, traveled to a refugee camp in chad with the u.n. ambassador in a television news exclusive, where a stream of refugees are arriving every day to flee the horrors of war. >> reporter: they are among more than 400,000 people who escaped across the border to chad from the brutal civil war in neighboring sudan that erupted four months ago. the exodus amounting to 2,000 people a day. we visited a makeshift camp with the u.n. ambassador who wanted to hear what they experienced. >> these are her grandchildren? >> no food. no drink. >> reporter: this woman fled with her family after the older brother was killed by the militia, their home destroyed. what do you hope for? >> we need peace. >> reporter: she feared being targeted because she's a lawyer. so she fled. why did you come here?

>> i'm afraid. >> reporter: this doctors without borders cares for the children. >> it's overwhelming. that's the only word i can use. i see those little children. i saw a 6-month-old who looked like a newborn. i was told by the doctors that actually she was doing better. showing that what we do actually saves lives. >> reporter: who can heal the pain from the terror they have experienced? many of the women in this camp tell of being raped by the militias who kill the men and steal the boys to recruit them. it has led the u.n. to start investigating a possible genocide. humanitarian officials are reporting mass graves. i went to the there with condoleezza rice. the same region erupting in violence now.

18 years later, history is repeating itself. the leaders of the previous horrors have still not been brought to account. >> it did change. we are seeing the evidence of it starting again. what we see happening right now is like what we saw in 2004. we have gone backward in those years. >> reporter: the u.n. says it needs $1 billion more to feed, house and heal the refugees. so far has raised only a third of that. hardly enough to deal with the tragedy of this scale. today, the ambassador announced the u.s. did sanction some for mass atrociies and another $163 million in aid. with no end in sight for the war and a flood of its desperate victims. >> we can't give up. we can't give up. they have not been held accountable. they will be held accountable. we are working with civil society and with others to

ensure that we help them get the information, the evidence that they need to hold them accountable. . >> andra joins us live. the pictures are heartbreaking. what else did the u.n. ambassador tell you about meeting the people at the camp? >> thank you, ryan. i asked the ambassador about the atrocities. refugees telling us about the militias gang raping the women and killing the men. i have pictures verified by human rights groups of mass graves. >> i just met with a group of young women who had fled because they feared. they had seen their friends raped. they had seen men killed. they feared for their lives. they came here. one woman told me something that really struck me.

she said, i lost my ambition. i encouraged her to keep her ambition, that that is what is hers. at some point, life would improve for her. >> that's, of course, the hope, ryan. since i was here 18 years ago, there have been 16 failed cease-fires, new governments. what we see again is ethnic cleansing on a horrifying scale. >> we have a clip of an interview you did with condoleezza rice in 2005. let's take a listen to that. >> we have a problem with violence against women. in the camps, outside the camps. >> reporter: you are taking about rape as a weapon? >> of course. it is a difficult thing for these women to come forward and say. they have to live here. >> reporter: there have been

leaders here, your predecessor, your deputy. the sudanese government keeps promising they are going to stop the killings. we have evidence that they are supporting the militias doing the killings. what good are their promises? >> i said they have a problem with credibility. i said it directly to them. people need to see action, not just hear words. >> are there any solutions? >> well, the u.s. and some african countries, also a few in the middle east, are trying to negotiate a cease-fire. that would be a first step at least towards getting aid in. that's needed so desperately. investigators from human rights groups, getting them access to evidence of these atrocities. as for a lasting peace, that's not likely. ryan. >> andrea mitchell, thank you. we look forward to seeing you in washington on monday, you and your crew. thank you.

battle lines. republican senator tommy tuberville facing increaing demands to surrender his nine-month hold on military nominations that critics say is putting our national security at risk. michael bennett joins me live next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ay. like the subway series menu. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. for freeee. that's what i'm talking about. order in the subway app today. (♪♪) rsv can be a dangerous virus... [sneeze] ...for those 60 and older. it's not just a cold. and if you're 60 or older... ...you may be at increased risk of hospitalization... [coughing] ...from this highly... ...contagious virus. not all dangers come with warning labels. talk to your pharmacist or doctor...

...about getting vaccinated against rsv today. i'm saving with liberty mutual, mom. they customize your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. you could save $700 dollars just by switching. ooooh, let me put a reminder on my phone. on the top of the pile! oh. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ at pnc bank, only pay for what you need. you can find us in big cities and small towns across the us, where our focus is to always support the people who live and work there. because you call these communities home,

and we do too. pnc bank. that's me before dawn powerwash. [sigh] now, powerwash gives me the power of an overnight soak in minutes. with 3 cleaning boosters... not found in traditional dish soaps that help break down, loosen and lift away food and grease...

so much faster! about two years ago, i realized that jade was overweight. i wish i would have introduced the fresh food a lot sooner. after farmer's dog, she's a much healthier weight. she's a lot more active. and she's able to join us on our adventures. get started at betterforthem.com

i promise - as an independent advisor - andto put the financialus well-being of you. and your family first. i promise to serve, not sell. i promise our relationship will be one of partnership and trust. i am a fiduciary, not just some of the time, but all of the time. charles schwab is proud to support the independent financial advisors who are passionately dedicated to helping people achieve their financial goals. visit findyourindependentadvisor.com republican senator tommy tuberville is not budging in his

blockade of military promotions over the pentagon's abortion policy. for nearly six months, the senator has been objecting to a policy that reimburses service members for travel to get reproductive chair. the joint chiefs chair nomination is in limbo. the pentagon is escalating the pressure on the senator with the secretaries of the army and navy blasting the blockade. >> he is playing russian roulette with the lives of our service members. >> i would have never imagined that one of our own senators would be aiding and abetting communist and other autocratic regimes around the world. >> on fox news last night, the alabama senator hit back. >> didn't think i would come up here and be associated with terrorism and communist as a united states senator. that's wrong. right now, we are so woke in the military. we are losing recruits right and left. it's a hardtopic to get on top

of. we are pro life. we should be. we are the republicans. >> joining me is one of senator tuberville's most fiercest critics, senator bennett. you heard his comments. he does not believe that his blockade of the nominees in any way affects military readiness. i assume you feel differently. >> i feel differently. every single general that i have talked to feels differently. this has become a huge problem for america. he has created a fairytale, senator tuberville has, where he is saying that the dod has too many generals, the generals at the dod has is somehow pursuing some sort of woke agenda. this is all to obscure the radical position that he has taken, which is that he is so upset in the wake of the

reversal of rove rove roe versu wade -- he is so so offended by the idea that people would be able to have their travel paid for just like people who are going in for a foot operation or any other operation, had their travel paid for, who happened mostly to be men, that he has brought the entire department of defense to its knees. he is claiming we don't need generals. he is claiming he is not affecting national security. i can tell you, every single general i know believes he is profoundly affecting our national security. let me just finish also be saying that the generals i know are working on protecting our

national security interests, standing up our support against putin's horrific invasion of ukraine and his attack on western democracy and doing the planning that's necessary for us to be able to do the work we need to do from a national defense perspective. >> senator, your complaints about the situation are duly noted. that hasn't seemed to impact senator tuberville at all. the pressure has not made him budge an inch on his position. senator schumer was pressed on this yesterday about whether it's time for democrats to begin the process of confirming these judges outside of the hold, which you do have the ability to do. i know it would be laborious. i know it would be difficult. if you do believe that national security is at risk, is it time for you to use the legislative instruments you have at your disposal to begin the process of confirming these generals? >> i think that we would never

get any other work done if we did that. the schedule will not allow it. it cannot allow it. that's one of the reasons why for 230 years, no senator, no matter how extreme their views -- jesse helms comes to mind back in the day. no matter how extreme their views, has done the kind of tactic that tuberville has engaged in here. frankly, i think that would be capitulating to this extraordinarily horrible tactic that he has pursued if we began to do these nominations one at a time, as if that was either going to solve the problem at dod or, b, defend the rights of enlisted american women who are fighting for this country and don't need tommy tuberville telling them what choices they should make about their bodies. that's really important for us to understand. this party in the wake of roe

being overturned after their 50-year crusade, that put those justices on the court whose mission was to overturn roe, they said this is now a state issue. that's not true. this is a war against a woman's right to choose. senator tuberville is the tip of the spear. i think the american people need to rise up and say, we are not going to tolerate this. this is intolerable. senator tuberville has to change his position. if he is not willing to change his position, the republican party is going to have to own the most anti-defense actions that i have ever seen in my adult life in this country and the most anti set of -- the freedom agenda that any party has owned. it breaks my heart to say that. this is not for me about politics. it's about women that have

signed up to serve our nation's military, and the fact that one senator's right wing and very, frankly, unusual view that abortion is -- the modern day holocaust and he is standing up to prevent afterbirth abortions, that somehow it makes it appropriate for him to do what he is doing on the floor of the senate, nothing could be further from the truth. it's an outrage. it is an outrage. >> senator michael bennett, we have to leave it there. we have breaking news. the grand jury that handed up the federal indictment in former president trump's d.c. case has been spotted again at the courthouse, a few blocks away from us here. we will bring back former u.s. attorney harry litman to talk about this development. harry, why would this group be meeting again? it did seem as though they finished their work by handing down the indictment.

would this mean the investigation is ongoing? >> fasten your seat belts. coul outgrowth of what they have already done. second, we know smith has expressed interest in certain areas, not covered by the indictment so far. mainly fund-raising. co-conspir giuliani, chesebro, powell -- they have been identified -- i would be mighty nervous just about now. >> by making them co-conspirators and not indicting them, would that be an indication he was attempting to get them to cooperate? could this be a sign they aren't

cooperating to a level he is satisfied with? >> it could be that. in this case, it could have been they wanted to really get to trump and quickly and have an indictment that, as i put it, was built for speed. i'm sure that's always been in the offing. we know of even some discussions -- giuliani comes to mind -- with some of the prosecutors. i think the big thing is, however it happened, when the indictment came out, it made clear that we have these six who easons for not including them. we are seeing that in fulton county where lumping in other defendants makes for a longer, more basically proceeding along those lines. possible it would be a prelude to cooperation. again, it's a grand jury. it's a black box to us. this is what jumps at least to my mind. >> harry, stay by your web cam in case something else pops up.

we appreciate you being here. richard engel's exclusive interview with the secretary of state antony blinken inside ukraine as western forces brace for an upcoming meeting with president putin and north korea's kim jong-un. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. tchell reports" only on msnbc 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

♪i've got home internet from t-mobile.♪ ♪it only costs $50 bucks at t-mobile.♪ ♪just one cord to set up.♪ ♪say goodbye to that truck.♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful mornin'...♪ ♪oh, what a beautiful day...♪ ♪they won't raise your rates at t-mobile...♪ ♪you'll get a great deal every day!♪ home internet from t-mobile... just $50 bucks a month. ♪ ♪ wake up, gotta go! home intc'mon, c'mon.mobile... -gracie, c'mon. let's go! guys, c'mon! mom, c'mon! mia! [ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ my favorite color is... because, it's like a family thing! [ engine revving ] ♪ ♪ made it! mom! leave running behind, behind. the new turbocharged volkswagen atlas. does life beautifully.

want a smarter way to mop? introducing the new swiffer powermop. an all-in-one cleaning tool with a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. mop smarter with the new swiffer powermop. every business that's why comcast business de is launching theal. mobile made free event. with our business internet, new and existing customers can get one year of unlimited mobile for free. it's our best internet. powered by the next generation 10g network and with 99.9% reliability. plus one line of free mobile for an entire year. it's the mobile made free event-happening now. get started for just $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get one free line of unlimited mobile. comcast business, powering possibilities.

in ukraine this morning, secretary of state antony blinken speaking to richard evening m l before wrapping up his visit to the war-torn nation. the secretary insisting that ukrainian forces are making, quote, tangible progress in the brutal counteroffensive against russia. this after a russian missile struck a market yesterday killing 17 ukrainians including a child. >> now that we're in more of this slow, incremental very costly in terms of lives phase of this war, do you think it's harder to keep the american

public on board? >> it's always challenging to keep people's attention on any one issue for any period of time. it will end at some point with diplomacy, but the russians have to get to a point where they acknowledge that they failed. they are not going to succeed. they've already failed at what they were trying to do, which is to erase ukraine from the map, that's failed. >> so would you say that it's up to russia right now to come to the table? what about ukraine? do you think ukraine needs to make some concessions as well? >> there's no one to go to the table with in the case of ukraine because putin right now shows no evidence that he's interested in meaningful diplomacy. >> and joining me now is nbc news' chief foreign correspondent, richard engel and alexander vindman, a former national security council director of european affairs who was born in ukraine and a witness in the impeachment hearings of donald trump. richard, let's start with you.

talk about the significance of the ukrainian town where you spoke to secretary blinken and then give us some of the highlights of your exchange. >> reporter: so we spoke about a two-hour drive north of kyiv and it was an area that was held by russian troops. he talked about how the russians failed in their initial intention of the war. the russians under putin decided to take over this country, and there was an active campaign a year and a half ago to capture kyiv and they never managed to do that, but they did manage to capture and occupy the suburbs around kyiv as they tried to take the capital. and while they were holding those suburbs, russian forces carried out well documented atrocities and some of those atrocities took place in this village where the secretary visited today. in particular, he went to a school that russian troops turned into a detention center,

and they took villagers, who they were suspicious of and locked them in the basement, hundreds of people in freezing, terrible conditions, so dank that ten people died from disease and deprivation and another 15 were executed according to witnesses. 17 were executed, excuse me. so he went there. he saw for himself what it was like for ukraiians to live under this brutal occupation for months until ukrainian forces were able to drive the russians out of this village, and now we're in the counteroffensive phase of this war, and ukrainians are trying to drive russians not just away from the suburbs of kyiv. they are trying to drive them out of all of ukrainian territory, and that is where they are running into the russian trenches and the fortified russian positions down in the south and in the east. but what was significant -- and you mentioned this in the

introduction is that they are now, not just secretary blinken, i'm hearing this from a variety of sources starting to see tangible progress, three month into this intense counteroffensive, they are start to see not major collapses of the russian military like we saw a year ago, but they are starting to see breaks. they're starting to see opportunities. they're starting to see some momentum on the ukrainian side. >> lieutenant colonel vindman, you served in iraq. so give us a sense from your perspective how you think this counteroffensive is going and how concerned are you about the political opposition here at home to more funding for the war. >> it's great to see secretary blinken in ukraine showing support to the president, the population. the war is going relatively well. i don't want to overstate the gains of either ukrainians, but the reason that they were successful last year, last fall, is because russia was hollowed out. russian military forces were hollowed out, especially in the

east. that has happened over the course of the previous two months. this was not necessarily going to be a quick lightning strike to regain territory quickly, it was about depleting russian forces. russia has committed its strategic reserve to the areas where ukrainians are making penetrations. the ukrainians continue to gain ground. it is likely that momentum is going to pick up and the ukrainians are going to hit some of their markers with territory. they've already hit significant markers with regard to attrition to russian personnel. this is going to end up relatively successful from a military standpoint from reducing russia's ability to wage war and from liberating territory and putting enormous pressure on russia in the south ask sustaining crimea. with regards to the most important question, western and u.s. support, i am concerned about waning support from the right side of the aisle in particular. i think there are 70 republicans in the house that voted against -- or voted to cut support to ukraine. there has to be another appropriation $24 billion from the administration that has been

requested for support to ukraine over the course of the next year starting in october. that is in peril, i think the fact is that there is a far right faction, a trump captured faction that is looking to cut support to ukraine regardless of how critical that support is to u.s. national security, to european stability. if ukraine is not successful and this war extends significantly beyond 2024, russia mobilizes to its entire society, its entire population. things could get very, very precarious. so more is better. that support needs to come in the dollars and in critical equipment, planes, helicopters that are not central are going to be all critical to come to ukraine. >> we do need to touch another topic. what did the secretary say about north korean leader kim jong-un visiting russia this month to meet with vladimir putin?

>> so the secretary described that as an act of desperation because vladimir putin, who's low on ammunition, the russian troops are low on ammunition, just as the ukrainians are, he needs specifically ammunition that will fit inside russian systems and north korea has them. so it's debatable whether this is an act of desperation or this is a win-win for north korea and for russia. it has the potential to solve a problem for russia. does it -- is it embarrassing, perhaps, that russia has to go to north korea to ask for weapons? perhaps, but at the end of the day, russia needs these weapons, north korea has them ask has them in large numbers. >> richard engel and alexander vindman, thank you, both. we appreciate it. check more of richard's interview tonight on nbc "nightly news." that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." i'll be back hear tomorrow.

follow the show on all the social media platforms @mitchellreports. meanwhile, "chris jansing reports" starts right now on msnbc. good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. is it fair or even feasible to try 19 people, including a former president of the united states all at once? georgia prosecutors now with just days left to prove to a georgia judge that it can be done. more on that and the d.a.'s bid to keep the identities of the jurors secret. she says don't even describe what they look like. plus, new details about the possibility that the president's son hunter could face a federal indictment before the month is out. what we're learning about the charges and the chances it could impact president biden's bid for re-election. and mike pence goes scorched earth on