treatment new today, voters in iran elected a reformist to the presidency. delivering an upset election over the conservative party. he advocated for more moderate policies domestically, has criticized wren's morality

police and has advocated for better relations with the west. let's bring in international correspondent ralph sanchez. rough, how much change can this new president actually bring to iran?>> so, alex, the president can make change, but it is limited. in the islamic republic of iran, supreme leader who makes all final decisions on all policy issues, both foreign and domestic. when it comes to national security, the president is sort of competing with power with the revolutionary guard corps. he has very little influence over those key national security issues that we talk about, iranian support for those shia militias in iraq and syria, which have been attacking american forces in recent years. the support for hezbollah, the powerful military group that has been battling israel over the israel-lebanon border since october 7th. that isn't to say that the president has no influence at all. the newly elected president

masoud pezeshkian has said, he is opposed to the mandatory job law, which means that women have to cover their hair when they are out in public. that is a law that has been one of the sources of some of those major, major protests we have seen in iran in recent years. and on the campaign trail, he said, he wants to improve the economy, he wants to improve opportunities for young people in iran. he understands that in order to do that, he is going to have to find a way to ease western sanctions, that is going to mean some sort of revival of the nuclear deal, which donald trump pulled the u.s. out of. we should say, alex, the reason iran is having these elections is because the premium previous president was killed and that helicopter crashed back in may, and he was a major hardliner. it is possible we will see a significant policy shifting around because of the vagaries of the helicopter crashed. >> that helicopter crash coming

on a weekend and this show coveted quite extensively. thank you, so much, my friend in london. saying good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome everyone to "alex witt" reports. president biden's high- stakes tort of reassuring democrats he is up for the task of beating donald trump in november. madison, wisconsin for his first big interview since the debate in an exclusive interview with george stephanopoulos. >> i just had a bad night, i don't know why. having a bad night when i realized that even when i was answering a question, and they turned his mic off, he was still shouting, i let it distract me. can i run 110 flat, no, but i

am still in good shape. >> are you more frail? >> no. a handful of democratic lawmakers and are openly calling for biden's exit from the presidential race. campaign aides, like the president himself, are pushing back. >> will age continue to be a topic of conversation in this election moving forward, sure, it will be. here are the facts, joe biden is an 81-year-old man. he is 81 and he will beat donald trump again. he is 81 and he will make billionaires pay their fair share in taxes, never any less than a schoolteacher or nurse. he is 81, yet got to ban assault weapons and high- capacity magazines. he is 81 years old, he will continue to bring people together for solutions for the american people. on the other side, you have donald trump, who is 78 years old and poses a fundamental threat to our democracy, economy, and our way of life. breaking news on the trials of donald trump, another delay

in the classified document case. george judge cannon earlier today, adjusting deadlines for upcoming hearings after trump's team asked for a stay. analysts and correspondence are in place ready to unpack these new developments. we will begin once again with nbc's allie rafah, traveling with the president in wilmington, delaware. the president has seen a lot of pushback, but is he more resolute than ever to stay in this race? >> publicly, it appears so, alex , based on this interview he had with nbc news that aired last night. the president, before that interview, knew that he had a lot to accomplish with it as he tried to ease these fears, these growing concerns from democratic lawmakers. you talked about from democratic donors, but most importantly from voters over whether he has the stamina to stay in this race and possibly serve four more years in

office. in this interview, he was defiant, downplaying polls that show him behind his predecessor, former president donald trump after that debate . he also vowed that he remains the most qualified candidates in this race, to be able to beat former president donald trump. now, some democrats are saying , that some of his responses to george stephanopoulos's questions did not do much to really fully relieve their concerns. at one point, the president saying, nothing short of the divine would get him to drop out of this race. this is coming, as we see today, a fifth aquatic lawmaker publicly called on the president to step aside, and we know several more are privately weighing whether to follow. listen to some of the president's remarks were that question from george stephanopoulos yesterday. >> i mean, if the lord almighty cannot say, joe, get out of the race, or the money is not coming down. >> if you are told reliably

from your allies, from your friends and supporters of the democratic party, house, and send it, they are concerned you will lose the house and send it if you stay in, what will you do? >> i'm not going to answer that question. it is not going to happen. >> and alex, as the biden team is out there, trying to prove the president has the stamina has the strength to stay in this race, we have some new reporting today on criticism that they are receiving after one of the hosts of the black interviews that the president had after that debate last week revealed on another network this morning, that the biden team, biden aids shared in advance questions with her before that interview she had with the president. a biden campaign spokesperson is reacting to this in a statement saying in part quote, it is not at all an uncommon practice for interviewees to share topics they prefer we do not condition on acceptance of these questions and hosts always feel free to ask the questions they think will best inform their listeners. all of this of

course, as the biden team is under an enormous amount of pressure to get the president out more, more visible, doing these impromptu, unprepared remarks in front of the public. even in that interview with george stephanopoulos last night, the president teased one we expect coming up next week, when the president is expected to have a soul a press conference at the nato summit in washington, alex. >> can i ask a question about the issue you broke up, do we know if the interview went along and asked only those questions, which the biden campaign suggested, what topics they wanted, or infused the interview with their own questions? >> according to this interviewer, the biden team provided a list of roughly 8 questions to her, and from that she approved four of them to use and to ask president biden during that interview, alex. >> duly noted, thank you very much, allie rafah. joining me now, white house correspondent for "bluebird."

jordan, welcome. so look, george stephanopoulos did a terrific job. he pressed biden on how self- aware he is about his ability to win this election. let's take a listen. >> know that he thought i could get done what i got done. >> but are you being honest with yourself as well as about your ability to defeat donald trump right now? >> yes. yes. yes. >> so, what are you hearing at the white house about this interview? is there a sense this was a win, a loss, or a draw? >> well, within the white house and the biden campaign, they were encouraged by this interview. president biden didn't make the sort of mistakes he made during the debate. their attitude is, it is on to pennsylvania. we are continuing on, we got through the interview. the attitude is much different if you talk to democratic donors, officials in the party,

lawmakers. they are kind of disturbed by some of the things they heard from president biden. most certainly that quote he gave when asked, how he would feel if he were to lose to donald trump in january? he said, if i gave it my all, that is the most important thing. the most important thing to a lot of democrats is getting donald trump out of the white house. there is a lot of alarm that president biden is not honestly grappling with the political predicament he has put himself in with this debate performance and might not be serious about really making the changes that they want to see on the campaign, if not, drop out entirely. >> you are at bloomberg, you will be familiar with his new poll with bluebird and morning console. registered voters including arizona, georgia, michigan, they showed trump with a slight edge, 47% over biden's 45%. does this suggest the president's poor debate performance is not registering that much with voters?

wouldn't the edge of the bigger at this point? >> yeah, very well could indicate that. i am sure the biden campaign is looking at these numbers, probably sharing them with people who share their concerns with the campaign and say, hey, that might have been bed bad at date, but it is not a death sentence for president biden. polls, they can be-- there could be outliers. we will see if there are other polls that confirm our results, but certainly, in the short term, you better believe the biden campaign will be pointing to that, saying, hey, guys trust us. president biden is still the only one to beat president trump . that is the case he has been making all along. it is a case that has been falling on deaf ears for the past few days. segment curious, jordan, what the mood has been like at the white house since the debate. as it run the gamut? is there a unified front? what

has it been like? >> i think there are different camps. there is the people who are joe biden loyalists, who are all in . this is certainly true of the people that have been with him the longest. they believe he is someone that has been counted out his whole career and this is the latest speedbump and they will get through it. there are other people may have worked for other democratic politicians and realized the political trouble, the political crisis engulfing this president and maybe would like to see some changes made. those people aren't necessarily making their thoughts known publicly, but they certainly exist. people acknowledge reality, see what is happening around them, see the ilan that has been sounded on capitol hill among donors and want to see some changes. >> you bring up the donors here in your article, you spoke with an anonymous democratic donor who said quote, they are angry and biden's orbit for not encouraging him to step down,

calling the continued campaign delusional and selfish. how long is the window until donors will face the reality of biden versus trump, potentially, and throw their support behind biden? do you think donors could actually sit out this race and maybe hand it to donald trump? >> some donors have already said they are going to do that. disney areas came out last week and said, some other donors in a letter to joe biden that was reported on last week, that they would withhold money. that is something to watch, certainly. i think the next week will be very pivotal not only for those donors, but for joe biden himself. democratic lawmakers who have been away from washington since the debate are coming back to town. you've got to believe that pressure on joe biden will intensify with microphones in their faces, being questioned about, do they think joe biden is the want to continue to move forward to mark joe biden is

the one who does not necessarily always listen to donor concerns, but he is more likely to listen to congressional leaders. there is a meeting happening tomorrow among democratic leaders on capitol hill. if that does not go well, let's see if the democratic leadership of congress brings more pressure on joe biden to drop out or make serious changes to the top of his campaign. >> we will definitely be watching for that. jordan fabian, thank you for joining me. breaking news, tracking tropical storm beryl as it takes on texas now. it is crossing the very warm gulf of mexico, so it will likely intensify into a hurricane. residents are busy preparing, officials highlighting the dangerous the storm surge could bring several feet of water with disaster declarations in place for many counties. joining me now and the national hurricane center in miami is water vanegas. we saw folks there, residents likely in the storm's path. i guess they are sandbagging, trying to get ready. are they aware of what is coming their

way? >> reporter: well, alex, it has been changing, if you look at the forecast, the path of the hurricane that experts thought in the beginning was going to mexico. it has been moving up everyday. these types of storms always change. residence know that a storm is coming. all people can do is be informed with their local government and protect property when it comes to the possibility of flooding. you see a lot of people filling up the sandbags for me to try and protect areas when they know they live or have property in areas that can flood. that is all they can do is wait and protect the property and see what the forecast indicates. as of now, it seems like it will be some point sunday when they will be feeling the effects of the storm. now, state authorities have issued a disaster declaration, severe weather disaster declaration for 4 counties in texas, areas along the gulf coast. the storm can change if expected to

become much stronger as it goes over the gulf of mexico. residence in that entire area are doing what they can to prepare. let's hear from one of the residence in that part of texas. >> we were more concerned about it yesterday, with the forecast , it would be coming by that brownsville, and in us. looks like it will be more to the north. now, we are more worried about folks up north, corpus christi, houston. we have folks in that area. it looks like for us, we will dodge this bullet. there will be more i am sure down the road. >> reporter: earlier today, i spoke to the director of the national hurricane center about what this means for everyone in texas. this resident is talking about what it is like to be in the southern part of texas, closer to the mexican border, it looks like the storm is moving north, it will affect areas like corpus christi, or even further north into houston, perhaps. it depends on how the storm moves. the director from the national hurricane center told me, whether it is a tropical storm, hurricane, or whether it moves

one way or the other me there is still a possibility of flooding for the people that live in that area. they do have to prepare for something completely different, perhaps from what they experienced two weeks ago when alberto, a different storm, hit that part of the country. alberto hit mexico, but brought wind and water to that part of texas. this storm, he says, it looks like is much more powerful. meanwhile, these places will have more resources that the department of whether management has ready today. that includes personnel to assist cities and counties as everyone waits for the storm to make its way up the coast, then begin impacting texas. >> thank you so much for the heads up on all of that. first it was a solo and then a duet, now it is sounding like a chorus. lawmakers on capitol hill sending a message to president biden here we are back.

if you are told, reliably from your allies, from your friends and supporters in the democratic party and house and senate, they are concerned you are going to lose the house and senate if you stay in, what will you do? >> i'm not going to answer that question, it is not going to happen. >> president biden doubling down on his promise to stay in the race as today the number grew to five house democrats calling for him to drop out.

top house democrats will meet tomorrow to discuss the path forward. let's bring in nbc news congressional correspondent julie serpent. good to see you, julie. what else are we hearing from them aquatic lawmakers and what about tomorrow's scheduled meeting?>> democrats are extremely concerned. you see the pie that came out publicly. craig of minnesota, the latest to come out, this is noticeable because she is the frontline democrat to come out and publicly call on biden to step aside. this is her sticking her neck out, because as a general rule, front liners don't do anything to stand out of line with the party. obviously, they are very concerned, all of the front liners are, with their own come november. democrats as a whole with chances to flip the house. nonetheless, certainly you have some that are supporting biden still, especially publicly as his allies blanket the airwaves, especially this weekend, trying to tell everyone to calm down, take a few minutes to trust in the president to lead their party and leave them to victory in

november. i want you to take a listen to two lawmakers you had on your show. watch this. >> i support this resident. i believe he has been consequential. i believe he deserves grace, dignity and respect. >> the president has earned our chris board support. i also think the president has an opportunity to bounce back after the debate. i think he is doing that in the days after the debate and he did it last night. >> it is notable to me, alex, a lot more democrats behind the scenes, at least for now you might see that change monday when they are back in town, on capitol hill and can no longer do anything but face is directly and face our questions. they said, the interview yesterday did not cloud their concerns. i think we have a graphic of some of the conversations i had with democratic lawmakers, other members of the team had, quote, it made me sad, completely out of touch with reality and isolated from the truth. they said, still shaky under the truth. one frontline democrat telling

me, yep, we are doomed. certainly, they are nervous that perhaps biden is in a state of denial. an important point i think kind of gets lost in this is a lot of the people calling on biden to step aside love him. they respect him. they stand by his record. they appreciate the job he has done in the last five years as president and his career in public service before hand. this is a painful moment for that. also one, as reported yesterday, they have noticed his decline. some of them who have had close interactions with him over the past couple of months say, he is more tired, is not paying attention as much as he used to. this is a guy who is 81 years old. yes, donald trump is also up there in age. americans who watched the debate performance can't deny what they some of their own eyes, that is why you will see more and more democrats come out, calling on him to step aside, if the president does not do so himself.

>> it will be a rough couple of weeks. it will only be a couple of weeks and we will have to get this figured out because of that convention next month. judge canon's new move in the classified documents case, that is next. s next. lawmakers are trying to shut down planned parenthood. the health care of more than 2 million people is at stake. our right to basic reproductive health care is being stolen from us. planned parenthood believes everyone deserves health care. it's a human right. future generations are beginning to lose the rights we fought for. the rights for ourselves, our kids, and our grandkids. gone. just like that. i can't believe this is the world we live in, where we're losing the freedom to control our own bodies. last year, politicians in 47 states introduced bills that would block people from getting the sexual and reproductive care they need.

where does it end? planned parenthood fights for you every day. but we need your support now more than ever. visit this website, call, or scan the code on your screen, with your $19 monthly gift. help us win the fight for the constitutional right to control our own bodies. truly if planned parenthood had not stepped in, i would not be here today. they saved my life. your support is urgent. our rights and the rights of future generations are at risk. and lives are at risk. and that's why we have to keep fighting. in every state, everywhere. donate $19 a month, or whatever you can afford. and you'll help us fight against laws that block care, and take away our rights. we fight to make sure everyone and anyone can get the care they need. but we need your help. and there's never been a more urgent time to join. so go online, call, or scan this code now.

sign up with your monthly gift today, and we'll send you this “care. no matter what” t-shirt. it is your right to have safe health care. that's it. we won't give up, and we won't back down. we need you now more than ever. go online, call, or scan right now. [introspective music] recipes. recipes that are more than their ingredients. ♪ [smoke alarm] recipes written by hand and lost to time... can now be analyzed and restored using the power of dell ai. preserving memories and helping to write new ones. ♪ sleep more deeply and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat, and helping to write new ones. relieves pressure and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. right now save up to $800 off mattress sets at purple.

visit purple.com or a store near you today

more now and breaking news in donald trump's classified documents case. another delay from judge eileen cannon today hours after trump's legal team asked for a state into once again have the charges dismissed. joining me now, state attorney for trump's home district of palm beach county, florida. my really good friend. here we go again, dave. this should not surprise you, given the judge has been widely criticized for slowly walking this case. she has given both sides time to respond to the supreme court ruling that granted trump immunity. do you not expect her to dismiss, or will she try to separate official, unofficial ex. >> goodie back, alex, if judge canon does try to dismiss

charges against donald trump, she would try to appeal to the 11th circuit, would probably be reversed and eventually removed from the case. she has got to tread carefully. delay is her middle name. she will continue to slow walk this case, or continue to err on the side of delay and indulge the former president with every request. yes, this decision by the supreme court on immunity would further delay the documents case, which is the strongest case against donald trump. his case was never going to be heard before the election, anyway. >> based on the immunity ruling, dave, what aspects of the mar-a-lago case do you anticipate being thrown out? >> well, i don't think anything in the mar-a-lago documents case will be thrown out. should not be thrown out, because the behavior was after he left the white house. he has no more ability to keep documents after he leaves the white house, these classified documents, as he does to keep air force one. if you actually

think about it like that, trump's argument is, i was allowed to keep the document as a part of my core, constitutional functions. therefore, i get immunity for keeping the documents after i leave the white house. what if he stalled air force one, he was allowed to use it after presidency. if you continue to use it after he left, he would be arrested for it. his argument i think is ridiculous because it all took place after he left the oval office. whether you're talking about the unlawful retention of the documents or the obstruction. i don't think he has a chance. it would delay matters here in south border florida, but ultimately, he will lose if that ever goes to trial. >> i like the air force one analogy. i was speaking with joyce vance about this and we came to an agreement it is like him he is allowed to take the documents, but he can't keep them. he is allowed to use air force one, but not keep it. that is how you see it if you

want to be really simple. okay, let's move to trump's lawyers who made a big move, citing justice clarence thomas who wrote about the appointment of special counsel jack smith. of course, that was not a part of the issue before the supreme court, but it is among the motions before judge cannon, dave, how do you think she is going to handle that? >> i think judge cannon is going to be very careful before ruling that special counsel is unconstitutional. that would contradict other ports and again would get her appeal to the 11th circuit, possibly, not only reversed, but removed from the case. we are talking about clarence thomas, the supreme court justice's wife who was involved with january 6th, we should not be a part of this to begin with. he will continue to rule and he is on the extreme side of the court. he was the only one who rolled in the raheem the case that a person who possesses a gun, even if you have a domestic violence injunction against you, that you can continue to possess a gun. 8-1, was the decision. he is an outlier. whether judge cannon wants to allow rely on justice thomas for her rulings shows that she

will be totally out of touch and risking a severe reversal and repudiation an embarrassment by the 11th circuit. segment let's go to judge marchant, of course in the hush money case has already set aside trump's sentencing hearing, taking place thursday, it has been planted to mid september. do you think the immunity ruling would affect any of the evidence that secured the hush money conviction? will any of that be overturned? >> i don't think so. i am not trying to be a poly and here. i think judge is right to the lady matter and look into it. we are talking about the evidence while trump was in the white house, whether the tweets he sent out, but none of that involved official asked acts. tell me how paying off a star to help you get elected is an official act of the presidency. this pertains more to him being an office seeker, not an officeholder here and i think that judge merchan will go through the process. by the way, trump can't even

make these arguments, because he waved them when he did not bring them up originally. even if judge merchan goes through the arguments, he will eventually deny it and work his way back up to the supreme court. the biggest impact the court's decision will have on trump's four criminal cases will be just delaying them. i don't think judge will dismiss them in any of these cases. >> that is of course from the trump playbook 101. my good friend, always good to see you. thank you very much. a reformist women's presidency, the implications for israel, the war in hamas, and the u.s., next. next. that start working on contact to target tough pain at the source. for up to 8 hours of powerful relief. new advil targeted relief.

former president donald trump is distancing himself from the so-called magic 2025, a far right governing agenda created by a conservative think tank for a second trump term. now, trump is claiming he has nothing to do with it, calling some of the allegations quote, ridiculous. remind us what is project 2025, and why is the former president trying to distance himself from it?>> alex, project 2025 is essentially a conservative action plan that would significantly increase the size of power of the federal government and the presidency, while also firing several thousand civil servants and replacing them with trump loyalists. that plan also includes proposals that would reshape everything from abortion

access, to climate change policy, it would affect social security policy. the biden campaign has long ceased on this plan as an extreme outlining of what trump would do if he regains office. trump is now distancing himself from this plan because voters now, your more casual observers of politics, are beginning to become more in tune with this plan. i don't know about your timeline on x, but online, you see people asking at the very least, what is project 2025? and they have been tying those policies to donald trump. i want to play you a tiktok on exactly how the biden campaign is messaging 2025. >> the all, i just read what trump's project 2025 would do to lgbtq people. if you or someone you care about is in a same-sex marriage, trump is planning to do everything he can to reverse marriage equality. >> so, the campaign has really been highlighting how project 2025 would impact social things like access to abortion. hoping that can persuade voters

that may not be that enthusiastic about president biden himself, to support him. i want to review my statement president biden put out months ago, responding to efforts to distance himself from this plan. he said quote, you can always rely on donald trump for one thing, to lie to the american people in pursuit of power. now he is trying to hide his connections to his allies' extreme project 2025 agenda, the only problem, it was written for him by those closest to him. >> about 800 plus pages on that. let me ask quickly about the biden campaign, but if the president doing this weekend? >> the president has been getting back out there. he held an event in madison, wisconsin yesterday, as a part of this push that has all principles, president biden, vice president kamala harris, the first lady, and first gentleman hit every battleground state to fend off that the idea biden would step aside. one thing you heard is a strong pledge by him to stay in this

race, despite the fact that we are now seeing more democrats come out to suggest he step aside. take a listen to what he had to say yesterday at that event in wisconsin. >> i am running, and going to win again. i am a nominee of the democratic party. i am a nominee because millions of democrats like you voted for me in primaries all across america. you voted for me to be your nominee, no one else. you, the voters did that. >> now, alex, we have talked about this. one thing voters have told me, they want to see more of that from president biden, they want to continue to see him hit battleground states and reiterate that message and doing so is vigorous and dispels any notion he is too old to do the job. new today, a change of political direction for iran after a runoff presidential election reformist candidate masoud pezeshkian , a heart

surgeon who campaigned on promises to reach out to the west and ease the impact of sanctions. he will replace president abraham isaac, killed in a helicopter crash in may. joining me in the studio now, iranian american writer, good to have you here. tell us about the new president, the significance of electing a reformist, how this all happened, whether driven by a younger generation? >> i think it was driven by the iranian people as a whole. i think that younger people in particular were very dismayed by the direction of iran, boycotting in large numbers, boycotting the first round, where the turnout was a little under 40%, like 39.something percent. they gave message to the leadership in iran that they were very unhappy. when the vote came down, the runoff came down to an extreme, almost radical hardliner, who

believes in everything that the west does not like about iran, or someone who was much more liberal, much more open, someone who criticized the morality police on the job loss hijab laws, when it came to that choice, people came out and said, we don't want that. there is a dissatisfaction with the dissatisfaction of around politics, a huge dissatisfaction. no question about that. at the same time, people have to live in iran. they don't expect a revolution as we sometimes hear people in the west say, it is about to crumble, iran has got a little more pressure and iran will crumble and there will be a revolution and a new pro-west country. that is not happening anytime soon. the iranian people know that. this is very significant to me in the way they have chosen to completely change direction. president was a conservative, as you pointed out. this is a heart surgeon, who is a true

reformist. he served in the cabinet of the first reformist. >> you suggested below turnout, and i would say the turnout on friday was about 50. all undermine the legitimacy of that of the new president? the reality is that the ayatollah is the one who really pulls rank and calls all the shots, right? >> that is true, but presidents do make a difference. they make a difference in people's lives in iran, they make a difference in terms of how iran negotiates in the west, such as nuclear issue, as we saw with the foreign minister, who had john kerry's phone number and was able to talk to him when there was a crisis unfolding. >> will this reignite marks >> we hope so, foreign minister campaigned heavily for the new president-elect, and was very involved in the campaign, so did the people who have been

involved in the campaign are these true reformists. it will make a difference in the lives of the people of iran, even though the supreme leader has the ultimate power in iran, that is absolutely true, but it does make a difference in foreign relations, and it makes a difference in-- >> israel, you just mentioned foreign relations. >> it would be, again, iran would be the of the region. pezeshkian will present. you will hear this from a lot of analysts who will say, including some israelis, who will say, he is just a figurehead, not really the person that will make a difference. as you know, benjamin netanyahu said that about honey and the nuclear deal, one of the people that was able to persuade donald trump to tear up the nuclear deal, which has not helped america or the west in any way. i think this is a significant change. >> but about domestically, those policies, the headscarf policy, for example, that are

rooted in a level of cultural association. how much difference can you make in that? >> if the president of the country, elected by the people, is against morality police patrolling and harassing women, i think the authorities have to pay attention to that. whenever there has been a reformed president, social rules have been relaxed, not necessarily changed. he does not have the power to say, no more hijab, rule, that is the constitution in iran . >> he can call back the police, right? >> he can theoretically try to call back. he could be overruled. i doubt that will happen. there will be some openness, it has always happened like that in the past. the people who voted for him may be suspicious he could change, but they thought, at least a 50% who did vote for him, we will see, maybe he can. at least it is better than the alternative. there would be absolutely more enforcement of the hijab rule.

>> we will have more to talk about as we see how this unfolds. thank you very much. why the fight against this information this election cycle will be harder than ever. ever.

a new take on a story that could have a huge impact on the vote for president elect and election this information, whether the story circulated one social video, or the falsehoods former president

donald trump revealed last week at the debate. my next guest wrote this piece in the "new york times", we are losing the fight against election disinformation. she joins me now. diresta renee is the former research director of the stanford internet observatory, a unit of stanford university that studies of use of online platforms, and she is also the author of the new book quote, invisible rulers, the people that turn lies into reality. that is a heck of a title. renee, thank you for joining me. you studied how rumors spread about the 2020 election being stolen. your article really broke down the process which you say is eerily routine. explain that process for our viewers. big picture. it is important to know that donald trump told his supporters for months that the election would be stolen and it would happen through massive mail-in ballot fraud and he set the frame for his supporters and after that it became very repetitive. an individual would post a photo , usually with a video,

perhaps, something like a suitcase outside of a polling location and imply it was evidence of so-called fraud. they heard fraud would happen in here it was, they thought, in front of them or they would tagging prominent influencers, people who had thousands, sometimes millions of followers. those people would boost it, retweet the post to other social media platforms and other people would see it and they too would participate. this happened over and over again. what happened at the end of the social media piece was the hyper- partisan would come in and they would say, some people online are saying-- and this happened almost a daily basis as we approached the election in 2020, these different allegations. inevitably, the rumor would be investigated. whatever the postmaster would look at whether there were ballots in a dumpster or they were improperly disposed of, they would find that everything had actually been okay, but the correction would not go viral. the rumor would go viral and the truth would not. >> totally eerily routine. i see why you call it that. here is something your team was eventually targeted with things

claims that it was censored to target the right, how did you dispute those claims? >> it is very hard to dispute those claims, because those claims are aired within an immediate ecosystem of people that are willing to believe them. you are fighting an uphill battle. people had heard the election would be stolen here and what all the different court cases related to ballot fraud and things like that did not show evidence of theft, they started looking for new explanation. this idea that stanford university and others had run some sort of basketball to censor what was allegedly tens of millions of tweets, something that absolutely never happened, it did not matter because the eco-media system was there, reporting it as fact and when they would try to put out a fact check or correction, we faced the same problem. people in that media universe did not see it. we were investigated by congress members who refers refused to certify the election, sued by people who claimed the election was a fraud, and smeared by those that denied the results. there was a pattern and it was

a very effective campaign for them to delegitimize the very idea that studying election disinformation is a worthwhile enterprise, anything that reenter elections should actually welcome. >> you are still standing and you have written a book. there is a lot that has changed since 2020. there are more social media sites with platforms like blue sky, threads, social, ai, deep fakes, what concerns you most about this election year? >> you have noted a lot of the technological shifts, actually it is the social shifts that are the challenges. we understand how election rumors will move around a whole proliferation of social media platforms you have alluded to. some have primarily right ring wing artist, and some primarily left-wing. the fact that a lot of people who came to believe there was massive fraud in the 2020 election really amplified those

claims again, particularly in arizona, for, to rate success in 2022 and created that same distrust, in certain swing states, certain locales. i think we will absolutely see that again and this time it will be, as you note, enhanced by things like generative ai and a lot of things people will not necessarily know what to trust. >> what is it about immigration, as we are going to put up headlines we showed earlier, what is it about immigration that drives so much disinformation? >> information and border control, it is a highly contentious topic. i think a lot of people feel that immigration policy needs to be reformed across the political spectrum. one thing you are noting here is that in the headlines i am reading over here, they are connecting it to things like illegal voting. in an election year, that will play well. there have been rumors of illegal voting, that people voting bust in voting, these common tropes after election. it is important to know that illegal voting almost never

happens. the heritage foundation, a conservative think tank, analyzed legal actions regarding election conduct and found only 24 instances of noncitizen voting in a 20 year period between 2003 and 2023. the tex-mex, the stats again are not necessarily the thing that people see. they see the sensational headlines, the sensational videos, and if they believe the influencer sharing them, or the media outlet that is putting them out, they are inclined to trust the sensational story over , again, even conservative think tank investigations have just not found that there is any kind of massive, noncitizen voter problem in the united states. >> to which i say, buckle up, everybody, given what we have ahead with the next four months. renee diresta, once again, the book quote, the people who internalize into reality. thank you for joining me. you are welcome back anytime. in just a moment, i will

show you a number from the story we are covering today and it just might blow your mind. m one of the happiest babies you'll probably ever meet. [giggles] children with down syndrome typically have a higher risk for developing acute myeloid leukemia, or just leukemia in general. and here we are. marlo thomas: st. jude children's research hospital works day after day to find cures and save the lives of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases. tiffany: she was referred to st. jude at 11 months. they knew what to do as soon as they got her diagnosis. they already had her treatment plan drawn out. and they were like, this is what we're going to do. this is how long it's going to take. this is how long in between. this place is like a family to us now. like, i can't say enough how grateful we are to be here. medical bills are always a big thing to everybody because everybody knows that anything medical is going to be expensive.

we have received no bills since being at st. jude. we have paid for nothing. marlo thomas: thanks to generous donors like you, families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on helping their child live. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment that these kids need now and in the future. join with your credit or debit card right now, and we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. tiffany: anybody and everybody that contributes anything to this place, no matter if it's a big business or just the grandmother that donates once a month, they are changing people's lives. and that's a big deal. [music playing]

i'm andrea, founder of a boutique handbag brand - andi - and this is why i switched to shopify. it's the challenges that we don't expect, like a site going down or the checkout wouldn't work. what's nice about shopify is when i'm with my family, when i'm taking time off, knowing that i have a site up and running and our business is moving forward because we have a platform that we can rely on. that is gold to us. start your free trial at shopify today. z's baking the house special. arisa's styling a new look.

and steve's filling his biggest order ever. with the first ever comcast business five-year price lock guarantee, these business owners get five years of value on gig speed internet and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. so now they can focus on doing what they do best for the next five years. that's a lot of bread. you got this. the comcast business five-year price lock guarantee. switch today for a limited time.

today, extreme heat is making americans across this country. two pictures in california and arizona reaching triple digits for several days. conditions on the ground making things right for fire growth as several large places threatened homes and lives in california. joining me on the beach in lake michigan is aaron bravo. how are these dangerous conditions shaping up and when will we see the heat let up, adrian? >> reporter: we've got at least a few more days, alex, before this extreme heat lets up in some parts of the country. we are talking about heat so extreme, experts say, it could turn deadly. for example, over time, our bodies accumulate heat. these heat related illnesses aren't necessarily happening on day one of the heat wave, it is day two and three where we see some of the challenges. here are things i want you to

look out for if you are in the elements, if you are sweating profusely, lightheaded, and experiencing muscle cramps, that is a sign to continue drinking that water and eat some fruits and vegetables that are saturated with water. out west, let's take a look at arizona, for example, and phoenix. heat related illnesses there have nearly doubled when you take a look in comparison to this time last year. we have the numbers on your screen. i also want to share with you daily emergency department illnesses for heat related illnesses have soared in recent. that is according to the cdc. we are talking about the heat out west in california, some areas pushing nearly 120 degrees. death valley could break a world record at 130 degrees, alex. >> i cannot believe that, adrienne broaddus, thank you. that will do it for me in this edition of "alex witt