mission bigger than the game announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening. the aftermath of the fbi mar-a-la search took a new turn late today when a federal good evening the aftermath of the fbi mar-a-lago search took a new turn late today when a federal judge opted to hold off a decision on whether to grant a request by donald trump s team for an independent arbiter to review items seized in the fbi s search of the home at a florida court hearing today, attorneys for the former president argued a separate review would give the american people a sense of trust in the process and dismissed a doj evidence photo of recovered items as a press release. the government s lawyers rejecting the trump claim of executive privilege over the materials, noting mr. trump is no longer president and has no right to take the documents, which we may soon learn more about. the judge saying she will make public a more detailed list of the items recovered in the fbi
he says are threatening the very foundations of our republic. plus, trump s lawyers and the justice department face off in federal court. we ll explain the big developments to come out of the special master hearing. and, a hot holiday weekend arrives with little to no running water for nearly 200,000 people in mississippi. the state has troops on the ground to help in the water crisis. good morning. and welcome to way too early. i m jonathan lemire. on this friday, september 2nd. thank you for starting your day with us. we ll begin in philadelphia, where president joe biden issued a dire warning about threats to american democracy last night, in a rare prime time address. standing outside historic independence hall, where the united states constitution was written and signed, the president spoke directly about the dangers posed by the trump-backed wing of the republican party. here s some of what he had to say. quality and democracy are under assault. we do ourselves
washington. i m gillian turner in for bret baier. tonight, international outrage after israel admits dozens of civilians were killed in in wrath fall. columbia for whatever happened to segment on pablo escobar infamous cocaine hippos. bret baier with a memorial day special. he digs into efforts to solve some of america s most enduring mysteries locating and identifying service members who remain missing in action. gillian: we begin first with a democracy 24 report. president biden spent his day honoring service members who died in the lining of duty. and tonight we are learning plan to break his silence on former president trump s criminal trial once a verdict is reached. closing arguments in manhattan begin tomorrow. over the weekend, former president trump and robert f. kennedy jr. address the libertarian pottery s convention. hoping for a chance to sway third party voters. white house correspondent peter doocy has the details from the north lawn tonight. hi, peter. p