joe biden and donald trump heading to a showdown, but traveling very different roads. new nbcs reporting on how biden is aiming to get under trump's skin, while team trump's wild pregame accusation may be revealing a case of nerves. we got details on what is happening behind the scenes leading up to thursday's big debate. plus, the debate in a florida courtroom over the raid at the center of the mar-a-lago documents case. eye opening new photos of exactly where classified documents were found in donald trump's home. the judge now makes a consequential decision. what can and cannot be used in court. and the end of the years long legal battle in the u.s. versus julian assange. after the wikileaks founder agreed to plead guilty in a deal sparing him more prison time. what this may mean for when something like this inevitably happens again. but we begin with new nbc reporting that president biden is in intense preparations for thursday's crucial debate. getting ready to face two different trumps potentially. and meticulously studying and combing through all of donald trump's recent comments in an effort to best identify what might get under his skin. for trump, not much in the way of traditional prep, but instead, a disinformation campaign, renewing his call for the president to take a drug test before the debate. and his supporters are amping up that lie, including his former doctor turned congressman ronny jackson who says only biden, not trump, should have to take the test. and this, from congresswoman mary miller-meeks on fox. >> we anticipate for this first debate he'll be on something, and the response of the press has been to cover it up and so we have seen that with karine jean-pierre saying these are deepfakes, misinformation. >> nbc's monica alba is reporting from washington, d.c. and nbc's dasha burns is reporting from west palm beach, florida. also with us, rick tyler, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst, and sam stein, deputy managing editor for politics at politico and msnbc contributor. great to have all of you here. monica, how is president biden planning to handle potentially the two different trumps that he's preparing for? >> reporter: well, chris, as he is now in his fifth straight day of debate prep at camp david, we know that this is part of the ongoing conversations that he's having with his close advisers. and they're really largely approaching this from which donald trump is going to appear on stage thursday evening. and they really say according to sources familiar with the president's prep that it is not like it might be just one version, the more bombastic one that we typically see at rallies, and at other campaign events or someone who is a little bit more disciplined compared to that. they think it could very likely be a combination of the two things, but either way they're preparing for the eventuality of a back and forth with either kind of donald trump. they really are approaching this from a couple of different perspectives. and officially the biden campaign says that it doesn't really matter which version of donald trump actually shows up in atlanta, that essentially president biden, because of what his vision will be, and what he lies out in the debate, they think it will be such a stark contrast no matter what to whatever the republican presumptive nominee wants to say that evening. but at the same time, they're acknowledging that that is what could be a really interesting dynamic throughout the debate. so they're going topic by topic, on what they expect will likely come up. they're having policy experts come to camp david from their white house jobs, to come and give perspective on everything from foreign policy to really key economic issues. and this is something that is a little bit of what we're seeing repeated four years later. there are a lot of familiar characters who are around the president, but four years ago, because of covid, he couldn't really do some of this more intensive prep in person and with such a large group. so really camp david, for these purposes, right now, this week, chris, is more like camp debate and they're really using some of the trappings of the incumbency to try to combine the two priorities while the president is still doing his day job and getting important national security briefings and updates on the extreme weather around the country as well in addition to all the preparation he's doing for thursday's showdown. chris? >> monica, thank you for that. dasha, what are you hearing from the trump campaign about these call for a drug test? >> reporter: well, this is a drum the former president has been beating for a while now at a rally in philly over the weekend, claiming that biden was going to be hopped up on drugs of some sort. of course no evidence of that. i did have an opportunity to interview spokeswoman caroline levitt and i asked her about the former president's calls for a drug test, including his truth social post from just yesterday. take a listen. >> if joe biden has nothing to hide, then why would he commit to this challenge. president trump publicly challenged joe biden many times to this debate. that's why we're here. that's why we're having a debate this early. and so joe biden should accept his challenge to a drug test as well. >> reporter: i also asked levitt about the different expectations setting we have seen. we know that for many months the former president has been calling joe biden, president biden weak and frail, at a recent rally he was saying that president biden couldn't put two sentences together. but then he went and sort of changed his tune a little bit saying he's a worthy debater, you shouldn't underestimate him and levitt told me that saying two things can be true at once, that the american people have seen joe biden's cognitive decline. those are -- but he's also probably engaged in more debates than any other politician in history, calling him a career politician. so, again, kind of weighing both of these -- both of these scenarios against each other and claiming that the former president is ready to take on president biden on thursday, chris. >> dasha, thank you for that. okay, rick, so, the question is why trump is going here even. does this unfounded, let's call it what it is, lie, about joe biden being on drugs or planning to get shot up with drugs before the debate suggest maybe a lack of confidence on trump's part? >> well, as you know, chris, trump tries to have it both ways on all things. debates are about setting expectations. and he set expectations in either direction. and he's always looking for a excuse of why he loses, and so he's setting out this unknown, because i doubt that the president is going to submit to a drug test and if he did submit to a drug test, donald trump should submit exactly the same drug test. i don't know what it matters. is there a clause in the contract that says no drugs during debate? i don't think so. so, it is all distraction. it is all designed to create some diversion so that if he doesn't do well in the debate, it is because his opponent was on drugs, i don't know what's in that mind of his. i know that what biden needs to do is he needs to talk about the future. he should not be talking about his accomplishments, because that has not worked and is not working and he has to set out two stark choices between two futures, and that future is the economy. and the problem is right now, undecided voters by 53 to 39% believe that trump is better on the economy. he must reverse that. if he doesn't, he's going to be in real trouble. >> that is what we have been hearing a lot from democrats, this is a choice between chaos and competence and that's what they want the president to get across on thursday. but he wanted -- joe biden wanted this early debate to change the trajectory of a race that has been stubbornly stuck, right? it is so neck and neck, and tiny swings this way or that way, but no real change in the bottom line of this race. so, how does joe biden do that? how does he take advantage of what he wanted, which was this early debate for a reset? >> he's got to get all those performance enhancing drugs in his system, chris, obviously. i think -- he's got to make this into a choice, right? the referendum on his legacy and his time in office, it hasn't worked. and typically it does not work if you're an incumbent. the same thing that barack obama struggled with when he's run against mitt romney, turning this into a referendum. obama made it entirely about mitt romney's record at bain capital, and this idea this guy was going to come in and sell all your jobs. biden had a trickier time doing that, but he tried a few different things, most of it centered around the issue of democracy and autocracy and can you hammer home the message effectively new to turn this race into a choice election. i will say, yes, it has been a remarkably stable race. what the biden people are heartened about a little bit is that in the post conviction polls, you see a slight uptick in biden's direction. my big question heading into the debate, do they try to capitalize on that, how much do they focus on trump's convictions if at all, do they try to put that into some larger framework and if so, what is that framework? >> so, "the new york times" focused on voters who they say are watching the debate with the hands over their eyes. these are the folks that both sides desperately want. they don't want them to stay home. here's part of what the times wrote, quote, it has all the makings of a train wreck with chemical spillage that is lethally toxic, an arizona democrat said. an independent voter from washington state who usually supports democrats said, this is the most apprehensive i've felt about a presidential debate. i sense a disaster in the making where neither will look presidential. how -- if you're the campaign, if you're doing preps, if you're a candidate, and you're figuring out how you want to approach this, how do you approach those voters, the voters that matter, the folks who hate both of them, the folks who truly are small number of them undecided? >> well, look, you got to count on the -- by this point that your base is your base and they're going to show up for you and you got to look at the voters who are still undecided and what do they think. for biden, there is a big population and it is really due to a local shift where working class blue collar voters are -- have been attracted to trump, not the republican party in general, but attracted to trump. biden has to win them back. it is people who live with an income around $60,000 and the inflation since biden took office, which, by the way, biden should point out started with all the money that trump put into the economy after covid, but that's a little bit of -- that's hard for people to grasp. we have been in a recovery, people who are making that kind of money are really getting hammered at the grocery store and gas pump and he really needs to win those people back and he needs to acknowledge them and that, you know, this has been paid for by them, but it is going to get better. >> there is an op-ed by hillary clinton today, i'm sure you saw it, sam, and she talks about the different things that can make a difference in this debate. and she says i've debated trump and biden. here's what i'm watching for. on trump, she says, expectations for him are so low that if he doesn't literally light himself on fire on thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential. it was a very clever column. i wonder where you stand on the expectations game? is it super low for both of them? how much does the expectations game matter, do you think, on thursday? >> i think it matters a great deal, honestly. i think she's right. the expectations for trump are pretty low. partially by his own setting, right? i think we ought to remember the first biden/trump debate in 2020, he interrupted repeatedly both joe biden and the moderator. he literally had covid. which was obviously quite problematic at the time. and he came out looking deranged, frankly. i think that really harmed him. and it really helped joe biden. i don't expect donald trump to do that again. but, you know, there is that sort of expectation he will say something wild and off the walls and for biden, the expectations are that he might just fall over from exhaustion. and if he doesn't do that, maybe he's cleared it. i thought a smart commentary, joe biden was not totally debating donald trump on thursday, he was debating the caricature of joe biden and same to be said about trump. ultimately this is a visual experience for a lot of viewers. go back to the historical kennedy and nixon debate. i think the same is going to hold true here, viewers will look at this as a visual experience and that's where the expectation setting really comes into play. >> this is the most untraditional of campaigns, one thing in tradition that holds true is people are still looking for someone who looks presidential. whatever that means. who sounds presidential. who presents presidential. it is going to be fun to watch. rick tyler, sam stein, thanks, guys. much appreciated. watch "chris jansing reports" on thursday for special coverage ahead of the debate. i will be live in atlanta with reporters and experts both from 11:00 to noon eastern and from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. also on thursday, rachel maddow and team lead special coverage and analysis of the first presidential debate, hosted by cnn. watch thursday beginning at 7:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. coming up in 90 seconds, another critical court hearing happening right now in the trump classified documents case. the evidence the former president's lawyers are fighting to get tossed out. president's lawyers are fighting to get tossed out. (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... so i wear a lot of hats. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up! so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. let's make it happen! (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. power e*trade's award-winning trading app makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain, easy-to-use tools and paper trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. e*trade from morgan stanley power e*trade's easy to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans can help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley it only takes a second for an everyday item to become dangerous. tide pods child-guard pack helps keep your laundry pacs in a safe place and your child safer. to close, twist until it clicks. tide pods child-guard packaging. right now in federal court, former president trump's lawyers are trying to exclude a key piece of evidence, the classified documents found during the raid of his mar-a-lago residence. hours ago we got new photos of those documents, pictured alongside items the fbi says they were found with. in one photo, two stacks of paper marked top secret twice in bright orange lettering had been in a box with a book and what appears to be a red pillow. in another, at least three crumpled unfolded polo shots were stored in the same container as papers marked confidential. more shirts can be spotted in this row of teetering boxes, housing documents. and there are a variety of items, newspapers, clothes and instrument case in these images of papers that appear to have spilled out on to the floor. nbc's ken dilanian is reporting from court in fort pierce, florida. i'm joined by glen kirschner, msnbc legal analyst. what's the argument we expect the defense to make today? >> reporter: well, first, chris, there are so many pretrial motions and hearings, they're starting to bump into each other. the photos you showed are from a motion that jack smith filed last night that is going to be the subject potentially of a different hearing down the line on an argument by the defense that the fbi essentially messed up the evidence to such an extent that the case should be thrown out. the purpose of those photos was to show that the way donald trump stored those highly classified documents, containing some of the nation's most sensitive secrets was so chaotic and so messy. today in court, jack smith is there, donald trump is not, they're fighting a different set of motions by the defense where the defense is arguing that the warrant wasn't properly constructed. that the justice department was not fully candid with the magistrate judge and that therefore the evidence should be tossed. and then the most -- the more consequential argument is their effort to get removed from the case the very crucial notes that were taken based on memorandum recorded by donald trump's lawyer, evan corcoran, obtained by jack smith under the crime fraud exception to attorney-client privilege. now the defense is trying to get judge aileen cannon to exclude it on the grounds that it should have been protected by attorney-client privilege. this is some of the most important evidence in the case with clear evidence of obstruction of justice including evan corcoran saying donald trump made a plucking motion as if to suggest he was removing documents under subpoena by the justice department. >> thank you so much, ken dilanian. okay, glen, if you're a prosecutor, how concerned are you by this evidence challenge? >> chris, i'm not concerned by the substance of any of these motions that have been filed by donald trump's attorneys. i think ken's overview gives us a sense of what the real problem is. motion after motion after motion is being filed. and there really is little basis, little evidentiary or legal basis for these motions. the problem is judge cannon is entertaining every one, ad nauseam, at length, and refusing to set a trial date and the problem becomes if you have no trial date, then you need not set any intermediate deadlines that must be met to resolve these motions as you move toward a firm trial date. it really does feel like delay is the point. but, really, briefly, with respect to the motion being argued right now, it is called a spoliation motion. because the claim is, you know, they didn't specifically say when they opened all of these boxes, wait a minute, a classified document was nestled next to a newspaper clipping with a picture of donald trump, which was nestled next to military attack plans on foreign countries, which was nestled next to a golf shirt, therefore you've destroyed exculpatory evidence. the legal term i would use for that kind of an argument is nonsense. what the fbi did is they documented the box, in the location in which they found it, they opened it up, and they documented what it looked like, and then they documented every single thing, meticulously, that came out of each and every box. the problem is there is no legal basis to attack that search. but judge cannon is going to burn through a whole bunch of time giving donald trump the delay he so desperately covets. >> so, let me ask you a little bit more about aileen cannon. i will admit i was surprised to see in "the wall street journal" today no liberal newspaper for sure, an op-ed about how the documents case is crawling along, about how questions about aileen cannon are broadening, legal observers wondering whether she's in over her head. there was the reporting i think that was last week that there was some other judges who were senior to her who suggested that she might want to take herself out of a high profile case like this and she did not. but there is no recourse, right, for the prosecution or for anyone, a judge who is sitting on a case, barring something i suppose really egregious since and continues to hear the case. >> it feels like there is little recourse, but there are some things that jack smith can do. and i don't pretend to know what goes on behind the scenes. these days at the department of justice, having retired after decades there, but i have to believe jack smith has some overarching plan here. it feels like wee are meandering in what will be forever be pretrial circumstances and we will never get a trial date set. a couple of things jack smith could do, obviously, he could file a motion to recuse saying that the federal law, which says if a judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, they shall disqualify themselves. i don't know how much more reasonable the questions about judge cannon's impartiality can get, that then when two of her colleagues in the very federal district in which she sits, including the chief judge urged her not to preside over the trump case, that sure feels like her impartiality being reasonably questioned. and certainly feels like an appearance problem. so, there are some things jack smith could do. he could also file a motion saying judge, you need to set a trial date or else we're going to consider filing what is called a petition for writ of mandamus in the appeals court and having the appeals court direct you to do your job and set a trial date. there are some things jack smith can do. >> glen kirschner, good to have you on the show. thank you, glenn. new questions today as wikileaks founder julian assange leaves a british prison. what led to his release and what does this all mean for future cases that are similar? a live report from london is next. imilar a live report from london is next we all need fiber for our digestive health, but less than 10% of us get enough each day. good thing metamucil gummies are an easy way to get prebiotic, plant-based fiber. with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies the easy way to get your daily fiber. (vo) if you have graves' disease, your eye symptoms could mean something more. that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor. see an expert. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name. so clearly you. sotyktu. [♪♪] how you feel can be affected by the bacteria in your gut. so clearly you. try new align probiotic bloating relief plus food digestion. it contains a probiotic to help relieve occasional bloating, plus vitamin b12 to aid digestion. try align probiotic. the long legal political and ethical saga that is julian assange looks to finally be coming to an end. the question is his case raises persist. assange is expected to sign documents tomorrow, pleading guilty to conspireing to get and share national defense information. in exchange, he's been released from a british prison, no longer facing an 18-count u.s. indictment after his company, wikileaks, published military documents about the wars in iraq and afghanistan. but was he a danger to national security who leaked state secrets or as supporters argue, a whistle-blower who exposed important newsworthy information about how the u.s. government conducted overseas wars? joining us now, nbc's josh lederman and rick stengel. okay, josh, get us up to speed here, what exactly did assange agree to? >> instead of agreeing to face the 18 counts which could have seen him face up to 175 years in prison, chris, he is agreeing to plead guilty to one count of obtaining and disclosing national security information under the espionage act. and he's expected, according to what has been filed in court, to be sentenced to 62 months. that is the amount of time he has already served in prison here in the uk as he's awaited his extradition. so, he will be eligible under that agreement if the judge signs off to time served. meaning once he's finished with these proceedings in u.s. federal court, in the northern mariana islands, he should be able to return to his home country of australia and essentially walk free without serving any other additional time after that. and there are a lot of questions about why the u.s. government has agreed to this, the white house making clear that president biden was not involved in the justice department's decision to agree to this plea deal. but we also just heard on msnbc from julian assange's brother who explained why he thinks this decision happened now. take a listen. >> a lot of it was because of the australian government, the australian government has been advocating for julian with the biden administration, just a couple of months ago president biden was asked if he's considering the australian request to drop the charges against julian, he said, yes, we're considering it, so, that was a real acknowledgement of the progress that the australian government had made in their diplomatic efforts to bring julian home. >> we also heard today from julian assange's wife stella assange who has for all of the years that they have been married been living essentially separate from him. raising their two kids without him being at home. she talked about how eager she is to have him home, how much he's waited for this day. she also said that under the terms of this arrangement, she and julian assange have to reimburse the australian government for the cost of the charter planes that are bringing him first from the uk to thailand to refuel, then to the northern mariana islands and ultimately back to australia. she said their saga is not yet over. once he's a free man, they're going to have to spend their time trying to raise about half a million dollars to repay the australian government. she also says they're going to seek a pardon for this one count that he's pleading guilty to. >> so you interviewed julian assange before. i wonder what you make of this deal. >> i think it is a good outcome. julian assange was a pebble in the shoe of everybody, of the u.s., of the australians, of the british, of the swedes, and it had gone on too long. it is a difficult case. you've been asking and the question of what makes this different than what other journalists do when they get a hold of classified information. i would argue that julian assange is not a journalist, but when the obama administration decided not to prosecute him, they thought, wow, this is just too similar to what journalists for nbc, msnbc and "the new york times" do. so, let's not prosecute him. >> so, how do we as a nation do you think, rick, deal with these kind of things? i think smart people, right, can disagree about what constitutes a threat to national security. what is legitimate journalism. so, what does this case tell us, if anything? >> so, chris, i can see it from both sides as a former journalist and former government official. it is not unlike the pentagon papers. even though that was about a war that was over by then. at the same time, when he was releasing classified information about human sources in iraq and afghanistan, that was a violation of every national security interest. i just generally think the government shouldn't be in the position of prosecuting people for the release of any kind of information. the first amendment says congress shall make no law inhibiting the press. so, i think what we learned is that we have to be careful about these things. and i think this is a good outcome. it is not going to have a chilling effect on people. it is going to release him to his native country and, you know, we can wash our hands of it. >> yeah, and he's already served many people have suggested a longer time than others have served under similar circumstances. always good to see you, rick stengel. josh lederman, thanks for your reporting as well. coming up, an historic house primary battle in new york. and it is unveiling deep divisions within the democratic party. he democratic party. deep down, i knew something was wrong. since my fatigue and light-headedness would come and go, i figured it wasn't a big deal. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light- headedness can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. holding off on seeing a doctor won't change whether or not you have afib. but if you do, making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. contact a doctor and learn more at notimetowait.com why use 10 buckets of water when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. we have some breaking news, a judge has partially lifted donald trump's gag order in his hush money case with his sentencing now just 16 days away. joining us now, msnbc legal analyst catherine christian, former assistant d.a. for the manhattan d.a.'s office. so, i just was handed this ruling from judge juan merchan about four and a half pages long. what exactly can trump now say or not say, based on this ruling? >> well, he -- judge merchan lifted the gag against witnesses, meaning before donald trump could not attack witnesses about their participation and proceeding of the testimony, he now can because the trial is over and the justification for that is there is no need to have them being intimidated because they already testified. also, the judge has lifted the portion of the gag order about going after jurors. however, caveat, the judge did say that it is ample evidence that to justify concern for the jurors so their information, meaning their name, their address, which was held from the public, will continue to be held from the public. but the judge did keep in effect was donald trump cannot attack the court staff or family members of the judge, cannot attack the d.a.'s staff or family members of the d.a. so, he has kept that in place until sentencing because the case is not over, the trial is over, but the proceedings are still going on. so, he can attack d.a. bragg and the judge, but can't attack the judge's family, the d.a.'s family, or the court staff of the judge or the d.a. >> what was the prosecutor's position on all three of these, these three categories of people? >> the prosecution conceded there was no need for the protection of the witnesses because the witnesses already testified, so there was -- there was not going to be any intimidation of them. they did request that the court staff, the d.a.'s staff, the family members, that remain in place which the judge did, and they also wanted the protection for the jurors. so, what the judge has done, he is keeping their information from going public, which is basically you want to do that, so they won't be doxxed, but he is allowing trump to, you know, he can criticize the jury's verdict, but their information, who they are, their addresses, will remain private. >> the decision, catherine, includes a portion that is kind of still waiting for the sentencing. does this mean the judge is likely to totally lift the gag order after sentencing? >> most likely, because what happens then the case is no longer within judge merchan's realm anymore. it will be the appellate court. unless, in new york, defense attorneys defendants are still allowed to make post sentencing motions before the trial judge. so, if they do that, i could see judge merchan saying the case is still with me. however, if donald trump's lawyers choose not to make what they call motion to vacate judgments, motions to set aside the sentence before judge merchan and they're just dealing with the appellate courts, then i believe that judge merchan will lift those, the gag order. i hate to call it a gag order. it was always partial, always allowed to speak about the case, and attack the d.a. and the judge and the president of the united states. >> but the top line here, a partial lifting of the partial gag order, catherine, thank you for making sense of it for us. we appreciate you coming on. meantime, in new york, there is a bitter primary race and it is shining a national spotlight on the deep fissures within the democratic party over the israel-hamas war. that has translated into the most expensive house primary race in american history. today, progressive incumbent jamaal bowman is fighting to fend off a tough challenge from democratic centrist george latimer who has strongly opposed bowman's tough criticism of israel. ali vitali joins me now. ali, just how big an issue has the israel-hamas war become in this particular, and i said, very expensive primary race? >> reporter: well, chris, the outgrowth of it being expensive means if you live anywhere in this district or even in new york city, you can't really ignore this race, because it is on every television that you're at, we went to the deli for lunch today, on tv there, listening to the radio in the car, you're hearing ads there. it is all encompassing in this area. we're standing at a polling place now in mount vernon, one of the areas that both bowman and latimer are leaning on heavily in the waning days of the race that is, yes, about the israel-hamas conflict, but also about a range of other dynamics. watch. >> it is definitely very tense. >> extremely contentious. >> reporter: half an hour outside the city that never sleeps, a new york primary keeping democrats up at night. >> he's nowhere to be found. >> get out of here, man. you're nowhere to be found. >> reporter: congressman jamaal bowman's battle for a third term is now the most expensive and arguably most intense of the cycle. >> do you see why he's an effective congressman. >> why? >> he argues. >> the people here understand passion. >> reporter: bowman is one of congress' most vocal critics of the israeli government. is that the most important issue? >> it is. he was recruited by apac to run against me because i called for a permanent cease-fire early on. >> the issue of israel is on the ballot here. >> reporter: george latimer saw it as one of several reasons to mount a challenge. >> the fire alarm incident was inexplicable. >> reporter: bowman pled guilty. >> his response to october 7th was yet the next type of thing. he is attacking me as if somehow my position is outside of mainstream. it is his position with some of the -- that is outside mainstream. >> reporter: record-breaking sums spent on ads. >> jamaal bowman has his own agenda and he's hurting new york. >> reporter: all in a diverse district with a significant jewish population. bowman's not the first progressive with pro palestinian views to face a primary. >> it is not good enough to send bombs to israel and send band aids to gaza. >> reporter: summer lee won her pennsylvania race earlier this year. this race highlighting and hardening democratic divides, locally with former congressman mondaire jones. >> george is the clear choice to represent new york's 16th congressional district. >> reporter: nationally, it is a 2016 redux. hillary clinton's endorsed latimer. bernie on the stump for bowman. >> i don't know how much of a heavy hitter hillary clinton is, with all due respect. >> reporter: it is wars abroad that could have the most impact here at home. if you win, what -- if you win -- you say that, what does it say to the democratic party writ large? >> i think it just means that the people can beat the money every time. the many can beat the money every time. >> reporter: i've seen outside of this polling place a slow trickle of voters, but also people for bowman holding a sign that has that very motto on it, either way we're at the end of a very long slog in this primary, with polling closing tonight. >> ali vitali, thank you so much for that. up next, election officials once again under threat. the shocking comments caught on video. plus, what do america's top ceos really think of donald trump? a brand-new report that doesn't quite align with what his campaign claims in our next hour. n with what his campaign claims in our next hour upset stomach iberogast indigestion iberogast bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. so, i didn't think i needed swiffer. until... i saw how easily it picked up my hair every time i dried it. it only takes a minute. look at that! the heavy duty cloths are extra thick for amazing trap and lock. even for his hair. wow! and for dust i love my heavy duty duster. the fluffy fibers trap dust on contact up high and all around without having to lift a thing. i'm so hooked! you'll love swiffer or your money back! time to press rewind with... neutrogena rapid wrinkle repair. it has derm-proven retinol... ...expertly formulated... ...to target skin cell turnover... ...and fights not one—but 5 signs of aging. with visible results... ...in just one week. neutrogena ( ♪ ♪ ) start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. (man) every time i needed a new phone, the #1 pharmacist recommended i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon it's payback time. all these years, you've worked hard. you fixed it. you looked after it. maybe it's time for your home to start taking care of you? we've invested in our home, we've worked on it, we had a whole lot of equity just sitting there, you paid down the mortgage, invested in your home. i guess, you could say, your home owes you. if you're 62 or older and own your home, learn how you can access a portion of your home equity to give you cash. a reverse mortgage can put more money in your pocket by eliminating your monthly mortgage payments, paying off higher interest credit cards, and covering medical costs. look, aag can show you how a reverse mortgage loan uses your built-up home equity to give you tax-free cash for almost anything you might need. just eliminating the mortgage payment freed up a lot of cash for us. i get to go do what i want when i want. aag customers talked about the counseling they got along the way so they know how a reverse mortgage works, and how their home could help pay them back when they need it the most. i have no more worries anymore the fact that we're still in this home, means so much. it's done everything for us that we hope it would do for us. call now to receive your free no-obligation info kit. the kit shows you how to get you the cash you need using your home's equity with a reverse mortgage. find out how your home can start taking care of you. the worry every single month to make that payment was gone. our customers' homes are taking care of them. maybe, your home could do the same for you. call aag, the country's #1 reverse mortgage lender, and get your free info kit. call this number election officials are once again under threat after new video surfaced of a top republican in arizona telling a crowd she would lynch another official from her own party. nbc news has new reporting on the threats made against maricopa county reporter, steven richer. a republican who has been targeted after his outspoken defense of the election process. those threats came from shelby bush. the chair of arizona's delegation to the rnc next month. here's what she told a crowd earlier this year. >> if steven richer walked in this room, i would lynch him. i don't unify with people who don't believe in the principles we believe in in the american cause that founded this country. >> joining me here, vaughn hillyard and jane tim, one of the authors of the new nbc news reporting. it's great to have you both here. vaughn, shelby bush will be leading a state delegation to the rnc. what more can you tell us about her? >> i'll let jane talk about richer, but it's a new name. i wrote my first story about her last friday and that had to do with the republican national convention in milwaukee and the fact the trump campaign actually challenged her role as not only the chair of the delegation, but a delegate wholly because they were concerned that she was leading a charge of potential distractions and she had had a meeting last month in arizona about opening the rules on the convention floor. this is where we get into factions within maga world. she was on one side of this. the trump campaign, they dropped her challenge of her so she will still be going to milwaukee this next month, but in a republican party that has become very much in the image of donald trump, there's individuals like her here who are doing everything they can to dispose of other republicans in the party who they feel are not loyal enough to donald trump, but also loyal enough to call out and elections that they argue should be overturned. >> and calling for the lynching of a fellow republican is not disqualifying, obviously. so, jane, explain what's going on with richer. >> it's really unpopular in arizona for a republican to say the election wasn't stolen. and he goes on stage and all of these events and says no, the election wasn't stolen. and he gets booed. this is a unenviable political position. he has to convince republicans to elect him while defending the integrity of arizona's elections and he's a fierce, brash defender of elections, becoming sort of a national name in large part because he's attacked by his own party and he has to go in and win a general election in november. of course, let's not forget he has to run his first ever election for maricopa county as its chief in november. this is a difficult role to be in and there's nothing worse, no place worse than perhaps maricopa county. he's not alone. election officials across the country are facing these kind of attacks. maybe not caught on film, but they're making their jobs much harder. >> let's talk about arizona because the job he has to do has enormous national consequences. >> and the interesting part about this is not only is he overseeing the tabulating of votes in maricopa county, actually, several years ago, he as the republican, beat democrat adrian fontes who was the incumbent maricopa county reporter. in 2022, he ran for secretary of state. he won. and so these two have really become buddies, right? not only professionally, but personally. and really allied themselves against these election deniers. people like kari lake. steven richer has filed a defamation suit against lake for the claims he helped election fraud, that he helped have the election go against her. so this is really in the state of arizona, this is all playing out in a place where donald trump lost by just 11,000 votes in 2020 and lake lost by 17,000 votes in 2022. this is where you can already expect those in some of the maga wing of the republican party are going to be calling out steven richer and putting extra pressure on him, those other republican maricopa county board of supervisors. >> in a state that will help decide who becomes the next president. thank you both very much. up next, historic, devastating flood waters continuing to ravage the midwest, leaving one minnesota dam at risk of total failure. what authorities are now advising residents there to do. stay close. more chris jansing reporting right after this. jansing reporg right after this and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me ♪ (♪♪) ♪ control is everything to me ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and skyrizi is proven to help deliver long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. (♪♪) ♪ control is everything to me ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. the future is not just going to happen. you have to make it. and if you want a successful business, all it takes is an idea, and now becomes the future. a future where you grew a dream into a reality. it's waiting for you. mere minutes away. the future is nothing but power and it's all yours. the all new godaddy airo. get your business online in minutes with the power of ai. it is good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports. at this hour, the flood emergency sweeping the midwest. putting pressure on a minnesota dam now at risk of imminent failure. the warning to residents plus, the destruction in iowa and south dakota.