thomas. in a 32-page opinion objecting to what he considers a lack of due process. still not delivered by the high court, with only a week or so left in this year's long-awaited decision on whether former president trump is immune from prosecution. and whether emergency medical care can disapprove abortions if necessary. also, the judge in the mar-a-lago classiied documents case raising more questions as she permits outside interest groups to argue long-decided issues. has still not set a trial date a full year after she first got the case. a stunning "new york times" report that fellow judges had advised her to recuse herself because of her inexperience. have her questionable procedures accomplished making sure this doesn't get before a jury before the election? good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the supreme court has just ruled 8-1 to uphold a federal ban on gun ownership by people under restraining orders for domestic abuse. the case was brought by a texas man whose partner had a restraining order against him. justice roberts writing, saying, when a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may consistent are the second amendment be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect. justice thomas, as we report, is the sole dissenter, which indicates some gun laws are likely to survive despite the supreme court expansion of gun rights in 2022. joining me now, nbc news washington corespondent yamiche alcindor. it's a hot day. you were out there all morning. how do they explain the rationale? what was the dissent all about? >> good afternoon. as you just pointed out, this was an 8-1 majority of the supreme court, the majority of the justices finding that anybody who is under a domestic violence restraining order and has been convicted of domestic violence abuse, that they should not own firearms and the second amendment allows temporary withholding of the firearms. while there was the majority opinion, what's striking is the number of concurring opinions. you had a number of justices writing -- you have kagan as well as sotomayor, in a joint opinion saying that despite the fact that in the beginning of our country, where you have laws that protect husbands more than wives, it should not be the same going forward and there should be a limit. you had them writing that you have to be cognizant the way laws are playing out in real life. barrett writing the second amendment is not absolute. that tells you there was a scope here of agreement here. even though the 6-3 conservative majority court -- we talk about that a lot. here you saw the 8-1 split. that lone dissenter was justice clarence thomas. he wrote that this law, stripping domestic violence abusers of their rights to own firearms, it violates the second amendment. it wrote it violates due process. there's no historical tradition to regulate firearms within this way. i think it's striking to hear him say that. it's striking to see he was the lone dissenter. i just want to remind people who brought this case. you mentioned the man who was allegedly struck his partner, dragged her across the ground, fired a gunshot in the direction of a witness. then was implicated in a number of shootings going forward and around that time. it really was a striking case here. it's also just the supreme court saying that there is -- are limits to the second amendment. the context of this is that two years ago, the supreme court said that there was a right to bear arms outside your home. it's the supreme court weighing in on that again. >> yamiche alcindor, thanks. now joining us, catherine christian, former u.s. attorney joyce vance. catherine, you handled domestic violence cases. your reaction to this ban being upheld? does it affect state cases or only federal law? >> thankfully, it will affect state in that we're all breathing a sigh of relief, particularly in new york, because our standard orders of protection -- i'm saying for prosecutors, a checkoff that there are no firearms. any firearms, you have to give them up. this is a pro-law enforcement decision. why? because 911 calls that involve domestic disturbance are the most perilous for any police officer. they will tell you that. two years ago, in manhattan, two nypd officers were murdered. they were shot to death responding to a call from a mother who was concerned about her adult son. when they entered the apartment and went to speak to him, he shot them to death. this is a pro-law enforcement and i think common sense decision. i thought it was striking that in the concurrence the first sentence that justice barrett wrote was, despite its unqualified text, the second amendment is not absolute. it was a common sense, pro-law enforcement decision. if you read the first three pages of justice roberts' decision about the facts in this case, there are facts replicated throughout this country in domestic violence, about how dangerous people accused and eventually if they are convicted, the defendants are who commit these acts of violence. it's a very sound decision. thankfully, it was 8-1. too bad it wasn't 9-0. but we will take it. >> speaking of that one, it's a 32-page opinion, joyce vance. talk to me about justice thomas' lone dissent. based on his argument it does not give due process to these people. >> right. justice thomas was the author of the new york decision yamiche was talking about that said people had a right to possess firearms in public without restriction. this case is about a federal criminal prosecution under title 18, united states code section 922g, in which congress prohibited certain classes of people from possessing firearms. we know about drug users, because of hunter biden. people with felony convictions. in this case, people under domestic violence restraining orders. justice thomas says, i meant what i said when i wrote the decision. unless there's a basis in history and tradition for restraining people electric -- from possessing firearms, then everybody gets a gun. the second amendment is absolute. that's the real force of his opinion. it's striking that just a couple of years ago, he is only able to muster one vote. his own vote to support this ruling. we should be careful about characterizing this in too glowing of terms. it keeps the status quo in place. federal prosecutors can still prosecute people under domestic violence restraining orders who are in possession of firearms. that's criminal conduct. it doesn't really move anything forward in terms of protecting public safety. it does say to justice thomas, you are wrong. there are limits on your absolutist view. >> catherine, how do you square this decision with the decision on bump stocks? on that, there was that bizarre rationale by the majority defining how many shots can be fired -- how many people can be killed in a few minutes, which, of course, the las vegas hideous massacre certainly belied. >> it can be argued the bump stock case was in the a second amendment case technically. it was really about interpreting what the atf was saying, that once you add the bump stock to a rifle, it turns into a machine gun. you can view that as not a second amendment case. where this clearly was. so i think that was the difference. because you had the lineup there, which was not the same lineup here. you had eight justices -- i mean, joyce is right, you have to caution. these facts are so heinous. this particular defendant, i think it was -- made it easier to rule in this way. thank goodness. i have to say, these facts are not unique. this is what prosecutors and law enforcement hear throughout the country in these cases, whether intimate partner violence or domestic violence involving an adult child against their adult parent. i think there are two different type of decisions. >> catherine christian, that's why we call on the lawyers. joyce vance, thanks to you. court concerns. another hearing in the classified documents case today in florida, raising a lot more questions about the presiding judge. that's next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." we will be back in 90 seconds. this is msnbc. power e*trade's easy-to-use tools, like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. [introspective music] recipes. recipes written by hand and lost to time. are now being analyzed and restored using the power of dell ai. ♪ (vo) explore the world the viking way from the quiet comfort of elegant small ships with no children and no casinos. we actually have reinvented ocean voyages, designing all-inclusive experiences for the thinking person. viking - voted world's best by both travel + leisure and condé nast traveler. learn more at viking.com. the judge presiding on the mar-a-lago classified documents case is facing a lot of criticism from legal experts for holding multiple hearings on extraneous issues, many have already been decided by higher courts, or so minor they should have been disposed of by magistrates. a case in point is today. a hearing where judge cannon is allowing outside advocates to testify. they are rarely if ever permitted to testify other than at the appeals court level. this is the district court level. this along with stunning reporting from "the new york times" that more senior judges tried unsuccessfully to recuse her from taking the case because of her inexperience. this has led to so many delays that it has been a full year since she got the case. she's yet to set a trial date. making it virtually impossible for a trial to be held before the election. ken dilanian joins us from the courthouse in florida. also with us, former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade. ken, what is happening inside the courtroom? this is going to be more than a one-day hearing. what have you heard from judge cannon today? >> reporter: that's right. today is the first of three days of marathon hearings that illustrate why this case is taking so long to get to trial. because judge cannon seems to want to have a hearing on every matter of dispute, no matter how arcane, no matter how many times it's been argued and rejected by other judges. today's hearing is about the question of whether jack smith's appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional. donald trump's lawyers argue one of the issues is that jack smith should be considered a principle officer, not an inferior office, these are terms of art in the constitution. therefore, he should have been senate confirmed. he is wielding so much power, that since he wasn't senate confirmed, it's unconstitutional. therefore the prosecution could go away. needless to say, the prosecution opposes that. as you said, this afternoon she's going to hear from more lawyers, outside lawyers, who will argue on both sides of the issue. that's unheard of in a federal legal trial. that's not done. it may happen in appeals court levels, but it doesn't happen in a trial. another example of why this is taking so long. judge cannon has expressed skepticism about an argument by one of donald trump's lawyers that jack smith created a shadow government, unaccountable to the attorney general. she's often skeptical about who is in front of her. if she rules that jack smith's appointment was unconstitutional, that will have huge reverberations. it will go up on appeal, but it will derail this classified documents case further. >> barbara, is there going to reach a point where someone would step in from the 11th circuit at some point, because these are such extraneous issues, already litigated issues, and she's not using a magistrate, an experienced magistrate who had done pre-trial work on a related case, on the search warwarrants for the classified documents? >> i think this case demonstrates the immense power that federal judges have. they are appointed for life. they are afforded a great deal of discretion. there's nothing really legally wrong with what judge cannon is doing. it's just highly unusual for all the reasons that ken said. i think that a decision that is adverse for the government is what it will take for them to have an opportunity to file an appeal. if judge cannon should, for example, strike down the special counsel rule or some of the motions that she's deciding next week, whether to amend donald trump's bond conditions to prohibit him from making threatening comments about the fbi, or the use of attorney/client privilege information subject to the crime fraud exception, an adverse ruling would tee up an appeal by jack smith. i think that is where he could request or the 11th circuit court of appeals could on its own decide, we are reversing this decision and assigning it to another judge. until that happens, judges have immense discretion to manage cases the way they choose. >> one of the issues that also came up a couple of weeks ago was, she was holding a hearing on jury instructions. she hasn't seated a jury. she hasn't started the trial. that's usually done just before the trial or the end of a trial. >> yeah. that was one of the most curious things i have seen. you are right, jury instructions is typically something that the parties address after the trial starts. as the closing arguments are approaching, that's when those moments get litigated. not only was it this very early view of this, it was the content of the order where she asked the parties to engage with jury instructions about the validity of a defense under the presidential records act. that really put my hair -- caused my hair to stand up on my head. there's nothing about the presidential records act that provides a defense to donald trump. this is a talking point he has used, but the presidential records act actually is very incriminating for donald trump. it was passed in the wake of watergate to make it clear records belong to the people and not the president. >> ken dilanian, barbara mcquade, thanks to both of you. the crash course. president biden and former president trump both gearing up for next week's big debate. both campaigns also touting their fund-raiing hauls. that's next when "andrea mitchell reports" is back in 90 seconds only on msnbc. 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(kev) ... i guess we're movin'. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. because it's smart, dependable, and steady. all words you want from your bank. for nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled... which is pretty un-boring if you think about it. - [narrator] life with ear ringing sounded like a constant train whistle i couldn't escape. then i started taking lipo flavonoid. with 60 years of clinical experience, it's the number one doctor recommended brand for ear ringing. and now i'm finally free. take back control with lipo flavonoid. new fund-raising numbers reveal the trump campaign and the republican national committee pulled ahead of president biden on fund-raising in the past quarter. fuelled by a surge of contributions to trump after his verdict in the hush money case, including a record breaking $50 million contribution from a megadonor, timothy mellon. they raised $141 million in may, beating democrats $85 million. 141 to 85 is the number. the biden team has more cash on hand right now. former new york city mayor michael bloomberg gave nearly $20 million to the biden campaign. joining me now is mark murray, and jeff mason. walk us through the money race. you went through the numbers. late night for our team. >> going through the reports. we got them late last night. what they end up showing is that donald trump and the republican national committee have caught up to democrats. we ended up seeing a situation where when you are the incumbent sitting president, like president biden is, you have two big advantages. you have the money advantage and the advantage when it comes to time. when it comes to money, joe biden and donald trump, it's almost becoming even. right now, trump just in the earlier month raised $9 million. now that went up to $75 million fuelled primarily through a lot of the donations they got at the end of may, right after the conviction. it's even steven right now. we will see what happens in the next five months. >> talk to me about the impact of the money and the disparity. right now, a huge amount -- timothy mellon, $50 million. >> one thing that this shift shows is that -- it's a dynamic and momentum shift. having money has been advantage biden up until the last month or two. that's definitely a shift. in terms of where it's going to go, one thing trump has to spend money on are legal fees. that may be why biden has more money in terms of cash on hand. both of them are looking to build up their ground game or their get out the vote efforts. trump is looking to outside groups to help bolster that. the biden campaign is proud of the fact that they have 1,000 people hired and staff and offices all over the country. they need money to do that. they need it to make it happen. that's why looking at these totals, even at this point, is really critical. >> mark, we are showing debate pictures from last time around. that segs us into the debate. does anyone know why the biden team wanted to be stage right? >> we don't know. what we know is that biden is right, donald trump will have the last remarks. >> that means that biden gets the first remark? >> correct. he gets the first -- they are having closing remarks. biden gets to close first. donald trump ends the debate going last. what really does stand out to me -- some of the biggest intrigue is going to be the fact we know the microphones will be cut off, to try to make up for the first presidential debate where the candidates were talking over each other. there were interruptions left and right. a lot of the game theory has been, what ends up happening when you can't interrupt? i think we have a good idea how this might play out. that was the second debate, moderated by our colleague kristin welker. after the first raucous debate, what the commission on presidential debates did was that each candidate got two minutes uninterrupted. the microphone was let off. when you look back, it was a much more orderorderly debate. she was a fantastic moderator. i think that's going to be an interesting guide going into thursday night's debate where you are not going to be able to have those constant interruptions. we look back on who could end up benefitting, look back on that welker debate. >> with all donald trump trying to talk about how bad joe biden is and is he going to be able to stand and get through it, all of a sudden he is saying, he is not going to underestimate him. he is changing that strategy. do we really believe donald trump is not preparing? >> it's hard to believe he is not preparing at all. i think that strategy shift is interesting. it's something that ended up hurting republicans ahead of joe biden's state of the union address. they had told their voters and supporters that biden can't get a single sentence out of his mouth. then he came out swinging at that address and looked vibrant in how he interacted with the people in congress. i think what former president trump is doing is trying to maybe recalibrate expectations a little bit so he doesn't set himself up to look like false promises. >> all this other fake stuff that's out there, not just the way they are editing tapes -- both sides are doing it because the mashes and the audio clips that are being cut out of context. but the misinformation that is out there, mark, and no one is regulating it. >> yeah. of course, what hasn't changed is that campaigns want to put their opponent in the worst negative light. we have seen people misinterpret, take things out of context. what has changed is the technology and how things go viral and how people end up getting information. both campaigns are actually trying to make their opposition look negative. what has kind of -- what does stand out is that you end up having two candidates, one who is 81 years old and one who is 78 years old. >> one of the absolute craziest things that they are getting away with, because they put it all over fox, is this whole suggestion that joe biden is going to be on some sort of drugs. that's insane. >> yeah. >> a man who -- >> doesn't even drink. absolutely. that keeps getting repeated. president trump is repeating. that's getting traction for no reason. it's not something that president biden is going to do. i would add that what would be interesting to watch without an audience is also their body language. even when the two of them can't interrupt each other, you might see an eye roll or two. >> you will see a lot of facial expressions. you will see a split screen. we will be watching. and blogging. thanks very much. >> thank you. back to the court, next, more on the breaking news from the supreme court. a major ruling on a critical gun issue. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. ma... they respond to emails with phone-calls... and they don't "circle back" they're already there. they wear business sneakers and pad their keyboards with something that makes their clickety- clacking... clickety-clackier. but no one loves logistics as much as they do. you need tamra, izzy and emma. they need a retirement plan. work with principal so we can help you with a retirement and benefits plan that's right for your team. let our expertise round out yours. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. awkward question... is there going to be anything left... —left over? 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what are they going to say? these are survivors that share their stories in front of the supreme court in the fall. they were waiting with baited breath on whether or not the court would make a decision that would protect the lives of women and family across the country or not. this is a victory for those women and families across the country. we are really thankful that we get to have this monumental decision today and really celebrate those survivors and keep our eye on the prize of what we need to do when it comes to making sure that gun laws in this country are protecting our families. >> i wanted to ask, how difficult is it in some jurisdictions to get a restraining order? aren't there many cases where people who have been subject to abuse just don't get remedies from the court? >> i'm not a legal expert. what i will tell you is that the survivors i talk to go through so much to make sure they are not only protecting themselves but their family and communities around them. we want to make sure that we are doing the work of honoring those survivors and the communities around them by elevating and making sure we have laws that are actually protecting our families. so today is a monumental decision. we can have a sigh of relief for now as we focus on what's next. for us, it's making sure when we think about this court, it shouldn't be something they are thinking about. literally thinking about whether or not we will protect the lives of a woman and her family or we will protect the right of a domestic abuser to have a firearm, it's outrageous that this got this far. it's no surprise, because we have seen the courts be very extreme over the past couple years. we have had several decisions handed down. we will continue to focus on making sure that we have remedies in our communities to protect our families, that we will have our laser focus on the election. we know elections have consequences. elections mean that you are bringing someone in that will put someone on the court. so we want to make sure we have people that have the courage and compassion to uphold laws and make sure our families are protected. >> also depends on who is in the white house and who chooses the solicitor general. this is another case where the highly regarded solicitor general has won her case decisively. thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you so much. tough talk next. israel's prime minister defending his criticism of the biden administration. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. if you have moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease... put it in check with rinvoq... a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief and reduced fatigue with rinvoq. check! when flares kept trying to slow me down i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check! and when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check! for both uc and crohn's: rapid symptom relief lasting steroid-free remission. and visibly reduced damage. check. check. and check! rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers, including lymphoma and skin, heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc and crohn's in check ...and keep them there with rinvoq. ask your gastroenterologist about rinvoq and learn how abbvie can help you save. hi. what's your name? 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he is politically weak at home. now he is fighting with his most important ally and weapons supplier. is that going to make him more popular at home? by taking on the u.s. >> reporter: you can say that he is definitely up against it, not in just his fraying relationship with washington but also as you mentioned his right wing flank, his left wing flank. even before october 7, netanyahu and his allies had endured a summer of unprecedented street protests against him, his rule, and his very controversial judicial reforms that had been proposed back then and been swept away by the headlines that came out after october 7th. this is a man, when we look at this -- this incident, he said this in english. it was clearly directed at the united states. he was chiding and controlling the u.s., trying to it looks like shame the biden administration, not necessarily in front of the israeli public, but in front of republicans, in front of the american public. it was definitely meant for foreign consumption as much as domestic consumption. that's because as i talked to people close to netanyahu -- this is analysis rather than some news insight. they have been telling me that they think netanyahu has given up on his relationship with joe biden. he is pushing, hoping to see a republican resurgence in the elections coming up in november. a donald trump presidency would be a more comfortable partner to the netanyahu administration than the biden administration. we know this because we have heard the language from the right wing in the united states supporting netanyahu. we have seen now this trip that netanyahu is about to make to the united states at the end of next month where he will give a controversial speech to congress. this is a man who does not really have much trouble -- much problem injecting himself into the politics of a foreign country. he has done this before during the obama administration, making similar moves. he would love to see the right wing in america uniting behind him. at the same time, this is still also for domestic consumption here. he does need to say he can get tough on getting concessions from the united states. that's something he has lived by for most of his career. he is always able to turn to the right wing in israel, which is still very powerful, and they are not you have powerful inside his government. he can say, the americans are my friends. we can get weapons from them. i'm the one who can deliver. he has been saying this for years. now, he has -- he can basically say this with this video. he can point to this and say, i'm getting tough on the americans. i'm getting what we need. he is shaming joe biden in the process. >> it's a tough balancing act, indeed. matt bradley, thank you. turning to the war in ukraine, the other war, the white house is taking what it is calling an extraordinary step. it's redirecting air defense missiles, the patriots in particular, to ukraine in a rush order which will delay shipments to other countries. john kirby called the decision difficult but necessary given russia's address and its push to gain ground in ukraine. the announcement follows russian president putin's meeting with kim jong-un in north korea this week where the two signed a mutual defense pact, pledging to defend each other if either country is attacked. joining me now, retired army colonel, u.s. army colonel, eugene vindman. he and his twin brother were forced out by the trump pentagon for whistle blowing on the president. he is the democratic candidate for the 7th congressional seat in virginia. it's great to see you. >> great to see you. >> let me ask you first about the military implications of this move by the white house. i have been with zelenskyy in munich, for months asking for patriots. i have asked senior military officials and they said, we don't have them. we don't have enough for ourselves. now they are going around to all of our allies and saying, remember that patriot that you were promised? that's going to ukraine. they think it's that important to get air defenses, especially to what's happening in kharkiv in the north and the east. >> 100%. look, air defense has been a major issue for ukraine since the start of the conflict. i have been around the country, almost the entire country, for the better part of two years, 14 trips. i have seen the impact that the air defense systems have on a russian attack through ballistic missiles, cruise missiles. i have seen patriots that have knocked down russia's preeminent missile, a hypersonic missile. they are critical to protect kharkiv, kyiv, and all the other major sites around the country. >> how is this -- is this going to be in time given the fact the russians have had months where we were not supplying weapons because of the stalemate in congress? you are running for congress. this is one of your issues, of course. the russians, first in february, then they started advancing further and further. they are firing at important cities like kharkiv, the second largest city. from russian territory. territory and the administration is still limiting how deeply zelenskyy and the military from ukraine can fire back into russian territory. they can in the east, in crimea, in russian-held territory, but not in territorial russia. except in that border area. >> absolutely. so i think it is very timely that they are redirecting these systems. they basically allowed ukraine to jump the line to get the patriots that are available that are coming online. they have important roles, these systems, in supporting our other friends and allies around the world, but ukraine is the most urgent need. they need these systems now to protect critical infrastructure, the attacks on ukrainian critical infrastructure have taken a significant amount of power off the grid, and look, this comes at the same time that you see russia, putin traveling to north korea to meet his chum kim, and additional arms flows from korea and this is, you know, the other folk, the other person that is chums with both putin and kim is donald trump, so what they're trying to do is they're trying to push to get support. the russians from korea and take advantage of this time period, and they're hoping beyond hope that donald trump wins this race. and the stakes could not be higher. look, we have international -- we have relationships with countries whether it's ukraine or israel that we need to maintain. authoritarian regimes are on the front foot now, and we have to push back vigorously against them, and i'm running for office to represent northern virginia, an area that has three military installations directly in the region, and four or more immediately outside. the people in this district care deeply about these issues. they care deeply about the function of the u.s. government and we maintain our relationships overseas. if we don't do what we need to do now, we're going to be the ones with boots on the ground a few years from now. >> very briefly, you're now running against the republican candidate, the republican nominee, who has a military background. he's a former green beret, and he as well is backed by, you know, derek anderson is backed by speaker mike johnson. how do you expect to distinguish yourself from another military man? >> look, the values that i embraced over the course of a 25-year military career defending the constitution at home and abroad, mr. anderson is diametrically opposed to some of these values. i fought to preserve rights of freedoms for americans, and he is looking to take them away. on monday is the anniversary -- the second anniversary of the dobbs decision. and you know, he's -- mr. anderson is endorsed by mike johnson who is very much in favor of a six-week abortion ban with no exceptions for rape and incest. he's very much in favor of having politics in our classrooms. we have a problem in this district with extremist school boards looking to ban books and burn books. he's very much in this extremist camp that is not consistent with the values of the voters in this district and he's out of sync, and having raised a family in northern virginia, having had two kids that have gone to school here, having a today 14-year-old daughter, happy birthday, maddie, i care deeply about this issue, and he is out of sync of these issues. >> happy birthday to maddie from us as well. thank you, and of course we've reached out to derek anderson for an interview as well anytime during this campaign. we haven't heard back yet, but we expect that that will happen. thank you, eugene vindman. congratulations on the win. >> thank you, andrea. we have more breaking news now on the 2024 race with less than a month to go until the convention, nbc news has new reporting on donald trump's search for a running mate focusing in on north dakota governor doug burgum, jd vance of ohio and senator marco rubio of florida. back with us is nbc political director mark murray. they were the front runners, we believed. they've been on the short list. we've seen them all with the former president in recent days extolling his virtues. rubio has the most experience certainly as a valued senator. ranking member of senate intelligence, in fact. >> right. >> but he's from florida, and there's that both candidates with the electoral votes, that was the case in texas, of course, with george w. bush, and dick cheney, and dick cheney changed his registration to wyoming. >> all coming down to the constitutionality of your residency and the president and vice presidential nominees can't be residents of the same state. this new reporting comes from henry gomez, john allen, dasha burns who spoke to a dozen sources close to these conversations about who will be donald trump's pick, and what is interesting, the top two finalists according to the reporting are doug burgum, north dakota governor as well as jd vance, the ohio senator with rubio still also being in contention. the trump campaign made it clear in an on the record statement is the only person who knows exactly who this is going to end up being is donald trump himself. so you have covered these veep stakes so many times, so have i, that sometimes what you actually think was going to happen in june doesn't hap out later. the timing, i think there's been a lot of conventional wisdom that the pick will end up coming right on the heels of the republican convention in mid-july, but there is some discussion, according to our reporting, that maybe this ends up getting moved up a little bit earlier, just kind of given that july 11th sentencing. do they want to have a running mate before that time comes out? of course that's all an open question. some really interesting reporting by our colleagues here that's moving some ground, closer to the debate and conventions and that veep pick. >> the one thing i do believe about that all is only donald trump knows what he's going to do. doug burgum, wealthy, could self-finance, could hand over $100 million easily. that could be a big deal. and jd vance, ohio, whoever wins ohio could be winning the presidency. republicans always seem to have ohio in their pocket. >> yeah, and remember, burgum was running for president this cycle. had some experience in some of the debates. rubio 2016 ran for president. jd vance is really the one person who's kind of come out of nowhere in all of this, but he's also the one who's more emblematic of the maga movement. i don't think anyone would necessarily characterize rubio and burgum coming from maga central. >> generational choice as well. >> yes. >> mike murray, thank you. before you go, there is a ray of hope from the devastating russian onslaught against ukraine. a daring rescue of two gentle giants, two marine mammals from the embattled city of kharkiv. here's their story. >> the russian offensive is in full force in kharkiv. the local aquarium at risk, home to two beluga whales, 15-year-old tom beer and 14-year-old miranda. the battle was closing in, whale food fresh squid, herring, and mackerel increasingly scarce. caregivers knew they had to get them out of the war zone. >> were you afraid that you and the whales would come under attack? >> certainly the risk of, you know, rockets and things, it was on our mind, you know, for sure. >> the challenge, how do you move two 1,500 pound whales in 20,000 pound tanks, almost 3,000 miles to their new home in spain? very carefully. the ukrainians with experts from the georgia aquarium, seaworld, and oceanic graphic came one a plan. from ukraine to spain with caregivers calming them down along the way. >> are they friends? are they even a couple? can i be so bold as to ask? >> i mean, they're -- it's an adult male and adult female, they seem very bonded, very close. >> how do you feel now that you've accomplished this? >> taking them out of the water is probably one of the life experiences to know that i can tell my grandkids. >> safe in their new habitat and looking happy. and they do look happy. i mean, maybe we can -- we're putting too much on that, but look at those whales. this was an extraordinary international effort. you know, 3,000 miles, 20,000 pounds for the tanks alone. 1,500 pounds each for the whales, and the fact that this was done with the georgia aquarium and seaworld and of course the oceania of valencia all working with their ukrainian friends at the aquarium in kharkiv. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show on social media @mitchellreports and rewatch the west parts of our show anytime on youtube. just go to