>> give that woman an edward r. mur row award right now. she just carried on with reporting after swallowing a live fly. >> i feel like she needs a sip of something strong of that, too. >> well done, well done. >> "the lead with jake tapper" starts right now. is it just like having an overdue library book? "the lead" starts right now. that's one of the ways trump's legal team describes the dispute over classified documents seized from mar-a-lago. we have new details to determine if a judge will order an independent review. then, joe biden is just hours away from delivering a rare primetime address. in it, he's expected to issue a dire warning about extremism. and the sobering numbers how

hard virtual learning was, math and reading scores plummeting to their lowest levels in decades. ♪ ♪ welcome to "the lead." i'm kaitlan collins in for jake tapper. we start with our politics lead and the florida courtroom showdown unfold thing afternoon over the classified documents found at trump's mar-a-lago home. the hearing ended a little over an hour ago, with no immediate decision from the judge on whether or not to appoint a special master in the case. a special master would be a third party attorney put in charge of reviewing the evidence seized from trump's florida home, his newest lawyer in his first appearance as part of the legal team today argued a special master is needed to restore order and "lower the temperature in the nation." and another trump attorney compared the battle over the classified documents to a dispute over an overdue library

book. let's get straight to our reporter in florida. tell us more about what arguments these lawyers were making, but also what the justice department was saying in that courtroom today. >> reporter: yeah, kaitlan, so this hearing lasted about two hoarse. as you said, the judge did not make a decision from the bench but will issue a written order. during the hearing, there was some barbs between trump's attorneys and the justice department, saying this whole dispute about classified documents is basically a fight over an overdue library book. the prosecutor saying president trump had no right taking these documents and opposed a special master. trump's attorneys saying the government is just asking the judge to look away and move on saying that this refusal to grant what they call a modest request for a special master was extraordinary. prosecutors say they haven't

seen any evidence that any of trump's rights were violated. they also said earlier in the week they already had their fbi records. they completed that review and determined that a subset of them could possibly have information related to attorney/client privilege. today, they put a number on it, saying it's about 520 documents in that subs reviewing. although one of the prosecutors said he did not believe a big portion of those documents would be covered by that privilege. so, again, the judge not ruling on this. but both sides kind of laying out their case today. when trump's lawyers left the courthouse, they didn't have any additional comments on the hearing or where they thought it would go. >> we're waiting for that written order to come down from the judge. one other question that's been at the center of this and what people were waiting to see what the judge would say is when it comes to executive privilege.

i know trump's team is making the argument some of these documents are covered by that. the justice department says no, he's no longer president. what did the judge seem to say about that today? >> reporter: that was a key point in this hearing, with trump's lawyers, again, pressing this point saying that this was an issue that they wanted to get resolved. they said executive privilege is still in play. prosecutors were saying the special master, there's no role for her. the judge weighing in on this saying it is not entirely settled law that a former law does not have a claim on executive privilege when he leaves office, and she kept posing to the government, what's the harm in putting in place a special master to deal with this issue? kaitlan? >> certainly not what they wanted to hear on that front. thank you. i want to turn now on these developments to alexis hope, an assistant professor of law at

brooklyn law school. so this is relatively a procedural decision that was being made today, but it got so much attention because of these scathing filings that we have seen from the justice department, the arguments from trump's team. what are your immediate takeaways? >> what we heard from cara is basically that the judge is operating with an abundance of caution. this idea of keeping the potential, the consideration for executive privilege and not necessarily weighing in on that, i think speaks to the fact that she doesn't want to put her neck too far out there. executive privilege is something that came about after nixon's presidency. so it's part of the presidential basically records act of 1978. it said that records that are produced by a president belong to the institution of the presidency, of the executive branch. >> not to the individual. >> exactly. it doesn't attach to an individual person. the irony here is the department of justice is located within the executive branch. so it's somewhat nonsensical

argument, if i can go that far, to say that trump would want to assert an executive privilege against the department of justice. >> what about this idea that you saw his attorneys were arguing saying they were really trying to down play that he took all these documents, which they've been trying to do since that photo came out comparing it to an overdue library book. >> i think all of us have experienced that at some point in time. here we have issues of national security. we have issues of potential federal criminal charge. we already know that a federal magistrate judge issued the search warrant, which means there was probable cause, enough to find evidence that could support these three charges. the espionage act, obstruction of justice, and the unlawful removal of government documentation. >> what's so iron sick trump's team is arguing he declassified these documents, but in their

filing last night, the word "declassified" was not mentioned in. there i looked in all the pages for it. and they made an argument that a special master should have a security clearance. what do you make of the fact that they're not in court making the argument about declassification, at least not yet? >> yeah, i think they're coming up with novel arguments, they realize a declassification classification argument is not going to carry the day. so now they're talking about executive privilege and potential attorney/client privilege. i don't think trump's team has a clear legal strategy here. >> when they said today in court, one of the newest attorneys, the former solicitor general of florida, he's won four cases before the supreme court. he talked today about lowering the temperature in the country. >> uh-huh. >> there has been a criticism that trump has not done enough to lower the temperature in the country, when you've seen these

spike in threats against fbi agents. what did you make of that? >> yeah. i think it's really important that the temperature is lowered. but what i really wanted to focus on is the fact that you have the department of justice playing out this can carefully worded response to trump's request for a special master, and it lays out the government es case, clearly, not just for the judge or trump's team but for the american public. >> when it comes to the justice department and trump's attorneys making their arguments today, there's been a question about whether or not the spotlight is turning back to some of trump's attorneys. evan corcoran, who was in the courtroom today, christina bobb was not in the courtroom today, about whether or not they could go from being attorneys to potentially witnesses, maybe defendants, given they said -- christina bobb signed that letter saying no more classified information left at mar-a-lago. do you see that as a possibility here? >> unquestionably. i fear for christina bobb and

her career as an attorney. i would never sign a document that says based on my information, this is all that exists in terms of materials that trump removed from the white house. i'm sure you noticed the government's response, they mentioned she put a little caveat that said based upon the information that has been told to me, this is all that exists. and so i think maybe part of her knew that there may have been more. and i'm sure that other folks in trump's team kept information from christina bobb, so that she could say that all that existed was this accordion folder and she hands that to the government. >> does she need to get an attorney? >> oh, for sure. >> because of her potential exposure and role in this? >> i have no doubt she will turn into a witness. >> wow. what do you make of the timing when it comes to the special

master, and if the trump team does get one, i think a lot of people have been learning the term "special master" for the first time. it's not a well-known term. if they do get one, and if this special master can consider executive privilege, what does the timing look like? >> the government laid out a timeline in the filings. we don't think a special master is appropriate, but if one is appointed, let's have both sides get together, come one a list of names of these independent arbiters, generally the retired lawyers and judges, and that would happen by september 7. and let's have a special master review all these materials by the end of september. the government says, this is a discrete number of documents. i think that folder contained 38 unique classified documents. the boxes had over 100 unique classified doeyied designated d. so this is a discrete number. the government has already gone through it.

they have a separate investigation team, and they have a basically filter team in case anything was privileged and shouldn't be part of the criminal investigation. and so the master, the special master, if one is appointed, could probably get through everything by the end of next month. >> so the timing would be delayed but not the investigation derailed. >> exactly. >> alexis, we'll wait to hear from the judge. thank you for joining us with your insight. coming up, we have a lot of new developments surrounding january 6th. one rioter could get the longest sentence to date. and president trump is saying he's helping out some of the accused rioters. and sarah palin's loss a warning for republicans this november or maybe democrats are reading too much into it?

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trust safelite. we'll replace your glass and recalibrate your vehicle's camera, so automatic emergency braking and lane departure warning work properly. don't wait--schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ aside from the mar-a-lago search, there are several new threats in the justice department's investigation into the u.s. capitol attack. two top trump white house attorneys are now set to appear before a federal grand jury tomorrow, and in texas today, the feds arrested a lawyer for the oath keepers. also, several accused rioters were also in court today, making

nar ap they appearances. whitney, let's start with the grand jury appearance tomorrow. that is happening from two of former president trump's top attorneys in the white house, and it's quite an escalation to bring them in. >> reporter: absolutely. pat cipollone and his former deputy, patrick philbin, are expected to appear before a grand jury in d.c. tomorrow. they were both key witnesses to president trump's actions in the last days of his presidency. specifically, they repeatedly pushed back on efforts to overturn the 2020 election. they were also very much against a proposal to replace the acting attorney general with someone who was willing to look into those false claims of election fraud. >> whitney, we also have this arrest for an attorney for the oath keepers coming 18 months after the riots happened. what is she accused of doing? >> she's facing four charges

that includes conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of justice. she was in court today, scheduled to go back in about a week. >> we'll wait to see what happens when she returns to court. also remark ably today, we hear from former president trump, he was touting his financial help for some of the january 6th defendants. >> i met with financially supporting people that are incredible. and they were in my office two days ago. it's a disgrace what they have done to them. >> he didn't say who was in his office, but we know that two notable defendants were in court today. what did we hear about them? >> these are two big cases. it's important too, when we hear a former president speaking of this, we don't know any times that he's funded these defenses,

but he keeps saying it. back to court, there were these two big cases today. one centers on someone named julian cotter. he's one of the january 6th defendants who is really at the center of this case, that many people believe took the life of brian sicknick. he assaulted him with a can of bear spray. sicknick died a day after the attack. the medical examiner said he died of natural causes but the events of that day played a role in his death. he faces up to 20 years in prison. the other big case is thomas webster, a former new york city police officer, convicted of assaulting a d.c. police officer. prosecutors were pushing for 17 years, which would be the longest sentence yet for a january 6th defendant. kaitlan, that hearing happening right now. so we should get an update on that in a couple of minutes. >> we'll wait to hear that update. it's stunning to see the people going to court, what they're

accused of simultaneously with trump saying if he goes back to office would issue them pardons and a government apology as well. thank you for those updates. coming up, the gop is bringing in the big money as one republican senate candidate appears to be missing in action. kickstart your fall refresh with wayfair's labor day sale. shop indoor and outdoor area rugs up to 70% off. cooking must haves up to 60% off. and shop our labor day sale upgr now through septth. ♪ ♪ the thing that's different about a vrbo vacation home. you always have the whole place to yourself. no stranger at the dinner table making things awkward. or in another room taking up space.

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comcast business. powering possibilities. in our politics lead, joe biden will take the stage in just a few hours from now in philadelphia's independence hall. officials say to expect a serious and somber speech about

democracy and the forces that are threatening it. before biden begins, kevin mccarthy is going to deliver a prebuttal, attacking democrats on crime and inflation. cnn is covering both of tonight's speeches on the ground in pennsylvania. we're joined live from philadelphia by jeff zeleny. joe biden has been wanting to give this speech a while, but why now, why today? >> reporter: kaitlan, the short answer is, 68 days. that's how much time is remaining between now and the midterm elections. during that period of time, democrats and joe biden first and foremost, is trying to change the subject. he's trying to turn this away from any criticism of democrats, inflation, the economy, trying to make this election a referendum on donald trump, as he calls it, the maga republican party. that's what this speech is going to be here tonight. it's going to be grave and somber.

that's what we are hearing from white house officials, talking about the threat of democracy. we've heard joe biden say this before, but not quite in this way. he's talked about president trump sort of sporadically in his time throughout the white house, not wanting to dwell on that. but in recent days and weeks, as the former president has come into the news more often through the legal cases a and the search of mar-a-lago, the white house believes this is an opening for them politically speaking. they believe that they can focus voters' attention and mind on making this, again, a referendum, a choice between republicans and democrats, not a referendum on joe biden. so that's what we will hear tonight. of course, coming back to philadelphia where he began his campaign more than three years ago, talking about that fight for the soul of the nation. kaitlan? >> yeah. and jessica, with this backdrop, the white house is say thing speech is not about all republicans but the republicans who are shaping themselves, likening themselves in the image

of former president trump and extremism. i know they have been calling joe biden the divider in chief. so what are we expecting to hear from mccarthy when he speaks before biden? >> reporter: that's right. a source has told me that we can expect to hear mccarthy tell bide on the apologize for calling some americans fascists. he's referring to the president's comments last week where he said the underpinnings of philosophy of trump and those who support him are rooted in semi fasfascism. so we expect to hear more pushback on that. we know that he wants to turn the focus as much as jeff was saying, the democrats and joe biden want to turn the focus back to the issues they think will win them back the house, things like crime, inflation. he'll be talking about that, as well. and trying to flame this as a divisive speech that we're going to hear from joe biden later

today. now, kevin mccarthy is here just outside of scranton, joe biden's hometown. it's also where he was for a major speech just a few days ago. so there's no mistake about that. they know exactly where they are, and that is very important as the house minority leader has been spending the last month going to 20 different states. this is his 21st. as he tries to hammer home this message. they are hoping to take the house back. they hoped for a major win. now we're hearing it may be a smaller margin that they're going to have. of course, as mccarthy eyes the gavel, he wants to be speaker of the house. it's going to be very important to him. >> yes, it will be. jeff, jessica, thank you both. top republicans meanwhile are sending a pretty pricey rescue squad to ohio to salvage j.d. vance's senate campaign. he's polling worse than expected and his controversial comments keep surfacing, as he's not even helping his own cause. he was ridiculed online this week after he shared an irish

coffee shop owner's electricity bill. critics wondered why he didn't highlight a business in ohio instead. as manu raju reports, this was his race to lose, and now republicans are working hard to stop that from happening. >> reporter: just six weeks, ohio voters will cast their ballots. yesterday j.d. vance has been difficult to find. the rookie gop candidate goes days without any public events. and now a super pac is planning to spend $28 million on tv ads here, all to save a senate seat once viewed as a near lock. the question even conservatives are asking -- >> where's j.d.some>> reporter: bill cunningham, a radio host here, says that is a common question here. >> he's been spoken to by at least one u.s. senator and one

governor he respects to kick him in the ass. >> given how this state has trended republican, do you think he's taking it for grant it? >> yes. he thinks the "r" is going to pull him over the line and he's probably right. >> reporter: vance is in a competitive race against congressman tim ryan, who has raised six times the money as vance. ryan has spent eight times the money on tv ads as vance, allowing him to burnish an image as a blue collar warrior. >> when obama's trade deal threatened jobs here, i voted against it. i don't answer to any political party. >> reporter: one thing his ads do not emphasize, he is a democrat and often votes with joe biden. >> you don't advertise that you're a democrat is. that because it's a liability here? >> well, the democratic brand, as we know, and we talked about this for a long time, is not good in a lot of these places.

and i tell people, look, you're an american. >> reporter: the gop thinks the coming ad campaign will loom ryan. >> you ran against nancy pelosi and then voted for her. >> in this environment, do you have the guts to take on your own party? and from my vantage point for me, it's a resounding yes. >> reporter: unlike ryan, vance is a political newcomer. a best selling author, venture capitalist, and former marine. who used to say -- >> if i'm a never trump guy. >> reporter: yet vance won over donald trump for his endorsement, enough to win the crowded gop primary in may. voters still say they're waiting to hear more about him. >> have you seen much of j.d. vance around here? >> no. >> reporter: vance declined to be interviewed. cnn did obtain copies of

invitations to two fund risers. cnn tried to find vance at his campaign office. and attempted to call him on his cell phone. but some vance defenders insist he has had a strong presence across the state. >> i see j.d. vance here, i see him active. his team has been really strong. >> reporter: republicans believe that j.d. vance will benefit because mike dewine, the republican governor, is expected to win in his race. could have coat tails long enough to help vance. and democratic outside groups are not planning to spend the money mitch mcconnell's group is. republicans expect vance to be more vocal in the coming days. just moments ago, he was at a closed event at the chump rch behind me here in columbus. we tried to interview him and put a bunch of questions to the campaign. the campaign sent us a statement attacking cnn. >> manu raju, thank you for that

reporting from columbus, ohio. now let's discuss all of this with national correspondent phi phillip bump. thank you for being here, both of you. on this remarkable fight that is playing out, that's the best way to put it, between the senate republican's campaign chief and mitch mcconnell, this is between rick scott and mitch mcconnell over a comment that mcconnell made about the quality of the candidates that republicans have, people like j.d. vance and the fact that they are having to put all this money into the races. rick scott said in an op-ed today in the washington examiner, many of the very people responsible for losing the senate last cycle are now trying to stop us from winning the majority this time by trash talking our republican candidates. ultimately it is treasonous to the conservative cause. he's telling mitch mcconnell to pipe down without naming him. >> i mean, the subtly is not

subtle at all. this is a feud that's been playing out over months. you have different strat jis how they should go about trying to get back the republican majority in the senate. rick scott has stayed away from the party putting its thumb on the scales in the primary. you can't anger that maga wing of the republican party. mitch mcconnell is recognized as being the mastermind of republican strategy there, has had a series of wins understanding the mechanisms of the senate and pushing for a more traditional senate candidate, someone better positioned to win over independents and moderates. but now you have criticism of scott for how he's managed the money, about maybe that these senate candidates aren't where voters are. and the polling is now backing the mcconnell point of view. you have had candidates like herschel walker in georgia, dr.

oz in pennsylvania, who have been falling behind because they haven't been able to keep up with the energy of the party. as issues have moved away from republicans and have focused more on democratic agenda, those senate candidates have struggled and the criticism of senator scott has ramped up, too. >> of course, with these candidates, what they have in common, they're all political novices. they got these trump endorsements, which helped them in their primaries. but the question then between mcconnell and rick scott, it's not translating to votes. >> this is the fundamental question in the republican party, how much do you rely on turning out your base, and how much do you need to appeal to the crossover vote sners donald trump's strategy from 2016 and 2020, turn out the base, energize the base, get the base to come along. it worked for donald trump in 2016. not in 2020, obviously. but this is the strategy that

the republican party is doing. lindsey graham was asked give us your pitch on her shell walker. he said look, he's going to win. you heard the radio agaicomment say he's going to rely on that r next to his name. vance and masters in arizona both won because they got all this outside money from this guy, and now it's a fight between mcconnell and teal about whether or not teal will come in, in the general. so there's always these layers at play, but it comes down to how are republicans going to win? >> and they're struggling more than they thought. another trump backed candidate, sarah palin, lost her race last night. there have been questions -- it's alaska, so there are questions whether you can read too much into that and what it foreshadows for republicans this november. what do you think?

>> yeah, it builds on the larger trends. it's not just that palin race in isolation, it is a repeated example. you have the special election race in new york. you have individual referendums across the country where democratic enthusiasm has risen. that's probably universally recognized. you have seen the backlash after the dobbs decision fuel democrats. and you're seeing weak republican candidates not getting the trump boost. trump strategy's can work because he finds a voter that will come out for him. it's not clear that that same type of voter will come out for a sarah palin, will come out for a blake masters or a j.d. vance in ohio. they are hoping that this race becomes nationalized, that these individual races become wrapped up in the larger d versus r battle of polarization.

in alas kaka, it builds on the larger trend where democrats are feeling increasingly good about their chances in november, when we started off with a feeling that this might be a republican wave year. >> and your colleague at "the washington post" agreed with that sentiment, writing that democrats have overperformed their 2020 margins, talking about those special elections that we have seen since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. congresswoman peltola, who defeated sarah palin last night, said she does think abortion rights is the key issue. so i do wonder how republicans are viewing this, given they're fighting over who is supporting whom. what do they do going forward if they are going to have this red wave that they've been touting for november? >> the first thing is scrubbing their websites. i think that more than any polling is telling. they're saying hey, look, we have to walk away from this. it's a very traditional general election move. the sarah palin race, it's important to know this was a

ranked choice voting race. so it gave voters the opportunity to say hey, i don't really like sarah palin, i want to rank her third, a of the democrat. so a lot of people did that. so there's a lot of these unusual scenarios too that are affecting things. and i think there's a really important thing that i wrote about yesterday, is that we have seen a lot of polling errors in recent years. even in 2018 when democrats did well, a lot of the senate race polling overestimated how well democrats were going to do. that also is sort of the shadow that is lingering. >> it's a good word of caution. one thing we do know that's happening is the speech tonight from joe biden. it harkens back to what we heard from him very often on the campaign trail, which is the battle for the soul of america and the way the white house is describing it, there's these extremist forces, they're careful to say it's not all republicans, but the ones that style themselves after former president trump, they're a threat to america. i think a question is, he has been making this argument since

the campaign trail. he still feels the need to make it tonight. >> certainly. i think he's emboldened in making that argument. you're seeing new language from the president as we talk about the white house doubling down, framing some republicans as fascists. that is an escalation of that type of rhetoric. it's important to go back, that this is where joe biden started his campaign, with those type of messages saying that he planned to heal the country, to unify the country. but beyond that, to restore democracy to its place. framing the key contrast, not just d versus r, but democracy protectors versus folks trying to erode it. what we have is a republican landscape that makes that argument easier. you have a republican landscape, which they have prioritized senate candidates, governor candidates, who are stoking conspiracy about the 2020 election, that have endorsed donald trump's claims that that election was rigged. so that is empowering the white

house to go even further on that language. framing november, not just d versus r, but as a core to the democracy fight. >> what do you make of snit >> if you go back and look at biden's inaugural speech, he clearly framed autocracy against democracy. it was clear he was talking about america, and now we're seeing that same argument coming back into play. because he understands it brings trump into the picture. >> we'll be watching 8:00 eastern tonight. thank you both so much. coming up, the inspection team has now arrived at the massive nuclear power plant in the middle of a war zone in ukraine. problem so lve together, and find the answer that was righght under their nose. or... his nose.

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have just left the zaporizhzhia power plant after being there four hours. that plant is a major source of power for ukraine, and five inspectors will stay until saturday. this comes as one of the only two working reactors at the plant was shut down today. cnn's melissa bell has more. >> reporter: the shelling began at dawn around the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. the worst that the town had seen since it was occupied in march, according to its mayor. briefed on the situation, but undeterred, iaea inspectors decided to head through the frontline nonetheless. >> we are moving now. >> reporter: the 14-strong team, the artillery and mortar fire that led to the shutting down of one of the plant's last two

functioning reactors. after an hours long delay on its way, the inspectors arrived. a glimpse at last into a plant that's been occupied by russian forces for months. >> it's obvious that the plant and the physicalintegrity has been violated several times, and this cannot continue to happen. >> reporter: which is why he said five members of his team stayed behind to ask more questions, and to big deeper. in a plant controlled by russian forces, workers say it's been almost impossible for them to do their jobs. >> translator: we feel like hostages. we can't do our jobs. we can't carry phones, flash drives, memory cards, and god forbid if you look at a soldier the wrong way, you could be thrown into the basement. >> i was with them throughout the day. of course, they are in a

difficult situation, but they have an incredible degree of professionalism. i see them come and moving on. >> reporter: the plan, he said, for the iaea to establish a permanent presence at the plant, and to make good on his word to the workers, that the u.n. nuclear watch dog is now there to stay. kaitlan, that is why this is the real moment when the work of the inspectors begins. not just what that five man strong team will do, which is working out what damage has been done, but also trying to figure out by staying longer term how the plant can function and how the workers can do their jobs, and by their very presence, bringing a little more peace and quiet to what is europe's largest nuclear power plant. remember, it is with every round of shelling, europe that moves one step closer, kaitlan, to another ukrainian nuclear

meltdown. >> yeah. a major concern. melissa bell, thank you for that fantastic reporting. coming up, we have new numbers that should deeply concern every parent, every teacher, everybody. istible new . like #11 subway club. piled with turkey,y, ham and roast beef. this sub isn't slowing down time any time soon. i'll give it a run for its money. my money's on the sub. it's subway's biggest refresh yet. welcome to thursday night football, only on prime video. play for the guy beside you! play for this stadium! let's go, baby! thursday night is now the prime night of football. deep downfield! got it! touchdown! legendary players,

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want a permanent solution to homelessness? you won't get it with prop 27. it was written and funded by out-of-state corporations to permanently maximize profits, not homeless funding. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations permanently. only pennies on the dollar for the homeless permanently.

and with loopholes, the homeless get even less permanently. prop 27. they didn't write it for the homeless. they wrote it for themselves. in our national lead, a troubling but sadly predictable report on the coronavirus pandemic's impact on schoolchildren. math and reading scores for 9-year-olds in the united states not only fell sharply, but had one of the largest declines on record. cnn's gabe cohen takes a closer look at how far this age group

is falling behind, and how the pandemic erased years worth of progress. >> reporter: new test results from the national assessment of education progress show math and reading scores for 9-year-olds in the u.s. falling sharply between 2020 and 2022, the worst dropoff for reading since 1990. and the first-ever decline for math. >> that is very alarming. it's disturbing, but it's not surprising, keeping in mind a year and a half ago, over half of our schools were not open for full-time learning. >> reporter: students who were already struggling in school showed the most dramatic dropoff. >> some colleagues of mine estimate that is nine months worth of instruction. >> how long could it take these students to catch up? >> in my view, a number of years before students can make up this lost ground in full. >> i have students that are coming into 4th grade that are

performing two and three grade levels below where they should be. >> reporter: nicole is a 4th and 5th grade teacher in texas, who asks us not to show her face, fearing retaliation. >> i don't know that i can make up two years of growth in one year. >> i don't think it's over yet. we will have to do better than what we were doing before the pandemic. >> reporter: schools nationwide have been trying to hire more staff, including tutors and psychologists. >> i think the first step is simply to make up some of the lost instructional time that could come through extended school case, after school programming and tutoring, and come through summer school programs. >> reporter: but with teacher burnout and a shrinking pepline, many schools face a teacher shortage, especially in rural areas and those with more low income families and students of color. and right now, the federal government is pumping more than $100 billion in relief funds into schools and requiring them to spend at least 20% of it on this learning loss.

but kaitlan, in the short term, at those schools that can't find enough teachers right now, students who need more attention than ever are likely getting less. >> yeah, not something that teachers or parents of those students want to hear. gabe cohen, thank you. meanwhile, serena williams is having fun proving that she's the greatest of all time, and she's back on the court tonight.

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are you surprising yourself with your level? no, i know. [ laughter ]

i'm just serena, you know? >> yes, she is. and she takes the court again tonight with her sister, venus williams, who is 42 years old herself. they're among a very elite club of athletes over 40 who played at the top of their game. as serena goes for her 24th career grand slam, she's also turning 41 later this month. i'm kaitlan collins in for jake tapper. our coverage continues right now in "the situation room." ♪ ♪ happening now, the courtroom showdown over donald trump's request for a special master, and the mar-a-lago investigation has just concluded without a decision from the judge. trump attorneys are making their case, comparing his retention of classified documents to an overdue library book. also tonight, joe biden is heading to philadelphia for a