blackouts. between 5:50 and 5:55 p.m., demand for power dropped by 1.2 gigawatts. one gigawatt in power, about 750,000 homes. words have power. especially in the ones in an emergency alert text. that does it for us. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. it doesn't seem like the kind of thing you should have in your post-presidential desk drawer. >> well, first of all, again, we really don't know, because let's go back and understand that all of this information is coming from one side and one place. and that is sources of knowledge of the investigation. who are sources of knowledge of the investigation? the fbi and the justice department. and they are leak together immediate, leaking to the media. >> marco rubio florida senator seems to be more upset about leaks to the media than the top secret documents that donald

trump had staffed at his country club. we will have more on the special master ruling. florida's other senator is facing questions about campaign cash. it comes after a report from the "new york times" that the gop has blown through a record fundraising fund nearly two months before the midterms. and also ahead, a white house re-do for the white house and the obamas as the former president and first lady finally get their portraits unveiled. good morning, and welcome to "way too early." on this thursday, september 8th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. we'll begin with a key and fast approaching deadline for the justice department, following the fbi's search of former president donald trump's mar-a-lago home and club. the d.o.j. must decide by midnight tomorrow whether to accept judge eileen cannon's

ruling that approved the request by trump's attorneys for a special master to review the documents seized from his florida estate last month. "the new york times" is reporting that the justice department officials are expected to oppose the judge's decision. but the paper points out that any appeal would be difficult. as the 11th circuit court of appeals is under a conservative majority. the consensus right now appears to be that judge cannon's ruling is more likely to delay than derail the investigation into trump's possession of highly classified documents that of course belong to the government. and the newspaper put it this way. the question is whether justice department officials will mount a narrow approach geared at extracting relatively small concessions from the judge to speed up the independent review, or if they plan a more comprehensive riskier appeal to what they see is a dangerous

enhancement of presidential power. the paper adds that appointing a special master would effectively shut down government's use of the documents, but a criminal inquiry into whether the former president violated the espionage act, and bruktded investigators by hoarding and concealing materials at mar-a-lago. . for a second time, former president trump's own former attorney general is speaking publicly about the mar-a-lago documents case. bill barr now telling fox news that he hopes judge cannon's ruling to appoint a special master is in fact appealed. he also weighed in on whether he thinks the d.o.j. will ultimately indict trump. take a listen. >> the problem i have with this special master, what she's done on what's call executive privilege documents, and she didn't address the only question that is in dispute which is can the former president have standing to say that the

investigators don't even get to look at the documents, the classified documents that he wrongfully had at mar-a-lago? and that's the only question. and she dodges it. and then she says that she's bringing in a special master to look at whether stuff is executive privilege or not. that's not where the dispute. is if the government came today and say we'll stipulate that everything that is deliberative there, whether it is classified or not, would be ordinarily subject to executive privilege, it begs the question. that's not what the issue. is that's why i think the opinion is a amazing. >> so you think it will be appealed and overruled. >> do you have a view how it ends? >> yes, i think as i said all along, there are two questions. will the government be able to make that a technical case, with the evidence, that they could indict somebody on, including him, and that's the first question, and i think they're getting very close to that point, frankly. but i think at the end of the day, there's another question,

do you indict a former president? what will that do to the country? what kind of precedent will that set? will the people really understand that this is not, you know, failing to return a library book, that this was serious, and so you have to worry about those things, and i hope that those kinds of factors will incline the administration not to indict him, because i don't want to see him indicted as a former president. but i also think they will be under a lot of pressure to indict him. because one question, look, if anyone else would have gotten indicted why, not indict him? >> let's turn overseas now, and rare public comments, ukraine's top military chief is warning that a quote limited nuclear war between russia and the u.s. cannot be ruled out. and in an article yesterday published in the state news agency, the chief said there is a direct threat of the use of tactical nuclear weapons by russian armed forces. he writes, quote, it is also impossible to completely rule out the possibility of the direct involvement of the world's leading countries in a

limited nuclear conflict, in which the prospect of world war iii is already directly visible. he also wrote that the war in ukraine is lakely to continue into next year. the chief also acknowledged for the first time that ukraine was indeed behind the strikes deep inside the russian oc, occupied crimea region last month. widely suspected. the united states had formally accused russia of a war crime, forcibly deporting ukrainian citizens into russia. at a meets of the u.n. security council in new york, linda thomas greenfield relayed the information with russia's ambassador in the room. take a look at how that went down. >> from a variety of sources, including the russian government, indicates that russian authorities have interrogated, detained, forcibly deported, between 900,000 and 1.6 million ukrainian citizens

from their homes to russia. often to isolated regions in the far east. and i want to be clear, that the information, that the united states has information that officials of russia's administration are overseeing these filtration operations. >> the russian ambassador replied as you might expect, describing the council meeting as a quote waste of time. and he accused the west of spreading disinformation. the ambassador claimed that ukrainians who traveled to russia go through a quote registration rather than a filtration process. meanwhile, in yet another sign of the growing relationship between russia and china, president vladimir putin is expected to meet chinese leader xi jingping next week. putin announced the meeting yesterday during a televised economic conference saying it will take place in uzbekistan on the sidelines of a summit of asian leaders.

it comes as russia's war in ukraine has pushed moscow to re-orient its relationship towards asia, especially with china, since it faces such heavy sanctions in the u.s. and its allies. this will be the two leaders' second face to face meeting. they last met in february, days before russia's invasion of ukraine, where putin declared the two country's relationship would have quote no limits. joining us now, senior correspondent for yahoo news, our friend michael weiss. let's start with this upcoming meeting between putin and xi. contrast that with what is happen with the west right now. president biden having the video call with a lot of european leaders later today. the u.s. just announced hundreds of millions of dollars in military support for ukraine. russia's leaning on china but there seems to be some limits to that rearview mirror the fact that they had to go to north korea and iraq for weapons means china is not providing them.

where do we think things go from here between beijing and moscow? >> it is a good question but if putin is sort of backed into a corner, his big strategy plan, outside of the battle space in ukraine, where things have gone very sideways in recent days, has always been to divide and conquer the west. in terms of information warfare. he was hoping that the european union would buckle under the pressure. russian energy company, it released a video a few days ago that suggested that europe this winter is going to freeze to death. energy security has always been a tool in president putin's arsenal. and yet what he has found, i think, to his surprise, certainly to my surprise, i have to say, is that the west has been pretty united in its response. i mean there are cracks here and there. but security assistance to ukraine as you mentioned is ongoing. every passing month, it seems, ukrainians are getting some new kit to make their army more

nato-standardizized. and indeed if you look at the kind of counter offensives that are waged now, not just in the south of ukraine but more surprisingly in the north where they've made even more progress, russia is in a very tight spot. so going to the iranians for drones, the north koreans for ar ril ry and i guess the chinese to help prop up the economy, what do you expect at this point? he's got limited options. >> certainly it does seem that the invasion has settled into this stalemate. it is really stagnating on a couple of fronts. you have reporting on ukraine's defenses in the east as well as their ongoing counter offensive. what's the latest that you've learned? >> yes, so i mean the ukrainians have been telegraphing for many weeks now that they were going to launch this massive counter offensive in kherson, in southern ukraine, north of occupied crimea, strategically important, a port city, a lot of ukrainian experts including grain and agricultural products come from there, the russians want to control basically all of

the black seacoast, and the counter offensive, the way it went last week there have been credible indications of progress, various settlements have been retaken by the ukrainian, i've seen images of the blue and gold standard being raised on rooftops in these areas. and then all of a sudden, they throw us a curve ball this week, when they waged this sort of surprise operation, another counter offensive in the north. hundreds of kilometers away, in kharkiv and by all accounts what i'm seeing on open source and social media is they could have taken as much as 400 square klom fers of territory back from the russians so i think they are suggesting we are coming for the south and russia deployed a lot of the battalion tactical groups from the north to the south, thus opening their flank in the north and allowing ukrainians, the way they are waging this counter offensive is quite similar to having waged a

defensive campaign in kyiv. deep below enemy lines and blowing up supply lines and logistics and bright shiny new objects called himars which are really wreaking devastation to the russians on the field. and social media, i don't see them so demoralized and panicked about what is taking place. they weren't expecting this kind of place. >> senior correspondent for yahoo news, michael weiss, thank you as always for joining us this morning. still ahead on "way too early," the obamas return to the white house, with the unveiling of their official portraits. what they had to say during yesterday's feel good ceremony. plus, former trump strategist steve bannon is expected to turn himself in to authorities in new york this morning. we'll have the latest on that. those stories and a check of the weather when we come back.

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. steve bannon is expected to surrender to new york state prosecutors this morning. bannon's criminal defense lawyer is telling cnbc that the former trump strategist will turn himself in to authorities at 9:00 a.m. eastern. when asked for details about the criminal charges, bannon is expected to face, his attorney simply said the indictment is sealed. and as we noted yesterday, the manhattan district attorney's office has been investigating bannon's connection with a fundraising effort called "we build the wall", federal prosecutors alleged he pocketed $1 million in the scheme. he was pardoned by trump, but presidential pardons only extend to federal cases and not state prosecution. we'll have more on that later in the morning. now, let's go to the white house yesterday as the official portraits of former president barack obama and first lady michelle obama were unveiled. presidential portraits are typically unveiled by

president's immediate successor, and donald trump never scheduled a ceremony for the obamas. the portraits and the artists commissioned work were kept secret until yesterday and here is some of what we heard from the former president and first lady. >> i want to thank sharon strum for capturing everything i loved about michelle. her grace, her intelligence, and the fact that she's fine. [ cheers and applause ] >> she is. per portrait is stunning. -- her portrait is stunning. >> and i want to thank robert for taking on a much more difficult subject. and doing a fantastic job as

well. [ applause ]. >> robert is known for his paintings of public figures. tony morrison, the dalai lama, nelson mandela, mohamed ali but what i love about his work, he paints people exactly the way they are, for better or worse. he captures every wrinkle on your face, every crease in your shirt, and you'll note that he refused to hide any of my gray hairs, refused my request to make my ears smaller. [ laughter ] >> he also talked me out of wearing a tan suit, by the way.

>> i went to see the work in brooklyn because poor sharon because no one is supposed to know who the artists are, so her studio is her home, and so she had this piece in her home, you couldn't have guests over, you would frightened that it would get out, you just wanted it out of your studio, and every year, i thought about, she must be going crazy. so thank you, thank you so much. >> a lot of laughs in the white house yesterday. and president biden is expected to hold a portrait trump, when asked, they referred to the white house's historical society. coming up, a tremendous day at the u.s. open. we'll have highlights from a record-setting match, and the end of a long streak for american men at flushing meadows. we'll be right back. switched to verizon's new welcome unlimited plan, for just $30. (daughter) i've already told everyone!

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carlos alcaraz outlasts janna sinner in the latest finishing match in u.s. open history ends at 2:00 a.m. eastern. that was a few minutes ago. alcaraz advances to the semifinals after five sets, 11 minutes shy of another u.s. open record. alcaraz meets frances tiafoe tomorrow in the first grand slam player for both players, the first american man to make it to the u.s. semis since 2006. he followed up after winning over rafael nadal with a straight set win over number nine seed andre rublev. there will not be any american

women hosting saturday. a great u.s. open. it is new faces on tennis's biggest stage. let's turn to major league baseball and we begin with the most predictable double header sweep in history this. took place in the bronx as the yankees continue to capitalize on a much-needed series against the minnesota twins. aaron judge hitting the 55th homerun of the season during a comeback yesterday afternoon and then the yankees have restored a five game lead atop the american league east. the rays stayed behind them after defeating the red sox 1-0. meanwhile, to pittsburgh and some order restored atop the

national league east. the new york mets taking back sole possession of first place in a double header sweep of the pirates yesterday in western pennsylvania. mets winning 10-0 behind seven shut innings with day job degrom. and the mets have a half game win over the braves. with a 7-3 victory over the oakland a's. football is back. the nfl regular season kicks off tonight at sofi stadium in inglewood, california, where the los angeles rams will open their super bowl title event against the buffalo bills. the bills the pick of many, hosting the lombardi trophy this year. live coverage at 7 p.m. eastern on nbc, kickoff at 8:30. let's go to meteorologist michelle grossman for the forecast. >> so ready for football. but not feeling like football weather. we're looking at temperatures brutally hot once again into the triple digits. 41 million americans impacted

out west. where you can see this pink, that is an excessive heat warning and that's where we're seeing the terrible temperatures once again, well into the 100s, so reading today, 110, probably breaking a record of 109. we broke so many records yesterday, we broke so many records over the past week and a half, and we're going to do that once again today, fresno, 107. 105 in burbank and denver triple digit mark. now look at tomorrow. we're hot once again, brutally hot, probably breaking records once again. a big difference, finally on saturday, los angeles, 84 degrees. san diego, 81 degrees, and we're looking in the upper midwest, tracking some showers in the southeast, as we're looking at a chance for flooding rains as well. >> temperatures in the 90s at kickoff tonight in los angeles. michelle grossman, thatch. still ahead on "way too early," senate republicans had $180 million in the bank by n-july and by august, most of it was gone. what is ahead and what the

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welcome back to "way too early." it's precisely 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 230 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. a bipartisan group of senators is pushing for a vote codifying marriage equality before they leave washington for the midterms. the group led by republican susan collins of maine, and democratic tammy baldwin of wisconsin, is adjusting a bill that would cover both same-sex

and interracial marriage to make sure it can garner support from at least ten senate republicans. the "washington post" writes it up this way, baldwin and collins met with senators portman, and kyrsten sinema and thom tillis, to finalize language after republicans voiced concerns that the four page proposal does not clearly mention religious liberty exceptions. the group thinks it has the support of ten republican senators, or will, by the time the measure comes up by a vote, which could be as early as next week. democrats hoping to get republicans on the record where they stand on this. meanwhile senator rick scott of florida is defending his role as chairman of the republican party's campaign arm. amid reports that the group burned through a record fundraising haul at a rapid rate. in an view yesterday, scott was asked to respond to new reporting from the times that the national republican senatorial committee has spent

already more than 95% of the $180 million it had raised. take a listen. >> how did that happen? where did all that money go? >> well, we did the right thing, we spent early. here's the public campaigns, the problem with campaigns, if you wait until the last month, there is too much static, too much noise out there. >> a lot of races are tightening up in florida and ohio, and in need of money at this point. so sox them are pointing fingers at your leadership and saying it is not working. what do you say to them? >> let's look at the numbers. you know, we are going to keep our hardest, ron johnson is going to win, we invested -- >> he is behind by about five points right now, right? >> ron johnson, either tied up a little bit or down barely. >> joining us now, "politico" national political reporter, great to see you this morning, oh, boy. a lot of finger pointing on the

gop side. a lot of worry, that the democrats have made a lot of these races competitor, ahead in polls, with two months to go until the midterms, so take us behind the scenes, and describe to us the tension level between senator rick scott and his fellow republicans, particularly mitch mcconnell. >> the tension level is incredibly high. and this is a moment in which rick scott's administration is really under the microscope, and it is coming in an inopportune moment for him. not only a moment in which they're seeing their coffers suddenly run dry, but it also have happening as polling continues to show that democrats, democratic incumbent senators continue to outperform those republican candidates that the nrsc is supposed to be boosting. so it is sort of all happening in a swirl of not great moments for senate republicans and staring down a midterm year that should be based on historical precedent really good for them.

it is a good opportunity. the national environment is in their favor by and large. but it is sort of a combination of, as mitch mcconnell has raised concerns about candidate quality on the republican side and at the same time whether they will have the money to back them up. so because of that, as you said, the enormous tension, between rick scott and senator minority leader mitch mcconnell, about who is to blame in this situation. >> democrats have strung together a bunch of legislative wins, and president biden's poll numbers ticked up and increasingly bullish about the senate but as you report for "politico," despite that momentum, keeping the house will still be an uphill battle. give us a sense of the landscape in that chamber of commerce. >> so as you said, there are a lot of things about this summer that have actually gone right for democrats, at least politically, the biggest one being that the supreme court overturned roe v. wade at the end of june, which was actually not something that they wanted personally but something that certainly helped them

politically, and that it juiced their enthusiasm within their base and those who would have normally tuned out and normally not paying attention to the midterm races are now suddenly interested in voting. because of that, we're seeing special elections go democrat's way. and numbers that we were not expecting. in alaska, the canvas vote for the ballot initiative on abortion. early evidence that democrats maybe aren't facing quite as bad of a political head winds as they started with in the spring. that being said though, the margin here is incredibly thin. republicans only need to flip five seats, they only need to net five seats i should say to take the house. and that's a very easy list for them to do. they don't have to win any seats that joe biden won in order to do this. they just have to sort of win in trump country, that trump won in 2020. so even though democrats feel better, and even though the environment has in some ways neutralized a little bit for

democrats, it is still incredibly difficult for them to hold on to the house because of those races and the margins. >> quickly, yesterday, some news that pennsylvania democratic senate candidate john fetterman has agreed to a debate with mehmet oz, the republican rival. we know fetterman has recovered from a stroke and the campaign is extremely contentious on that issue. your sense of the democrats, how much is riding on that debate that fetterman can prove that he is healthy enough to do the job? >> he had an interview with my colleague to address exactly that in which he said he was going to participate in at least one debate. and if he had not participated at all, then i think the democratic strategist in particular would have been worried. but he is committed to one. and democrats feel like that is going to be enough to demonstrate that he's able to face up against dr. oz, excuse me, against mehmet oz, the challenge for democrats though, is that going to be enough for the voters in pennsylvania who may want to hear more from these

two candidates. obviously it will lean into the question about his health, and there is a risk of going too far with that strategy, there are a lot of people who have had health care setbacks and this is sort of a tense moment out there in pennsylvania. >> certainly the oz campaign's initial response toward fetterman's condition drew a lot of pushback for being insensitive. "politico's" elena, thank you so much. love to have you back soon. still ahead, cnbc for the latest in business news. wall street is back in the red this morning, after its best day in nearly a month. we'll get more insight on what could drive today's action next on "way too early." rly.

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is the market on pace to break what has been a three week losing streak? >> you'd be a brave man to have a certain view on that one, but you would certainly have to look at the rally yesterday that helped the markets, with the figures aren't dollar, up 0.8, the s&p 5001.42%, with the nasdaq up by a similar mark on a day-to-day basis. a lot that could change. with oil is prices, all coming into play. a big focus on europe is the ecb, which is expected to change the interest rates and whether the 75 basis points hike does mean, it is the beginning of the front loading of interest rate hikes in order to help the our pine -- european economy and the

canadian central bank, 75 basis points, inflation pressure, but dollar strength, certainly playing into the u.s. market and positivity there. >> i'm definitely not brave enough to make that prediction, arabile. we have barely cleared labor day but apparently christmas is aren't corner because ubs is planning to hire more than 100,000 workers for the coming holiday shopping season. tell us more about that. >> yes, i don't know about how much shopping you're planning to do, but 100,000, that's fair, across the country, it comes at the same time of course as the wage increase to up to around $15, as well, that is per hour. so $15 an hour is how much one could get paid for, depending on the location and the position that you're in. it is saying that 80% of the seasonal positions do not require interviews, john, imagine you coming into your job and having not been interviewed, or filling out a form, an then

25 minutes later, you get a job offer. i mean that is exactly what u.p.s. is trying to do here. and they say that they will be hiring package handlers, delivery drivers, driver helpers, tractor-trailer drivers as well. so we'll see how this one goes, but it seems to be a busy christmas season that they're certainly looking towards. >> that's actually how i got this job, they said hey, are you willing to wake up at 3:00 a.m., and i said okay and i got it. last one, world's second largest movie theater chain has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, this seems to be more of an impact from the pandemic, right? what's happening here? >> i mean when is the last time you went to the movies, right? i mean we have not gone to the movies at any point in time so of course we're bringing that down, and they have to fight for bankruptcy. and 4 billion, what is it, 4 billion pounds worth, by the end of the last of the financial year, so things are not good on that front. they do operate with 28,000 people and around 10 countries and 751 sites but the biggest

problem for them has been that not enough people have gone to sin mass, getting the revenue back up, post the pandemic, especially, they hope to come out of the bankruptcy and emerge out of that in the first quarter of next year, and that they will be trying to renegotiate leases with some of the landlords out in the u.s. so you are kind of getting a clear picture in that they are needing to bring things down. who knows, that cost cutting measure could see jobs even be culled in certain areas, too. >> good stuff, this morning, from cnbc's, arabile, thank you for joining us from london. thank you, sir. still ahead the latest alarming data on pandemic learning loss. and what can be done to get children back on track. "way too early" is coming right back with this important story. [coughing] ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on by... ♪ if you've been playing down your copd,...

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students went back to school today in new york city, the

nation's largest school district, as they join millions of other kids returning to the classroom nationwide. it follows a new report out last week that shows the extent of the last two years of the covid-19 pandemic on school children. essentially erased two decades of progress in math and reading. the national assessment for educational progress often called the nation's work, showed math scores dropped seven points, the first-ever decline, and reading scores slipped five points. producing the largest dip in 30 years. joining us now, national reporter for chalk beat, patrick, thanks for being here. these are devastating and depressing numbers here. what is, as educators, back to the classrooms now, across the country, what is the plan for these schools and teachers to try to reverse that massive decline for our children? >> i think a lot of educators were alarmed by what they saw,

but not surprised, knowing the massive disruptions that students face, since the beginning of the pandemic, so schools are really racing to help catch them up, and one of the findings from the test is that it was the lowest performing students who fell the furthest behind. so that is really going to be the focus of their efforts. one of the biggest things they're trying to do is just give students more learning time, so that's tutoring, after-school programs, most districts did summer school programs, and they just want to have more time for students to master some of the material that they didn't get when they were remote learning and in quarantines, and all of the different disruptions that they had been going through. >> certainly, it is still some covid outbreaks in schools across the country, but districts nationwide are back for in person learning and very few exceptions. what are some early strategies that seem like they may have some chance of success? >> i think, you know, it's basic, i think it's kind of common sense, but tutoring is

one of the most kind of highly effective evidence-backed strategies. there's a catch though. it is usually called a high dosage tutoring, that just means it is frequent and very small groups of students, with a teacher, and usually it's best when it happens during the school day, and so that's when it is most effective. the challenge is effective. the challenge is going to be making sure the students who need it most are actually getting it, so they're showing up for tutoring, they're getting the support they need. of course, as i'm sure your viewers have heard, there have been a lot of staffing and hiring challenges. schools are trying to get enough teachers and tutors to make sure students can get that extra help. >> then, patrick, briefly, students also returning to school in the wake of the terrible rash of school shootings, in particular in uvalde, texas. parents you've been talking to, just how concerned are they about their students' safety as a new academic year begins? >> i think just the reality we live in is that parents, students themselves, teachers

are always going to have violence and gun violence, in particular, in the back of their minds. i think there is a lot of the focus on kind of what's ahead. again, i think the academic challenges ahead are really huge. the mental health crisis among students, i think, is also top of mind for most schools. certainly, i know safety is going to be a big issue. surveys show it is one of the top concerns for parents. i also think that schools have a lot of other things on their agenda they just have to take care of this school year. >> national reporter, patrick wall, thank you so much for joining us. on a personal note, as the school begins again, my oldest heading to middle school today. beckett, we love you and are proud of you. up next on "way too early," how a slip-up from a social media giant may help democrats in november. and a latest on the federal investigation of president trump and the impending response from the doj on the special master ruling.

plus, a pair of former pentagon leaders warning of a dangerous era for the u.s. military. former defense secretaries leon panetta and chuck hagel will both be joining the conversation. also, secretary of the air force, frank kendall, will also be a guest, as well. "morning joe" just a few moments away. you might take something for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. psst psst. [sfx: monster roaring and people screaming] allergies don't have to be scary. flonase sensimist stops your body from overreacting to allergens

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joining us with a look at axios a.m. is laughlin mmarkay. >> for people who advertise on the platform, snapchat, there's data available to advertisers on both sides. what happened, snap made data held by both parties big data firms, i360 on the republican side, target smart on the democratic side, they made them

available to advertisers on the other side of the political spectrum. data housed by this republican firm was used by the dnc, planned parenthood and others, to target their ads. snap has said that was an internal oversight that they're fixing. sort of shows the sensitivities that surround political data, which has become this hugely valuable political commodity. >> walks us through how this happens. snapchat, yes, but twitter, facebook, et cetera, how do the political ads find our social media feeds?targeted? >> as an advertiser on any platform, you can try to target people by interest, you know, what they do, their activities, what they're interested in, by their location, obviously, where they are in the country. consumer spending habits. i mean, it gets very granular. there are companies that work in the political sphere that have spent years and millions and

millions of dollars to try to build up the largest and most accurate database they can. that is extremely valuable for their political efforts and allied advertisers on the platforms. for it to be used by the opposition is potentially problematic for firms that are really devoted to using the data to, say, elect democrats or elect republicans. >> as a quick side question, what sort of reach does truth social have, trump's fledging, new social media site, compared to how many people he reached on twitter. >> it is an interesting question because they have signalled they're going to be running ads. they've partnered with the company rumble to serve ads on their platform. but there isn't sort of a comparable, at least on the political end, ad disclosure system like there is with facebook, google, snapchat and others. as of now, and i asked the company about this and haven't heard back from them, it is really not clear whether we'll know, you know, who is serving

ads on that platform, what they're spending, how many people they're reaching. that's not an issue that's confined to truth social by any means. there are a lot of, you know, connected tv does this a lot, for instance. you have to think truth social will be fertile ground for political advertisers on the right side of the political spectrum. it is not looking like we'll get a complete and full picture of who is trying to sway voters' opinions. >> stunning that there is a lack of transparency on that. axios also has reporting this morning on a democratic strategy to boost turnout among young voters. young voters often difficult to get to the polls. what's their plan for this november's midterms? >> yeah, so they call it social pressure. a label that's been used in the past is vote shaming. this is a group called priorities usa. they reject that label. this is a major superpac. they're running digital ads to target young voters in five

critical midterm states. basically, the ads are gentle reminders, they would say, that whether or not -- you know, who you vote for, obviously, is not public information, but whether or not you vote and whether or not you are registered to vote is public information. so the reminder of that is designed to, you know, encourage people to vote by basically saying, hey, everyone is going to know if you don't. you wouldn't want that. >> no, you wouldn't want that. peer pressure to vote, i guess it is worth trying. certainly, polling does suggest young voters, there are issues top op mind on the ballot this round. climate change, abortion, and gun violence, all of the above. thank you for the good reporting this morning. certainly, though, our focus today also, beyond the upcoming midterms, just two months out, the ongoing investigation into the classified documents recovered at mar-a-lago. we should learn from the

department of justice today or tomorrow what they will do, whether they'll follow through with an appeal on the decision to have a special master and who that special master might be. we'll have complete coverage as the day goes forward. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. >> when people ask what i miss most about the white house years, it's not air force one i talk about, although i miss air force one. [ laughter ] it's the chance that i had to stand shoulder to shoulder with all of you. to have a chance to witness so many talented, selfless, idealistic, good people working tirelessly every day to make the world better. >> former president barack obama and former first lady