joining me with the latest is our own julia ainsley. julia, what's amazing here is how fast the courts keep answering every one of these appeals by trump's lawyers. if he's trying to buy time, he ain't getting much time. >> that's right, chuck, it seems like they're closing every door. the latest move is to go to the dc circuit to appeal the ruling we got late tuesday from the judge in the dc district court. she was very blatant about her opinion that the former president is overly exerting executive privilege to keep these documents from being released. she said that presidents are not kings and the plaintiff, meaning trump, is not president. it actually makes a big difference here that trump is no longer the president. you and i talked a lot, chuck, about executive privilege during the mueller investigation when so many key documents and witnesses were kept from those investigators. that no longer seems to be something that trump can hide behind, especially as the current president, the biden administration has made the case that thes

. >> and joining me now, nbc's julia ainsley who was following the argumentings, harry litman, former deputy assistant attorney general during the clinton administration. melissa lurie, and former u.s. attorney joyce vance. julia, take us through what you've heard in the last two hours from the justices in this important argument? >> it's interesting, andrea, i spent the morning outside the supreme court where protesters are talking about heartbeats and viability. none of those words are being mentioned inside the supreme court today. what they're talking about is whether or not this law can stand by the very nature of how it's been written. as you know, this allows private citizens in the state of texas to sue anyone who may have a connection to a woman's abortion. and so it takes the enforcement away from the state and puts it on the court. now, it's very interesting to hear from brett kavanaugh today. as we know he's been a conservative justice, appointed by president trump, someone who we can expect to overturn roe v. wade. he started questioning the solicitor general from texas a

wendy murphy, we'll bring you back, julia ainsley, thanks to you as well, we appreciate you. >>> abortion is an issue that democrat terry mcauliffe has tried to keep front and center in this conversation here in the governor's race in virginia. he's argued that virginia could follow texas if republicans are allowed to gain control. >> women of virginia, listen to me carefully. if glenn youngkin is elected governor, abortions will no longer be available here in the commonwealth of virginia. for 50 years the supreme court has protected roe v. wade. now it is the trump supreme court, 6-3. they are going to eliminate it. you saw what happened in texas. you know they're going to do it in mississippi. glenn youngkin, we do not want your antiabortion rhetoric and laws here in virginia. >> to many democrats' disappointment, recent polling shows abortion is not high on the list of key issues for virginia, less than 10%. instead, education has jumped nine points in a month with republicans hammering on critical race theory. joining me to talk more about this is nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla

our dear friend julia ainsley has welcomed baby number two named after both of her grandmothers. caroline banks ainsley was born yesterday weighing exactly eight pounds. julia says she and her husband, newman, are giddy with excitement. julia, congratulations, again. also say welcome to the neighborhood because they're neighbors of ours. we're so happy about all of that. >>> and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember to follow the show online and on facebook @ mitchellreports. chuck todd and "mtp daily" start right now. >>> if it's wednesday, the house is set to vote on centuring. posting an altered video depicting violence against democrats. why is there more anger over an infrastructure vote than a violent video fantasizing about the death of a colleague. >>> the force happening all across the globe. why the bad guys are winning and what it means for the future of politics everywhere. >>> later new efforts at the state and city levels to expand booster eligibility as covid cases are rising and vaccination rates lag compared to our western allies. >

julia ainsley joins us now and rahema ellis is at new york's jfk airport. help me understand this. i talk to fortune 500 ceos every day of the week and i haven't spoken to one who hasn't been in absolute support of vaccine mandates. even if this gets held up, is it really going to impact what's happening? >> i guess it depends on some of these republican attorneys in the courts here, stephanie. we know that republican attorney generals sued the biden administration and they have won in the fifth circuit. that's that very conservative circuit that also sided with the state of texas and the abortion lawsuit that we've talked a lot about. there was a three-judge panel that decided over the weekend to put a stay, that's a temporary block, on that vaccine mandate. now, we do expect to hear from the justice department today. they have said, through the labor department, that osha, under the osha act, they have the explicit right to push a vaccine mandate and to make this work when there is an emergency need to protect the health and safety of american workers. so they're standing by this

with me now so break this all down, nbc news correspondent, julia ainsley, at the u.s. supreme court. neal katyal, former acting u.s. solicitor general, a partner at the law firm, hogan levels, law professor at georgetown university, and an msnbc legal analyst. barbara mcquade, a former u.s. attorney in michigan, now a professor at the university of michigan law school. she is also an msnbc legal analyst. talia farhaddian winestein, as well as an msnbc legal analyst. also with us, joshua prager, a journalist who has written for "the atlantic," "vanity fair," "the new york times," and "the wall street journal." he's also author of "the family row," an inside look at the family behind the supreme court's most divisive case. julia, tell us a little bit more about what's happening at the court today. >> reporter: well, just right now, these oral arguments are getting underway, jose, and we expect first to hear from, as you said, that case where they are -- these are abortion providers challenging that law in texas, sb-8. they originally petitioned the court and as we know o

julia ainsley is all over this story. bashr mcquaid, former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst, also with us. amy hagstrom miller. he's the president and ceo of whole women's health, which is the plaintiff in one of those supreme court cases. julia, the justices seem skeptical, but that doesn't mean abortion rights are totally in the clear. can you explain this to us? >> yeah, that's right. i mean, oral arguments are all about reading the tea leaves, seeing what questions get asked. and i think it was surprising yesterday to hear from the more conservative justices, especially justice kavanaugh and justice barrett, asking questions about how far this law could go. could it also be applied to other policies, in which you would allow civilian vigilantes to sue people who might have some connection to a policy, not just like abortion, but you could even make it gun control, you could have it infringe on religious liberties. those questions gave a lot of hope to people who hoped to see this law overturned. but that skepticism doesn't necessarily mea