Transcripts For MSNBC Meet the Press 20240924

When we fight, we win with just six weeks until election day, Vice President Kamala Harris is leading former President Donald Trump in our new Nbc News Poll. We are the underdog in this race, and we have some hard work ahead of us. We dont need votes. What we need is honesty in the election. Which side is more energized in the final sprint of the campaign . Steve kornacki will break down the results. Plus, controversial comments. We are staying in this race. We are in it to win it. The republican nominee after he once called Himself A Black Nazi and defended slavery on a porn site. Weve got folks running for governor that are proud to refer to themselves as nazis. How will it impact the critical Battleground State and escalating attacks. Israel Target Hezbollah leaders Inside Lebanon after a wave of attacks targeting the militant Groups Communication devices. Is the war spreading into a wider conflict . My guests this morning, democratic senator John Fetterman of pennsylvania and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. Joining me for Insight And Analysis are nbc News Chief white House Correspondent Peter alexander, amy walter, editor in chief of the cook political report. Former democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy and former republican congressman, Carlos Curbelo. Welcome to sunday. Its Meet The Press. Announcer from Nbc News in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is Meet The Press with kristen welker. Good sunday morning. We begin with our brandnew Nbc News Poll and the headline, Vice President harris is leading former President Trump nationally by five point, 49 to 44 among registered voters, that is within the margin of error, but its a shift from her last poll in july when mr. Trump led president biden by two points before Bidens Exit from the race. This week both candidates crisscrossed key Battleground States. If Kamala Harris is reelected, she will kill The American Dream forever. Shes not competent to be president , either, but i dont want to be rude. Someone who suggests we should terminate the Constitution Of The United States should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the united states theres a dramatic change in how positively voters view harris. Her 21point Net Swing from negative to positive is unmatched by a major Party Candidate in Nbc News Polling going back to 1989, and harris is winning the Change Argument by nine points. Steve kornacki will take us through the numbers just moments from now. Also this morning, sources are telling Nbc News former President Trump is facing calls from his allies and from within his own campaign to pull his endorsement from scandalplagued gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson after mr. Trumps past support. This is Martin Luther King on steroids, okay . Now robinson did not attend a rally mr. Trump held in North Carolina on saturday. Mr. Trump didnt mention robinson, and so far there are no plans for the former president to drop his endorsement. On thursday, cnn reported robinson, who is currently the states lieutenant governor, posted a series of comments on the Message Board of a Pornography Website more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a black nazi and expressing support for reinstating slavery. Mr. Robinson said that the online posts are fakes, generated by artificial intelligence. Those are not the words of Mark Robinson. Clarence thomas once said he was the victim of a hightech lynching. Well, it looks like Mark Robinson is too. The Harris Campaign is out with a new ad, Tying Former President Trump To Robinson on the issue of abortion. Hes been an unbelievable lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson. For me, there is no compromise on abortion. Abortion in this country is about killing a child because you arent responsible enough to keep your skirt down. Ive been with him a lot and ive gotten to know him, and hes outstanding. Lauren make spoke with Jd Vance on saturday. Are you comfortable with Mark Robinson as republican governor of income . The allegations are out there, but the allegations arent necessarily reality and what i say its up to Mark Robinson and North Carolina whether he wants to be governor and whether he wants to stay in the race. Do you believe theyre not his posts . I dont not believe him. I dont believe him. Sometimes they have to play out in the court of public opinion. Harris came to michigan and sat down with Oprah Winfrey and talked about immigration and gun violence. Either you are in favor of the second amendment and you want to take guns away. Im in favor of universal background checks. Im a gun opener. Tim walz is a gun owner. I did not know that. If someone breaks into my house, theyre getting shot. With just 44 days until election day, voting is underway in virginia, south dakota, and minnesota. I am joined now by National Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki to take us through the numbers. Steve, a lot of headlines here. Certainly, kristen. Youre looking at the biggest. Harris, 49, trump, 44. Fivepoint advantage ahead of trump in this poll against Donald Trump, and if we zoom out here and look at the bigger significance of this Finding And Weve been polling the 2024 race going back to next year and you can see these are all of the results on the left side of the screen from when Joe Biden was still the democratic candidate and this is our first poll since harris switched in and look at that result. You can see that the race has been completely reshaped since harris took the top of the ticket. Completely and one of those things powering that lead. There is a pretty pronounced gender gap. Harris is leading in our poll by 21 polls. Among men, trump is leading by 12. That is a 33point gender gap. Thats enormous what were seeing here, too. Take a look at this, the debate happening in the next couple of weeks. 20 said that debate made them more likely to support harris and that might be helping her as well here and then theres this, the view, the overall perception of Kamala Harris. Before she got in the race there was talk that her numbers didnt look better than bidens. She was 54 and now this is what you see. We have to pause here because this is the largest increase that we have seen for any politician since george w. Bush in the wake of the September 11th attacks on this issue. Yeah, absolutely, kristen. I mean, we were seeing numbers like this for years for Kamala Harris, and now youre seeing a very different story, and what goes into that, that new level on popularity that she has, Take A Look here. Call this up, some of the groups that have gravitated the most toward harris and black voters, 24point Increase and independents 20, young voters. This is a group where Joe Biden when he was still in, he was pulling up very, very good numbers and harris, a 24point Job among voters under 30 and look at it this way, and put it in comparison with biden and the national candidates this year, shes the only one, Kamala Harris in our poll with the higher positive score than a negative score. Compare that to trump and look at Jd Vance, trumps running mate, the lowest positive score. But you have to look at trump, the highest negative rating. There it is. The only one over 50 , the majority there. Take a look at the issues here, the most important issues here. Youve got inflation. The economy. Add together inflation and the economy, youre talking about 40 of the electorate inciting that. And Take A Look at the issues here. This was trump versus biden. Thats what youre seeing right here. This is harris versus biden. Trump still has the advantage of the economy. Its nine points. It used to be 22. On the border, its 21 now. Thats a big advantage. It used to be 35. We talked about age being an issue and the mental physical health now and harris, a 20point Advantage over trump. Republican sources say if former President Trump would stick to the issues like the economy he would do better and it shows it. Harris, Thats Part of the success that shes had has been eroding that. Look at it this way. A lot of positive news for Kamala Harris and democrats. Look back to october 2020, very similar. Harris has jumped into a threepoint net positive rating, thats where Joe Biden was in 2020. Trump is pretty much in the same place, a little bit worse in terms of views of him in 2020. But heres the difference. In 2020 60 of the country thought it was on the wrong track and twothirds say the country is on the wrong track. In 2020 came within a handful of votes in the few states of winning in the Electoral College against the challenger and overall, not that much of a different setup here and certainly in the Electoral College within reach for him. Just fascinating findings, steve, with just six weeks to go. Here it is. Thank you, kristen. And joining me now is senator John Fetterman of pennsylvania. Senator fetterman, Welcome Back to Meet The Press. Hi. Its great to be here. Hi. Well, it is great to have you. Lets start with the results of the poll. It shows that Vice President harris is leading former President Trump by five points nationally, still almost twothirds of voters saying Household Incomes are falling behind compared to inflation. Why should pennsylvania voters trust that harris can turn things around when so many voters say they dont feel the results of the Biden Harris policies, senator . Yeah. Well, its five points, and thats encouraging. And im not going to say i dont have to drive for four and a half hours to have a rally for democrats in rural counties. So its going to be very close, and youre going to see polls. The Washington Post had a poll that was effectively tied and another had harris up, but regardless, i promise you, pennsylvania will be very close. Otherwise if its not, its going to be a great nice surprise, but im expecting a very close and competitive race through. It usually is in pennsylvania. I want to shift now to North Carolina, another competitive state. Mark robinson, the republican nominee for governor, recordally made incredibly controversial posts on a pornographic website. Hes denied making those posts. Former President Trump has not dropped his endorsement of robinson, and i wonder if you think it is fair for voters to judge a candidate based on who they endorse, senator . Well, of course, but its great news for the democrats. I think robinson hes the new Dream Candidate to run against back in 2018 i talked to Governor Wolf i thought Scott Wagner was the Dream Candidate that could run, and we smoked him by 21 points, and Doug Mastriano came out in 22, and thats the best candidate that you can buy in, and the Shapiro Campaign spent billions of dollars to promote him as well too. Then robinsons like, hey, hold my beer, and trumps not going to walk back because hes not going to admit what a disaster that is, but its nice hes going to win as a democratic governor, but im not sure the impact it will have at the topline. It would be wonderful and almost Ball Game if harris wins North Carolina, but shes made North Carolina competitive already, and then after robinson, now were in the best possible situation to win. Let me ask you about another topic, the second apparent Assassination Attempt against former President Trump this week. This is what his running made Jd Vance had to say in the wake of it. Take a look. The difference between conservatives and liberals is No One has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months. Id say thats pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this crap out. Somebodys going to get hurt by it. Senator, whats your response to senator Jd Vance . I dont know, who is actually listening to what vance says . Its been months already. No ones really listening to him anymore. He has developed the reputation to say dumb things, pointless things and offend everybody and hes been picked as the most unpopular pick in history and No Ones listening to him. Im certainly not. And here we are right now. To the substance of his charge, though, hed say id say thats pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this blank out. How do you respond to that specific part of what he says . Thats absolutely absurd. Every democrat condemned the Assassination Attempts, and i did as well too. Theyre talking about eating the dogs and saying outlandish kind of things, and now lets just have a serious conversation about this election and not talking about that empty kind of rhetoric from somebody like Jd Vance. I want to ask you about something that Vice President Kamala Harris said this week. She was talking about Gun Ownership with Oprah Winfrey. She said, quote, if Somebody Breaks into my house, theyre going to get shot. You, senator, are a gun owner. As the leader of a party that prides itself on advocating for gun safety, was it responsible for Vice President harris to make those comments . Absolutely. I think the vast majority of americans, if you had somebody breaking into your house that might be there to harm you, youd probably have the right to shoot them, and i think that the vast majority of americans would agree with that. Let me talk about another big issue, i should say, the issue of fracking. Vice president harris once supported a Ban On Fracking when she was running for president in 2020. She even sued the Obama Administration to prevent fracking off californias coast. Now she says she will not ban the practice as president. Why should voters trust that that is really what the Vice President believes . So strange why we just keep talking about fracking. Back in 2020 i said that might be an issue, but its not going to be a defining issue, and now in 2024, were still trying to talk about fracking. Now, The Other Sides been talking about eating cats and geese and dogs and saying absurd things and talking about how if trump doesnt win, he said that you have to blame the jews on that and just absurd things. Having a serious Policy Conversation when The Other Side is absolutely on fire and heres where we are, but and here we are also that its going to be very close in pennsylvania and its not going to be defined by fracking. We are talking about it because it supported 120,000 jobs in 2022. Let me read you some of what you have said about fracking. In 2016 you called it a stain on pennsylvania. In 2018, you said you dont support fracking at all, but then in 2022, you said you absolutely support fracking. Senator, what exactly do you like about fracking now . Its strange for some weird gotcha taking quotes out of context, and here i am now. Im state senator, and i won by five points, a Record Margin back in 22, and there might be an issue in fracking, and i totally support fracking and so does Vice President harris. If you want to have a serious question about policy then i would challenge Trump And Vance to have one other than talking about eating pets. And well have plenty of questions for Senator Lindsey Graham, theres No Doubt about that, but to the point, what do you now like about fracking . You say youre not going to ban it. You support it now. Theyre eating dogs, theyre eating cats. You know, again, so okay. Any more on fracking . Well, i want to ask you about the Middle East actually. Lets move on because i do want to get this in. This week, as you know, a new front opened in the war in the mideast, jeopardizing ceasefire talks. Senator Bernie Sanders accused prime Minister Netanyahu of sabotaging a deal. Take a look at what he said. Every time a deal appears close, netanyahu moves the goalpost, introducing new demands and torpedoing the deal. It is clear to me that netanyahu is prolonging the war in order to cling to power. Senator, you have stood firmly behind israel, but do you agree with any part of what your Colleague Senator sanders said there . No. Not at all. I want to be very clear. I thought what israel chose to do about blowing up the pagers and then walkietalkies and then after targeting and eliminating Membership And Leadership of hezbollah, i absolutely support that. In fact, if anything, i love it. And israel demonstrated that they will not allow terrorists not to be held accountable, and i fully support that, and its not about nothing like what my colleague has said. Senator fetterman, it is always great to talk to you. We appreciate you being on this morning. When we come back, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joins me next. F South Carolina joins me next. Xt. If youre living with hiv, imagine being good to go without Daily Hiv pills. Good to go off the grid. Good to go nonstop. With cabenuva, theres no pausing for Daily Hiv pills. For adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, longacting Hiv Treatment you can get every other month. Its two injections from a healthcare provider. Just 6 times a year. 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Welcome back and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina joins me now. Welcome back to Meet The Press. Happy anniversary. And they said it wouldnt last. One year in the chair. And a 3 1 2monthold. Lots going on in your house. Thats for sure. Thank you for being here today. I really appreciate it. Lets start with the embattled gubernatorial candidate in North Carolina, Mark Robinson. Of course, its alleged he put these posts up, very controversial on a pornographic website. He said he didnt do it. Former President Donald Trump in North Carolina didnt mention him and has not dropped his endorsement. Senator, do you think that former President Trump should drop his endorsement of Mark Robinson . I think whats going to happen here is he deserves the chance to defend himself, Mark Robinson. The charges are beyond unnerving. If theyre true, he is unfit to serve for office. If theyre not true, hes got the best suit in the history of the country for libel. He claims they were artificially created and that cnn passed it along to be true. Has nbc confirmed this . Not yet. Were all looking into it. So what i would do if i were him i would hire me the best lawyer i could find, and i would sue the Hell Out of cnn because what theyre saying about him is just unbelievable. Now, he needs to do more in my view. He has a right to defend himself. He has an obligation to defend himself. This is hanging over his campaign. Trump won in 2016 and 2020 when the Governor Candidate lost both times. I dont think this hurts trump, but as To Robinson, hes a political zombie if he does not offer a defense to this thats credible. Senator, these allegations and the story came out on friday. He had had multiple days to defend himself. He has not produced one shred of evidence, and as you know, hes had other highly controversial comments in the past, including saying, lets stop talking about hitler and the nazis. Do you think he could cost trump North Carolina . No, i really dont because trump won when the Governor Candidate lost in 2016 and 2020, but heres whats important. Im in South Carolina. I see the ads every 15 seconds. This is a major allegation by a major News Organization that needs to be addressed. He has not only a right to defend himself, but an obligation to defend himself. At the very least, should former President Trump pull his endorsement or make it clear that hes distancing himself . I think what youre going to see happen here is robinson will have to deal with it, and theres nothing no accusation involving trump. Its all about robinson. You asked a good question. Should every republican in the country be held responsible for this guy . I would say no. Its him. Its not me. Its not trump. Hes The One who supposedly said these things. He has the right to defend himself. He needs to defend himself. All right. Lets move on to some of your activity this week. You traveled to nebraska, one of only two states that awards its electoral votes by Congressional District instead of winner take all. That, as you know, could be decisive in this election. It awarded Joe Biden, for example, one electoral vote in the Omaha Area back in 2020. You met with State Lawmakers to persuade them to switch to a winnertakeall system. Heres what Senator Leader Chuck schumer had to say about it early already today earlier this week. Look, theyre very worried about the election as they should be. The american people every day see the contrast. They Cant Win legitimately so they always try to change the rules at the last minute. Senator, youve seen the results of our poll. Can Donald Trump win if you dont change the rules in alaska. This is really number one, 55 of the people in the poll say the country is on the wrong track. Who is best able to solve the Crime Problem . Trump by six. Who is best on the economy . Trump by nine. Inflation, trump by eight. Border, trump by 21. So what did i get out of this poll on the things that matter most to the american people . Trump is winning decisively. In a headtohead, hes not. Now i know why the teamsters voted the way they did. The teamsters have endorsed every democratic candidate for president in the last 30 years except harris. They must believe, like the american people, shes not good On The Issues that matter most to the teamsters. Thats the only explanation is that she lost the endorsement of the teamingsters for the first time in 30 years, why . Because shes bad On The Issues they care about. Given what youre saying shes not good on these issues why do you need to change the rules in nebraska . I think nebraska has been talking about this for years. It is a very close election. 63 days ago Chuck Schumer led a coup to overthrow Joe Biden, and hes telling me or any other republican what we should be doing . If they changed the law in nebraska, it wont be on the phone in the middle of the night. It would be through the democratic process. The entire federal delegation of nebraska, House Members and two senators want this change. To my friends in nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between harris being president or not and shes a disaster for nebraska and the world. I hear youre calling it a coup. Democrats have the right to change who is at the top of the ticket. Does nebraska. Very quickly, before we get to the Middle East, what is the chance that this happens . 50 50, down to two people. Okay. The u. S. Is trying to avoid the escalation between Israel And Lebanon after, frankly, a new front in this war opened up this week, and there are real concerns that prime Minister Netanyahu will go into lebanon as soon as next week. Should he pull back . Should he deescalate . This is a Dream Scenario for iran. Theyre trying to suck Bibi And Israel into a fight. October the 7th was designed to stop normalization. Trump did the abraham accords. Biden has been trying to get Saudi Arabia to recognize israel. And October 7th was so horrific, a cd now you see a front opening in the north. So heres what i would tell my friends in israel. Do not give up on normalization with Saudi Arabia. I know you have to deal with hezbollah. There was an imminent attack and one of two things have to change in the mideast. We need to make game changing peace which is reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and israel. Our game changing military strategy. Go into lebanon to establish a Buffer Zone Wont work unless you hit iran. To my friends in israel, youre fighting the proxies. Fight the source. And to the Great Satan iran, to the biden administration, youve let iran run wild. Youve given them 80 Billion to relief on sanctions. Theyre rich and Running Wild and now is the time to hit the source of the problem, the iranians. Lets talk about another headline this week. Donald trump was speaking at an Israeli American council event. He seemed to suggest that jewish voters would be to blame if he didnt win the election, listen to what he said. If i dont win this election and the jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because at 40 , that means 60 of the people are voting for the enemy. The second Gentleman Doug Emhoff said those were Trafficking And Scapegoat trophs and jews. I would tell trump that the jewishamerican voter is probably concerned about the other voters. Why are you losing with African American men. Rather than blaming them you ought to convince them to Vice President for Vice President harris. My advice to President Trump, the Jewish American voter, and theres been no better friend to israel. Talk about crime, talk about inflation, and talk about border. Thats the way you persuade people in this country. We have the obligation to persuade people to vote for us. Very quickly on ukraine at the debate, Donald Trump was asked if he wants ukraine to win the war, repeatedly pressed on that, he did not answer. What message does that send to Vladimir Putin . Heres what will happen if President Trump wins, he will end the war. What the biden administration has done stopping natural gas. Senator, quickly, because youre almost out of time, does it concern you that he cant just say, yes, i want to see ukraine win . It concerns me that ukraine was invaded on bidens watch. It concerns me that irans Running Wild on bidens watch. It didnt happen on trumps watch. Harris and biden are a disaster. Ukraine was invaded by russia. Iran is Running Wild and wreaking havoc. No, i am confident Donald Trump will change things. If you want the world to change and you elect Harris Nothing will change. Were you happy with that answer . Im okay with the answer of not telling what winning looks like. I am confident he will not reward putin, but heres what i would say to the american people, if you think were on the wrong track, youre right. If you think Kamala Harris will charge things, youre wrong. She has her fingerprints on afghanistan. On the ideline, she boycotted bibis speech. The iranians see her as weak. The russians see her as weak. Do you think its an accident the worlds on fire, the border is broken, inflation is through the roof . Shes not going to change things. Shes going to make things worse and thats what our poll shows. All right. Senator Lindsey Graham, thank you for being here in person. We really appreciate it. When we come back, Vice President harriss Favorability Rating rises 16 points in two months and shes winning the battle as the candidate who represents change. Our panel is next. Ning the battle as the candidate who represents change. Welcome back. The panel is here. Nbc News Chief white House Correspondent Peter alexander, coanchor of weekend today. Amy walter, editor in chief of the cook political report, poo former democratic Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy of florida, president of the Center Aisle Coalition and former republican congressman Carlos Curbelo of florida. We have the Florida Contingent here. Thanks to all of you for being here. Peter, i want you to kick things off and lets delve into some of these really stunning numbers were seeing. Vice president Kamala Harris with a 16point swing, up 16 points from where she was in july in her Favorability Rating. Unprecedented in our poll. What is the Harris Campaign strategy it keep building this momentum . Well, i think, for one, i dont know that they necessarily trust that these numbers are up numbers theyre going to rely on. They still view this as this will be very tight in the states where this matters most right now and from my conversations with those in the Harris Campaign, theyre very focused on these hard to reach voters right now. In particular they describe them s to be as people who are younger. They are mostly male and racially diverse right now. In particular, theyre trying to have multiple Touch Points as they describe it with these people and not just to introduce themselves to them once, but as many times as they can and to that point, theyre trying to get them where they are. College footBall Games. I was watching football yesterday. A big win for michigan, i have to say. There were several harris ads that you saw throughout the course of yesterday and also i wouldnt be surprised if they didnt start showing up on sports betting sites. One other group to watch, kristen, noncollegeeducated white women. They think they can gain ground in that community too. It is about finding voters in those unique states as peter is talking about. Amy, one of the other headlines is harris is up by nine points when we ask who is the change candidate. Shes currently in the white house. Its extraordinary that shes made this argument. Whats behind that and what are your key takeaways . My key takeaways is that shes been able to change this from a race that was a referendum on Joe Biden to a race thats a referendum on Donald Trump and whats beyond the favorable number. When you look at questions of who do you think can serve as Commander In Chief . Who do you think will be capable and effective. She has not only been able to move to the positive column, but on the issue of competent and effective, shes seen she lets moved 23 points from where biden was. I mean, this was a big advantage for trump going into the election when biden was the nominee. So the ability, once again, to make this, as i said, d to make this race not so much about the biden administration but about trump himself, and, look, i think the senator said this as well, that where trump does have an advantage continues to be the economy, but even on the economy, that ninepoint advantage, not only is it much smaller than he had over biden, but its basically tied with where the Nbc Poll had this race in 2020 on the issue of the economy. It does look a lot like 2020 if you look at these numbers. Stephanie, one of the things thats so fascinating when you think about the issue like the economy, Vice President harris has been rolling out economic policies and shes not filling in every single blank for voters. Is this a strategy thats working or do you need to be out front and does she need to do more . Think the Harris Campaign in a very short amount of time has run an incredibly disciplined campaign and its working for them. They introduced her to voters and they focussed on her values and sprinkled in policy. At the end of the day Voters Vote on values. They want to know that this candidate cares about them, can feel their pain and has the vision for leadership and based on the numbers, so far that is resonating with voters. And so while Swing Voters still say they want more policy, do they really . And when you get into policy details, youre getting into the weeds and losing your topline messaging. So i think more of the same. Carlos, this is swirling around gubernatorial Candidate Mark Robinson. What say you . What do your sources say about how much concern there is among democratic circles . Kristen, i think the Word Discipline is really The One we should focus on here. We look at these numbers and the change is drastic, but is it really that surprising . I mean, Donald Trumps campaign has been surrounded by so many distractions, and this one in North Carolina is the most recent one. We heard senatorgram. We always hear surrogates on Tv Pleading with him to focus On The Issues, on the economy, on immigration. He has forfeited his lead On The Issues, and not to take away from Vice President harris. She has run a very disciplined campaign, but Donald Trump has done the opposite. This controversy in North Carolina they can still win North Carolina, that i might, but theyll have to spend limited resources there and that gives another advantage to harris. A reminder, as we talk about North Carolina this is one that Joe Biden won by 3 . About Mark Robinson, this wasnt just predictable. This was predicted. Talking to smart republicans in North Carolina just yesterday, they asked two questions right now, have we seen everything . Remember Madison Cawthorn a couple of years ago . This thing took not just days and weeks. This could marinate and we could be dealing with this for a while now and how will this impact Donald Trump. Republicans will vote for Donald Trump and democrats for Kamala Harris. There are 440,000 new unaffiliated voters in North Carolina since to 20. And one thing to keep an eye on that you may not think about North Carolina, there are more hbcu understood grads in the state of North Carolina than any other state in the country. Amy, what about that . What about what peter said about the unaffiliated voters who are up for grabs right now . You look at North Carolina with 74,000 votes and the difference between 2020 with the Biden Winning and biden losing. I dont know. Im always skeptical, but there is reverse coattails, in other words, that the bottom of the ticket impacts the top of the tuct. Where i think it becomes a factor, though, young voters, if you look at the data, they have not turned out at the rate that democrats would need them to be in order to really give them that advantage, and is this an issue thats going to pull them out . In other words, its not that this is the issue that theyre going to turn against trump while theyre already voting. Is seeing this one more reason for them to show up and vote and while theyre there they vote for a democrat. Ive been talking to republicans about Candidate Quality for about 15 years and nothing yet to be learned. Well come back and have a lot more with the panel and a lot more to chew on. But when we come back, the threat of political violence hangs over the 2024 race. Former Donald Trump is not the secret Service Protectee to be the target of multiple Assassination Attempts. Our meet the Press Minute is next. voltaren. For long lasting arthritis pain relief. announcer what if you could whiten your teeth by simply brushing your teeth . Now you can with smileactives, the Teeth Whitening breakthrough that safely gets your teeth white and keeps them white every day just by brushing your teeth. Christine i never thought that whitening my teeth could be so easy. 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Before tpurple mattressese, Exclusive Gel Flex Grid draws away heat, relieves pressure and instantly adapts. Sleep better. Live purple. Visit purple. Com or a store near you today Welcome Back. Former President Trump Welcome Back. Former President Trump survived a second apparent Assassination Attempt in just over two months. A shocking event for a nation all too familiar with repeated threats on the life of its leaders. President Gerald Ford also survived two attempts within weeks. In 1975 a member of the Charles Manson Family tried to assassinate ford in sacramento. 17 days later he faced another attempt in san francisco. William e. Simon joined Meet The Press two days after the attempt. He was the secretary of the treasury which at the time meant he oversaw the u. S. Secret service. New york times Editorial Yesterday said, quote, it is startling after Secret Service tightening in the wake of its procedures in the wake of the 1960s that a vociferous member of the Manson Family would wander so easily into the path of a strolling president. Whats your response to that comment . Do you have any plans for reviewing the Secret Service procedures . The Secret Service procedures are as adequate as any procedures can be in carrying out their duties of protecting the various people that they protect by law and they carry it out in a way that i think is as professional, if not more professional than any other agency in the world in carrying out these duties. When we come back, early voting is already underway, but are republicans looking to make some Lastminute Changes to Election Rules . Ask more with the panel next. H the t. T W Elco Welcome back. The panel is still here. Peter, you had a chance to speak exclusively with the First Lady this week. You talked about the transition of power. Lets play a little bit of that interview and then get your reaction on The Other Side. I think we have to come together. I think we have to vote as americans, you know. Thats a right that weve been given, and i think we have to take advantage of that, and then we have to have a peaceful transfer of power. What was your takeaway from what she told you . Not only was this the first time that weve had a chance to speak if the First Lady since her husband got out of this race after the decision. She said, i am at peace with that, and she acknowledged that as a president ial candidate and now he can support another candidate in some form and also spoke about political violence and was expressing gratitude to the Secret Service in the job they did. The one thing i will say in reporting with the little nugget from speaking to her team. They reminded me she is a homegrown girl from philadelphia and you will soon see her on the trail in her hometown for Kamala Harris. Thats a good piece of nugget. As were doing this reports on whats happening inside these states i just talked to Senator Lindsey Graham of nebraska lets talk about georgia where the State Election Board voted 32 to basically say that all votes that are machine counted have to be handcounted as well. What are the implications of this . Raffensperger said could create chaos. It is difficult to understand because it is different from one state to the next. By having georgia having to handcount ballots, it doubles down on that ant acquitted part, but it also creates opportunity to sow misinformation. We find those differences between the way states count votes and when they announce were used to sow doubt on the outcome of the Election And Whennage machineries were lied to by powerful people, they showed up on January 6th and engaged in acts of political violence, and i think we really have to brace ourselves in knowing that theres quite a number of lawsuits already filed around all elements of voting, and it feels like theres a Foundation Being laid for contesting the outcome of this election. Carlos, what do you make of it . Look, this is probably going to make the postelection messy again and messy comes with risk, but can we talk about what it does now to the race . It makes the race about the past. It makes Donald Trumps campaign about the 2020 election. This is why republicans didnt have a Red Wave in 2022 because 2022 was about 2020, and Donald Trump is making 2024 about 2020. So this is yet another example of how lack of discipline is costing Donald Trump and how the Focus Isnt On The Issues where he has a clear advantage. Well, and be careful of what you ask for. The more the conversation is about are they going to change the rules in the last minute, nebraska, theyre changing the rules in georgia. Does that encourage those who maybe werent interested in voting for Kamala Harris, but they really didnt want to see Donald Trump elected. Now they come out to vote. Any time Donald Trumps on the news, Yes T helps motivate his base, but boy does it put Rocket Fuel on The Other Side. Look at republicans in georgia, right . This certainly has an effect on them too. And he did this in the two senate races. Thats right. And the democrats ended up winning those senate seats in georgia. We should say theres a very delicate alliance right now between kemp and trump, and anything that could potentially be said in the wrong direction. Peter, lets talk about alaska, and you heard Lindsey Graham defend his trip here. He has every right to be there, and the optics of this, does it not essentially suggest that trump is feeling really nervous . This has been a Lastminute Change and lets also be clear that right now they dont have the votes that they need to do to make this change even though Donald Trump is directly engaging in this process in some form, but the big Picture Reminder here is that every electoral vote could matter this go around, right . So this is still going to be a tight race and the slim margins and that could make the difference. Thats a sign of the campaign thats been on defense and continues to be on defense. I dont know the last time that it felt as if the Trump Campaign were actually playing offense. This is what you do when you feel like well, we may not be winning and so thats another sign of a confident campaign. Stephanie, Lindsey Graham said the chances are 5050. As peter notes, they just dont have the votes right now. And at the same time, the democrats rah watching closely because that one electoral vote was important to Joe Bidens victory in 2020. It could be decisive, depending on how the chips fall. It could be decisive, if it gets thrown back to the house all of the permutations of what happens is the vote has to go to the house where its one state, one vote. So there is a lot about the way that our elections are structured and the way the elections are playing out this cycle that leads me to believe that it might be a really sporty few months after november. Carlos, just looking forward, given all of this and given what amy is saying about former President Trump effectively being on defense right now, what do you think the strategy is to get on offense . Is there one based on your conversations . Look, in some ways he should maybe emulate what Vice President harris has done. She has pivoted to the center. A true and tested strategy in american politics. Donald trump keeps pivoting to the past and keeps trying to max his base. Its powerful, and we cant underestimate it, and he can still win this, no question, and his base has fallen short. He has to grow from his base, and hes doing nothing to achieve that. Our poll yet again shows what is shaping up to be an historic gender gap, amy. We dont know who is going to turn out and today, who will show up and vote and who is the most motivate side an important question, but then you asked the question and i dont think youve seen it on your poll, but other polls asking voters think not surprisingly, they said they thought Donald Trump would win. Harris is seen as the more likely victor which tells you once again that the agenda in terms of who is controlling it has shifted appreciably to harris benefit. The number of new registrations that have registered to vote and thats bringing new people into the political process, which is healthy, and most of those people came that bump came on the democratic heels. Guys, great conversation. And one year of Meet The Press. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you for being here this sunday and being apart of it. Appreciate it. Thank you. That is all for today. Thank you for watching and we will be back next week because if its sunday, its Meet The Press. This morning escalating violence across the Middle East as Hezbollah And Israel ramp up the attacks. Well have the