in history which is really beautiful, i think. >> it is. what a great place to be. the new book is titled "the last folk hero: the life and myth of bo jackson." author jeff pearlman has done it again. this is such a great book. we appreciate your time this morning. joe, again, the scouts in tuscaloosa just didn't like what they saw in this kid -- >> come on! >> -- bo jackson. >> and they told him, you can't play for a couple years. i tell you what, maybe we can slot you in on defense. >> that stings. >> i put this right up with the record executive who told brian epstein of the beatles, hey, bands with guitars are on the way out. >> yeah, they didn't like the 4.1 on pads and grass. just didn't. well, that does it for us this morning. while joe mourns the loss of bo jackson, we'll see you back here

tomorrow morning. jose diaz-balart picks up live coverage right now. good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. 13 days before the midterms. candidates across the country face-off on the debate stage, including in pennsylvania where senate candidates john fetterman and mehmet oz sparred on a host of issues. in fetterman's first debate since suffering a stroke. on capitol hill, a key member of donald trump's inner circle testifies. plus, the president of the united states warning the leader of russia as the kremlin is insisting ukraine is planning to use a dirty bomb. and we're keeping an eye on the white house as the president is set to speak later this hour about what the white house calls new actions to provide families with more breathing room.

and we begin with our top story. in 13 days voters will head to the polls for the pivotal midterm elections. candidates made high-stake pitches in four intense debates last night. pennsylvania, new york, michigan, and colorado. the most closely watched taking place between the two candidates vying for pennsylvania's open senate seat, john fetterman and mehmet oz. fetterman taking the stage five months after suffering a stroke and using closed captioning. joining us now is nbc news correspondent dasha burns live from harrisburg. also with us is washington correspondent yamiche alcindor. he's the moderator of "washington week" and political reporter for "the philadelphia inquirer" and phillip baker. dasha, fetterman needed to convince voters that his health

is not going to be an issue if elected. what's the consensus on that? >> well, look, jose, there's a lot to take in after last high-. before the debate, the fetterman campaign did put out a memo sort of managing expectations saying this isn't his format and reminding folks that he is still recovering from a stroke that he still has those lingering auditory processing and communications issues and right out of the gate, fetterman did address it calling it the elephant in the room. he said i've had a stroke and he might mush some words together, stumble a bit. and he did stumble throughout that 60-minute debate with his opponent, dr. mehmet oz. the campaign did come into the spin room after the debate, said they were thrilled with the candidate's performance, said that he won, quote, countless exchanges against oz. stepping back and looking at the aftermath and the reaction to the debate, that doesn't seem to be the consensus. it does seem that there is some concern on the part of both

democrats and republicans about fetterman's health. but i'll say, he has -- both on the campaign trail and last night in the debate, tried to use the stroke as a way to sort of relate to voters in pennsylvania. on the trail he's asked people who's had a major health scare in their life? who has had a family member with a major health issue. you're trying to use that to sort of make himself more relatable. he was asked again about his health records. he said once again that he believes that the letter from his doctor and the amount of time he has spent out in front of thousands of voters, he feels that is transparency enough for folks, jose. >> and so he will not be -- >> as a physician, i've been in the room when there's some difficult conversations happening. i don't want the federal government involved with that at all. i want women, doctors, local, political leaders leading the democracy that's allowed our

nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves. >> roe v. wade for me should be the law. and my campaign would fight for roe v. wade and if given the opportunity to codify it into law. >> and that was later in the debate when they were talking about the situation, the issue of abortion and the supreme court's summer decision to overturn roe v. wade. there you saw a difference there. and, dasha, i believe is back with us. oz's only opportunity to debate fetterman. what were the big issues that he underlined? >> reporter: well, you played one of them there. he was challenged on his position on abortion, whether or not he would vote yes on the lindsey graham bill, the federal abortion ban proposed. he once again dodged that question saying he would give a bigger answer, that he doesn't

believe the federal government should be involved, it should be left of the states. but that moment you played there, jose, is going to be in a lot of democratic ads where he talks about the decision being between a woman, her doctor and local political leaders. that has been picked up on already. we're going to see that played over and over again. already getting a lot of criticism from democrats and from the fetterman campaign. this was the first chance that a lot of pennsylvania voters got to see oz in his sort of political capacity, a lot of people have seen him on tv as a celebrity doctor. not a lot of people have seen him in sort of this capacity. so it will be interesting to see how that continues to play over the coming weeks. he was challenged, also, jose, on some of his -- some of the questionable products that were on his show. he pushed back saying, it's television, just like this debate is, and that -- he had advertising on his show, but he was never paid by those companies, jose.

>> and so, peter, tell me how you saw the debate and what were some of the points that you felt were probably more significant? >> well, i think there's a lot of grim faces right now among democrats after that debate. this is a really key race if they hope to hold on to the senate which, of course, is divided at 50/50 right now. they want to pick up that pennsylvania seat. fetterman's performance didn't inspire a great deal of confidence among democrats and the question becomes whether people relate to fetterman as a human being because people have seen issues in their own families and lives and don't take his challenges in recovering from a stroke as a disqualifier, as opposed to the issues that have been dogging mehmet oz throughout this campaign, including his closeness with donald trump. that had been one of the key features of this race until the health issue became so dominant here. and i think that democrats are worried that this is a seat that

possibly could slip away. >> and so, oz and fetterman addressed their views on fracking. and fetterman had to talk about what apparently was a change between 2018 and 2014 when he first said he opposed fracking and then he said he supported it. here's part of what that question looked like. >> it's an old technology to be safe. it's a lifeline for this commonwealth to be able to build wealth, similar to what they've been able to achieve in other states. i strongly support fracking, drilling, the piping of that natural gas. >> i always believe that independence with our energy is critical, we can't be held, you know, ransom to somebody like russia. i always believed that energy independence is critical and i have always believed that and i support fracking. never taken any money from the industry, but i support how

critical it is that we produce our own energy and create energy independence. >> so, julia, how big of an issue is fracking at that state? >> fracking is a big issue in pennsylvania and i think that's why you're seeing both of those candidates who disagree on so much trying to drive home that they are -- they're pro-fracking. i think fetterman's answer there, his -- his challenge in explaining how his position has shifted is going to be the clip that republicans play over and over again, similar to how we're seeing democrats really highlight oz's comments on abortion. so it's -- it will be interesting to see how both of those things resonate, how voters react because they think that's the real -- in here is did undecided voters watch? will they see some of these

moments in other forms and what does that mean in a really narrowly divided state. >> yeah, and it's certainly a close race. yamiche, last night was a fire by debate between gretchen whitmer and tudor dixon. what stood out to you most? >> the michigan governor, gretchen whitmer, she went face to face with tudor dixon and they had a number of passionate debates, contentious exchanges, as well as back and forth about policy. if you were a voter who was watching this, you came away with a good understanding of how these two women stand on a number of issues, including abortion and a chief issue in michigan because they have a referendum that would enshrine abortion rights into the constitution but they faced off on issues like guns and on covid and the -- the overarching theme of this was honesty. you had gretchen whitmer saying that tudor dixon is an election

denier and someone who is a conspiracy theorist and you had tudor dixon saying that the governor is being dishonest about her record. take a listen to some of their exchanges. >> my opponent has shown tonight that she's more interested in dividing us, halting our progress, and dragging us backwards. when she's not scripted and on stage, she stokes violence, spreads conspiracy theories, even attacks working women and teachers. >> gretchen whitmer doesn't want to be defined by her carelessness, her dishonesty or her hypocrisy during that time. even if we didn't look at that, we would look at her governorship as a disappoint, her radical policies have crushed the state. >> that really is a good window into how the night went for these two women. in some ways it reminds me of the fetterman/oz debate. both of them were saying they

were being dishonest, that their opponent was not being truthful with the voters of pennsylvania. and you have that same dynamic in michigan and there's an overarching theme of trump. gretchen whitmer was targeted by president trump on multiple occasions. she's someone who had people who were trying to kidnap her, get arrested dealing with this sort of -- the actions and arguments that she's had to deal with. i sat down with her and she talked about the fact that as she was trying to save lives in the state of michigan, she was dealing with debt threats. and you have tudor dixon running on the side of maga policies here's with her talking about inflation, talking about protecting -- talking about being on a opponent of abortion rights. it was an interesting debate. not quite as fiery as the one in pennsylvania, but i think this one was about policy and that to me was very interesting given what we've seen over the midterms, jose. >> and i mean policy issues are kind of like important, right? peter, a key debate also

unfolded in new york between kathy hochul and lee zeldin. they exchanged jabs on crime and safety. how much of a role will this play on election day? >> crime obviously is an issue that's playing right now for republicans. they're stressing it not just in new york, but many states and districts across the country. they feel like they have some traction on that. the fact that we're talking about new york being a competitive race is rather telling. democrats are on defense in a lot of places where they typically are strong, including new york. this governor's race normally would not be as close as this with a candidate like lee zeldin who is associated with the conservative right and trump. the fact that he's running as close as he is is seen as many of a function of the crime issue. you're seeing democrats on defense in a lot of states like rhode island who hasn't sent a republican to the house of representatives in 30 years.

there's competitive races going on there. there's a moment right now where the democrats are feeling nervous about where things are going, do they have enough time in this final 13 days to hold on to offices like the new york governor's race or are they facing the historic sweep that we have seen in previous midterms? >> yeah, and -- peter, later this hour, president biden is expected to discuss his plans to give families breathing room. is there breathing room in the next 13 days to tackle things like inflation. >> you're not going to make a difference in inflation in 13 days. those views among the voters are set by now. also, of course, as you just showed with the -- with the graphic, a lot of people have voted. with early voting and mail-in voting, a certain part of the

electorate is no longer available. the president of the united states is trying to convince americans that he has their back when it comes to these economic issues. that's a problem. the turnout at this point as measured by the early voting does appear to be particularly strong. that's the one glimmer of hope for democrats right now. the larger the electorate is, they have done better. they're hoping there's a tide of interest in this election that will lift them beyond where the typical polling models are showing right now and that's what you're seeing in terms of president biden and other democrats trying to galvanize the -- trying to get people out to -- because if they get out the vote that they know is out there, they should win a lot of these races. the question is whether people turn out. >> 13 days. i thank you all for being with us this morning. stay with us for continuing coverage of the criminal races. andrea mitchell is live in pittsburgh, pennsylvania, today for a special two-hour show.

it all begins at 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific right after this hour. . hope hicks, one of president trump's closest confidants while he was in office was back on capitol hill. we'll explain why next. plus, new remarks from supreme court justice samuel alito. what he says put justices' lives in danger. and we're keeping our eye on the white house where president biden is expected to announce new actions to give families more breathing room. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. what will you do? ♪ what will you change? ♪ will you make something better? ♪ will you create something entirely new? ♪ our dell technologies advisors provide you with the tools and expertise you need to do incredible things. because we believe there's an innovator in all of us.

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19 past the hour. now to capitol hill and the latest on the house january 6th committee's investigation. a source familiar with the matter tells nbc news, hope hicks, a key member of donald trump's inner circle, sat down with an interview with the committee yesterday. the committee declined to comment or provide details. hicks did not immediately respond to a request for comment. this comes as two people briefed on the matter tell the "new york times" that federal prosecutors investigating trump's handling of classified information have ratcheted up their pressure on key witnesses in hopes of getting their testimony. with us now to talk about this, nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles and joyce vance, former u.s. attorney. she's also an msnbc legal analyst. ryan, just how important is hope

hicks to the committee's investigation? >> reporter: well, jose, judging by the timing of this deposition, the fact that we're just a couple of weeks away from the midterm elections and that this committee is likely not going to exist past the new year and they're already in the process of drafting their final report, it doesn't seem that hope hicks is necessarily an important part of this investigation. but that doesn't necessarily mean that she couldn't provide the committee with important information as they piece together exactly what led to and who is responsible for the events of january 6th. she is, of course, one of donald trump's closest and most loyal advisers and she was in and around the white house and the former president during that crucial period of time between the 2020 election and the lead-up to the january 6th riots, particularly when president trump was peddling all of these false claims about the election results. the committee members were probably very skeptical of just how forthcoming hope hicks would

be to them given the fact that she is been before investigators before and refused to answer many specific questions of her. regardless, this shows how thorough the committee is being. they want to talk to every single person they can directly connected to these events during this period of time. hope hicks is among them. at the very least, they wanted to check that box. we'll have to see whether or not she was productive at all as part of that conversation. >> indeed. joyce, if you were a lawyer for the committee, what would you want to hear from hope hicks? >> well, i think that assessment of hicks' value is accurate. what you would like to get from her -- she's under oath for this formal interview with the committee -- is more detail about her conversations with the former president. she is on record and there's reporting in at least four books that we've all read that suggests that she told trump point-blank that he had lost the

election. and on at least one of those occasions when she told him to tend his legacy, he said he wasn't interested in his legacy. he wanted to hang on to the presidency. so what you really want to hear from her is any suggestion that he was aware that he had lost, but that he was continuing to fight using the tactic that is we're all familiar with involving the big lie. whether hicks who is notoriously close to the former president would reveal those sorts of details i think is an open question. maybe the committee got lucky here. but we don't know for certain that she's a valuable witness. >> joyce, what does it tell us that prosecutors are reportedly ratcheting up pressure on key witnesses in the documents investigation? >> yeah, this is the more interesting angle of witness testimony this week, i suspect, because what's going on at mar-a-lago suggests that doj now has one target in that investigation clearly in its sights and that's donald trump.

for instance, this effort to force cash patel to testify, there's no reason you need patel's testimony for any target other than trump. when you seek use immunity for a witness in exchange for a grant of immunity against the use of that testimony to prosecute them down the road, you've got to obtain approval at very high levels inside of the department. it's something that's not done routinely. so i think this suggests that doj believes that patel, if they can get him to testify, will be an important witness. of course, he's closely aligned with trump. the question is, whether he's willing to commit perjury in order to protect the former president. >> give us an update on patel's importance and closeness to the former president. >> it's important to remember that patel, a former doj

prosecutor, went to trump's staff on the national security side of the house and when trump appointed a new secretary of defense after he lost the election, he sent patel over as the chief of staff for that secretary of defense. there's still a lot of unanswered questions about what happened there. trump tried to appoint patel to a variety of law enforcement jobs, including deputy director of the fbi. bill barr said that would happen over his dead body. so this is the loyalist among loyalists, the man who has publicly said that he's seen trump declassify documents. what he'll say under oath one suspects could be an entirely different matter. >> joyce vance and ryan nobles, thank you very much for being with us this morning. also this morning, new comments from supreme court justice samuel alito on the leaked draft on roe v. wade at an event for the heritage foundation last night in washington. alito said not only was the leak a betrayal, but it could have gotten one of the justices

killed. >> the leak also made those of us who were thought to be in the majority in support of overruling roe targets for assassination. it gave people a rational reason to think they could prevent that from happening by killing one of us. >> alito also said the leak changed the atmosphere at the court for the reminder of the last term. but added he's ready for things to get back to normal this term. up next, thousands of migrants remain stranded outside the u.s. border. we'll talk with someone helping migrants in tijuana next. we're moments away from president biden speaking on what the white house calls new actions to provide families with more breathing room. we'll take you there live as soon as it begins. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." watching diaz-balart reports. o severe vi.

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30 past the hour. police investigators are learning more about the 19-year-old gunman who killed two people at a st. louis high school on monday. the gunman was armed with an

ar-15 style rifle and over 600 rounds of ammunition. in a notebook found in his car, he wrote, quote, i've been an isolated loner my entire life. this was the perfect storm for a mass shooter. we're learning more about the victims, teacher gene is being hailed a hero. the shooting would have been much worse had officers not responded as quickly as they did. and texas state troopers say they stopped an attempt to smuggle more than 60 people crammed into a dump truck. officials stopped the truck on a texas interstate yesterday about an hour and a half on its way to san antonio. the driver was turned over to border patrol. tens of thousands of mostly

venezuelans are stranded on the mexican side of the border after a sudden shift of u.s. policy. they're stuck because the biden administration is once again using the trump era covid public health rule title 42 and has expelled more than 3,000 people from the u.s. venezuelans. the biden administration is allowing only 24,000 venezuelans to fly in if they can prove they have u.s. sponsors. one venezuelan man stuck at the border in the city of tijuana told the press he feels tricked. >> he says that they don't have food to eat, their clothes were thrown away.

they thought they were going to be allowed to the u.s. to request asylum because president biden said he was going to let them do that. joining us from tijuana, erika pinheiro, executive director of al otro lado which provides legal orientation to people seeking asylum in the u.s. thank you for being with us this morning. after facing so much to get right to the border, what's the reality for the venezuelans there in tijuana and other places? >> so we've had about 1,000 venezuelans expelled to tijuana and the shelters were already full when they got here. we've seen people sleeping on the streets. we've seen individuals just crammed into overcrowded shelters and we've actually seen at least 100 venezuelans detained by mexican immigration forces. they have been given very little information about what their next steps could be and the mexican government is actively

transporting venezuelan migrant away from the border towards mexico city, again, without giving them any information about their options. >> what's the situation like for them in tijuana? you described a little bit about the shelters, what are they facing in tijuana and those that are being shipped to other parts of mexico. >> well, just to give you a sense of how people are arriving in tijuana, i spoke with several migrants who are among the first to be expelled to tijuana. they were expelled in prison clothes, like the gentleman who you just showed said, all their belongings were thrown away. we actually spoke with several who had been separated from family members. so one family member was allowed to stay in the united states and they were sent back to mexico. we keep seeing those stories over and over again. we had to buy shoes for a few people because they were left in mexico without shoes.

i think the hardest part is they were told that they would be allowed into the united states by border patrol agents moments before they were put on a bus to mexico. they are arriving really with no idea on what to do for their next steps. now, the border remains closed due to the trump era title 42 covid restriction policy. however, there are a few humanitarian exceptions being made by made by customs and border protection. right now there's a months long wait for the thousands of migrants who are already waiting in tijuana to access that exemptions process. venezuelans are being forced to either go back to mexico city and either try to get to the program or apply for asylum in mexico or wait for an uncertain future here in tijuana. >> thank you so much for being with us and thank you for what you do on a daily basis.

appreciate your time. up next, president biden's warning to russia as it doubles down on its dirty bomb accusations against ukraine. we're live on the ground in kyiv next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." next you' wreatching "jose diaz-balart reports. ss used to be the death of me. but with upwork... with upwork the hiring process is fast and flexible. behold... all that talent! ♪ this is how we work now ♪ breakthrough heartburn...

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mcbradley, also with us this morning, u.s. ambassador william taylor, a former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. what's the latest in kyiv today? the reaction to russia conducting these drills? >> reporter: well, there hasn't been much in the way of reaction to the drills because the drills are annual drills. they warned the united states they were going to be doing the drills. this was something that was expected. but, you know, taken together with that news of that dirty bomb or the projecting that moscow that be doing about the dirty bomb, that raises a lot of worries here. we came from a briefing with the defense minister here and he said -- actually, a number of officials have been saying that they don't believe that russia is actually going to be using some sort of nuclear weapon in the near future. it would take a lot to get them to do that. and that's because they understand the consequences and,

in fact, the defense minister told all of the press that he was satisfied with the way in which western governments had been putting putin and moscow on notice about using a nuclear weapon. but one of the more startling things we just heard is vladimir putin also parroted that pretty blatant falsehood that ukraine was going to be using a dirty bomb. and, you know, this was an evidence-free claim and one that we keep hearing from moscow from the kremlin even to the point that they're now planning on bringing it up to the united states security council. the ukrainians have invited the nuclear watchdog in to bring their inspectors to take a look at some of the nuclear facilities that the russians had specifically mentioned in their claim about this dirty bomb. so it seems as though the ukrainians are hoping to try to staunch any suspicion in the community that russia's claim

could, in fact, be true. but there's some worry among people here that moscow could decide to take that crazy step and use a nuclear weapon. the first time ever in combat since world war ii. jose? >> and, matt, i'm struck by the fact that there's something that's missing behind you, any lights. is the -- how is the situation with power? >> well, you know, there is some lights throughout the country, but it's very dark here, especially at night. this is a persistent problem that's been going on since october 10th when the russians bombarded electricity facilities throughout the country. and we've been speaking with families, speaking with energy leads here and they were saying that they're struggling to keep up. some 30% -- nearly 30% of their electricity capacity is now down. 1.5 million people throughout the country with limited power. that's a major problem. it seems to have halted for the

moment but it goes to show with that dirty bomb talk, a lot of folks here saying that targeting electricity infrastructure and taxing civilians like this, talking about a dirty bomb, all of this goes to show how desperate russia is considering their recent retreats on the battlefield. jose? >> matt mcbradley, thank you so much. ambassador, let's talk about that. it seems like there are a number of indications that russia is not doing well in this -- in this invasion of ukraine. the talk of dirty bomb, how concerned are you of that? >> jose, there are a lot of indications as you just indicated of putin's desperation. this is one of them. great reporting there. the russians are losing on the battlefield. they lost in the north. they are likely to lose again in the south around kherson and that's a big problem for mr. putin. he's got to somehow change the

subject. he's got to move away from the continued losses that he's experiencing on the battlefield. he's making these threats about nuclear weapons. all this talk about a dirty bomb. ukrainians are doing the right thing. they say, come take a look. send the international inspectors in. take a look as matt just reported. there's no indication, none, that the ukrainians are doing this. there may be -- there's some reports coming from zaporizhzhia, the nuclear power plant, that the russians occupy, there's some reports that they, the russians are going after some of the spent nuclear fuel and that could be a big problem. >> do you see that putin may be concerned about his future if things continue the way they are going? i mean, does he fear waking up one day in 1985? >> he must be concerned about that. he's got these military bloggers who are yelling at him, why

aren't you harder? why aren't you destroying more of ukraine? why aren't you attacking more civilians? he's got people who command military forces not in the military. not in the defense ministry. he's got people who have the -- he's got people like the head of the chechens who is saying that he should be tougher. he's got problems on his right. when he tried to do this mobilization, this partial mobilization he calls it, the russians have left. 700,000, maybe more russians, have fled the country. that's an indication that the russian people are not supporting this war. >> and it was the 25th of december, 1989, when he met his fate. ambassador william taylor, always a pleasure to see you. we're going to talk to a

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states and washington, d.c., and we're heading into the winter which could spread the virus even though. president biden yet got the latest covid booster. only about 8% of those eligible have done the same according to the cdc. low booster rates coming at a bad time as more subvariants take aim overseas and respiratory illnesses continue to fill pediatric wards across the u.s. joining us now dr. vin gupta. doctor, it's always a pleasure to see you. does this new booster protect us from the covid subvariants that are around? >> good morning, jose. it does. the data we have suggests it does. but it's important for everybody to set their expectations a little differently from when we started back in january '21 with these vaccines. these booster shots likely annual now for the foreseeable future will protect you for a --

give you strong protection against the hospital for a short window. four to six months, just like the flu shot. that's the strategy here. omicron has really changed what our expectations should be for these vaccines. again, it's going to be targeted, get the vaccine, these booster shots, mid-october, november, time frame to give you protection for the cold and flu season. >> after that, are you seeing that just like the flu they'll be different subvariant protection vaccines for the rest of, you know, the foreseeable future. >> just like we update the flu shot every year based on what we're seeing in australia, earlier in their flu season, there's going to be updates to these booster shots every year. it's not going to be targeted to give everybody strong protection for 12 months. it's going to be focused on the winter months when we're most worried, especially those who are high risk. and, doctor, i want to talk

to you about the european countries experiencing an uptick in hospitalizations and deaths with new subvariants. what are you looking out for? >> well, you know, what we're seeing, jose, germany is seeing a spike and an increase in hospitalizations. because so many of us test at home when we do test, the only metric here to guide this pandemic is hospital admissions. trending hospital admissions in the united states and the states that we've seen, some states in the northeast that have seen a rise in cases, really what really matters here, especially over the last 12 months and will continue to matter is hospitalization data that's key. and it's been a big issue, you can get admitted with covid, it can be a secondary diagnosis or it can be admitted as a result of the it and end up in an icu with in a pneumonia. we have to distinguish between the two here. we have real-time data on the stress it could be causing on

the winter months. >> and the cdc released a study that one in five with covid may be developing long covid. what kinds of things is long covid affecting? >> it can -- it impacts your executive function, your brain function, causes brain fog, headache, fatigue. it can cause pulmonary issues. people who run three to 5 miles in a given day, after experiencing these symptoms can barely get out of bed and walk. it requires a broad interdisciplinary team of physicians to support these patients. we're trying to figure out with the help of the nih, are there therapies that can support these individuals? it's an epidemic, for sure, but there's more to learn certainly in the months and years ahead. >> always a pleasure to see you. thank you so much for being with us this morning. meanwhile, clorox is

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57 past the hour. wisconsin's tight gubernatorial race is getting a boost from some high-profile names today. senator elizabeth warren will attend a rally in support of the incumbent governor with glenn youngkin supporting tim michels. it's not just big names trying to get wisconsin voters to the poll, many outside groups are hyper targeting voters, especially those who have never voted before. joining us now is shaquille brewster. good morning. what are voters being targeted -- who are they looking at? >> reporter: jose, i spent time with a group of hunters, it's called hunt the vote, and their idea is they want hunters to come out to the polls and they have data to back it up. 700,000 registered hunters in

the state of wisconsin, they say their data shows a vast majority of them do not show up to the polls in a state that's regularly has a tight margin in those statewide elections. i want you to listen to a conversation with one of hunters. >> i never voted. and the reason i never voted was because i didn't think my vote mattered. the more i look at it, if we can all come together and not just be one vote, but a mass of votes, we can be heard and we can change political elections and we can change it to make the conservation of the outdoors better for all of us. >> reporter: the group is not just focused here in wisconsin, but they say they focus their efforts on states like michigan, georgia, pennsylvania, if they sound familiar, they're also battleground states. across those states, across the country, you have about 15 million registered hunters that they're targeting and trying to show up and get out to the

polls. jose? >> shaquille brewster, i thank you so much. and that wrapping up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can always reach me on twitter and instagram at jdbalart. and please follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on a special two-hour edition of "andrea mitchell reports," live in pittsburgh in what could be the senate race that decides the balance of power in washington. democratic candidate john fetterman held his only debate with trump-backed celebrity tv doctor mehmet oz and gave a faltering performance without releasing his medical records after a stroke five months ago. >> again, my