>> thank you so very much. appreciate it. that wraps up the hour for me. you can reach me on social media. you can watch clips from our show at youtube. thank you for the privilege of your time. peter alexander in for andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. thank you. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," new outrage and demands for a cease-fire as israel mourns the death of six hostages killed by hamas, including israeli american hersh goldberg-polin. his funeral in jerusalem. >> hersh, one last thing i need you to do for us. now i need you to help us stay strong. i need you to help us survive. >> president biden preparing a take it or leave it deal as soon

as this week. our latest reporting is ahead. new polls show a changed presidential race, especially on some critical issues as vice president kamala harris campaigns with president biden in pennsylvania. donald trump is facing new scrutiny for his comments to fox news that he had, quote, every right to interfere with the 2020 election. today, a new russian missile strike in ukraine hits a military academy near a hospital. dozens are dead. nbc news speaks with president zelenskyy about what comes next. ♪♪ good day. i'm peter alexander in washington in for my colleague andrea mitchell. we hope you had a good labor day weekend. today benjamin netanyahu is defiant, vowing revenge after six hostages executed by hamas days ago were found in southern gaza over the weekend by israeli

forces. the discovery and the heartbreak sparked some of the biggest protests since the start of the war. the largest union joining the protests along with demands for a cease-fire and hostage deal. among the six murdered hostages, the american israeli hersh goldberg-polin who was kidnapped. he was 23. his parents who have been advocates said their final good-byes at his funeral in jerusalem yesterday. >> hersh, we failed you. we all failed you. maybe, just maybe your death is the stone, the fuel that will bring home the remaining 101 hostages. >> for 23 years, i was privileged to have the most stunning honor to be hersh's mama. i will take it and say thank

you. i just wish it had been for longer. >> he survived for nearly 11 months in captivity. he was murdered in a tunnel underground. president biden was at his most blunt when he asked whether netanyahu's efforts were sufficient. >> mr. president, do you think it's time for prime minister netanyahu to do more on this issue? do you think he is doing enough? >> no. >> israeli authorities believe that more than 60 living hostages and the remains of more than 30 others are in gaza right now. the parents of another hostage joined me yesterday demanding a resolution now. here is part of our conversation. >> it has been time for action for a long time now. we are seeing the results of inactivity. we don't want verbal

commitments. we need to see them coming out. we need to see this war stop. >> joining me now, matt bradley there in tel aviv and monica alba. matt, let me get to you. is there any indication at this time after the death of the six hostages that the massive protests might change the dynamics on the ground there? the calculation by prime minister netanyahu. >> reporter: peter, it's a great question. it's one that a lot of the people turning out to the protests -- hundreds of thousands -- are all asking. are their loud voices being heard in the halls of power? the answer is yes, they have been taking notice. we heard from benjamin netanyahu 48 hours after the first protest last night. he made it clear, he is not going to be changing his position. he said he was expressing his regret to the families of the hostages who had been murdered. he asked for their forgiveness. in the next beat, he turned around and started to lecture

the israeli public about why he was sticking to his main goal, one that has been a barrier to the hostage negotiations just over the past several weeks not since the last successful negotiation in november, which is his demand that israeli troops need to stay in the philadelphia corridor. this is just another word for the border between the gaza strip and egypt's sinai peninsula. he said weapons run in tunnels underneath the philadelphia corridor. that's what has been fuelling the conflict for years now. he pushed backed forcefully against the notion it was a knew demand and said he had been making these demands for years, even under previous premierships when he wasn't in power. the fact is that will not placate people out two nights ago and the fewer but still substantial crowds out last night. the question is, are these -- is this cause going to attract the same huge numbers that it did two nights ago and last night? that's unclear right now.

we are just seeing in these early hours these protests getting started. what is clear and what netanyahu made very clear last night is that he is going to be budging on his position, despite the fact hamas has stated that they have now had a new policy where any time the military, idf is baring down on hostages in hamas custody, that commanders have the order to shoot and murder these hostages. this was something that they sort of implied and kind of also really stated as explicitly as they could that they were going to be sending hostages home in body bags if netanyahu and his military continue their incursion into the gaza strip. that's a game changer. it's something that could resonance. netanyahu has stuck to only a military solution will bring back the hostages. that's going to fall on deaf ears on the streets of tel aviv

and elsewhere. >> monica, i spoke to parents yesterday of a hostage. they had spoken to jake sullivan alongside other hostage families. it's hard to articulate the crushing pain they are experiencing right now with their son, roughly the same age as hersh, still being held in captivity in gaza by hamas right now. they have had no proof of life for the entirety of the time, since october 7th when he was taken. there is new reporting, as you know, on the potential take it or leave it deal that the president may offer. what do we know? >> reporter: what's notable is it was jake sullivan who in that virtual call with these hostage families communicated this as a potential option, as one path that the u.s. could take, which would be to put together a final take it or leave it type deal and package to the parties, to israel and hamas, via the negotiators in egypt and qatar

and say, this is the final opportunity for the u.s. to lead and be a key partner in the negotiations. both sides were to reject that, hypothetically, that would mean the end of american-led negotiations. is the u.s. prepared to walk away from that position? is that something they would really do? is this more of a pressure tactic? that's a key question that we all have right now. it's something that clearly has been going on, is a conversation behind the scenes. so far, nothing else has really worked. even when there has been incremental progress, or have been bridging proposal conversations where it seems like they are inching toward the goal line, but then there's some obstacle, still outstanding issues like the egypt-gaza border that israel and hamas have not agreed to. that's what has led to this conversation. i am told that president biden in the situation room yesterday with vice president harris and their top national security officials, they discussed this idea of what could this updated

final offer look like? when should we present it? how much time would we give them? they need to figure all of that out. then more complicated on top of that is this relationship currently with prime minister netanyahu. yesterday, when the president was speaking to us on the south lawn, he talked about how he is not negotiating directly with the prime minister of israel. he is negotiating with other parties as well. their relationship, no doubt, has been incredibly tense and thorny. until that is the next step in terms of a conversation they may have, there's an open question about what could finally move this needle. again, it has been completely elusive up until this point despite the tragic deaths of the hostages. >> of course, president biden has the potential to be a legacy defining issue to find a resolution as soon as possible. thanks to both of you. earlier, anna spoke with a former hostage who was released by hamas after 51 days.

she held back tears as she spoke about her 64-year-old husband keith. he is still being held hostage by hamas. >> i want everybody to try to imagine what it's like, thrown under the ground 40 meters where you can hardly breathe, lying on a very dirty mattress with no water in the toilet, hardly any food and just thinking, when are you going to be dead. i want everybody to wake up. the whole world. it should stop, the conditions are not like a simple jail. they are in hell. threatened in such a brutal way. it's just -- the most unhuman thing for us humans to know what they're going through and to just leave them there. >> the words of someone who knows what they are going through. joining us now is richard haas.

i appreciate you being here. prime minister netanyahu is digging in, publicly. do you see any indication that this mounting pressure, these protests, perhaps from the u.s. and arab negotiating partners, will force a change in netanyahu's position? >> short answer is no, peter. the prime minister has his own motives for not agreeing to a cease-fire. i could understand it if i thought you could eliminate hamas. but you can't. essentially, he is doing nothing to get the hostages back in pursuit of military goals that simply cannot be accomplished. the short answer to your question, there's no reason for optimism no matter how hard the united states pushes. hamas doesn't want a deal. this israeli government doesn't want a deal. >> the uk, as you have seen, they are pausing some of their arm sales to israel. how could that affect other countries right now?

should the u.s. consider something similar? >> i think it's a misguided decision, sorry to say. it's one thing to pause arm sales when israel is using arms in ways that you believe are inconsistent with how -- with humanitarian considerations, the laws of war. to pause them because israel won't agree to a cease-fire deal seems to me wrong. it's within the purview of the israeli government to make this choice. i think it's the wrong choice. probably half the israeli population thinks it's the wrong choice. the white house thinks it's the wrong choice. that's their prerogative. they have to decide their priorities. arms shipments should only be influenced if the israelis are using arms in gaza or anywhere else that we believe are inconsistent with the terms they are being provided. >> there's so many competing forces. how does the u.s. election play into this? >> from israel's point of view, it gives them more leeway.

you have only got two more months before the election. >> wait it out? >> it gives israel a lot of flexibility. it limits the influence of the administration here, because they are clearly lame ducks. >> let me ask -- i want to switch gears to another headline we have been watching. the two american marines who were assaulted in turkey. this happened on video in daylight. it happened yesterday. these were members of a nationalist mob chanting, yankee, go home. here is a short clip. >> you can see the moment where one american had a bag over his head. another being held there against his will shouting help. no one was injured, according to the navy and service members later returned to their ship. these attackers were members of

the turkish youth union. affiliated with the patriotic party. for those who don't know what that is, it's a nationalist political party. what does this tell us about the broader anti-american sentiment that may exist around the world? >> certainly, in turkey -- turkey has long been an ally, but i wouldn't call them a partner. it's a test to this government, which often is anti-american. let's see what they do with these people, if they let them walk, that sends a signal. when people say, yankee, go home, my instincts are, take them up on it. if they are not going to create an environment where americans who are there fulfilling our nato obligation are not looked after, let's the turks stew in their own juices. >> thank you for joining us. president biden joins vice president harris for their first joint campaign event since exiting the race. can the new democratic ticket

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visit purple.com or a store near you. from commander in chief to chief commander joe biden is taking on a new role. for the first time since stepping aside, the president joined kamala harris on the trail in pittsburgh yesterday,

side by side, telling a room full of union workers that he trusts her and they should, too. >> she has a backbone like a ramrod. [ cheers and applause ] she has the moral compass of a saint. this woman knows what she's doing. i promise you, if you elect kamala harris as president, it will be the best decision you will have ever made. [ cheers and applause ] >> the final stretch before election day has begun. in a week, harris and donald trump will be facing off for the first and perhaps the only time on a debate stage. joining me now is washington correspondent yamiche alcindor and garrett haake and ashley parker. nice to have a good group together on this topic. yamiche, talk about the vice president. it has been four years since she was last on a debate stage. trump and biden got a chance do this a few months ago. didn't go so well for the

president. went better for the former president. how is vice president harris preparing? >> she's squeezing in all the debate prep she can in between the campaign events. she's looking at this with main goals in mind. she wants to remain calm but needle donald trump. she wants to get under his skin. what i have been told by sources is expose the true donald trump, which is him unhinged, screaming at her, maybe being -- >> as they say, the full donald. >> yes. a number of sources have told me he mumbles, gets angry. the idea that donald trump did well in the last debate isn't a real thing. they think that the last debate, while president biden struggled there, that also donald trump was exposed as having his own deep flaws. she wants to make sure that people come away understanding what her vision for america is. they are trying to really hammer home the idea she's going to be a president for the middle class. one debate point stuck in their

head is gabbard. she landed punches against vice president harris. they want to avoid that moment. you would think they are thinking a lot about the debate that knocked the president out. they are thinking about that moment and trying to make sure they avoid that. they are trying to give her information, make sure she's ready to counterpunch when donald trump punches her. >> you make good points about the biden folks. they feel his performance was dismal. it forced him out of the race. they feel like had the focus been on donald trump, that would have been a problem for him. garrett, i want to ask you, when we talk about policy issues right now, there's one above all others where donald trump feels like he is struggling to come up with some statement that will stick or that he will stick to. this is abortion rights right now. one moment, he says that he supports what's going on in florida. the next moment he doesn't. back and forth, day by day. why is this a problem for donald

trump? how problematic is this issue? >> the inconsistency is consistent for donald trump. this is part of the problem. in his time as a public figure, he has taken every position on abortion from being pro choice to rebranding himself as an opponent of abortion rights. his personal views fall somewhere in between what is on florida's ballot and what they are doing. he floated something that falls in the middle. that's not the choice presented to him. it's not an issue in which he feels comfortable talking. his campaign just wants this to go away. they thought by sticking to this line, this is an issue for the states, he would stop getting asked. his home state is one of the states that's deciding. every time he flip-flops on it, it's an invitation for reporters and people that might be at a town hall or moderators that ask him to refine his views.

>> it feels like the comments to throw something out there and hope it would distract electric the topic. ashley, i want to ask you, the last debate as this country witnesses changed the race in ways we never could have anticipated. how much does this debate matter for both candidates? harris aides say she has the most to gain because voters are getting a look at her. >> it matters tremendously. debates are one of the few moments where you can count on larger parts of the nation paying attention to politics. that's especially true in an election like this where at least when it was trump and biden at the top of the ticket, had you double haters who didn't like either option. when you don't like either option, you tune out. for someone like vice president harris who really needs to introduce herself -- that's a positive and a negative. her team in many ways is looking at the up side. she has the chance to introduce herself anew, not as someone tied to the biden-harris policies.

she needs to introduce herself. this will be a moment when all eyes are on her. as yamiche was saying, it's a moment where if the debate goes the way the harris-walz campaign is hoping, where they may be able to overcome a little bit of that trump amnesia we have talked about and remind the nation is, chaos, anger, unhinged, remind them what they don't like. the last thing, donald trump in certain ways when he was running against joe biden, there's a sense among democratic strategists he made this all about age and sort of ability and agility, mental acuity to do the job. he still has to live in that box as the older candidate. if that's something they can tease out that would be considered a win for the harris campaign. >> kamala harris casting herself as a change agent, saying americans are exhausted by donald trump just because he has been in the headlines for so long, even if he hasn't been in

the white house. yamiche, garrett, ashley, appreciate all of you. coming up next, how the grow ing gender gap could play out with voters this november. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc.

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therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title. with just nine weeks to go until election day, we are in the unofficial home stretch of the presidential race that seems to be a dead heat. joining us to break down the numbers, steve kornacki. he is at the big board. steve, here we go. two months to go. just days from the first ballots going out. they get sent out friday in north carolina. where do things stand? >> here we go. national polling average right now, recent major national polls, harris by three points over trump. if you are a democrat, you are happy that your candidate is leading.

you are happy because this is an improvement from where the race stood for democrats when joe biden was their candidate. he had trailed donald trump all year. if you are a republican looking at this poll average coming out of labor day, you could take some solace. donald trump is no stranger to this position, being behind come labor day in a presidential election. in 2016, on average, he was down by five points against hillary clinton coming out of labor day. of course, trump won in 2016. in 2020, on average, he was trailing joe biden by a wider margin. he didn't come back to win but he came back to come close in the electoral college. certainly, from trump's standpoint, three points to be behind in some ways, that might look better than the last two times did. >> steve kornacki, we are just getting going. a couple months to go. keep checking in with you for any updates along the way. thank you very much.

i want to get to our panel. joining me is susan page, jim messina and susan del percio, a republican strategist. jim, let's get to you. the polls tight within the margin of error effectively. a little striking for some democrats who may be overly enthusiastic. harris folks fear it's less the advantage biden had and clinton had. harris has kept pace with trump by riding a wave of enthusiasm. this morning, they quoted done saturday brazil saying, what happens with a movement is they don't wait for the command high command to send buttons and posters. they don't wait for the campaign to organize rallies. they do it themselves. the vice president has a movement behind her and can use it to her advantage. i don't want to ask whether this is a movement or not. but i do want to ask you what are the biggest obstacles she

has to face and how she needs to keep her focus? >> you mentioned the most important word to me, enthusiasm. the number that i track every day, the number i think really is the only number that matters is, whose voters are most enthusiastic? right now, you are seeing an explosion for the democrats. it's the highest we have seen since 2008 in obama. that is incredibly important, because enthusiasm means your voters will vote. they will persuade friends and they will give you a bunch of money, which is what you are seeing. the problem for harris and kornacki laid this out perfectly is donald trump has always underperformed in polling. there's people who won't tell a pollster they are for him. yet they will vote for him. it's why i think all the polls are garbage and why this first debate is so important. this debate really can be a mover of a bunch of sentiment. as you said earlier, absentee ballots in north carolina go out friday. people start voting in

pennsylvania in 13 days. this debate is the biggest thing in front of both campaigns. donald trump is the best counterpuncher i have seen in american politics. the question is, can he get to kamala harris and begin to define her in a way that his campaign has not been able to? >> jim, you make a good point. they have been trying to define her but without success. that's evidence of the directions he has gone in terms of criticisms. even nicknames have been up in the air and appear to have settled on one that hasn't stuck to this point. susan, jim mentioned pennsylvania, early voting starts september 16th. that's not even two weeks away. who has the advantage in your view with the early voters, which is a significant number? mr. trump recently called mail-in voting terrible, despite the campaign's new swamp the vote program aimed at increasing mail-in voting. >> when it comes to mail-in voting, whether it's pennsylvania or any other state,

vice president harris has the advantage. democrats have the advantage. it's so counter to what it used to be. i remember 30 years ago, it was -- when we started vote by mail campaigns throughout the country, it really changed things for republicans. when you look at the organization, that is what's really important. the organization that the harris campaign has on the ground and it inherited from biden-harris is the ball game when it comes to early voting. >> susan page, let me ask you two susans -- make sure we get them correct. usa today has new polling out right now. it's particularly striking as it relates to the gender gap. it shows harris leading among women by 21 points. trump leads among men by 13 points. that is, obviously, a significant gap. voter turnout for women in this country typically outpaces men.

what are your biggest takeaways about those numbers and where things stand right now? >> first of all, a 34-point gender gap is something we have never seen before. if that holds, that would be extraordinary. it a sign of the division between men and women. we had a gender gap in late june when biden was on the ticket. it was nowhere the size of this. what kamala harris has done is build support among women, especially white women in a way joe biden was struggling to do. this is a sign of real strength if she can hold on to it. as jim was saying, enthusiasm is the number one thing to watch. when it comes to enthusiasm, our survey shows harris voters are more enthusiastic than trump voters. 68% to 60% expressing high enthusiasm. that's a switch from when biden was the nominee. >> susan, stick with this poll. 42% of trump supporters polled

say they do not think the ballots will be counted accurately. 27% say they won't accept the results if trump loses. mr. trump has amplified this message. it's been a major talking point for him. is there a risk this could backfire? 42% don't believe it will be counted accurately, could that translate into lower voter turnout among trump republicans? >> absolutely. republicans in georgia think this rhetoric put them in their special senate elections. it can have an affect if people don't trust the election to be fair. why participate in it? it can set up a landscape that's dangerous after the election is over if one side or the other refuses to accept the results as legitimate. >> jim, the harris campaign put out a new ad blitz, spending a ton of money, focusing on the economy in particular. that's a major priority for american voters. mr. trump has less focused on

policy. obviously, a lot of the attacks are personality driven. it's a frustration of those close to him. what do you expect we will hear from her in the debate? a lot of eyeballs as we have said will be focused there, including a lot of people who are pakmaking up their mind. it could be determinative. >> look, i want her to do what she did at her dnc speech. i want her to look at the country and say, this is where i'm going to take you. i have a clear economic plan, life will be better. when i was running president obama's campaign, bill clinton would wake me up to tell me all presidential elections are always about the future. right now, she's winning that future frame in part because of her focus on the economy. i just want her to do what she's been doing and not fall for trump's counterattacks. because he will come at her with everything he has. >> i can only imagine that call. the president of the united states is waiting to speak to you. that makes things interesting. we appreciate it.

i appreciate all of you. we will speak to the attorney general in michigan, how that state's ag is preparing for election day as she campaigns for kamala harris and against project 2025. she joins us next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." we are live here on msnbc. di ngs. ooh! penny stocks are blowing up. sweetie, grab your piggy bank, we're going all in. let me ask you. for your wedding, do you want a gazebo and a river? uh, i don't... what's a gazebo? something that your mother always wanted and never got. or...you could give these different investment options a shot. the right money moves aren't as aggressive as you think. i'm keeping the vest.

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is making a play to shore up the blue wall in a state where polls show it's a tossup. harris and trump are neck and neck in critical michigan. a new bloomberg poll gives harris the slight edge within the margin of error. another poll shows she is down a point, by one percentage point there, still within the margin of error. she vowed to be a warrior for unions. >> everywhere i go, i tell people, look, you may not be a union member, you better thank a union member. [ cheers and applause ] for the five-day workweek. you better thank a union member for sick leave. thank a union member for paid leave. you better thank a union member for vacation time. >> joining me now is michigan's attorney general dana nestle. it strikes me that poll shows

that 7% of michigan voters could not say for sure who they are voting for. you know these things are decided on the margins. that's a lot of voters. i made your own case on stage at the dnc last month. how does kamala harris win michigan among the tightest of the blue wall states? >> honestly, three things. turnout, turnout, and turnout. right? we are traditionally a purple state, the truth is, when we have a high turnout, democrats win. when we have a low turnout, republicans win. >> what do you anticipate? are you seeing energy for there to be a high turnout? just anecdotally, i remember covering president biden when i was in michigan. there weren't a lot of signs around. now you see signs pop up. an organic evidence there's a new sense of momentum for her. >> yeah. this is the most excitement and

enthusiasm and energy that i have seen from the democratic party in a very long time. with that, because it is expected to be a close race, we are seeing a lot of chicanery on the part of the rnc and the state republican party. for instance, there's this effort to ensure that cornell west remains on the ballot. what people don't know about that is, that's a republican effort. one of his attorneys actually was a consultant for donald trump, is a member of the republican national lawyers association, is a well-known lawyer in michigan who advocate against abortion rights. you see this effort to remove rfk from the ballot, even though the law is plain as day. he wanted to be nominated by the natural law party. he was.

that was certified. the law expressly says that he cannot now be removed from the ballot. they still have filed a frivolous lawsuit. i think it's because a lot of people know it's likely to be a close election. they want to draw voters to one candidate or draw them away from another. >> can i ask you about another topic that has got a lot of attention nationally and relates to michigan? we saw the kidnapping attempt on your state's governor, the democratic governor there. how concerned are you about safety and violence in and around election day? even the conversation about it. there's some fear it could dilute or suppress turnout. >> i'm not going to say that we aren't concerned. we are. that's why we are working so hard to be prepared. first of all, nobody should worry about their own personal safety. first of all, we have nine days of early voting. we have no reason absentee

voting. anybody can vote from the privacy of their home. they don't have to go to the polls. we are focusing on making sure the processes are protected. whether that is election workers. we have increased penalties for even threatening an election worker. or making certain that whether it's clerks, canvasser members, all the way up, that people are protected. we are ensuring we will have a safe election but one that is fair and accurate as well. >> last question that i have time for you right now, specifically i want to ask about what we have seen on friday. donald trump said he will vote against reproductive righs protections in florida. >> if donald trump is re-elected and not if he has congress to support him.

we know part of project 2025, the playbook for donald trump and the republicans, is a national abortion ban. if that happens, of course, that will supersede our state constitution that we worked so hard to amend to include not just abortion rights but birth control, fertility treatments like ivf. we know all of that is gone and out the window. states like mine will be helpless in the face of another donald trump presidency. >> michigan attorney general dana nessel, it's a pleasure to have you here. thank you so much. coming up next, a russian missile strike on a ukrainian military academy near a hospital kills dozens. an nbc news exclusive interview with president zelenskyy is next. richard engel joins us. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. get life insurance," hm.

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no mask! no hose! just sleep. give me this thing. where are you going? i'm going to get inspire. inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. we're back we're back now live on more than msnbc. more than 50 people were killed today, another 200 plus injured in one of the single deadliest russian strikes on ukraine since the beginning of this war. this attack on a military training site and a nearby hospital in the central city of you see the poltova. you see the sides of the buildings blown off. joining us from kyiv, richard engel, who just spoke with ukrainian president vo tell us more zelenskyy. tell us more as you can about

this attack and your of. >> reporter: of. >> reporter: so, this attack happened -- word of this attack happened as we were setting up for the interview with president so, the zelenskyy. so, the first question to him was, what more information could he share, what happened in the city of poltava, a lovely historic city in eastern -- the northern part of eastern just ukraine. just across the russian border from an area of russia that has now been occupied by ukraine. so, perhaps this was russia sending a message, part of russia's revenge against ukraine for having occupied about roughly 500 square miles of russian territory. and he described it as a tragedy, president zelenskyy did, he said it was a ballistic missile attack that the missiles, because they weren't traveling a great distance, they flied at tremendous speed, there was only a few minutes of lag time between when the missiles were launched when the air raid sirens went off and when people

were able to find shelter. and he said that quick time from blast to explosion was what caused it to be so devastating in this case. and that many people were killed as they were trying to make their way to the bomb shelters. but i would say the larger part of our conversation was focused on this secretive move that ukraine did last month when ukrainian forces in a surprise attack launched an incursion into russia, capturing territory, flipping the script on this war, and i can tell you even here in ukraine, many people on the streets are excited about that, finally changed the narrative, it was a big morale boost for the population, for the military. but it left people scratching their heads as they ask, which we asked president zelenskyy, okay, now what, what's next. >> now you've captured this

territory in russia. so the big question is what do you plan to do with it? >> translator: we don't need the russian territory, our operation is aimed to restore our territorial integrity. we capture russian troops to replace them with ukrainian. we tell them, you know, we need our military soldiers in exchange with russian ones. the same attitude is to the territories, we don't need their >> reporter: land. >> reporter: is the plan to take more territory? >> i will not tell, sorry. i can't speak about it. it is like the beginning of our discourse operation. with all respect, i can't speak about it. i think that the success is very close to surprise. >> reporter: but conceptually, you have this territory now, so you don't want to keep it long.

>> conceptually we will hold it. conceptually we will hold it. >> reporter: so that's a major headline that i think will resonate around the world, that ukraine plans to indefinitely hold this period -- this territory in russia, doesn't want to keep it forever, doesn't want to make it part of ukraine, but is holding it potentially for leverage, potentially to trade until the end of the conflict, or at least a time when ukraine deems it is no longer necessary to hold. it is a very big responsibility. and the question many people are asking in this country is at what cost does it come? yes, it embarrassed yes, it putin. yes, it exposed great russian weakness, but can ukraine, does it have enough weapons, enough force to hold a large portion of russian territory and continue to defend the front lines and cities like poltava that were

hit today, can it do both? president zelenskyy insists that he can. we will see. >> of course, a major conversation this campaign season as the future efforts to support ukraine, we heard very different positions from both sides and this, richard engel, on the ground, part of his exclusive conversation with president volodymyr zelenskyy that took place in the last couple of hours. thank you for sharing that that will do us. that will do it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." andrea mitchell is back in the chair tomorrow. we hope you'll follow the show on social media, at mitchell rewatch the reports. rewatch the best parts of the show anytime on youtube. just go to msnbc.com/andrea. you can follow me at "chris jansing reports" begins right now. alexander. "chris jansing reports" begins right now. swiffer, [wow!] the mother of all cleans! ♪♪ (vo) you've got your sunday obsession and we got you the mother of all cleans! now with verizon, get nfl sunday ticket from youtube tv on us... and a great deal on galaxy z fold6... for a total value of twelve hundred and fifty dollars.

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