inventor of the system who is earlier french. earlier today, we saw oksana masters compete. this is her seventh paralympics and she secured her eighth gold medal in para cycling. she has another race teed up for two other tomorrow. two other teams we should watch for in the next couple of days, men's wheelchair basketball and women's sitting volleyball. those teams are both on track for securing a threepeat. they could win their third gold in a row, ana. still so much excitement to >> no doubt. so >> no doubt. so many inspiring stories. emilie ikeda, thank you for bringing us that. that's going to do it for us thanks so today. thanks so much for joining us. we'll see you back here tomorrow, same time, same place, as always. don't forget, you can catch our show online around the clock, on youtube and other platforms. for now, i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now. good good 11:00 a.m. eastern, 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. pacific, i'm jose diaz-balart.

we begin with breaking news. the biden administration taking a series of actions to target what they allege are attempts by russian-backed actors to manipulate public opinion here in the u.s. ahead of the presidential election. according to two senior u.s. joining officials. joining us now is nbc's ken ken, dilanian. ken, what more have we learned? >> jose this is being described by our sources as a whole of government action designed to target russian propaganda and disinformation aimed at interfering in the 2024 it election. it is said to include sanctions by the treasury department, law enforcement action by the justice department, and one of the focuses on rt, formerly known as russia today, that network of russian government funded english language websites and television platforms that was flagged all the way back in 2017 by the u.s. intelligence community as a vehicle for russian disinformation and election interference. at that time, the justice department required rt to register as a foreign agent.

it remains to be seen what actions the u.s. will take against rt today, but this does appear to represent an escalation in the efforts to try to purge the system of russian propaganda and disinformation. what is interesting is that, look, u.s. has been saying all along, not only russia but iran and china, but particularly russia has been consistently trying to manipulate american public opinion with disinformation on social media platforms, use of fake accounts, and through rt, through the state-sponsored platforms. as they did in 2016. the difference now is that there are mechanisms in place, on social media platforms, to try to stop and flag fake accounts before the influence operations spread too wildly. it remains to be seen what impact this russian disinformation is having, but nonetheless, this is a stance by the biden administration to say if you're violating u.s. laws and policies, we're going to come after you. and attorney general merrick garland is expected to share a meeting of the government's

election task force today, this afternoon, with fbi director chris wray and other officials and he may have public comments to make about this effort at that time. >> and, so, ken this is again just breaking as we speak. but the doj targeting, do we know what targeting means and rt is a significant sized organization that transmits ins other languages. >> targeting tends to mean criminal charges and indictment. we don't know exactly the nature of what actions the justice department, the fbi are bringing today, whether we're talking about individuals, whether we're talking about the organization as a whole. but clearly rt has been on notice for some time that the u.s. views it as essentially an elicit propaganda organization, requiring to do register. there are some balancing acts that have to be taken here, because we have a first amendment in this country. even foreign entities have the

right to speak in the united states and to engage in what they discourse. what they can't do is be a mask for a foreign government funded disinformation operation. and if that's what the u.s. is saying rt is doing, they have the ability to take various actions, treasury sanctions, possibly criminal charges, that's what we expect today. >> and, you know, it is important to state that this is a specific very important statement by the department of justice, by the biden there administration. there is no doubt and there are no doubt also efforts for disinformation and to try and affect and impact the 2024 election by other players as well, not just russia. we're talking about china, even reports recently that cuba was behind some disinformation efforts in south florida. >> that's right, jose. and, of course, iran has been accused of hacking or attempting to hack into the trump -- into both campaigns, really, to obtain documents to try to

replicate what the russians did in 2016, with that hack and leak and dump operation. we haven't seen that yet. in 2016, that really influenced the election. we haven't seen anything that what is consequential. what is also very interesting, jose, is disinformation, of course, is not confined to foreign entities. americans engage in disinformation all the time. but the fbi and the justice department are very, very reluctant to call that out, given the first amendment considerations, free speech includes the right to lie, americans do that all the time in our political discourse. what they can't do is be a front for foreign disinformation that's when operation. that's when laws are violated and when the doj takes enforcement action. >> ken dilanian, t keep us informed keep us informed of anything that occurs on this breaking news story. turning now to the intensifying race for the white today, both today, both candidates and their running mates are making stops all across the country, as new polling shows former president trump and vice president harris

essentially are locked in a dead new heat. new numbers show vice president harris with a slight edge over former president trump, in four of six key states that were surveyed, all within the margin of error. joining us now, nbc news washington correspondent yamiche alcindor in new hampshire. and nbc news senior international politics reporter, john allen. symone sanders townsend, former chief spokesperson for vice president harris. she is also the co-host of "the weekend" here on msnbc. and matthew dowd, chief strategist for the bush/cheney 2004 campaign, a msnbc political vice president harris analyst. vice president harris set to leave for new hampshire in the next hour. what can we expect from her >> well, today? >> well, it is a key question because vice president harris is coming to this state that has voted for the democratic candidate for president for the last two elections. that being 2016 and 2020. that being said, democrats do have other races that they have their eye on in this state, including the governor's office that is currently being held by

a republican. they're hoping to win down ballot and congressional seats retaining those seats as well as state legislature seats. there is a reason for her to be coming to this state. that being said, she is also rolling out her -- a big new economic proposabusinesses. it is going to be proposing a ten fold expansion, from $5,000 to $50,000 under her plan. that's needed. they say because the average start of costing a business is they also $40,000. they also want to simplify the tax filing, they want to ease local regulation and harris is starting a goal of new applications from small businesses, people wanting to start the small businesses as part of the proposal. a big rollout she's doing today. she'll talk about middle class economy, creating what she has been calling an opportunity economy, and really i think leaning in on that message. she wants the president for all americans and especially for middle class americans to have them access the economic opportunity that they need to make sure they're not struggling

to survive here. >> yamiche alcindor, thank you very much for being with us this morning. john, meanwhile, donald trump is holding john, meanwhile, donald trump is holding a town hall later today in pennsylvania, critical state for both campaigns. what does it say he's doing this in pennsylvania today? >> it says that it is not just one of the most important states, but if donald trump were to win pennsylvania, it is hard to see how kamala harris would win the presidency. so they are going to fight tooth and nail there when you talk to trump's top advisers, you know, they speak frequently about pennsylvania as one of their keys to winning. so i think it is going to be there as much as he can. also a reminder that he was, you know, almost assassinated in that state. and, you know, this is donald trump, you know, really focusing like he did in 2016 on a handful of states that he thinks can win him the presidency and a really symmetry between the republicans

and democrats on this. symmetry between the republicans and democrats on this. republicans are focused republicans are focused on what is the most likely path. >> matthew, just the importance of pennsylvania for both. but also what are the main issues that both of these candidates have to focus on in pennsylvania and what are some of the difficulties that each one has on pennsylvania? >> well, the dominant issue continues to be the economy and not that far by preservation of freedoms and democracies in this, and so my guess is that vice president harris will constantly talk about both of those things, freedoms and democracy and our economy. and in the course of this. and i think pennsylvania is one of those states and i agree with what was just said, going to be one of those states that is basically going to determine this election in whoever wins pennsylvania, it is going to be pretty much in line for that. i mean, and, you know this is an

election, people say why hasn't somebody broke out or why hasn't there been a bigger lead, every election since 2000, jose, the average margin of victory has been around 3 percentage points. that's the average margin of victory in the last six presidential elections. so this election was always going to be close, it was never going to go beyond three or donald trump took four. donald trump took a three or four-point lead when running against joe biden. vice president harris is now taking a three or four point lead and that's where this race trades in. it was always going to be close. >> and so, i want to get back to this breaking news that we just gave a second ago that the biden administration is taking action against russian propaganda. what do you make of that? >> look, i think it is i think it is important. i think it is something that the administration frankly learned. we have been talking a lot of late about the administration, president biden's decision to take the last american troops out of afghanistan in the first year of his presidency and i think a lesson from that

decision is, in fact, being as open with the american people and the press and partners as possible about the information that the united states has within reason that does not jeopardize the national security of what is in fact happening and when appropriate take action. you saw the effects of that, when it came to ukraine and r and and so, and russia invading ukraine and the united states being very clear in advance with partners and the public in a way in which they would not normally happen about the intelligence that they have. this charging rt, again, we expect to be charged, as ken noted we do not yet know, but usually that means charges are coming, we'll wait to hear from merrick garland, is an important point to put americans on notice that it is not -- i said last weekend, i said, the russians haven't even weighed in yet. and we say it jokingly sometimes, but it is absolutely true there are foreign actors, russia, china, other countries

included, cuba, who would -- who are seeking to disrupt this it is important that people are aware election in ways large and small. it is important that people are aware and paying attention so they can identify misinformation, disinformation every single turn. >> yeah, i mean, matthew, former president trump called into a podcast where he discussed the 2020 elections. listen to this. >> i became president, then the second time i got millions more votes than i got the first time. i was told if i got 63 million, which is what i got the first time, you would win, you can't not win. and i got millions more votes than that, and lost by a >> whisker. >> so, matthew, is it now whisker talk? >> or loser talk? he has not -- i guess this is like an admission finally he lost the election.

i think that clip is so poignant in that, one, he basically now admits what everyone knows, he but he lost. but he talks about winning millions of votes as if winning them in one election is somehow rolls over into another election, that that's all you need is the same amount of votes when the american population grows, more people get engaged, more people, you know, get active and register and vote in this election. so, i find it fascinating that he thinks that. and the other thing there i would like to remind folks when they hear that clip is donald trump has never won the popular he vote. he lost it in 2016, even with his quote, unquote 63 million and then votes. and then he lost it again in 2020, so, it is fascinating that he finally admits he lost, but it certainly shows a complete lack of understanding of how elections work. >> and, symone, as chuck todd points out, the two candidates are a sitting vice president and a recent former president.

quote, the candidate who loses will be the one that majority of swing voters view as more incumbent-like in their minds and the debate next week will go a long way in establishing that. how do you think each side has to grapple with this issue? >> look, you know, i think this incumbent talk is an interesting i would one. i would just note that the nature of the vice presidency is that yes, your name is on the door, but number two on the so, door. so, i think that it is for voters they do not view kamala harris as an incumbent, and frankly they don't view donald trump as an incumbent. they say we know what donald trump did the last time he was president, okay. what would he do next, and we don't know what kamala harris would do as president, we have seen what she has done as vice president. but that is joe but that is joe biden's presidency of presidency of which she is a part of, what would her presidency look like. i think that for voters, the split screen and we talk about the split screen, it is going to be very important, because the vice president, which she has

been doing throughout this last month, i would argue on the campaign trail, in very stark clear ways are going to -- is going to have to lay out what her vision is for what would be a kamala harris presidency. a harris/walz administration. and a little bit, she's going to make distinctions between herself and president biden, but i don't think you're going to see her draw very stark contrasts to the point where it seems as though what she's saying about the president's presidency is negative if you it is more will. it is more so what is her positive vision, and also contrasting that with what donald trump would do. i think she's going to talk a lot about herself and then say, and donald trump, and that will give donald trump an opportunity again to either, you know, say whatever it is that he's going to say about the vice president and we're going to see how that but goes. but i would expect some specifics come out of this debate, but donald trump doesn't want to talk about policy. i think it is -- we have to be honest to note that his campaign and his -- all of his campaigns, his candidacies have never been policy heavy.

policy specific. yet that is what the and what is want. and what is donald trump going to offer up? >> that's interesting. i'm wondering, because the issue of policy heavy, policy specific is something that where as symone, i agree with you, trump's, i guess, political forte is not policy specifics. but also, john, the fact that the vice president, if she is going to distinguish herself also has to be more policy how specific. how does each side handle that? >> yeah, so, i think one thing that you've seen from the vice president so far and i think perhaps we can read into this, that this is the plan going forward, is that the way in which she is distinguishing herself from joe biden is to take his agenda and supercharge we see we see that with first time home buyer subsidies she talked about, $25,000, biden had

$15,000, talking about an expansion of the child tax credit up to $6,000 for the first year, that's basically an extension, expansion of hypercharged version of what biden wanted to do, see what she's doing with small businesses today. this is not, you know, particularly a new idea, by the way, ten times, $50,000 first year deduction for small businesses is huge. that's not going to be your mom and pop shop for the most part. there are going to be real businesses, significant size on the businesses. on the trump side, i actually think that he has put a policy out there, but it gets obscured by the other things that he talks about. we know he want we know we know he wants to construct new american cities in the middle of nowhere. he's told us what it is that he wants to do policy-wise and there is a huge project 2025 document that he's distanced himself from. but clearly, you know, has been managed by people with some proximity to him. he has policy out there. it is hard to hear through some of the outlandish things he

>> says. >> including, by the way, massive deportation policy, which would according to him take effect starting on day one. john allen, symone sanders townsend and matthew dowd, thank you very much. russia launches another deadly attack on ukraine as word comes of a major shake-up in zelenskyy's government. and an update on talks for a cease-fire and hostage deal between israel and hamas as protesters take to the streets in israel. we're back in 90 seconds. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. d. ! $6.99 footlongs? yep! says right here. $6.99 for any footlong. get this deal in the subway app now before it's too late. ♪ i wanna hold you forever ♪ hey little bear bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you forever ♪ ♪ ♪ c'mon, bear.

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19 past the 19 past the we're following we're following new developments in the russia ukraine war. the foreign minister submitting his resignation as president zelenskyy's administration undergoes the biggest shake-up since russia invaded. it comes as russia launched another deadly missile strike killing at least seven people in nbc lviv. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel spoke to president zelenskyy yesterday about the recent offensive into russia and where the war is headed. take a listen. >> reporter: is the plan to take more territory? >> i will not tell. sorry, i can't speak about it. it's -- it's 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. >> richard engel joins us now from dnipro, ukraine. great seeing you. another extraordinary interview that you carry out. what do we know about these latest strikes and then what was it that you got out as a main point from the interview with >> reporter: zelenskyy? >> reporter: so, i'll start with the strike. so, according to the mayor of lviv, this was a strike on residential areas, the historic center in lviv. lviv is a city that is generally considered calm, peaceful, very close to the polish border, quite far away from the front line on an average day life in lviv looks like it might be progressing, not in a war zone. so people go out, they go shopping, they go to school, they go to

they go to appointments. they go to the offices. and the city came under attack. a combination of missiles and at least drones. at least seven people killed. and according to the mayor of lviv, four of those people were from the same family, a mother and her three daughters leaving only her husband, the father, as the sole survivor of that so, family. so, an attack, the kind of attack that president zelenskyy describes as a terrorist attack against civilian cities, but attacks that seem to be intensifying since ukraine launched that surprise operation and captured roughly 500 square mile patch of russian territory. what did i get out of the zelenskyy interview? a lot of things because he hadn't talked much at all about this secretive move into russia, how it is going, what the plan is, are they going to hold it, are they going to trade it, and i distinctly walked away from

the interview with the impression they want to hold it, but they don't want to hold it forever, they want to increase their hand. ukraine wants to be in a stronger position, potentially to go into peace talks with russia and they want to go in -- show a strong hand for the u.n. general assembly meeting, which is happening in new york in a couple of weeks, president zelenskyy is going to be there, he plans to brief president biden on his plan for victory as he describes it, he's also going to be briefed by vice president harris and donald trump on that he plan. he wants to go into those meetings with a strong hand, showing what the ukrainian military can do on the battlefield and i think that's why he's also shaking up his government. wants to wants to go in before a potentially very important transition of power in the united states, showing strength that ukraine can capture territory in russia and that it can keep its house in order and

make government changes including significant ones when it sees necessary. >> richard engel, thank you so very much, appreciate it. next hour, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is set to hold a press conference as israel faces new protests over the failure to reach a hostage and cease-fire deal. today, demonstrators gathered outside of headquarters of netanyahu's political party, thousands took to the streets last night for a third day in a meanwhile, in meanwhile, in washington, the justice department announced terrorism charges against the leader of hamas and other senior militants for the october 7th joining attack. joining us from tel aviv is matt what can bradley. what can we expect from the prime minister today? >> reporter: well, jose, we can expect to hear him defending his ideas in english. he's called out the foreign media and this is just for the foreign media, my colleague raf sanchez is going to be there. he's probably going to be saying a lot of the similar things he was saying to the israeli audience a couple of days ago when he had a press conference

and he said that he was asking the -- asking the family members of the hostages who had been killed in the gaza strip over the weekend for forgiveness. but then at that press conference he switched very quickly into kind of a lecture about why he still needed, why he was still insisting on keeping israeli troops on what is called the philadelphia corridor, this is that border area between the gaza strip and egypt, an area he calls a highway for hamas weapons smuggled from egypt. it is also, his insistence on this has become a major stumbling block in the way of any deal that would free those remaining hostages and that's why you're seeing all of these protesters in the street. not just in the past couple of days, but, again, tonight, we're seeing this, but each day, we're seeing these protests shrinking a little bit in size, but it is significant that they're continuing too happen every single day because they have been happening regularly since october 7th, since the beginning of israel's incursion into the gaza strip. never every single day like they

are right now. and that's why there is still quite a bit of pressure. when the weekend comes, we could be seeing more protests. >> matt jose? >> matt bradley in tel aviv, thank you so very much. still ahead, we continue to follow breaking news this what we're learning morning. what we're learning about the biden administration's plan to hit russia with sanctions for trying to sway u.s. opinion about the election. and next, major developments in two legal cases against donald trump. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. a. hi, my name is damian clark. and if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. all these plans include a healthy options allowance. a

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30 past the now to the latest on the legal drama surrounding former president donald trump. trump said in a court filing yesterday he will plead not guilty to a superseding indictment. he is also he is also waving his right to appear in court for tomorrow's arraignment, this as a federal judge has denied trump's latest effort to transfer his new york hush money case from state court to federal court. trump's attorneys plan to appeal that ruling. with us now, nbc news correspondent garrett haake who covers trump and catherine christian, former manhattan assistant district attorney and msnbc legal analyst. why did the federal judge reject his efforts to move the case to federal court? >> there is nothing federal about the charges or the conviction that donald trump faces in that case. the judge arguing that hush money payments to an adult film

actress don't fall under the president's official duties and there is nothing involved that makes sense to be in a federal court and pointed back this judge did to a previous ruling when this question was raised during the prior itself, or prior to the trial getting under way. the trump campaign says it will appeal, but this case will stay in new york's court system. >> catherine, trump's attorneys are appealing this ruling as we have been hearing. two strikes so far according to what will garrett. what will they have to prove in order for the appeal to move forward or is there a shot at >> this? >> well, it is interesting. yes, they already filed their notice of appeal of the second circuit court of appeals. they did not -- the trump attorneys did not make the argument that the hush money payments to miss daniels was entitled to immunity. their argument which the judge did not address was there was evidence and testimony brought out during his trial that they argue were official acts under the new supreme court decision. for instance, his conversation with hope hicks, when he was

president, when she was the white house communications director, in the oval office. that judge cannot address that, he went back to his prior decision before the supreme court decision stating that hush money payments are not official so, acts. so, it is unclear, the court of appeals can still say we're not going to hear this, or they can grant it. the bottom line is the trump attorneys are doing everything they can to prevent him from being sentenced by judge merchan on september 18th. >> so, is it unusual, and, again, catherine, everything about this is unusual. but is it unusual for a judge to not address an issue that was specifically brought up by the defense in their appeal motion? >> i think it is unusual. it, you know, i'm not going to say he didn't read it, but he just did not address it. now, that might not make a difference to the second circuit court of appeals. they may say we're not going to

hear this. just, you know, go and do your i find sentencing. i find it interesting, the manhattan's d.a.'s office has not opposed to his sentencing being adjourned. i think the trump team has wisely assumed just because manhattan d.a.'s office is not opposing judge merchan not sentencing him is still up to judge merchan to decide whether or not he's going to sentence trump on the 18th, irrespective of what the manhattan d.a.'s office thinks. >> on the federal election interference case, now that trump is pleading not guilty to the superseding indictment, where does the case go from >> there here? >> there is going to be a status conference on that case ultimately what is it ultimately what is it going to have to happen here is judge chutkan has to review this new indictment and figure out what -- all of it or partial parts of it comport in her view with the supreme court's decision on immunity and how and when she would like to see the case go forward. she has enormous leeway here, at least in making these initial decisions, but i think a lot of observers, a lot of lawyers

involved in this don't think that we will see that case move in a significant way before the but the election. but the ball is in judge chutkan's court too. mixing my metaphors a little >> thanks, bit. >> thanks, catherine what are you looking for in this case? >> i will -- i agree with one, garrett. one, i don't think judge chutkan is going to agree with the and defense. and have this long drawn out i think she schedule. i think she is going to agree with the special counsel. the special counsel is deferring to her, but did say judge, let's decide whether or not the new supreme court decision, whether we did our job with the superseing indictment and conformed to that. let's decide the immunity issue first because if the judge decides, you know what, special counsel, your new indictment does not conform with the new supreme court decision, they have to start from scratch. if she says it does, they can move forward. but, of course, donald trump's attorneys will appeal that decision and this will keep this is going. this is going to happen way after the election. >> garrett haake and catherine christian, thank you so much.

up next, back to our breaking news, the biden administration expecting to announce a plan to hit russia with sanctions for trying to manipulate voters ahead of the 2024 election. plus, we'll talk with acting secretary of labor julie su about the state of our economy and the current job market. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. diaz-balart reports" on msnbc.

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40 past the 40 past the we're back with our we're back with our b news. the biden

news. the biden administration is expected to announce a new wave of actions against russia for attempting to manipulate public opinion in the u.s. ahead of this year's presidential want to election. want to bring in frank figliuzzi, national security analyst who served as former fbi assistant director for great counterintelligence. great seeing you. what are your takeaways from this expected announcement >> today? >> this is something i applaud and while we're all waiting for the details, this concept of going on the offensive, you know, we in counterintelligence call it name it and shame it, get out in front, let the adversary know you know what they're doing and start naming entities and even individuals who are doing it. this also serves the double purpose of advising the american people, here we are, in the weeks before the election, we need to know that foreign adversaries are actively engaged in trying to get us to think like they want us to think. and russia in particular has been engaged in two issues, in

terms of trying to sway u.s. opinion through misinformation and disinformation. that is how we think about ukraine, and how we think about kamala harris as a president. those are the two issues that i have seen russia engaging in propaganda for. what does that mean? they really want donald trump to be the next president. so, what i'll watch for in this press conference and announcement, are there criminal charges, not just sanctions against rt financially, but are they going to name individuals and charge them with interfering with our election? >> and, you know, frank, it is so important what you're saying about just our adversaries with misinformation and disinformation, two different things, but very similar. and the effects can oftentimes be the same. but i'm just wondering, you know, with so many foreign adversaries that have different reasons and different opinions about who should win and why, and i'm thinking, for example,

china clearly has one way that they think the administration that takes over and january of '25 could have an impact on them. cuba, cuba, iran, venezuela, how do we protect ourselves, frank? >> it is getting increasingly difficult and we're behind the curve here when we're responding to something that is already we're a happening. we're a bit late here, but i think the -- one of the main purposes is to tell our adversaries there will be you can consequences. you can no longer do this and not worry about repercussions. number two, it puts the american people on notice that a lot of what you're seeing on your social media feed is absolutely coming from foreign yntelligence services, who are aiming not just about their -- to get their favorite candidate elected, but to sow chaos and discord.

let's watch carefully the reaction on the hill. our elected officials. do we see after this announcement both sides of the aisle come out and condemn what russia is doing through their media outlets. i'm not going to hold my breath. >> and, again, they should speak out, not only on this huge issue, which is the rt and russia, but then the other foreign adversaries that are also doing their part to bring chaos and seed us with this information and misinformation. frank, thank you, it is always a pleasure to see you. >> thank you. up next, analysts expect a, quote, huge jobs report this jobs week. jobs market appears to be cooling off. we'll talk to acting labor secretary julie su about it when we come back. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. d.

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48 past the hour. with 48 past the hour. with just 62 days to go until the election, the economy continues to be the top issue. we're seeing a recent reuters ipsos poll shows 26% of registered voters rank the economy, unemployment and jobs as most important to them. nbc's christine romans joins us now with a closer look at how the economy is doing in several key counties, and what impact that could have on voters.

christine, what did you find? >> let's start in maricopa county, arizona. this is the fastest growing county in the united states. it is typically a gop it went stronghold. it went for donald trump in but joe 2016. but joe biden flipped this county. it is growing it is growing like gangbusters. the job market there very, very only good. only 3.8% unemployment. much better than the rest of the country, but affordability is the key here. it is growing so fast, housing prices are rising, people are coming in from all the rest of the parts of the country to go to maricopa county. for a lot of voters there. gwinnett county in georgia, a fast growing northeastern suburb of atlanta. hillary clinton in 2016 won tra territory. it has gone blue the last two elections. a lower than normal unemployment rate. a strong job market there. affordability the big issue. look at the numbers on the bottom, the nbc home buyers' index, the higher the number, the harder to get a home. kent county, michigan, home

affordability is a problem. this is a manufacturing base here in michigan. you can see the unemployment rate there starting to creep up a little bit. that's another one of the swing counties we are watching. a bellwether for the keystone state is erie county, pennsylvania. unemployment 4% less than the national average. look at this margin here, how tight, razor thin. this is again a story of a part of the state, western part that feels left behind from the education and medical campuses in other parts of the state. this is a showdown here in erie county, pennsylvania. >> thank you so very much. we turn now to breaking news out of georgia. emergency crews are on the scene outside of a high school in a hard lockdown. back with us is frank figliuzzi. we are seeing pictures from the

helicopter. a school under a hard lockdown. it's apparently one of only two high schools in the public school district. students are being released from school at this hour. these are live pictures. this is just breaking news. what do we think is happening right now? >> the key here in these early moments, even hours, is containment of the scene, to ensure that not only are you dealing with the wounded and injured. there have been reports of helicopters flying the wounded out of the area. but also from a law enforcement perspective, do we have the shooter or shooters, plural, in custody? that's the setup going on right now. then you are also setting up a

family reunification center, telling parents who, of course, are extremely anxious about what they are hearing, to go to this other location where they will be given updates. hopefully, reunited with students once a lockdown is passed. it's a small community. to high schools in the county. it's a town about 42 miles northeast of atlanta. it's considered commutable to the atlanta metropolitan area. high school has less than 2,000 students. what does that mean? it will be easier to clear that building for law enforcement looking for shooters and also, by the way, looking for employees and students hiding. one of the things you are concerned about in clearing the scene is that someone is hiding somewhere scared out of their mind, not knowing it's over. you have got to get them safely out of their hiding space.

lots of issues. a lot of chaos sometimes in the early moments. we don't know a lot. reports coming from the scene are disturbing enough that here we are talking about it. >> this is just the beginning of a new school year throughout our country. as i say, frank, this is about 1,900 students at this high school. one of two high schools in the county public school district. it seems there have been reports of a massive police presence and a response very quick to what appears to be some gunfire breaking out here. >> yeah. you would have all hands on deck from local and county and state law enforcement and even nearby federal agents would be responding at this time.

sadly, law enforcement across the country has rehearsed such responses. there's mutual aid that is signalled. we need all hands on deck. people will be assigned various roles. you set up the outer perimeter. you handle the inner perimeter. tactical team from this county and this city. all of that has been rehearsed, sadly. we are familiar with it. now here it is happening in their town in real time. >> i'm just wondering now -- it's so difficult to determine what may be happening inside. there we see a lot of the response by officials in had high school and around this high school. it seems, frank, as though the majority if not most of the students have been evacuated to what seems to be the stadium there or some outdoor facilities.

>> that tells me initially that there is a comfort level in putting people in an open-air situation. that may signal they feel they have neutralized the shooter or shooters, or they are in custody. that's a positive sign if there's any good news here. you mentioned the start of the school year. it's a stressful time. i know that there was a shooting, for example, even at the university setting, rice university, houston, texas, first days of school. there was a murder suicide in the dormitories. people are stressed. relationships come to a head. parents may have issues with administrators. students with each other. you don't know what has gotten in somebody's head here. that's for figuring out later. right now, containment, rescue and getting communication to parents. >> frank figliuzzi, thank you so very much. i want to bring in retired atf

special agent in charge jim kavanaugh. how many of these stories have we not had to cover? it seems as though they don't stop. in this case, just at the beginning of a new school year. days into this new school year. here we have a high school on lockdown. what are some things officials are doing at this hour? >> jose, frank gave you a great assessment. he is always spot on on describing what's going on. just building on what he said. what the on-scene commander is doing what we call, locate, isolate and evacuate. the first task of officers, whether it's the patrol officers who arrive and go in in the triangle formation that we all learned for an active shooter, or it's s.w.a.t. who is following on their heels, they

have to locate first the killer or killers. that's the first thing. then they have to isolate that person. that could be they have them in a gym, a classroom. they know where he or she is. then once they do that, they can decide that there's an area behind the officers that can safely be evacuated. the reason they have to isolate first is you can't evacuate a crowd into the killer. that would be a horrendous mistake. it's locate, isolate, evacuate and then you deal with the shooter. they feel that this situation over here on the ball field is a safe place for evacuation. unlike frank, i think they may have isolated the shooter. that may mean he is barricaded in a room alive. he could be holding students. he could be alone. co-be dead. -- he could be dead. he could be in custody. it feels like they have isolated an area.

within all of this tragedy, there's a little bit of good news. the governor of georgia, brian kemp, i have directed all available responses to response. urge all georgians to pray for those in the safety of classrooms. we will gather information and further respond to this situation. jim, this situation -- as we see the pictures, there's the ball field. it seems like it has a large campus, this school does. it has a baseball diamond. it has this football stadium. it does seem as though most of the student body has been moved to this stadium. >> it does. we can't -- that's right, jose, you are right. that's what the aerial shots are showing us. we can never underestimate the

die bol cal nature of the shooters. they plant bombs. look at the bombs at columbine. you don't know. sometimes they have killed somebody at their residence, a family member, mother, grandmother, boyfriend, girlfriend. then they go on their rampage. it's just the beginning stages of the event. a horrible, horrible event, a shooting in a school. law enforcement is there at every level. this is just the atlanta suburbs. you will have major federal help there, too. they have plenty of help. they can deal with whatever it is. >> jim kavanaugh, thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. thank you for the privilege of your time. peter alexander is filling in for andrea mitchell next. >>od