make a unilateral deal after the increasing certainty that benjamin netanyahu will not agree to a cease-fire exchange. is a deal like this realistic? the cease-fire negotiations on the brink of what the u.s. is calling a final proposal is a unilateral deal with hamas the best option now? let me add, they would also want the remains of the three americans they have confirmed have been killed while being a hostage. >> we have to certainly acknowledge the frustration of the families of the hostages. pain i can't even imagine. there's also frustration on the part of the biden administration about prime minister netanyahu's -- he does seem to be making blockades to negotiations. but the u.s. has to be careful. a unilateral or separate deal could drive a wedge between the u.s. and israel. it would be campaign fodder for the republicans.

what would we give hamas in return? there are five hamas members from an organization called the holy land foundation in texas who are in jail. some substantial jail terms for support to terrorism. the idea of us making a direct trade, really since some of these, it's something the administration has to be really careful about. understanding the hostages, family, frustrations. i would be surprised of this happened in perhaps this is something designed to pressure the israelis to take another crack at negotiations. >> hears the fact, nothing about this is easy. mark, thank you, my friend. good to see you. a one-time biden insider with her take on what to expect from tuesday's debate. can we expect donald trump highlighted by this headline 49 unfocused minutes to show up at the debate? is this the only version of the former president? the next hour starts right now.

a day to all of you from msnbc headquarters here new york. we are beginning this hour with decision 2024 as we marked 59 days to election day. just three days to the highly anticipated first presidential debate between vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump. right now both candidates are making some scheduled and unscheduled campaign stops. vice president harris is in pittsburgh, pennsylvania and a short time ago she was out visiting local businesses and took questions from reporters about tuesday's debate. >> what's the one thing you want to get across to them? >> well, there's a lot. look, it's time to turn the page on the divisiveness. it's time to bring our country together. chart a new way forward. >> former president trump is in wisconsin's beaking to a large

crowd at a rally. you can see it. he's been speaking for quite a while now. we are monitoring from our control booth. we have a live report from wisconsin in just a moment for you. yesterday, and her first latino interview, harris highlighted her economic plan and what she has been doing to help small businesses. >> the work that i've done, for example, that has resulted in latino small business is growing faster in this moment in history, and these last three and half years, it has a lot to do with the work that i have done. those dollars can then get into the community and small businesses. >> we have a number of reporters in place covering these new development. we will start with nbc's aaron gilchrist, where vice president harris is preparing for the debate. how is vice president harris reacting today to the double endorsement from both liz and cheney? >> reporter: alex, we saw the

vice president for the first time since she arrived here on thursday. we saw her a little over an hour ago make an unannounced campaign stop, talking to some of the folks there at that spice shop you referenced. this obviously comes on the heels of that endorsement that is significant. we weren't totally surprised by the endorsement from the former congresswoman, liz cheney. but the endorsement from her father is not something that was expected. here's campaign said they were proud to receive that endorsement. cheney saying he felt as though donald trump was a threat to the republic, and for that reason, he would be voting for kamala harris and the election in november. i want you to hear a little bit about what the vice president had to say about the endorsement from both of them. >> i'm honored to have their endorsement and i think what they bulls, as leaders who are well respected, are making an important statement. it's okay and it's important to

put country above party. a lot of what i think is happening, and i was just talking with some folks here in pittsburgh about it, is people are exhausted about the division and the attempts to divide us as americans. >> reporter: the campaign has said it is trying to make sure that people understand they are trying to have a big tent. they are trying to embrace anybody that could be part of the harris coalition. when this was still the biden harris campaign they made an effort to reach out to republicans in particular about hiring a director of republican outreach essentially pick someone that would be able to speak to some of the supporters of nikki haley. people who weren't keen on voting for donald trump. they continued with that message, trying to make sure they reach out to any and everybody who potentially could help move the margins. this is going to be an incredibly tight race by all accounts in november. the campaign has been insisted that if there's any way to make inroads with anyone they are going to do it, case in point, in allegheny county, and pittsburgh, and allegheny

county which is a blue area. right next-door, beaver county. vice president harris visited that area a couple of weeks ago. that's a county that went for donald trump in the last two presidential cycles and they are trying to, again, tweak the margins and get any votes they can from those areas. and if reaching out to republicans, both voters and people who are elected officials are have been already, the campaign wants to do that alec's. >> let's bring in julio jester. she is joining us from -- i hope i'm pronouncing that right, and wisconsin. former president trump is holding a rally there that very important battleground state. welcome to you, julia. today's rally comes, what, about a day or so after the major legal victory for the former president? talk about what we are hearing from the former president and what his supporters are saying about the debate too. >> reporter: yes, alex. the former president did have quite a legal win this week as

a judge postponed the sentencing and trumps new york hush money case. it was supposed to be september 18th and it's not going to be november 26th, which is after the election. so voters will not be going to the polls with that as a question mark. the former president addressed this today in his rally. he still speaking behind me. earlier, he said the sentencing was postponed. everyone realized i did nothing wrong and it was just a political attack. of course, that is not why his sentencing was postponed. to give a little insight into why the judge in his ruling said this matter is one that stands alone in our nations history. he expressed that the public's confidence and the integrity of our judicial system demanded a process that was free of distraction, i.e., the election. what this means is trumps campaign courtroom trail, where he has been spending much of

this race, in a courtroom surrounding his legal troubles, that goes away now for the next couple of months. we are not expecting any major decisions or hearings in the trump special counsel cases. so we are hunkering down here on the campaign trail and looking ahead. i spoke with supporters here about next week's debate. what they are looking for. these voters here in wisconsin had some advice for the former president. take a listen. >> i want him to continue explaining his positions. i don't want him to have the other side fluster him. i want him to stay true on point. i want him to stay focused and i want exactly what is going to say today and get his point across of the american public can understand what his platform is. >> i really want him to stay focused on policy and try not, so much has just been to pick

apart each other. to try to get focused on what he's going to do and how he's going to do it and stay away from trying to pick harris and her vp apart. >> reporter: alex, these are voters who are supporting the former president no matter what. but if i were his advisors i would listen to what these voters had to say. they were speaking a lot in the crowd about what they want to see from the debate. they want him to stick to issues. hearing him at his rally today, behind me, he has been ticking through his usual list of grievances of a stolen election, calling the vice president -- so if it's any indication of how he is speaking today we might not get that discipline former president trump on the debate stage. voters here are hopeful that he will be able to stick to the issues and take on the current vice president next week in

that debate, alex. >> when voters are looking for policy positions and information to help them make their vote we have seen before in some of his rallies people will leave. let us know if people start clearing out if it goes on for another half hour, 45 minutes or an hour like this. we would love to know. thank you, julia, for that. we are getting an inside look at how vice president harris is gearing up for debate against former president trump in just three days. it's the first time these two will meet face-to-face. sources familiar with harris's preparations tell us she is holding mock debates. she's reading pages of briefing books. she reportedly aims to expose not only trumps lies but also his tendency to ramble, to get confused, while not being careful to underestimate him. it's a big task. joining me now is megan hayes. former special assistant to president biden. good to see you, my friend. we have one source that is familiar with harris's

preparations, telling nbc that they are worried she might be over preparing for this debate. is that a legit concern or could her experience as a very successful prosecutor make her more likely to handle all of this information and pick trump apart? >> i think she will be as prepared as she needs to be. the vice president is very keen in doing this. she said it many times in the courtroom, as mentioned. she does have to walk the balance of being able to call him out on his lies, being able to fluster him and get under his skin, which is so easy to do, especially from a woman. and also put forth her policy and show the country what she wants to do to move forward. she doesn't have an easy task at hand by any stretch of the imagination but the team preparing her and knowing the vice president, seen her prepare for these big moments before she will be adequately prepared on tuesday. >> there's an op-ed you caught in the new york times. harris's toughest opponent will not be trump, but rather, quote, harris will have to face- off against president biden,

his record, his shifting public approval rating and their intertwined legacies. how does she balance defending her record while portraying herself as a symbol of change? >> look, her and the president have an incredibly strong legislative agenda that they've spent the last three and half years working on and are very successful. i also think there's more room to grow. the vice president has said that many times. she said that in an interview on cnn a week or so ago. she understands that it's not enough. she understands their needs to be things to move the country forward and that's where she can distinguish herself. she can accept and on the policy and the place they are now while still recognizing that there's more work to be done in laying out her policies. i don't think she needs to completely separate herself from the president. i don't think that's impossible to do, it's not a realistic task. she does have an opportunity to show herself as being able to move the country forward. >> so trump notched a win by keeping his same debate rules

with president biden. microphones and the harris campaign has been concerned about this. do you think she can use it to her advantage? will she be able to highlight trumps diminished mental state? or can she only hope that he does that on his own? >> reporter: judging from last time, and it's not as highlighted because of president biden's performance in the debate emma he lied twice a minute. that's an incredible amount of lying that's being done on the debate stage. i don't think that the needed microphones, if they are on are not on, if he rambles or doesn't ramble, i think that's all expectation setting and i understand why both sides are doing that. but i honestly do not believe it matters whether the microphones are muted when they are not speaking. donald trump will show everybody who he is and who he continues to be. no one understands more than she does that he's going to go out there and be insulting. so whether they are muted or not, it doesn't matter to her.

she needs to go out there and show who she is and show that she can handle a tough situation. >> look, mentioning last debate, president biden hoped his debate with trump would turn things around for his campaign. we know what happened. harris helps to solidify and grow her momentum. what are the expectations from her campaign come wednesday morning? >> they are hoping to have a good debate. it will show the contrast between the two people, who former president trump is versus her and the policy difference. but i also think it will show the american people more of who she is. a lot of people don't know who she is and don't understand all of her policies. so she has to go out there and show people who she is and how she's going to lead and interact with foreign leaders. on top of showing her economic policies. most of the country already know who donald trump is. they know that he's going to lie all the time and be insulting. so she will have a higher expectation to meet. a win for the campaign will be that she goes out there, shows who she is with her economic policy and how she wants to leave the country forward. i think that's a good way for the campaign. >> do you think there's one

issue she needs to really focus on that would be the one that gives her the most positive wednesday morning headlines? >> reporter: we've seen her touch on it with small businesses, prescription drugs and healthcare. she's to drive those messages home. the middle class is what build our country. you've heard that said before. she needs to continue to show how she understands where they are and the struggles they are facing right now with the cost of homebuying, the cost of groceries. and then she needs to show how she's going to move it forward. i do think if she can focus on the economy specifically for the middle class i think that would be a big win for her. >> megan hayes, we will see you again soon. thank you so much. donald trump dismissing concerns of election interference and playing a new blame game. when the former congressman says, the threats are real and maybe worse than ever. back in 90 seconds. no sulfates, no silicones, no dyes. dandruff protection,

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a test or approve a medication. we didn't have to worry about any of those things thanks to the donations. and our family is forever grateful because it's completely changed our lives. we have a whole rigged election system. nobody has ever seen anything like what's happening. now i understand, yesterday they were bringing up russia, russia, russia again. that they've done for years. never found anything. but they should be looking at china, china, china. iran, iraq, iran. lots of other places. haven't spoken to anyone from russia and years. they know that. but it's a scam. >> fun fact, they are looking

at all of them. department of justice announced a sweeping effort to combat what they say are russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of the november election. this week the biden administration seized multiple kremlin run websites and charged two russian state media employees with illegally funneling money to a tennessee media company. joining me now, former republican representative from virginia. he worked in intelligence for the u.s. air force as well as the national security agency. he is also the author of "the breach." the investigation into january 6th. he joined the republicans for harris campaign this election. it was good to see you. thanks for joining me. donald trump mentioned that iran and china have been accused of information efforts ahead of the election. why does it seem donald trump rejects the doj's findings about russia? which intelligence officials say

prayer for him. are iran and china about creating chaos? and russia is about helping trump or no? >> days for having me. the reason he rejects it is because he's a liar. the people that are around him, the people that are connected to tenant media, the people that are the influencers that were caught up in the state where money was flowing to them, whether they are stupid, i don't think it really matters. what you saw is a textbook example of a maligned influence operations being funded by clandestine financial organizations. that's how it works in russia is very good at it. they say iran, iran or china, china and say this is a russia, russia, russia hoaxes because he's trying to wiggle out of those specific individuals that are so close to congressional representatives and the people that are directly around him. those of the people that give people those ideas. it's just amazing to me. i think this story should be

the biggest story over the next month or two as we are talking about russian influence operations and how effective they've been. not only are they deliberately obtuse but also those who directly knew that money was coming from an outside source was much likely russian. i think it's ridiculous for anybody to think they somehow got caught up, that they didn't understand where that money was coming from when parroting prunes talking points. >> how effective do you think these campaigns by russia can be? you are saying this should be a lead story for the next couple of months. >> it's a huge worry to me. social media has allowed stupidity, disinformation and propaganda to bloom and metastasize across the entire united states. now he's bringing up the fake elections again, in january 6th the election was stolen. i probably know more about that on the data side and the rest of the country. he's just so full of he has

information is being pumped, that is being expanded through influence operations, whether foreign or domestic. stupidity is a virus, it's metastasized and you have people that are profiting off of it. that's why, to me, i scratch my head every day that we are just not looking into this more and more. not only is the american public , but also as a task force, a joint task force within the united states. >> interesting. talk about former republican congresswoman liz cheney after breaking with donald trump following the january 6th attack announcing that she was voting for kamala harris. yesterday she added this nugget. take a listen. >> cheney, your father, a beloved figure among democrats for many, many years. do you know who he will be supporting were voting for? can you share that? >> cheney will be voting for kamala harris.

>> short and succinct rate there. look, you worked with liz cheney on the january 6th committee. she's antiabortion, pro-gun and even supports an even stronger national defense than where it stands right now. that is a contrast from what we are hearing from kamala harris. what is the impact of her announcement and why -- candidate? >> gosh, if there is a writing candidate i don't know if there is a win in any presidential election but it's something to look into that would be fun. liz and her father coming out like that, they have conservative chops. it's a dynasty. if you look at the political family. it's the first week in september so i'm glad they did it. when you look at republicans for harris and people that were out there i think we have to look at the people who came first. look at adam kinsinger and stephanie grisham that were actually out there talking to the dnc. all of the people who came out for a publicans for biden, i'm

glad that they got on the bus. it's fantastic to see. is it going to have a lot of impact? it's going to have some impact i think. right now it's going to be up to harris to do well in debate to try to drag donald trump across the united states. that's what i'm looking forward to seeing. >> in terms of the why, are the cheney's offering enthusiastic endorsements or does this reflect a move by republicans to support harris and get those trump years over and done with for republicans, as jonathan martin wrote this weekend. get back to allowing republicans to run the party. >> that's a great question. regardless of your a kamala harris and where you want to somehow rebuild the republican party by destroying it, i think it's still the same objective. you have to get donald trump out of office. he's a danger to the united states. i think a lot of people that are saying believe that. and i think cheney and liz cheney are both saying that they need to be part of that

coalition and say, hey, this is what's happening. i don't think it's that big of a jump to support kamala harris over donald trump. glad they are doing it. but i do think there is that strain they have to get rid of trump in order to save what's left of the republican party. i think that's a worthy goal. i also think there's republicans for harris that are fans of kamala harris too. there might be a bit of both. >> let me ask you. after leaving congress, denver, you are a senior staffer to that january 6th committee. how much emphasis do you think she should put an emphasis on the threats to democracy on the state and is that message landing? >> it should land. i'm very good at it, making the case, because i saw so much of the data. but also goes to the whole strain that donald trump likes to lie in the fact is he's a bit muddled and senile. i know a lot of people want to talk about it, and i thought it

was great, your former guest talking about what kamala harris can do for the middle class. that's fantastic on the policy side. i'm glad that she's preparing that way. but i don't think that's the preparation i would do. i think it's actually what donald trump is. i have to say, probably a little more brutal on the debate stages. why are we voting for a felon, conspiracy theorist, poet and apologist, or somebody who can determine truth from facts? that's where i would go. every time he says something i would say, hey, how do you feel about -- and what you did her? is that really what christians should be doing? for me, i really do like the verbal battle. but i also like to go with somebody -- who has no moral compass whatsoever. i think kamala harris would be very effective if she just punched so hard when it comes to actually the morality and lunacy and ridiculousness of donald trump. he's not going to tell the truth at all.

why not just fight? in a debate the fight doesn't start until you get the opponent on the ground and then you keep on going. i think that's what kamala harris needs to do pick >> let me make a statement to be clear. donald trump was never convicted of rape. he was held liable of sexual abuse. one last question to you, polls are showing that harris is closing in on trump in swing states. is there any chance that your state, virginia, would revert to being a battleground state? what would that take? >> virginia is an interesting state. it has five separate areas here. one area north of virginia, it's much more blue. as you go south it starts to get purple. as you go more south and west of becomes red. and you have the centers like norfolk and other areas like that on the coast that are very blue. so was just an interesting statement. really, virginia is very independent. if you come up with an economic message and you can see what you're saying, they're not crazy, virginia tends to lean to the same. and i think you will see that as this happens. i still think virginia wins by four or five points, alex. i just don't see where virginia

goes red. again, you've got to fight for every vote. you can't take anything for granted. virginia is a very unique state, a very unique commonwealth. you still need to go in the campaign really, really hard because they look for a cogent message on the economic side. based on the economy we have here and the huge military presence we have and the contracting presence we have. that's what you -- virginians look for. i love it here. >> i will look forward to seeing you again soon. thank you so much. remember when donald trump asked a georgia election official to find more than 11,000 votes back in 2020? why it still matters today. a new report ahead. a new report ahead. s with reliable ground shipping. thanks brandon. with usps ground advantage®. ♪♪ dupixent can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as 2 weeks. so this is better. even this. dupixent is an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma that's not for sudden breathing problems. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe.

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59 days to the election and new scrutiny in georgia after the state passed a handful of controversial new election rules. the election board there pass those measures just weeks before early voting is set to begin in the state. the man responsible for ensuring that all goes smoothly, secretary of state brad -- is voicing the concerns

they can delay results as he still grapples with dangerous fallout from 2020. nbc homeland correspondent has more. >> reporter: brad knows he is a man being washed. the georgia secretary of state travels with security, having faced threats on his life and against his family. he is a frequent subject of former president donald trump, who has called him out and cast doubt on george's election integrity. >> and roethlisberger better make sure the vote is honest. and they don't want the vote to be honest. in my opinion, they want us to lose. >> reporter: their intentions date back to the infamous phone call with then president trump during the 2020 election. >> i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. >> reporter: trump telling the secretary of state find the votes needed to claim georgia. roethlisberger refused to do so

and is now focused on 2024. >> we understand that people will be disappointed. but people need to know we got it right. >> reporter: but out on the trail. >> if leaves georgia that we lose the whole thing and our country goes to hell. >> reporter: trump has been spreading doubt, much of the unfounded, about the vote in georgia. a talking point for conservative media for years. >> the voting system the use in georgia is illegal. >> our rules are not impacting any deadlines. >> reporter: this is a republican state election board official. she and her colleagues praised by donald trump. >> fighting for honesty, transparency and victory. >> reporter: but for rathbun's burger, new headache. they pastoral seen as controversial. they could get each of the states 159 counties the ability to delay certification of their votes. until the have done a reasonable inquiry into the rizal accuracy.

>> we create a uniform process. all of our rules operate within the law. remax they were a what has been done could delay the -- overall. >> what do you make of the new rules? >> i've been very clear on the state election board, they are a mess. >> reporter: what is the risk of getting counties their own -- >> they do not have the ability to certify that. the black letter law says, on the monday following election they shall certify their elections. and if you don't follow the law you will be coming before a superior court judge. >> reporter: you think that might happen this go around? >> i don't make connections, i just say, we are going to follow the law. >> reporter: raffensperger is now on a mission to make sure people trust george's results. this is one of nearly 30 offenses hitting a surprise visit from raffensperger the season. we will be testing ballot marking devices and ballot scanners, like these. you've traveled around. have you found any issues?

>> no. >> reporter: everything's been secure? >> yes. >> reporter: the man responsible for the election in georgia is confident in the system. nbc news, georgia. a newly released interview with the father of the georgia school shooting suspect. what does it tell us? those details are next.

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new today. an emotional morning at apalachee high school days

after yet another mass shooting at a school. a short time ago a crowd gathered outside of the school in winder, georgia. folks holding hands remembering those two students and teachers that were gunned down and killed on wednesday. nbc's priya is joining us. priya, it's been another solemn day there at the school and on the property. what have you been seeing. >> reporter: a prayer circle forming behind me. the flags are so half mast here outside of apalachee high school. people from far and wide are coming, putting flowers outside , stuffed animals. there's actually grief counselors they are wearing blue t-shirts. they are having some pretty heavy conversations with community members about how they are doing, how they are feeling. schools expected to go back into session on tuesday but we did hear from the school district that the rest of the schools in barrow county will be returning to school on tuesday but not the students here at apalachee high school. many of them expressed to me

that they frankly feel like it's too soon, they don't know if they really feel safe or ready to go back inside of that building just yet. we don't know what exactly they're going to be returning to school but we do know there will be a candlelight vigil held here on the football field tomorrow to remember the lives lost. >> i tell you, the question needs to be asked, when will this madness end? thank you so much from winder. there is a new report in politico about what scares prominent republicans ahead of tuesday night's debate. that's next. that's next. ees get the informan they need instantly. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients.

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donald trump held what was branded as a press conference yesterday with no questions for the media, speaking for roughly 45 minutes about the case that found him liable for sexually assaulting a writer. at a critical juncture in this election cycle he also brought up a string of allegations that many voters may have just forgotten. dosha burns is joining me in studio once again. he didn't seem, my friend, to do himself any favors on this one in this press conference. what did we hear from him? and by the way, loosely putting quotes around press conference. he just got up and spoke. >> what you just said there, headlines that we might have forgotten, nobody was talking about these allegations. this appeal hearing was something that was going to happen. it could have been his lawyers. he decided to show up and hold this and go after some of the women that testified.

this is at a point in the race when we are seeing this really wide the gender gap in the polls between trump and harris. the campaign knows they have a problem with women, that's why you have him coming out and making announcements like his plan about ivf, that the government going to pay for it, not providing any details. that is all trying to appeal to the suburban women that they really need to try to at least make a dent in. instead of focusing on the message that his campaign wants him to focus on, which is issues like crime, immigration and economy that might win swing voters over, he's talking about this. listen. >> as far as i know i never met her, i never touched her, i would have had no interest in meeting her in any way, shape or form. and all i can say is that i never met the woman other than this picture, which could have

been a i generated, i don't know. it showed up out of nowhere. but it's fine. nice picture. >> this is the fundamental problem for the campaign. this is the only guy who can deliver the winning message and they think that he really can do that, he can deliver the winning message if he decides to. >> that is a big if. as politico reports today some trump allies are concerned that he is going to blow it at the debate by not focusing on harris's policy record, resorting to personal attacks on her. his advisors, are they confident? have they had measurable success in keeping him on message? >> their strategy has been to put him into these contexts in front of very specific backdrops like police departments, the border, in front of tables full of groceries to try to focus the message on these points that they think, and that numbers show, he's doing well on.

he still does better than harris on the economy and immigration. they are trying to sort of force the issue, force him to talk about it by literally placing him in the circumstance where he has to talk about it. today, for example, the campaign told us it was going to be a speech about draining the swamp. well, he spent a lot of that speech again talking about these legal cases against him. going on these tangents that were not in the prepared remarks that we were given. the campaign can only do so much and they know that. that is the challenge for them and for him for next week. >> i was about to ask nick, my executive producer, is he still talking, nick? he has been at that microphone for an hour and a half, pushing two hours now? >> that's difficult these days. >> nick, is he still talking? okay, he still talking. there you go. >> a lot of the times he will go off on a different subject it and get back to the prepared remarks.

but that's the question, what are we going to see, what version of trump are we going to see on tuesday? it's really up to him. he surprised a lot of his allies and that biden debate when he did hold back and let president biden kind of shoot himself in the foot. is he going to do that this time around? his campaign and those who support him fundamentally believe he can beat harris. heard an ally say to me recently, harris isn't going to be trump. trump is going to be trump. >> interesting perspective to which i will say, stay tuned. thank you. new today, the harris campaign is launching a big weekend of action ahead of the first presidential debate on tuesday. the vice president's team is going on offense against former president trump aiming to tie him to the conservative project 2025. that is an affiliation that trump himself tries to play down. the campaign features over 2000 events hoping to reach over 1 million voters with key surrogates emphasizing trump's

position on abortion, healthcare and his tax plan. joining me to break down the latest campaign blitz is democracy -- sky, welcome. before we get too far into it i do want to play a scathing ad. it's from the harris team that is set to release today during the big michigan texas football game. let's watch that together. here it is. >> trumps project 2025 agenda will give him unchecked political power without guardrails. it would take black america backwards. it would strip voting right protections and remove the department of education. it would require states to modest or women's pregnancies and strip away health coverage for millions. >> so not only is this new ad airing, but the dnc is flying banners with jd vance hartz ohio state. again, we are talking about a michigan texas game so i don't know how much that will buy him. plus, project 2025 and be trump

plus project 2025. it will happen over a number of college football games today. this may be setting a tone with lines of voters are going to remember. nbc news also reports harris would at least mention project 2025 on stage. hey, sky, would it be and should be more than just a mention? >> we know that project 2025, which represents such an extreme, and extreme plan that would take away the rights and privileges of the american people have long treasured, that many of us may take for granted. i think project 2025 really puts that in the balance. these are not things to take for granted. we have seen that this project is filled with a number of organizations that supported former president trump and the prior administration. they are supporting him now. and then a number of his former administration officials. i think there is a reason to focus on this because it really does bring home the threats to real ordinary people in our everyday lives.

>> is there anything that donald trump can honestly say in the debate to distinguish himself from project 2025? is it something that he would be preparing for today? >> it's going to be interesting to see. what we know is we have not seen him distance himself from any of the policies or proposals in project 2025. only seeking to distance himself from the brand of it. when you look at what the prior administration did on reproductive healthcare, on voting rights, attacks on the silver service, he said he would purge this civil service. that is a key element of project 2025. i don't know that it's going to be that easy for him to distance himself because he hasn't distanced himself from the policies. >> in addition to the added this weekend the dnc is starting an online campaign and

organizing a push in battleground states based on back-to-school search terms. this is in response to 2025 plan to get rid of the department of education. will this continue through election day? sort of a reality reveal point by point of project 2025? >> reporter: we know that this is resonating with the american people. the vast majority of americans in this country do not support these extreme proposals. at democracy forward we have a people's guide to project 2025, which is on our website at democracy forward. we have gotten millions of views because of people really wanting to understand what's at stake. i think we will continue to see emphasis on this. when you mention back to school, it's not just the fact they want to dismantle the project -- department of education, make college unaffordable for people and make education out of reach, we just saw a harrowing experience, another incredibly tragic school shooting this week . project 2025 again is a special interest agenda that's not even going to make our school safer on things like gun safety.

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>> right now in new york, sports history in the making and it doesn't even matter what the final outcome is, we are talking about the u.s. open with an emphasis on u.s., antonio hilton is outside the studio in queens with more on this, and you have the primo assignment today, what can we expect as finals get underway any minute now?>> reporter: yes, alex, i definitely have the best assignment in queens, there is so much energy, so much excitement, people are starting to pour into the stadium behind me to see the

women's final, there is an american woman who is about to face off against one of the best players, and of course people are ready for the men's final tomorrow, taylor fritz going to play, take a look.>> for taylor fritz, it's an american dream. beating his childhood friend, francis tiafoe friday night.>> it is a dream come true, i'm in the finals, it is a reason i do what i do. it is the reason why i work so hard. >> reporter: it has been more than 20 years since the american man won any grand slam title. >> any american that can win the u.s. open i'm in favor of because the crowd will go nuts if that happens.>> reporter: on sunday, taylor fritz will face

off against jannik, and in just a few hours, the highly anticipated women's final begins. >> it is a childhood dream, it's what i wanted when i was a kid.>> reporter: the american in her first grand slam final and with home-court advantage. >> to be able to overcome all those challenges and say that i get a chance at the title saturday is what we play for as players.>> reporter: for the fans, this is already a grand slam we will never forget. >> it is fantastic, i love just being here, the ambience, the energy, the positivity in the crowd.>> it really is an experience. >> reporter: alex, the last time an american man and woman went to the u.s. open final,