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tv   Andrea Mitchell Reports  MSNBC  September 12, 2024 9:00am-10:00am PDT

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constant assault and under physical threat, really, amid all the partisan attacks on the justice department. he wanted to send the message that the justice department will not bow to partisan pressure. this is coming in a context he didn't mention, but where donald trump, the republican nominee for president of the united states, has been saying and his allies have been saying he will use the justice department to go after his enemies. garland is saying, that cannot happen, it will not happen. >> ken dilanian, thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the post-debate battleground blitz begins. vice president harris trying to translate a widely praised performance into support from
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voters in the newly opened swing state of north carolina. donald trump ignores remaining -- remains resilient as the former president kicks off his swing state tour in arizona. the taylor swift affect. more than 300,000 people click on the vote.gov website after her endorsement last night. last night swift was at the vmas. >> if you are over 18, register to vote for something else that's very important. [ cheers and applause ] i love you all so, so much. in washington, house speaker johnson hitting a roadblock in passing a bill because of bipartisan opposition to a trump-backed measure in the deal. joining me at this hour, the former hillary clinton debate coach who kamala harris used to prep for her showdown with
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trump, taking us behind the scenes as the candidates decide whether to hold a second face-off. ♪♪ good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. the presidential candidates heading to the battleground states today. the first big campaign event since tuesday's debate, which was the most watched event of this election season. more than 67 million viewers tuning in. coming off of her performance, vice president harris is launching a more aggressive phase, with two rallies and news interviews in north carolina. her campaign is trying to reach targeted voters in what is a key swing state, that flipped from leaning red to a true tossup. on friday, harris is back in pennsylvania while the former president plans to refocus on the economy with stops today in arizona, then nevada friday.
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two states where the second gentleman is stumping for his wife. across phoenix, they are doubling down on the bogus conspiracy theory that haitian migrants are eating pets in ohio, unleashing billboards that say, eat less kittens. we begin with mike memoli. north carolina is seen as trump's most likely path to 270. how is harris attempting to tip the scales to her? >> reporter: democrats have been bullish about north carolina for some time, in large part because of the issue landscape here. the expansion of medicate by the governor here, roy cooper. the abortion issue, which is front and center. it was here in north carolina where president biden came the day after his debate in june
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against donald trump to try to show that they were going on offense. we know what really happened after that. despite the president's efforts to stay in the race, he ultimately ceded to vice president harris. it's because of her performance tuesday night that democrats are feeling this momentum that they want to kick-start with the new tour. you saw it translate into the endorsement from taylor swift. she reiterated that message last night in the vmas. we saw the gsa, general services administration report more than 300,000 clicking on vote.org after her push. not necessarily translates into registration or votes in the key states, but it's an indication of that enthusiasm. alberto gonzales, the former white house counsel speaking to the way republicans are feeling more empowered to speak out. it's the vice president with two rallies here, in charlotte and
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later in greensboro, saying she wants to build on the messages she brought to the debate change. it was interesting talking to voters. i talked to one first-time voter who said she was maybe going to support president biden. but as a young black woman seeing kamala harris on the debate stage, that's an enthusiastic supporter. some lining up at 3:30 in the more than, an indication in which the way democrats feel they can build here in north carolina on what happened tuesday night in philadelphia. >> mike and vaughn and yasmine, i spoke with roy cooper. donald trump pushed the rumor about the migrants eating pets. take a look. >> what did you think about him defending the notion that people are eating pets in ohio? >> this story is debunked.
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the fact that he would actually bring it up -- we know he is into qanon theory, into all of this internet -- the dark side of the internet. it's a scary thought for him to be president of the united states again. >> what is the strategy for donald trump? is there a strategy pushing this? the person who launched this rumor, the internet conspiracy theoryist was traveling with him to new york. why put that into the debate? vaughn? >> reporter: this is important. the nexus of this is important. i think it's symbolic of donald trump's 2024 campaign. unlike in 2016 and through his course of time in the white
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house where we had these stories, campaign managers come and go, administration officials be fired, new ones come in, be fired. this team in 2024, has allowed him to direct the campaign messaing and who he talks to on a daily basis. multiple individuals have described it as donald trump being able to pick up the phone and it is nobody else's prerogative to block anybody's access to him. that's where you get somebody like this woman. there were concerns earlier during the republican primary, she traveled on the plane with him at that point, too. there are concerns about some of the statements and conspiracy theories and impact they would have on him, on tuesday night. you saw it at the debate, a number of conspiracy theories make their way on the stage. she's an important figure in our politics today because she was one of the few individuals that was welcomed on his campaign plane, not only to philadelphia
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but to the 9/11 stops yesterday in pennsylvania and new york. one year ago, she claimed that 9/11 was an inside job. she's somebody who during the iowa caucus earlier this year openly suggested that nikki haley and her military industry friends as she put it were behind a massive winter storm, that the federal government created a winter storm to try to hurt donald trump's turnout at the iowa caucus. she suggested that the georgia school shooting was a democrat ploy to help with voter turnout. she suggested that taylor swift and travis kelce's relationship was arranged. >> she posted a racist claim about harris' background, being
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black and part indian, part south asian, which marjorie taylor greene called appalling and extremely racist. how repaired is harris and the white house to respond to these attacks, the racist attacks? should they ignore them? >> i think you saw their strategy on full display during the debate. as soon as the debate turned to questions of race and politics, obviously, the first question the moderators asked was about trump's baseless claim that harris happened to turn black a few years ago basically implying it was for political reasons. kamala harris answered it -- it's the same way where she doesn't engage. she doesn't want to give it more light. she used it to talk about how donald trump -- how she says donald trump tries to divide the country using race rather than focusing on herself. you have seen this intentional attack by harris' campaign not
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to make it about her race, not to make it about her gender. she's been defensive on some of those questions and said, i'm the best person to run the country. she doesn't want it to be about these issues. i don't think she's going to engage with these comments in any substantive way. she sees them as a distraction. she doesn't want the campaign to be about a historic first. she wants people to see her as most qualified. >> thank you so much. mike and vaughn. in 90 seconds, we will go to the hill on another legislative hurdle from the house speaker from within his own party. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. drea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. one thing we know is true: no matter race, gender, ethnicity... the need to screen when due...
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this september because our cause unites all. [laughing] donate now. house speaker mike johnson was forced to pull a government funding bill off the floor yesterday, hours before the vote, with as many as 15 republicans threatening to tank it. johnson is under a lot of pressure from donald trump. he linked the short-term funding measure that will stop the government from shutting to a bill requiring proof of citizenship when people register to vote. this despite the fact that it is illegal. it has been illegal for years. non-citizens cannot vote in federal elections. it's a completely unnecessary measure. joining us now, ryan nobles. ryan, this is a game of chicken. we see it all the time. the continuing resolution to get
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them through the july recess, but now october 1st is looming. >> reporter: you are right. it seems it's like rinse and repeat with this congress. there's the looming threat of government shutdown. we haven't been there yet during this congress, but we have gotten close. we are back in the situation again. to your point about the save act which would require a federal law requiring anyone voting to have a photo identification, which is something that democrats are very uncomfortable with, there's no chance that's ever going to become law. the idea that the speaker would tie that to this continuing resolution to keep the government open really shows it's a political ploy. it's designed to show some support for donald trump as he continues to peddle his election lies. its goal was to bring the hard right of the republican party into the fold to convince them to vote for a continuing
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resolution they don't support. this failed on every measure. it's not compelling conservatives to vote for the legislation. now we are in a situation where we are approaching closer and closer to this deadline. still, the speaker is in insistent he wants the save act passed. this is what he told us earlier today. >> we are working through all the options right now. we are fiercely committed to the save act. we will see. we will have more conversations through the weekend. that's how the process works. >> reporter: it's important to keep in mind johnson is young in his speakership. he has shown an ability at the 11th hour to try to find a way through this and get something over the finish line. it almost always means he has to come up with sort of bipartisan solution in order to make it happen. that could risk his long-term leadership depending on the election results. that's why you see him taking a conservative stance to start with the hope of bringing the conservatives into the fold after the election is over, whether republicans are in charge, whether democrats are in charge, he would like to remain leader. many conservatives are watching
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how he handles this situation to determine whether they will support him. at the end of the day, when the margins are as tight as they are, you are going to need both democrats and republicans to support any legislation to keep the government open. the question is, at what point does johnson believe it's time to open the conversations and will it get done before the end of the month? >> another perilous on capitol hill. thank you very much. joining me now is democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california. thanks so much for being with us. i want to ask you, given where you are from, about the wildfires. overnight there was someone arrested, charged with arson for at least one. now they are investigating others, according to our correspondent there. what's the latest you are hearing? >> the latest that we are hearing is that these wildfires are part of, of course, the
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climate crisis. the largest portion of them are caused by the climate crisis. also, our firefighters, quite naturally, are in harm's way. we are thankful to them for everything that they're doing. they are doing everything they can do to try to prevent the destruction of lives, first of all, and homes and the forest and the fields. it's a tragedy what's taking place. also connected to the government shutdown, we need fema. we need to make sure that federal resources are provided for our state and local agencies. so firefighters can have what they need to put these fires out. also to mitigate against the fires from spreading. the arrest of this individual, some of these fires are started by arsonists. we have to have the proper security and policing and investigative skills and funding for making sure that these
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people are arrested also. it's a combination of things. it's very dangerous. the whole state is in harm's way because of the climate crisis. we have to have every federal dollar we can find to make sure that people are not -- their lives and homes and livelihoods are not destroyed. >> it would be the worst time possible for a government shutdown, to say nothing of the political fallout for both parties. let me get to the politics. you have known kamala harris for decades. you watched her performance, widely praised. his, widely panned. at the same time in this tightly-fought election, people in focus groups are saying, i haven't decided yet. she's heading to north carolina today, one such state, which could swing blue. talk about what she needs to do now to translate any momentum from a very good debate performance into actual on the ground votes. >> on the ground, people need to
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get to know her and see who she is. the debate indicated and showed very clearly that she's a fighter, first of all. but also, that she's prepared, that she's experienced, and she knows what she's doing, not only as it relates to our economy here in terms of making life better for everyone, but also as a world leader. i have been with her at the munich security summit, for example. she understands global peace and security. she understands the nature of the world in which we live in. i think what this is about now is communicating to voters that she knows what she's doing, what she does, that she's -- she's presidential, as we saw in the debate. she's fighting for them and is connecting with voters to make sure that they know that it's up to them to turn out to make sure that they vote on election day. the risks, of course, of a donald trump in terms of the risks to our freedoms and our
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democracy are at stake. communicating that very clearly, which she did the other night in the debate. >> to the debate, donald trump brought on his private plane, on his campaign plane, laura loomer, a conspiracy theorist whose racist theories originated this cats and dogs, the haitian people in ohio, this debunked conspiracy theory. she was on the plane. you can see her on screen on the plane. the next day she's a 9/11 denier, but on the plane to new york, shanksville, pennsylvania, for the commemorations he attended. she tweeted raist comments
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about kamala harris, which marjorie taylor greene said were racist. >> it shows you how despicable donald trump is. he is not fit to be back into the white house. >> how should the campaign -- it's understandable kamala harris wouldn't want to rise to it. she showed with her expressions on that split screen what she thought about the comments. but how does the campaign deal with this kind of racist conspiracy theory being circulated by the trump campaign? >> i'm a member of the national advisory board. i think that we have to make sure that we communicate the environment and the type of agenda that emanates from proposition 2025. these are the supporters and writers of proposition 2025 and the dangers. i think this is an example of why we have to make sure we educate voters. that's not only the president
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and the campaign but voters. we have to make sure people tell their family and their friends the dangers of having these type of racists around the president. that shows who he is. it continues to reinforce who he is, which means that this country, if he were elected, would be turned backwards in terms of just race relations and justice, but that kamala harris will move this country forward to unite people, to make sure people get the justice and economic benefits, the cost of living will be reduced, the cost of gas leap and groceries. we have to make sure people connect how that will make their lives better versus the pessimistic and cynical nature of donald trump.
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this was shocking for many people. it wasn't for myself, because we know who he is. these are the people he caters to. these are the people who support him. we have to communicate that clearly to the public. >> congresswoman, thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. good to be with you. playing donald trump. i will talk to the trump impersonator who prepared kamala harris for her big moment on stage tuesday night. before we go, we have to mention the amazing chance encounter, which ended in what could have been a life-changing moment. john bon jovi helped save a woman who appeared to be in distress. they were preparing to take a video on the bridge. the singer can be seen on footage walking over, talking with the woman for about a minute, before helping her climb back over the railing to safety.
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then giving her a hug. police saying, it takes all of us to help keep each other safe. it does. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. s. 20% off any sub, any size. subway did what?! any sub? yup! for a limited time. get 20% off when you order in app. hurry and get this deal before it's gone! it's payback time. all these years, you've worked hard. you fixed it. you looked after it. get 20% off when you order in app. maybe it's time for your home to start taking care of you. we've invested in our home, we've worked on it, we had a whole lot of equity just sitting there, you paid down the mortgage, invested in your home. i guess, you could say, your home owes you. if you're 62 or older and own your home, learn how you could access a portion of your home equity to give you cash. a reverse mortgage can put more money in your pocket by
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our plants are sweetened by sunshine. experience how great splenda stevia can be. grown on our farm, enjoyed at your table. (♪♪) a stand-in playing donald trump for kamala harris during her debate prep was an expert on donald trump's debate tactics, borrowed you might say from hillary clinton.
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the former deputy assistant secretary of state, former spokesperson for hillary clinton, dressed up as trump. he played the role in hillary clinton's 2016 debate prep seen in this video. trump trying to hug clinton. an exaggeration of the way he loomed behind her during one of the debates. he joins me now. it's great to see you. >> you too. >> you didn't know kamala harris. you knew hillary clinton like a member of the family. you traveled with her to 212 countries i think. it must be 112. you traveled all over the world. >> a lot of countries. >> talk to me about how you prepped to deal with her. were you afraid of offending her, being too tough in the way
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you played trump? >> no. it worked out well i never met her. she had never met donald trump. the vice president who i had never met took prep very seriously. she's the real deal. you are not always running around yelling at them like a crazy person, although obviously donald trump often runs around like a crazy person. it's more like the ball machine. a tennis player trying to get better. there's a tennis pro in the room. they want to test her forehand. that's what i throw at her. they want to test her backhand, that's what i throw at her. it's more a matter of just getting someone used to what they are likely to experience on stage, which we have all seen, we watch, but we sit on our coach and say, what did he just
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say, or what is wrong with that guy? the person on stage, which hillary clinton and joe biden and now kamala harris understand, you have to respond to him. you have to keep it together and not absolutely crack up because what you are seeing is rather maniacal. but you are trying to do two things. you are trying to talk to the audience who you would like to hire you. it's a job interview. the other person who wants the job is six feet to your right and they are doing everything they can to just absolutely prevent anyone from hearing you. that's a very tough situation to navigate. >> philippe, did you come up with the idea of her moving toward him and putting out her hand and taking command from the first minute? >> i think that's something that she's been training for for 59 years, the same way you and i have. a common courtesy when you see
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someone, not to mention when you meet someone, to extend your hand and shake their hand. it is only in the age of donald trump where it has become something that it is strange. you would never say, my god, barack obama and mitt romney shook hands or george bush and john kerry. it has been because of this person and his behavior, it was going back to the "access hollywood" weekend and debate where hillary said, i'm not shaking this guy's hand. this is not okay. this is not on the up and up. the vice president, very hugh -- humanely and normally shook his hand. there was an overhead shot and he scurried off. >> we kind of as debate veterans, we were watching for a moment where she would try to trigger him. here is the one i picked. take a look.
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>> i'm going to do something really unusual. i'm going to invite you to attend one of donald trump's rallies. it's a really interesting thing to watch. you will see during the course of his rallies, he talks about fictional characters like hannibal lecter. windmills cause cancer. what you will notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. >> he went off message right after that. >> what is his message? his message is anger. if he had a message, then he could have -- >> was that your game plan? >> it's not a game plan. it goes back to someone watching him and saying, come on, pal. let's remember how this started was the vice president saying, if you have something to say about me, say it to my face. he said none of that. she very much wanted to call him
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out. the man lies all the time. he lied at the debate saying there were three polls that showed i won, 96%, 86%, 200%. this is all a matter of telling him that people know the truth. there's nothing that's requiring him to respond like a toddler. he could have said, well, vice president, you are welcome at any moment to come and stand on stage with me and debate in front of my rally. instead, he goes on this diatribe. it's another thing to maybe ten minutes in to get annoyed. but you talk about 75 minutes in and he is still getting annoyed, because he has nothing to say. talking -- he will attack her all the time about needing a teleprompter and not doing interviews. that guy needs more practice on a teleprompter and talking to
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people asking him hard questions, not with matt gaetz who are telling him, way to go. lastly, i would say, as you mentioned, i wouldn't say expert, but i did do this eight years ago. i have aged nine years over that time. the aging issue with him is very pronounced. i spoke to bob bauer who played the same role for joe biden. his language has become very problematic, very choppy, losing track of his thoughts. he is not using -- he seems to be forgetting names. there's something -- there's a decompensation going on there. what's good for the goose is good for the gander if we say that about joe biden. we all have friends that have laptops. why aren't you getting a new one? that one was barely good when you got it.
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now the battery runs low real fast. the screen is cracked. it's really heavy compared to laptops you can get now. he is just a malfunctioning appliance. we need to be honest about that. he is 78. joe biden was 78 when he was elected. people want to worry about what someone is like when they are 80 or 82, that's a conversation we should have right now about donald trump. that is not a person who is on a good trajectory in terms of his faculties. >> good to talk to you. thanks for taking us behind the scenes. >> talk to you in eight years. >> i hope sooner. maybe another debate. you never know. >> she hopes so. >> there you go. we will go to springfield, ohio, to investigate the false claims by the former president that pets are being eaten by
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members of the town's haitian community. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. and risk-reward analysis, help make trading feel effortless. and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market. e*trade from morgan stanley with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley
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after donald trump repeated and amplified baseless claims during tuesday's presidential debate that immigrants in springfield, ohio, were eating dogs and other pets, immigrant rights advocates are rebuking him for spreading disinformation. officials said there are no
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credible reports of anything like that happening. 15,000 haitians have settled in the community in recent years, drawn there for the affordability. officials say the crime rate among the community is very low, not a problem. joining me now in springfield, ohio, for us, yamiche alcindor, susan glosser and michael sheer. yamiche, talk to me about how this wildly false claim started circulating. how is the haitian community reacting? >> reporter: good afternoon, andrea. the tension in springfield is palpable. as you said, this really goes back to a baseless claim that's
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thrust this small community into the national debate on immigration. i'm told this really dates back to a pet rumor that started with an unrelated case in a different part of ohio where a u.s. citizen was arrested for a gruesome incident involving a pat. now haitians are scared to walk the streets. listen to what one community leader told me. what does it feel like to deal with this trauma? >> it's hard on them. it's hard on them. they have to deal to get a job, to settle down, to hear all the false accusations. i can tell you that it's really hard on them. they are being more traumatized not knowing what the future will hold for them. >> reporter: i can tell you, i just spoke yesterday to a haitian immigrant who came here
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a few months ago. he was too scared to go on camera and show his face. he told me he is worried about harassment because he is going to a construction job. now his co-workers are questioning him asking him if he is eating cats. it's making him depressed and sad. he didn't want to leave haiti but had to leave because of gang violence. now he feels unsafe here. >> it's just so tragic. michael, you have been writing about how trump uses vitriol to sideline other issues. these people are not migrants. these are legal immigrants. not that it would be accurate about migrants either. how does it explain why donald trump is boosting this claim to the point of bringing laura loomer, who originated it, on his plane to the debate and then the next day to the 9/11 commemorations? >> you know, i think what struck me about the debate, the cat thing, but also just the other descriptions that trump seized
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on, is the way in which he -- if it was possible, is becoming even more extreme on the issue of immigration, which was at the center of his 2016 campaign and his 2020 attempt to return to the white house. he has always warned about dangerous migrants coming to the u.s. recall the caravans that he warned about during the last years of his time in the white house. now it's not that he warns they are coming. now he is talking about cities already being overrun, migrants doing terrible things, raping kids and murdering people. 99% is rooted in falsehood. there are little kernels of truth in any community there are bad actors. but springfield, ohio, i mean, the people who are there,
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officials there say that by and large this community is actually helping to save a community that was deeply in economic distress, found a way to get out of that and now need people to -- need workers to hold the jobs that they have recovered. trump is trying to amplify this issue. he thinks it works for his base. the country has shifted a little bit. democratic cities over the past couple of years reacted with some frustration where big influxes of immigrants came in as well. the mayor of new york said that immigration was going to destroy new york city. in the wake of that, donald trump has to -- feels like he has to get more aggressive and more extreme. that's what's happened. >> immigration made new york city, from the 1700s, 1800s on.
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susan. the line is maybe the most memorable. is that working for him? is that why he is doing it? >> i thought you were going to say the most memorable line is donald trump saying, they are eating dogs, they are eating cats. >> that's what i meant, that line. >> exactly. in the history of presidential debates, it's hard to think that this one isn't going go down as a most astonishing thing to have heard from the former president. it makes gaffs of other debates seem quaint. it's not a surprise that in the last couple days it has become a meme, a part of the culture. it seems to encapsulate not only donald trump's willingness to spread crazy lies about immigrants, but also his unhinged quality. in both senses, it actually performed a strategic purpose for kamala harris in that
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debate, which was to distract from the real power of the immigration issue for donald trump. he believes that is what made him president in 2016 and it's going to bring him back in 2024. because trump seemed to go off on this sort of tangent as produced by a right wing producer's fever dreams, that it undercut an important issue. it's not a surprise you hear democrats and other people making the most of it, spreading these videos on tiktok and elsewhere of people's dogs listening in horror to the debate. i think it undercut trump's campaign. >> yamiche, susan, michael, thank you all. this saturday, watch msnbc live,
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democracy 2024, a two-hour presentation of our premiere event. tune in for conversations about this historic election. watch msnbc live, democracy 2024, saturday at 9:00 eastern on msnbc and streaming on peacock. next, foreign relations committee democratic senator chris coons on donald trump's controversial comments about vladimir putin on tuesday night. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. this is msnbc. 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. honey... but the gains are pumping! the market's closed. futures don't sleep in the after hours, bro. dad, is mommy a “finance bro?” she switched careers to make money for your weddings. ooh! penny stocks are blowing up. sweetie, grab your piggy bank, we're going all in. let me ask you. for your wedding,
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get the war with ukraine and russia ended if i'm president-elect. i'll get it done before even becoming president. >> i want to ask you a very simple question to be the. do you want ukraine to win this war? >> i want the war to stop. >> on tuesday night, donald trump refusing to say whether he supports ukraine winning the war. joining us now, democratic senator chris coons of delaware, national co-chair of the harris/walz campaign. senator, donald trump, not committing to say he wants ukraine to win this war. also saying that it would never have started if he were
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president. that he could finish it like that. what do you say? >> more fiction from donald trump. as you know all too well, andrea, when he was president, donald trump showed an affection for vladimir putin. when the war in ukraine, the full-scale invasion of ukraine by russia began, donald trump didn't denounce putin's aggression. he didn't say that putin was a dictator and an aggressor and that his troops were committing atrocities and human rights violations. he complimented putin, said he was very smart. as we saw on the debate stage in philadelphia on tuesday night, he refuses to say that he will choose freedom over authoritarianism, that he will stand for the people of ukraine who are fighting bravely against the aggression of russia. more than 50 countries around the world have been providing support to ukraine. this is one of the biggest accomplishments of the biden/harris administration,
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that they've pulled together our nato allies in europe and other countries around the world who, together, have provided more support than we have to ukraine in terms of their refugees, their economic needs, and their military needs. and donald trump doesn't have some magical plan for ending this war in favor of ukraine. he has a plan he won't tell us about to abandon ukraine in the very first days after an election if he were to win. that would be tragic for nato, for the west, for the united states, and certainly for the people of ukraine. >> secretary blinken, in kyiv yesterday, said that the u.s. is considering the urging of president zelenskyy to give ukraine the permission to use the himars, the long-range missiles into russia. the british prime minister has endorsed that. the australians have. other allies have. why is the u.s. taking so long?
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the criticism is, the u.s. takes too long to finally get there to what zelenskyy needs to counteract russia. >> well, andrea, i've certainly heard that criticism before, and it's important for us to remember that our president has to balance legitimate concerns about escalation with the urgency of providing every tool the ukrainian needs. >> but russia is counterattacking. do you support giving them that right? >> i support providing every weapon that is available to the ukrainians and giving them the ability to defend themselves as russia is actively attacking into ukraine. but i recently had a classified briefing on an escalation risk, and i respect deeply that president biden, when he is making decisions about how far to permit the ukrainians to strike inside russia, is balancing our global interests and threats that we face to americans and to our interests
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in that region and in other parts of the world. so, i do think that we need to provide ukraine with all the weapons and materials they need to be successful in this war, and i know that president biden and his senior national security team will consider very seriously the requests of president zelenskyy when he comes to the u.n. for the u.n. general assembly and comes to meet with president biden, i expect you'll hear a decision at that point. >> can you just just say whethe should make that decision? should he agree, do you think? >> look, given what i know, i think he should, but it is a close call, and i respect president biden's judgment that there are genuine risks of escalation. >> senator coons, as always, really appreciate it. thank you. >> thank you. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." you can rewatch highlights from
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the show any time on youtube. just go to msnbc.com/andrea. christian jansing reports starts after a very short break. n janss after a very short break ve this. what did everyone think of the chapter "the right area rug for every budget"? i'll say it, the section on washable rugs was thrilling. thoughts, richard? the part about the floral rugs really spoke to me. [ sigh ] i want to know who's going to play the rug in the movie? why is nobody discussing the plot twist? wayfair ships fast and free. [ gasps ] ♪ wayfair. every style. every home. ♪ your memory is an amazing thing, but sometimes it can start to slow down. but did you know prevagen can help keep your memory sharp? the secret is the powerful ingredient, apoaequorin, originally discovered in jellyfish and found only in prevagen. in a clinical study, prevagen was shown to improve memory in subgroups of individuals who were cognitively normal or mildly impaired. stay sharp and improve your memory with prevagen.
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♪♪ good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. one of donald trump's most potent political attacks reduced to a punchline. so, will he use a trip to battleground arizona to pivot his immigration message away from migrants eating cats and dogs and back to the border? the latest on the political fallout for the former president straight ahead. plus, more and more young women leaning left. the issues that have led to a political shift among