text, every voice mail, and read every e-mail, as you can imagine, blank hits the fan. >> on a day like today, i'm glad i'm not playing that game. there are plenty of stories going through the group chats at the moment. the host of on stage on spectrum news. frank, so good as always. and that does it for us this morning. thank you for watching today and all week long. we'll see you again monday. ana cabrera picks up the msnbc coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports" battleground bomb shell, a republican refusing to exit north carolina's gubernatorial race. as posts made years ago on a porn web site, igniting a political fire storm for the gop. plus, vice president kamala harris bringing her campaign down to georgia as donald trump criticizes jewish americans not voting for him. also ahead, breaking news on exhale, the vote planned to up

security to 2024 candidates to presidential levels. and israel unleashing new strikes on hezbollah targets overnight, in the region amid ratcheting fears of a wider conflict. good morning, thanks for joining us. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. north carolina's republican candidate for governor is refusing to step aside after a bomb shell report reverberating from that battle ground to the presidential race, that mark robinson reportedly made disturbing posts more than ten years ago on a pornography site. a cnn investigation reveals that robinson called himself a black nazi, expressed support for bringing back slavery and recounted sexually graphic stories including a memory of

peeping on women in gym showers when he was 14. robinson took to social media to issue a flat denial and insists he is staying in the race. >> let me reassure you the things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of mark robinson. you know my words. you know my character, and you know that i have been completely transparent. we are staying in this race. we are in it to win it, and we know with your help, we will. >> nbc's antonia hylton joins us from raleigh, north carolina, this morning. also with us, senior political editor, mark murray, eugene daniels, political white house correspondent and ashley parker washington senior national political correspondent. robinson he isn't going anywhere. what more do we know and how are people in north carolina reacting to this? >> good morning. robinson isn't going anywhere, the deadline to have dropped out was 11:59 last night, and that

of course came and went, and he has doubled down, denying these accusations, and saying that he plans to stay in the race, and voters, politicians, staffers in north carolina are just reeling with the news. democrats have been gleeful. i have been on the phone with them. they think this is going to drag down the entire republican ticket and help them as they forge a path for harris to take this state, and to pull off a win here in north carolina. the reaction from republicans has been all over the place, so some state level republican officials have been deleting photos of them hanging out with robinson at events, appearing with him in certain places, and then the trump campaign released a statement saying that they are focused on winning, but interestingly, that statement, ana, didn't actually mention robinson. that may be the most telling thing of all here. we might see republicans start to distance themselves from him. he is, as of now, we don't know

about any appearances he's planning to make today. it will be interesting to see, does he get invited to the next trump rally here, i think, coming up pretty soon in wilmington in north carolina, and do other state level republicans continue to appear alongside him. that's very much an open question. but certainly the feeling here on the ground is that people are going to try to move forward without robinson at their side, ana. >> antonia hylton, thank you, keep us posted as things develop on the ground in north carolina. interesting to see the trump campaign distancing themselves from robinson. it was the backing that helped robinson win the primary there. north carolina, of course a key battleground. what are the political implications of all of this? >> i think in the presidential race, north carolina is definitely in play for the harris campaign. it's worth remembering that joe biden only ended up losing north carolina by 1 percentage point in 2020. since biden's exit from the 2024 race, we have actually seen harris doing very well in those

sun belt states, including north carolina. there was a quinnipiac poll that showed her ahead by three points, within the margin of error. that is kind of replicated by other polling that we have seen. then when it comes to the north carolina gubernatorial contest. democrat josh stein has been healed by double digits over mark robinson, and that's also been consistent with other polling, so the democrats and even before what ended up happening yesterday had been in pretty good shape in north carolina. of course, it is worth noting we have seen many polls in north carolina in the 2020 cycle, as well as even in 2016 with democrats doing well, and republicans gaining ground and winning at the end. >> and eugene, trump not only backed robinson but compared him to martin luther king. take a listen. >> this is martin luther king on steroids. now, i told that to mark.

i said, i think you're better than martin luther king. i think you are martin luther king times two. >> so talk to us about the impact for trump, and i understand, eugene, you have new reporting on how the harris campaign views this? >> yeah, i mean, this is the issue that a lot of republicans have had with trump for a while is that he picks these candidates who say these wild things, even, you know, this is the first time that mark robinson has said something similar to this in the same ilk of wild. i think the idea that this is going to change a lot of it is probably true, right, for donald trump choosing candidates that are in his ilk but can't sell it in the same way he does and that will double and triple down. mark robinson says you know my words and the words have not been great for a long time.

a senior communications adviser for vice president harris for a podcast that came up this morning. i asked him straight up about mark robinson and how they feel like it impacts their ability to win. mark is right. they did seem to feel like they were in a good place. what was interesting is they tied him directly to trump. this is a trump candidate, someone who at the end of the day believes a lot of the things that trump believes. as you can imagine, the martin luther king/trump thing is going to be cut into ads over and over and run into north carolina. >> and interesting enough, according to this cnn reporting, mark robinson said terrible things about martin luther king in the past. anyway, the north carolina republican party is standing by their guy, putting out a statement last night supporting robinson saying in part, quote, mark robinson has categorically denied the allegations made by cnn, but that won't stop the left trying to demonize him via

personal attacks. we know robinson is no stranger to controversial comments or bad news cycles. he has said so many things that have left him in a bad spotlight in the past, including these kinds of comments. >> take a look at the so-called civil rights movement of the 1960s. how the socialists, how the communists used that to manipulate people in this country. >> some liberal somewhere is going to say that sounds awful. too bad. get mad at me if you want to. some folks need telling. it's time for somebody to say it. >> you feel like a woman, you're going in a women's bathroom, you will be arrested. protect our women. >> ashley, if you have a candidate that is this divisive, i mean, how did he end up being

the republican nominee? >> well, that's one of the things when we're calling around yesterday, we heard there's going to be a shoe to drop, there were rumors he was going to drop out. and one thing i heard from a number of even republicans in north carolina was this private frustration that it should have never gotten to this point, that there was a sense that it was very easy to dig up opposition research on him and controversial comments with very little effort, but it's worth noting that michael whatley, who was running the republican party in north carolina, while this was going on, he's now trump's rnc chairman, his chosen rnc chairman. a lot of people are now also worried about that and questioning his judgment and sort of frustrated that the party kind of rolled over on a candidate who even before this happened, and again, this was not the research anyone was aware of. they already felt was a core candidate who would be very easily tied to trump and controversial comments and

statements, and offending various groups you need to win in a way that would not be helpful electorally. >> is this the best the republicans think they've got in north carolina, the fact that they coalesce behind this man? >> one of the reasons he was able to succeed he had trump's endorsement. one of the frustrations has been in the primaries and in a lot of the districts, not here obviously but the primary is the fight for the republicans. if you win the primary, you can beat your general election opponent, depending on if the district is gerrymandered or not. he likes a fighter mentality or controvert, and he backs them, and then the party is too afraid to cross him, and you are left with a bunch of candidates who don't fare particularly well in a general election contest. >> mark, we have been down the road before, there were republican candidates, doug mastriano, herschel walker, none

of them called themselves a nazi, but they had controversy that followed themselves on the campaign trail. this keeps happening in the republican party. >> as ashley was mentioning, this vying for donald trump's endorsement sometimes hasn't worked very well for republicans. we saw that play out in the 2022 midterms, ana, as you were just mentioning there. it is worth noting the scandals and controversies right before election day can be a bipartisan affair. it was four years ago, where cal cunningham, the democratic candidate for senate got caught up in a scandal. when it comes to the doug mastriano's, herschel walker, mehmet oz, kari lake is running this 2024 cycle. republicans say hey, donald trump is bullet proof, and i think there's debate about that, but controversies and scandals certainly have helped take down other republicans in the donald trump era. >> eugene, the trump campaign

has talked about making end roads in the black community, particularly with black men. this doesn't seem like it would help. >> i don't think calling himself a black nazi is going to help with black voters. at the end of the day, the way republicans in the trump campaign have worked on black voter outreach has been clumsy. republicans are new at it, right? trying to figure out what black voters want. talking and thinking about rappers as wait to get in, the golden shoes as the way to get into black voters, voting booth mentality, and so instead of understanding that black voters care about the same thing every voter cares about. they care about the economy. they care about health care. all of the things that white voters care about, feel like impacts their lives, impacts black people even more, right? one of the sayings in the black community is if america gets a cold, black people get the flu.

understanding that aspect is more important than trying to figure out the other ways. someone like mark robinson, he didn't seem like he was trying to make end roads with black voters in any way, shape or form, his comments about the civil rights movement, martin luther king, and this, it's over and over and over again voters in north carolina are seeing something that they're probably not interested in, especially in the black community. however, and mark's right, north carolina has continued to feel loose with the football for democrats over the years, but they're feeling much better than they have before, and now they have help with the gubernatorial candidate on the republican side, frankly. >> we got new reporting that robinson will not be attending donald trump's event in north carolina over the weekend. i want to pivot and talk about another trump rally that happened, something he said last night, and this was at an event that was supposed to be focused on combatting anti-semitism. take a listen. >> i did all of these things and

i got 29%. think of it. i wasn't treated rightment it's -- right. it's only because of the democratic hold or curse on you. you can't let this happen. 40% is not acceptable. in my opinion, the jewish people, a lot to do with the loss if i'm at 40%. >> a trump event, he spoke there. what does that tell you about trump's mindset right now, ashley, and his strategy down the home stretch? >> well, his mindset is it's dark, it's dystopian, angry, frustrated. what's interesting about those comments, and every controversial he has made since he came on the scene in 2015 is you think that's going to be it, right? that will hurt him with jewish voters, that will hurt him with black voters. that will hurt him with hispanic voters. >> it seems like those would for almost any other candidate in a

more traditional political environment. >> it doesn't really. what's fascinating about that, and this is something the trump campaign is acutely aware of. he has a high floor that he's not going to go below. he has a hard core base that won't abandon him. because of comments like that, he has a low ceiling he's not going to go above. there's not much he can do to bring himself up high. a lot of the challenge is to bring vice president harris down enough, tear her down enough to get her lower than him. the idea that he is somehow going to rise is just not going to happen at this point. >> thank you, ashley parker, mark murray, eugene daniels, great to have you with us as well. ahead we have more on the bomb shell reporting involving the gop candidate. how it could impact every race. plus, overnight in southern lebanon, the most intense israeli bombardment since october 7th. the mounting concerns of more

conflict in the region. also, a kentucky judge fatally shot in his chambers, the stunning details about the suspect. but first, kamala harris storming the battlegrounds, the message she's bringing to georgia voters today. we're back in 90 seconds. we're back i90n seconds u might, how do you keep your voice sounding so... ...legendary? honey! and how do i keep my protection against covid-19 up to date? with a covid shot this season, designed for recent variants. you can get your covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot, if you're due for both, as recommended by the cdc. ♪the fresher, the better.♪ ask your healthcare provider about getting this season's covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot. everywhere but the seat. the seat is leather. about getting this seasonalan, we get it. you love your bike. we do, too. that's why we're america's number-one motorcycle insurer. but do you have to wedge it into everything? what? i don't do that. this reminds me of my bike. the wolf was about the size of my new motorcycle.

have you seen it, by the way? happy birthday, grandma! really? look how the brushstrokes follow the line of the gas tank. -hey! -hey! brought my plus-one. jamie? vp harris coming off a rally with oprah in michigan will hit another key battleground today. georgia. she's set to talk there about abortion rights which have

gotten renewed attention in georgia this week, linking the two deaths of georgia women who died after complications from the abortion pill to the state's strict abortion law. and vice president harris saying their deaths are the consequences of donald trump's actions. trump's campaign tells the "atlanta journal-constitution" that hospitals should have provided the women with life saving treatment and reiterated his support for exceptions to georgia's strict abortion ban. joining us now from atlanta, yamiche alcindor, and "atlanta journal-constitution" columnist, patricia murphy. what is the harris campaign hoping to accomplish with her visit there today in georgia? >> reporter: vice president harris and her campaign really want to continue to lean in on what they see are the deadly consequences of former president trump allowing and nominating those supreme court justices who overturned roe v. wade. she has been saying it over and over again on the campaign

trail. she believes donald trump did this, and the this is there are women in the state and states across the country who now don't have access to what they believe is vital reproductive care, including abortions, medically necessary abortions. last night she held this live stream alongside oprah winfrey and had the family of a woman named amber thurman who was there. she was a mother to a young boy who did not get the care her family said she needed. medical professionals refused to give her care, and at some point she ended up passing away. her family was part of that live stream last night. take a listen to what her family said. >> amber was not a statistic. she was loved by a family, a strong family. >> she was suffering and we had no idea. we trusted them to take care of her, you know. and they just let her die

because of some stupid abortion ban. >> reporter: and it was really heartbreaking because the mother also said that amber's last words were please take care of my son. she had a son who she wanted to live for, who she was hoping she would live for. unfortunately she passed away. the vice president is going to lean in on what pro publica is calling, state officials say is a preventable abortion death, the series that pro publica has done. i was talking to the sister of candy miller, she is someone who didn't seek medical care and seek care for the abortion she said she wanted and needed because she had lupus and diabetes and said she took an abortion medication. that had complications that unfortunately led to her death. she sadly passed away laying next to her 3-year-old child. she's a mother of three. so her sister is emotional telling me that she really is

heartbroken by this. the vice president is coming here to highlight those personal stories to make the case she should be elected as president of the united states, and she will restore the rights taken away when roe v. wade was overturned. >> stories like those hit home. so eye opening. yamiche alcindor, thank you. patricia, the latest "atlanta journal-constitution" poll shows a tight race between trump and harris in georgia. how are these stories resonating with voters? >> like you said, this is a razor thin toss up race in georgia. we're finding out that about one in ten georgians say this is their primary issue. that's not a huge number. 10% doesn't register against the economy or inflation, huge issues in georgia, and across the country but in a very tight race, the harris campaign really believes that those one in ten voters will come out and vote for her. the majority of those voters are moderate and independent voters, and this is the first presidential election we have

had since our six-week abortion ban went into effect. we don't know what that does. we had a governor who signed the ban elected by huge margins in 2022. the harris campaign believes, and that's why she's coming in suburban atlanta to push the issue, this is something that will connect with women who may or may not have been for her in the first place but when faced between this choice of electing donald trump or chairs with this issue on the line, they will go out and vote for her. >> to remind our viewers about how strict this law in georgia is, georgia bans abortions after six weeks. doctors who violate the bans can lose their licenses and can even go to prison for up to ten years. a spokesperson for brian kemp told the atlanta journal constitution said the medical exceptions should have prevents the deaths of candy miller. a doctor testified about how scared doctors are about violating this ban.

can you shed some light on that for us? >> yeah, we're hearing this from a number of doctors. the georgia law has a number of exceptions for rape, incest, and, again, that's only if there is a police report that's filed. then this question of whether a woman's life is in danger, and a fatal fetal abnormality, there was a hearing with a mom who said her daughter had what ended up being a fatal abnormality, she didn't qualify under the exception. her doctor closed her exam room door and said, listen, this is off the record, you did not hear this from me. you can't ask me questions, you can't send me an e-mail about this. here's what's going on. she asked, should i terminate by pregnancy. she had to go to d.c. to do that. she did not do that in georgia, even with the exceptions, and doctors faced with a situation, there are patients they care about very much, but do they want to go to jail for ten

years, do they want to lose their license? it's such a gray area, they have to pull back from these situations and wait until they become emergencies and any doctor will tell you, you don't wait until it's an emergency, you want to do something preventative to help these patients. >> thank you so much for joining us. turning to capitol hill as the clock ticks closer to a government shutdown, the big vote happening this morning involving secret service protection. we're in the middle east where tensions are escalating, following two days of walke talkies and pagers exploding. ieg so this is pickleball? it's basically tennis for babies, but for adults. it should be called wiffle tennis. pickle! yeah, aw! whoo! ♪♪

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news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. this vote coming just days after the second apparent assassination attempt on former president trump. what exactly would this bill do? >> it's exactly as you laid out here, ana, and it's something we expect the house to start voting on in the next few minutes. the last vote series of the week. you're right against the backdrop with which this vote comes. it's a bill done in bipartisan fashion from two new york lawmakers, mike lawler and ritchie torrez that would put uniformity to secret service protection, not just for presidents and vice presidents but major presidential candidate nominees that would then of course apply in this instance to former president donald trump. we expect this to pass, but it's also not necessarily the thing needed to solve the problem. we have heard varying ytd ideas solutions for secret service who are strapped on resources and manpower. this would establish uniformity, codify rules for the number of people that would need to be protecting presidentials as well as major party nominees.

it wouldn't solve the manpower problem and money problem. both are up for debate, the amount of money that the secret service would need. it is the first tangible step from congress trying to take a push at putting rules on secret service in light of the current landscape. >> as you and i talked about yesterday, house republicans failed to pass that funding bill to avert a government shut down at the end of this month. now the senate is getting involved. what's happening? >> the senator is getting involved. senator chuck schumer putting the vehicle on the senate floor yesterday that allows them to get a procedural head start on anything having to do with government funding. they are still very much, though, looking at the house for the way that they want to handle this. we saw yesterday speaker mike johnson mum on what his plan b might be. he did of course meet with former president donald trump. you and i were talking yesterday afternoon about the fact that

trump was the albatross looming over all of this for house republicans because he was so steadfastly behind the plan a that johnson put on the floor earlier this week that failed. it really boxes johnson in, not just in the short-term on how he can fix the government shutdown problem, and it also boxes him in on the larger issue of his leadership position and the role he'll play in the republican party. certainly that's not going to change anytime soon even as congress comes to its almost close and for speaker mike johnson, he's got a front row seat to that. >> kevin mccarthy comes to mind as we discuss what this congress has experienced. ali vitali, thank you so much. >> thanks. we are following developing news out of the middle east now. and israel strikes hammering southern lebanon late last night. they destroyed 100 hezbollah rocket launchers, called the most intense air and artillery

bombardment. walkie-talkies exploding, keir simmons is live on the ground in beirut for us. here there was just a strike there in beirut in the last few hours. what happened? >> reporter: that's right. we heard the sound of an israeli jet overhead. i didn't hear the strike itself. didn't see the smoke, but very quickly, it was on lebanese television, a strike in hezbollah area of beirut here if you like, in the southern suburbs, and it's been playing out on lebanese television on rotation. a lot of damage done in a street there. three dead, and now confirmation, according to afp, from hezbollah, that ibrahim akiel was killed until the

strike. a hezbollah leader, a $7 million reward for information about him. his reputation goes all the way back to being a member, according to the u.s., of hezbollah terror cell which claimed responsibility for the bombings of the u.s. embassy in beirut back in 1983. so if that is the case, if he has been killed in this strike here in beirut, it is significant. the israelis are now saying that hezbollah has fired 90 rockets towards the border with israel since that strike. they seem to be retiring fire this morning with the rockets after a bombardment by israel along the border there overnight. around 100 hezbollah rocket installations targeted according to the israelis. there's lots of news as well in syria neighboring her. there are reports of what looks like another israeli

assassination of an iran-backed militia group, and that was a drone strike according to observers targeting his car. israel not saying it is responsible. a controversy around the pager explosions and walkie-talkies will come into full view at the security council later today. >> keir simmons, thank you for bringing all of that. i want to bring in former senior officer in the office of the director of national intelligence. andrew, we have been talking all week about the why now of pager and walky talky explosions that seemed to have triggered a new situation in the middle east, a new volatility or tinderbox type of situation that's happening there. we're learning from a former israeli official that the attacks on hezbollah, with the walkie-talkies and pagers

were opportunistic. it became a use it or lose it situation. does that make sense to you? >> that makes absolute sense. we would see that not only in this type of attack, which was physical sabotage, targeting the leadership of hezbollah to disrupt communication and control through a really sophisticated global supply chain vector to intercept these pagers, walkie-talkies in some way tamper with them, and make them something that could be detonated. we think of intelligence gain loss or maintain that element of surprise. so if that potential operation be compromised, that would induce someone to launch that operation. but i think one of the things i think is important to highlight here is this type of operation could not only be used for sabotage, we know that all nation states have the ability to do this type of work for espionage purposes, malicious components that could surveil or

cause a technical disruption in physical space using cyber means. >> what has us talking about us is a novelty. we haven't seen this type of i don't know if you want to call it warfare, be it appears to be so. "the new york times" writes there's reason to fear where the attack on hezbollah fighters might go next. the history of sabotage is once a new threshold is crossed it becomes available to everyone. are we entering a new era where security of our hand held electronic devices with internet access can no longer be considered safe? >> i mean, and that word safe, i think we need to think about. do we mean physically safe, as in this case with these pagers or safe from surveillance of a party that would seek to use that against us. safe from potential disruption, and that's why i bring the global supply threat. my conversation with a lot of folks. we serve about 750 global

multinational firms and a lot of chief information security officers are now talking about, oh, that's what you mean when you talk about party supply chain risk. a lot of them think about the crocodile closest to the canoe, the third-party risk and stop the evaluation, where else in the chain. in this particular case, it's emerging that there's evidence that this involved supply chain components in hungary, japan, taiwan. so really it's important, and it does, it changes the landscape for sabotage, and holds society defense in the modern kind of cold war environment. >> it's very interesting, thank you for helping us understand it better. good to see you. up next on "ana cabrera reports," i'll talk to the chair of north carolina eets democratic party. how are democrats feeling about their electoral chances after that bomb shell reporting involving the republican candidate for governor there. and could it give kamala harris the edge she needs to

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we're back now with more on our top story today. the republican candidate for governor, mark robinson in north carolina is vowing to stay in the race after a bomb shell report of a history of extremely inflammatory and disturbing comments. democrats slamming robinson who reportedly called himself a black nazi and supported reinstating slavery, on a porn site in 2008 to 2012, years before he entered politics, the state republican party is standing fully behind their candidate calling the report a smear campaign by the left. nbc news has not authenticated the online posts and robinson denies he made the comments but this controversy has republicans concerned and looking for reassurances. >> my hope is the lieutenant governor can reassure the people of north carolina that the

allegations aren't true. >> do you think he should drop out? >> let's give him an opportunity to -- he's said they're not true. i think he needs to have the opportunity to explain to the people of north carolina. >> joining us now is anderson clayton, the state party chair for the north carolina democratic party. anderson, first, i got to get your reaction to the bomb shell cnn report. >> i mean, this is the same mark robinson that we've always known has been running for governor in the state for the last year, and we are really excited, honestly, that people get to understand fully who this man is, and also the fact that we have got a true champion, public servant running against him in josh stein this year for ours race, and the fact that republicans, not denouncing him at all yesterday fully in support of his agenda and down ballot, we're looking at candidates this year that are endorsing what he'd like to see north carolina turn into. >> after this news broke, we saw democratic state level candidates quickly try to tie their republican opponents to

robinson. you can see here how many democratic candidates posted pictures of their opponents with robinson. right now, the gop controls both chambers in north carolina state legislature. could this story, do you think, help democrats flip it or might it have less impact given robinson's comments you referenced and the stance he's already had out there, and voters know about. >> well, i saw yesterday democrats taking the opportunity to ask their republican opponents who would endorse mark robinson and delete pictures on social media, folks hike hal weatherman who has been well intentioned and associated with mark robinson, running for lieutenant governor. none of these republicans have the opportunity to separate themselves from mark robinson. you heard the nc gop yesterday say they were in support of this man and what he stands for making sure we're trying to see a successful election cycle in north carolina this year, means uplifting candidates running down ballot that has endorsed

that extreme agenda. >> robinson, again, said the report is not accurate. that he never made these posts. people can go to the cnn article and see how they went about authenticating and tying comments to him. as someone who chairs a state party, would you expect the republican party to have caught these types of posts in their vetting process? >> i would think that any good party would have. but i also think that this is the republican party on full blast right now, and they're not ashamed and running from the back they are touting someone who would see like to see a totally abortion ban in the state and people in north carolina have to understand we've got to educate folks about the down ballot races, rachel hunt, running for governor, mo green running for superintendent of schools right now who are good democrats that are fighting against mark robinson's republican agenda down the ballot in our state this year.

>> let's talk about up the ballot. you spoke about the down ballot races we know north carolina has, haven't voted for a democrat since former president obama in 2008. it was close in 2020, about 75,000, less than that, in fact, votes separating biden and trump. the polls show this race between vice president harris and trump is a toss up. robinson was polling behind trump in these polls. how are democrats trying to convince voters who may be skeptical of robinson, but are open to trump? >> we're talking to them about the fact that trump has endorsed mark robinson, but making sure folks know it's extremism at every level of the ballot. that goes from donald trump to mark robinson, to dan bishop, to hal weatherman, to extreme republicans that we have running at every single level. north carolina is one of eleven states in the country that elect

a council of state, and so we have to make sure we are talking to voters about those important races everywhere. >> anderson clayton, good to have you with us. thank you so much for joining us. up next on ana cabrera reports, new comments from ohio's republican governor about the baseless conspiracy theory of haitians eating pets that's ripping apart one city in his state. as children experience growing fear over bomb threats in that community. community. how do you keep your voice sounding so... ...legendary? honey! and how do i keep my protection against covid-19 up to date? with a covid shot this season, designed for recent variants. you can get your covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot, if you're due for both, as recommended by the cdc. ♪the fresher, the better.♪ ask your healthcare provider about getting this season's covid-19 shot when getting your flu shot.

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new pushback this morning from ohio's republican governor after days of bomb threats at schools in the city of springfield stemming from baseless conspiracy theories pushed by former president trump and senator j.d. vance about haitian migrants there. in a "new york times" op-ed, governor mike dewine writes, quote, as a supporter of former president donald trump and senator j.d. vance, i'm saddened by how they and others continue to repeat claims that lack evidence and disparage the legal migrants living in springfield. this rhetoric hurts the city and its people, and it hurts those who have spent their lives there. nbc's shaquille brewster is live in springfield this morning for us. shaq, you've been talking to a lot of the residents there who are impacted directly by this. what are you hearing? >> reporter: yeah, ana. you know, there's definitely a range of emotions here, and you saw that play out at the conservative town hall that was posted by vivek ramaswamy just

last night. the thing is before those false claims came out of donald trump's mouth on the debate stage earlier this month, there was legitimate tension here. you did have an influx of haitian migrants who were here legally. because of that influx and increase in population, it led to a strain on some city resources. that's been acknowledged by the governor who just yesterday announced that next week they will be launching a mobile clinic to help shore up the health care system here and cut down some of the wait times for health care providers. but then you had those comments from former president trump and then that was followed by the wave of threats, the evacuations of schools, grocery stores, of restaurants in this area, and that just really added to the tension that you've seen here in springfield, and it led to in t area. and that just really added to the tension that you've seen here in springfield. and it led to a situation where you had people fearful. i want you to listen to my conversation with that haitian immigrant here just yesterday,

he manages a creole restaurant in the area. listen to what he told me. what is it like for a haitian immigrant in springfield right now? >> right now? >> reporter: yeah. >> before this, before this, we lead a quiet life. every day people go to work, come home, try to have fun. right now, it changed. so we don't know what going to happen, so we don't know what people going to do. >> reporter: but he also told me the backlash led to a flood of support. he says he's been seeing new customers driving in from hours away, paying just to support the immigrant community here. and, by the way, we just heard from a spokesperson for jd vance responding to that op-ed in "the new york times" that you

mentioned, and read from the beginning of the segment, the spokesperson saying vance and governor dewine don't agree on every issue, but saying trump will secure the border and fix the chaos. vance and that spokesperson not address the false claims that really led to this national spotlight on this small town. >> a story yesterday that stuck with me as you talked to other residents living their lives and they're really angry and hurt by what they called lies. lies about their community and their neighbors. shaquille brewster, thanks very much for bringing us that reporting. up next on "ana cabrera reports," violence in the courtroom. a kentucky judge shot in his chambers, who authorities say did it. plus, hailing a hero, a dramatic rescue made for hollywood, showing a sheriff deputy leaping into a moving car. o a moving car. complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max!

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a rural community in eastern kentucky left reeling this morning after a district court judge was shot to death in his own chambers yesterday, following a heated argument with a local sheriff. now the search for answers on what led up to this deadly altercation. nbc's sam brock has more. sam? >> reporter: hi there. shocked and shaken, that is how the chief justice of kentucky's supreme court described a letcher county community this morning, according to state police, judge kevin mullins was found inside his chambers with

multiple gunshot wounds and the man charged with the killing, the county sheriff, who is now facing one count of first degree murder. an uncommon sight outside the courthouse in letcher county, kentucky, crime scene tape following a stunning tragedy. long time judge kevin mullins found thursday shot and killed inside his own chambers with local sheriff mickey stines charged with the murder. state police say gunshots followed an argument inside the courthouse. police say the sheriff, who turned himself in, is now facing one count of first degree murder. investigators unable to offer an explanation or motive. >> that's questions we're still trying to get answers to what led up to the actual shooting itself and the moments prior to. >> reporter: judge mullins was appointed in 2009, after serving almost a decade as a prosecutor. and appeared passionate about helping those struggling with drug addiction. >> they're just good people, but, you know, i guess bad things can happen to good people. >> reporter: with the motive unclear, sheriff stines was cited as a defendant in a 2022

lawsuit about a deputy accused of using the judge's chambers while demanding sexual favors from an inmate. stines is accused of not properly training that deputy, who was later fired, according to court documents, stines was scheduled to testify in a deposition on monday. the murder comes on the heels of a string of shocking violence against judges. this dramatic video shows the moment earlier this year that a defendant leaped over a bench to attack a judge in las vegas. on thursday, in alaska, a man was indicted for allegedly sending more than 460 text messages threatening to harm six supreme court justices. and in new jersey, a sweeping law enacted to protect the personal information of public officials after the son of a federal judge was killed by a gunman at their family home. back in kentucky, following the murder there, governor andy beshear writing in a statement, there is far too much violence in this world, and i pray there is a path to a better tomorrow. nbc news has attempted to reach

the attorney for sheriff stines but has been unable to find one assigned to the case. as far as next steps here, state police say there were witnesses in the building, but not in the chambers. they will be interviewed. also there is video surveillance, not clear where in the courthouse that was. sam brock, nbc news. back to you. >> thank you, sam. finally this hour, a daring rescue on a busy michigan highway. you can see nicole, a sheriff deputy from macomb couny leaping into a moving car. the video caught last week. she and her partner were dispatched after receiving a call about an erratic driver. it became clear this driver was experiencing a medical emergency. so she jumped through the window, and was able to bring this driver to safety. he was later taken to a nearby hospital and has recovered. so, some of the best in the world there. that does it for us this busy week. we'll see you back here monday. i'm ana cabrera reporting