morrison (voiceover): tucker's mom, kelly, was never charged with anything, and now stands to inherit everything. and the movie, there's a scene in "from the dark," the moment when all the terror comes to its violent head, a film about a killer starring a killer. who would ever believe it? that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. [theme music] fetterman this morning on "meet the press." ♪♪ this sunday, poll vault.

>> when we fight, we win! with just six weeks until election day, vice president kamala harris is leading former president donald trump in our new nbc news poll. >> we are the underdog in this race, and we have some hard work ahead of us. >> we don't need votes. what we need is honesty in the election. >> which side is more energized in the final sprint of the campaign? steve kornacki will break down the results. plus, controversial comments. >> we are staying in this race. we are in it to win it. >> the republican nominee after he once called himself a black nazi and defended slavery on a porn site. we've got folks running for governor that are proud to refer to themselves as nazis. >> how will it impact the critical battleground state and escalating attacks. israel target hezbollah leaders inside lebanon after a wave of attacks targeting the militant group's communication devices. is the war spreading into a wider conflict?

my guests this morning, democratic senator john fetterman of pennsylvania and republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander, amy walter, editor in chief of the cook political report. former democratic congresswoman stephanie murphy and former republican congressman, carlos curbelo. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. we begin with our brand-new nbc news poll and the headline, vice president harris is leading former president trump

nationally by five point, 49 to 44% among registered voters, that is within the margin of error, but it's a shift from her last poll in july when mr. trump led president biden by two points before biden's exit from the race. this week both candidates criss-crossed key battleground states. >> if kamala harris is reelected, she will kill the american dream forever. she's not competent to be president, either, but i don't want to be rude. >> someone who suggests we should terminate the constitution of the united states should never again stand behind the seal of the president of the united states! >> there's a dramatic change in how positively voters view harris. her 21-point net swing from negative to positive is unmatched by a major party candidate in nbc news polling going back to 1989, and harris is winning the change argument

by nine points. steve kornacki will take us through the numbers just moments from now. also this morning, sources are telling nbc news former president trump is facing calls from his allies and from within his own campaign to pull his endorsement from scandal-plagued gubernatorial candidate mark robinson after mr. trump's past support. >> this is martin luther king on steroids, okay? >> now robinson did not attend a rally mr. trump held in north carolina on saturday. mr. trump didn't mention robinson, and so far there are no plans for the former president to drop his endorsement. on thursday, cnn reported robinson, who is currently the state's lieutenant governor, posted a series of comments on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago, including referring to himself as a black nazi and expressing support for reinstating slavery. mr. robinson said that the

online posts are fakes, generated by artificial intelligence. >> those are not the words of mark robinson. clarence thomas once said he was the victim of a high-tech lynching. well, it looks like mark robinson is too. >> the harris campaign is out with a new ad, tying former president trump to robinson on the issue of abortion. >> he's been an unbelievable lieutenant governor, mark robinson. >> for me, there is no compromise on abortion. >> abortion in this country is about killing a child because you aren't responsible enough to keep your skirt down. >> i've been with him a lot and i've gotten to know him, and he's outstanding. >> lauren make spoke with jd vance on saturday. >> are you comfortable with mark robinson as republican governor of income? >> the allegations are out there, but the allegations aren't necessarily reality and what i say it's up to mark robinson and north carolina

whether he wants to be governor and whether he wants to stay in the race. >> do you believe they're not his posts? >> i don't not believe him. i don't believe him. sometimes they have to play out in the court of public opinion. >> harris came to michigan and sat down with oprah winfrey and talked about immigration and gun violence. >> either you are in favor of the second amendment and you want to take guns away. i'm in favor of universal background checks. >> i'm a gun opener. tim walz is a gun owner. >> i did not know that. >> if someone breaks into my house, they're getting shot. >> with just 44 days until election day, voting is underway in virginia, south dakota, and minnesota. i am joined now by national political correspondent steve kornacki to take us through the

numbers. steve, a lot of headlines here. >> certainly, kristen. you're looking at the biggest. harris, 49, trump, 44. five-point advantage ahead of trump in this poll against donald trump, and if we zoom out here and look at the bigger significance of this finding and we've been polling the 2024 race going back to next year and you can see these are all of the results on the left side of the screen from when joe biden was still the democratic candidate and this is our first poll since harris switched in and look at that result. >> you can see that the race has been completely reshaped since harris took the top of the ticket. >> completely and one of those things powering that lead. there is a pretty pronounced gender gap. harris is leading in our poll by 21 polls. among men, trump is leading by 12. that is a 33-point gender gap. that's enormous what we're seeing here, too. take a look at this, the debate happening in the next couple of weeks. 20% said that debate made them more likely to support harris and that might be helping her as well here and then there's this, the view, the overall perception

of kamala harris. before she got in the race there was talk that her numbers didn't look better than biden's. she was 54% and now this is what you see. >> we have to pause here because this is the largest increase that we have seen for any politician since george w. bush in the wake of the september 11th attacks on this issue. >> yeah, absolutely, kristen. i mean, we were seeing numbers like this for years for kamala harris, and now you're seeing a very different story, and what goes into that, that new level on popularity that she has, take a look here. call this up, some of the groups

that have gravitated the most toward harris and black voters, 24-point increase and independents 20, young voters. this is a group where joe biden when he was still in, he was pulling up very, very good numbers and harris, a 24-point job among voters under 30 and look at it this way, and put it in comparison with biden and the national candidates this year, she's the only one, kamala harris in our poll with the higher positive score than a negative score. compare that to trump and look at jd vance, trump's running mate, the lowest positive score. >> but you have to look at trump, the highest negative rating. >> there it is. the only one over 50%, the majority there. take a look at the issues here, the most important issues here. you've got inflation. the economy. add together inflation and the economy, you're talking about 40% of the electorate inciting that. and take a look at the issues here. this was trump versus biden. that's what you're seeing right here. this is harris versus biden. trump still has the advantage of the economy. it's nine points. it used to be 22. on the border, it's 21 now.

that's a big advantage. it used to be 35. we talked about age being an issue and the mental physical health now and harris, a 20-point advantage over trump. republican sources say if former president trump would stick to the issues like the economy he would do better and it shows it. >> harris, that's part of the success that she's had has been eroding that. look at it this way. a lot of positive news for kamala harris and democrats. look back to october 2020, very similar. harris has jumped into a three-point net positive rating, that's where joe biden was in 2020. trump is pretty much in the same place, a little bit worse in terms of views of him in 2020. but here's the difference. in 2020 60% of the country thought it was on the wrong track and two-thirds say the country is on the wrong track. in 2020 came within a handful of votes in the few states of winning in the electoral college against the challenger and overall, not that much of a different setup here and certainly in the electoral

college within reach for him. >> just fascinating findings, steve, with just six weeks to go. >> here it is. thank you, kristen. and joining me now is senator john fetterman of pennsylvania. senator fetterman, welcome back to "meet the press." >> hi. it's great to be here. hi. >> well, it is great to have you. let's start with the results of the poll. it shows that vice president harris is leading former president trump by five points nationally, still almost two-thirds of voters saying household incomes are falling behind compared to inflation. why should pennsylvania voters trust that harris can turn things around when so many voters say they don't feel the results of the biden/harris policies, senator?

>> yeah. well, it's five points, and that's encouraging. and i'm not going to say i don't have to drive for four and a half hours to have a rally for democrats in rural counties. so it's going to be very close, and you're going to see polls. "the washington post" had a poll that was effectively tied and another had harris up, but regardless, i promise you, pennsylvania will be very close. otherwise if it's not, it's going to be a great nice surprise, but i'm expecting a very close and competitive race through. >> it usually is in pennsylvania. i want to shift now to north carolina, another competitive state. mark robinson, the republican nominee for governor, recordally made incredibly controversial posts on a pornographic website.

he's denied making those posts. former president trump has not dropped his endorsement of robinson, and i wonder if you think it is fair for voters to judge a candidate based on who they endorse, senator? >> well, of course, but it's great news for the democrats. i think robinson -- he's the new dream candidate to run against -- back in 2018 i talked to governor wolf -- i thought scott wagner was the dream candidate that could run, and we smoked him by 21 points, and doug mastriano came out in '22, and that's the best candidate that you can buy in, and the shapiro campaign spent billions of dollars to promote him as well too. then robinson's like, hey, hold my beer, and trump's not going to walk back because he's not going to admit what a disaster that is, but it's nice he's

going to win as a democratic governor, but i'm not sure the impact it will have at the topline. it would be wonderful and almost ball game if harris wins north carolina, but she's made north carolina competitive already, and then after robinson, now we're in the best possible situation to win. >> let me ask you about another topic, the second apparent assassination attempt against former president trump this week. this is what his running made jd vance had to say in the wake of it. take a look. >> the difference between conservatives and liberals is no one has tried to kill kamala harris in the last couple of months and two people now have tried to kill donald trump in the last couple of months. i'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs

to cut this crap out. somebody's going to get hurt by it. >> senator, what's your response to senator jd vance? >> i don't know, who is actually listening to what vance says? it's been months already. no one's really listening to him anymore. he has developed the reputation to say dumb things, pointless things and offend everybody and he's been picked as the most unpopular pick in history and no one's listening to him. i'm certainly not. and here we are right now. >> to the substance of his charge, though, he'd say i'd say that's pretty strong evidence that the left needs to tone down the rhetoric and needs to cut this blank out. how do you respond to that specific part of what he says? >> that's absolutely absurd. every democrat condemned the assassination attempts, and i did as well too. they're talking about eating the dogs and saying outlandish kind of things, and now let's just have a serious conversation about this election and not talking about that empty kind of rhetoric from somebody like jd vance. >> i want to ask you about something that vice president

kamala harris said this week. she was talking about gun ownership with oprah winfrey. she said, quote, if somebody breaks into my house, they're going to get shot. you, senator, are a gun owner. as the leader of a party that prides itself on advocating for gun safety, was it responsible for vice president harris to make those comments? >> absolutely. i think the vast majority of americans, if you had somebody breaking into your house that might be there to harm you, you'd probably have the right to shoot them, and i think that the vast majority of americans would agree with that. >> let me talk about another big issue, i should say, the issue of fracking. vice president harris once supported a ban on fracking when she was running for president in 2020. she even sued the obama administration to prevent fracking off california's coast. now she says she will not ban the practice as president. why should voters trust that that is really what the vice

president believes? >> so strange why we just keep talking about fracking. back in 2020 i said that might be an issue, but it's not going to be a defining issue, and now in 2024, we're still trying to talk about fracking. now, the other side's been talking about eating cats and geese and dogs and saying absurd things and talking about how if trump doesn't win, he said that you have to blame the jews on that and just absurd things. having a serious policy conversation when the other side is absolutely on fire and here's where we are, but -- and here we are also that it's going to be very close in pennsylvania and it's not going to be defined by fracking. >> we are talking about it because it supported 120,000 jobs in 2022. let me read you some of what you have said about fracking. in 2016 you called it a stain on pennsylvania. in 2018, you said you don't

support fracking at all, but then in 2022, you said you absolutely support fracking. senator, what exactly do you like about fracking now? >> it's strange for some weird gotcha taking quotes out of context, and here i am now. i'm state senator, and i won by five points, a record margin back in '22, and there might be an issue in fracking, and i totally support fracking and so does vice president harris. if you want to have a serious question about policy then i would challenge trump and vance to have one other than talking about eating pets. >> and we'll have plenty of questions for senator lindsey graham, there's no doubt about that, but to the point, what do you now like about fracking? you say you're not going to ban it. you support it now. >> they're eating dogs, they're eating cats. you know, again, so -- okay. any more on fracking?

>> well, i want to ask you about the middle east actually. let's move on because i do want to get this in. this week, as you know, a new front opened in the war in the mideast, jeopardizing cease-fire talks. senator bernie sanders accused prime minister netanyahu of sabotaging a deal. take a look at what he said. >> every time a deal appears close, netanyahu moves the goalpost, introducing new demands and torpedoing the deal. it is clear to me that netanyahu is prolonging the war in order to cling to power. >> senator, you have stood firmly behind israel, but do you agree with any part of what your colleague senator sanders said there? >> no. not at all. i want to be very clear. i thought what israel chose to do about blowing up the pagers and then walkie-talkies and then

after targeting and eliminating membership and leadership of hezbollah, i absolutely support that. in fact, if anything, i love it. and israel demonstrated that they will not allow terrorists not to be held accountable, and i fully support that, and it's not about nothing like what my colleague has said. >> senator fetterman, it is always great to talk to you. we appreciate you being on this morning. when we come back, republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina joins me next. f south carolina joins me next. xt. if you're living with hiv, imagine being good to go without daily hiv pills. good to go off the grid. good to go nonstop. with cabenuva, there's no pausing for daily hiv pills. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider.

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- [narrator] life with ear ringing with cabenuva, you're good to go. sounded like a constant train whistle i couldn't escape. then i started taking lipo flavonoid. with 60 years of clinical experience, it's the number one doctor recommended brand for ear ringing. and now i'm finally free. take back control with lipo flavonoid. welcome back and republican senator lindsey graham of south carolina joins me now. welcome back to "meet the press." >> happy anniversary. >> and they said it wouldn't last. >> one year in the chair. >> and a 3 1/2-month-old. lots going on in your house. >> that's for sure.

thank you for being here today. i really appreciate it. let's start with the embattled gubernatorial candidate in north carolina, mark robinson. of course, it's alleged he put these posts up, very controversial on a pornographic website. he said he didn't do it. former president donald trump in north carolina didn't mention him and has not dropped his endorsement. senator, do you think that former president trump should drop his endorsement of mark robinson? >> i think what's going to happen here is he deserves the chance to defend himself, mark robinson. the charges are beyond unnerving. if they're true, he is unfit to serve for office. if they're not true, he's got the best suit in the history of the country for libel. he claims they were artificially created and that cnn passed it along to be true. has nbc confirmed this? >> not yet. we're all looking into it. >> so what i would do if i were him i would hire me the best lawyer i could find, and i would sue the hell out of cnn because what they're saying about him is just unbelievable.

now, he needs to do more in my view. he has a right to defend himself. he has an obligation to defend himself. this is hanging over his campaign. trump won in 2016 and 2020 when the governor candidate lost both times. i don't think this hurts trump, but as to robinson, he's a political zombie if he does not offer a defense to this that's credible. >> senator, these allegations and the story came out on friday. he had had multiple days to defend himself. he has not produced one shred of evidence, and as you know, he's had other highly controversial comments in the past, including saying, let's stop talking about hitler and the nazis. do you think he could cost trump north carolina? >> no, i really don't because trump won when the governor candidate lost in 2016 and 2020, but here's what's important. i'm in south carolina. i see the ads every 15 seconds.

this is a major allegation by a major news organization that needs to be addressed. he has not only a right to defend himself, but an obligation to defend himself. >> at the very least, should former president trump pull his endorsement or make it clear that he's distancing himself? >> i think what you're going to see happen here is robinson will have to deal with it, and there's nothing -- no accusation involving trump. it's all about robinson. you asked a good question. should every republican in the country be held responsible for this guy? i would say no. it's him. it's not me. it's not trump. he's the one who supposedly said these things. he has the right to defend himself. he needs to defend himself. all right. let's move on to some of your activity this week. you traveled to nebraska, one of only two states that awards its electoral votes by congressional district instead of winner take all. that, as you know, could be

decisive in this election. it awarded joe biden, for example, one electoral vote in the omaha area back in 2020. you met with state lawmakers to persuade them to switch to a winner-take-all system. here's what senator leader chuck schumer had to say about it early already today -- earlier this week. >> look, they're very worried about the election as they should be. the american people every day see the contrast. they can't win legitimately so they always try to change the rules at the last minute. >> senator, you've seen the results of our poll. can donald trump win if you don't change the rules in alaska. >> this is really -- number one, 55% of the people in the poll say the country is on the wrong track. who is best able to solve the crime problem? trump by six. who is best on the economy? trump by nine. inflation, trump by eight. border, trump by 21. so what did i get out of this poll on the things that matter

most to the american people? trump is winning decisively. in a head-to-head, he's not. now i know why the teamsters voted the way they did. the teamsters have endorsed every democratic candidate for president in the last 30 years except harris. they must believe, like the american people, she's not good on the issues that matter most to the teamsters. that's the only explanation is that she lost the endorsement of the teamingsters for the first time in 30 years, why? because she's bad on the issues they care about. >> given what you're saying she's not good on these issues why do you need to change the rules in nebraska? >> i think nebraska has been talking about this for years. it is a very close election. 63 days ago chuck schumer led a coup to overthrow joe biden, and he's telling me or any other republican what we should be doing? if they changed the law in

nebraska, it won't be on the phone in the middle of the night. it would be through the democratic process. the entire federal delegation of nebraska, house members and two senators want this change. to my friends in nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between harris being president or not and she's a disaster for nebraska and the world. >> i hear you're calling it a coup. democrats have the right to change who is at the top of the ticket. >> does nebraska. very quickly, before we get to the middle east, what is the chance that this happens? >> 50/50, down to two people. >> okay. the u.s. is trying to avoid the escalation between israel and lebanon after, frankly, a new front in this war opened up this week, and there are real concerns that prime minister netanyahu will go into lebanon as soon as next week. should he pull back? should he de-escalate? >> this is a dream scenario for iran. they're trying to suck bibi and israel into a fight. october the 7th was designed to stop normalization.

trump did the abraham accords. biden has been trying to get saudi arabia to recognize israel. and october 7th was so horrific, a cd now you see a front opening in the north. so here's what i would tell my friends in israel. do not give up on normalization with saudi arabia. i know you have to deal with hezbollah. there was an imminent attack and one of two things have to change in the mideast. we need to make game changing peace which is reconciliation between saudi arabia and israel. our game changing military strategy. go into lebanon to establish a buffer zone won't work unless you hit iran. to my friends in israel, you're fighting the proxies. fight the source. and to the great satan iran, to the biden administration, you've let iran run wild. you've given them $80 billion to relief on sanctions.

they're rich and running wild and now is the time to hit the source of the problem, the iranians. >> let's talk about another headline this week. donald trump was speaking at an israeli american council event. he seemed to suggest that jewish voters would be to blame if he didn't win the election, listen to what he said. >> if i don't win this election and the jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because at 40%, that means 60% of the people are voting for the enemy. >> the second gentleman doug emhoff said those were trafficking and scapegoat trophs and jews. >> i would tell trump that the jewish-american voter is probably concerned about the other voters. why are you losing with

african american men. rather than blaming them you ought to convince them to vice president for vice president harris. my advice to president trump, the jewish american voter, and there's been no better friend to israel. talk about crime, talk about inflation, and talk about border. that's the way you persuade people in this country. we have the obligation to persuade people to vote for us. >> very quickly on ukraine at the debate, donald trump was asked if he wants ukraine to win the war, repeatedly pressed on that, he did not answer. what message does that send to vladimir putin? >> here's what will happen if president trump wins, he will end the war. what the biden administration has done stopping natural gas. -- >> senator, quickly, because you're almost out of time, does it concern you that he can't just say, yes, i want to see ukraine win? >> it concerns me that ukraine was invaded on biden's watch. it concerns me that iran's running wild on biden's watch. it didn't happen on trump's watch. harris and biden are a disaster.

ukraine was invaded by russia. iran is running wild and wreaking havoc. no, i am confident donald trump will change things. if you want the world to change and you elect harris nothing will change. >> were you happy with that answer? >> i'm okay with the answer of not telling what winning looks like. i am confident he will not reward putin, but here's what i would say to the american people, if you think we're on the wrong track, you're right. if you think kamala harris will charge things, you're wrong. she has her fingerprints on afghanistan. on the ideline, she boycotted bibi's speech. the iranians see her as weak. the russians see her as weak. do you think it's an accident the world's on fire, the border is broken, inflation is through the roof? she's not going to change things. she's going to make things worse and that's what our poll shows. >> all right. senator lindsey graham, thank you for being here in person. we really appreciate it.

when we come back, vice president harris's favorability rating rises 16 points in two months and she's winning the battle as the candidate who represents change. our panel is next. ning the battle as the candidate who represents change.

welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander, co-anchor of "weekend today." amy walter, editor in chief of "the cook political report," poo " former democratic congresswoman stephanie murphy of florida, president of the center aisle coalition and former republican congressman carlos curbelo of florida. we have the florida contingent here. thanks to all of you for being here. peter, i want you to kick things off and let's delve into some of these really stunning numbers we're seeing. vice president kamala harris with a 16-point swing, up 16 points from where she was in july in her favorability rating. unprecedented in our poll. what is the harris campaign strategy it keep building this momentum? >> well, i think, for one, i don't know that they necessarily trust that these numbers are

up numbers they're going to rely on. they still view this as this will be very tight in the states where this matters most right now and from my conversations with those in the harris campaign, they're very focused on these hard to reach voters right now. in particular they describe them s to be as people who are younger. they are mostly male and racially diverse right now. in particular, they're trying to have multiple touch points as they describe it with these people and not just to introduce themselves to them once, but as many times as they can and to that point, they're trying to get them where they are. college football games. i was watching football yesterday. a big win for michigan, i have to say. there were several harris ads that you saw throughout the course of yesterday and also i wouldn't be surprised if they didn't start showing up on sports betting sites. one other group to watch, kristen, non-college-educated white women. they think they can gain ground in that community too. >> it is about finding voters in

those unique states as peter is talking about. amy, one of the other headlines is harris is up by nine points when we ask who is the change candidate. she's currently in the white house. it's extraordinary that she's made this argument. what's behind that and what are your key takeaways? >> my key takeaways is that she's been able to change this from a race that was a referendum on joe biden to a race that's a referendum on donald trump and what's beyond the favorable number. when you look at questions of who do you think can serve as commander in chief? who do you think will be capable and effective. she has not only been able to move to the positive column, but on the issue of competent and effective, she's seen -- she let's moved 23 points from where biden was. i mean, this was a big advantage for trump going into the election when biden was the nominee. so the ability, once again, to make this, as i said, d to make this race not so much about the biden administration but about

trump himself, and, look, i think the senator said this as well, that where trump does have an advantage continues to be the economy, but even on the economy, that nine-point advantage, not only is it much smaller than he had over biden, but it's basically tied with where the nbc poll had this race in 2020 on the issue of the economy. >> it does look a lot like 2020 if you look at these numbers. stephanie, one of the things that's so fascinating when you think about the issue like the economy, vice president harris has been rolling out economic policies and she's not filling in every single blank for voters. is this a strategy that's working or do you need to be out front and does she need to do more? >> think the harris campaign in a very short amount of time has run an incredibly disciplined campaign and it's working for them. they introduced her to voters and they focussed on her values and sprinkled in policy. at the end of the day voters vote on values.

they want to know that this candidate cares about them, can feel their pain and has the vision for leadership and based on the numbers, so far that is resonating with voters. and so while swing voters still say they want more policy, do they really? and when you get into policy details, you're getting into the weeds and losing your topline messaging. so i think more of the same. >> carlos, this is swirling around gubernatorial candidate mark robinson. what say you? what do your sources say about how much concern there is among democratic circles? >> kristen, i think the word "discipline" is really the one we should focus on here. we look at these numbers and the change is drastic, but is it really that surprising? i mean, donald trump's campaign has been surrounded by so many

distractions, and this one in north carolina is the most recent one. we heard senatorgram. we always hear surrogates on tv pleading with him to focus on the issues, on the economy, on immigration. he has forfeited his lead on the issues, and not to take away from vice president harris. she has run a very disciplined campaign, but donald trump has done the opposite. this controversy in north carolina they can still win north carolina, that i might, but they'll have to spend limited resources there and that gives another advantage to harris. >> a reminder, as we talk about north carolina this is one that joe biden won by 3%. about mark robinson, this wasn't just predictable. this was predicted. talking to smart republicans in north carolina just yesterday, they asked two questions right now, have we seen everything? remember madison cawthorn a couple of years ago? this thing took not just days and weeks. this could marinate and we could be dealing with this for a while

now and how will this impact donald trump. republicans will vote for donald trump and democrats for kamala harris. there are 440,000 new unaffiliated voters in north carolina since to 20. and one thing to keep an eye on that you may not think about north carolina, there are more hbcu understood grads in the state of north carolina than any other state in the country. >> amy, what about that? what about what peter said about the unaffiliated voters who are up for grabs right now? >> you look at north carolina with 74,000 votes and the difference between 2020 with the biden winning and biden losing. i don't know. i'm always skeptical, but there is reverse coattails, in other words, that the bottom of the ticket impacts the top of the tuct. where i think it becomes a factor, though, young voters, if you look at the data, they have not turned out at the rate that democrats would need them to be in order to really give them that advantage, and is this an

issue that's going to pull them out? in other words, it's not that this is the issue that they're going to turn against trump while they're already voting. is seeing this one more reason for them to show up and vote and while they're there they vote for a democrat. >> i've been talking to republicans about candidate quality for about 15 years and nothing yet to be learned. >> we'll come back and have a lot more with the panel and a lot more to chew on. but when we come back, the threat of political violence hangs over the 2024 race. former donald trump is not the secret service protectee to be the target of multiple assassination attempts. our "meet the press minute" is next. (♪♪) voltaren... for long lasting arthritis pain relief. (♪♪)

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welcome back. former president trump welcome back. former president trump survived a second apparent assassination attempt in just over two months. a shocking event for a nation all too familiar with repeated threats on the life of its leaders. president gerald ford also survived two attempts within weeks. in 1975 a member of the charles manson family tried to assassinate ford in sacramento. 17 days later he faced another attempt in san francisco. william e. simon joined "meet the press" two days after the attempt. he was the secretary of the treasury which at the time meant he oversaw the u.s. secret service. >> new york times editorial yesterday said, quote, it is startling after secret service tightening in the wake of its procedures in the wake of the 1960s that a vociferous member of the manson family would

wander so easily into the path of a strolling president. what's your response to that comment? do you have any plans for reviewing the secret service procedures? >> the secret service procedures are as adequate as any procedures can be in carrying out their duties of protecting the various people that they protect by law and they carry it out in a way that i think is as professional, if not more professional than any other agency in the world in carrying out these duties. when we come back, early voting is already underway, but are republicans looking to make some last-minute changes to election rules? ask more with the panel next. h the t . t

w elco welcome back. the panel is still here. peter, you had a chance to speak exclusively with the first lady this week. you talked about the transition of power. let's play a little bit of that interview and then get your reaction on the other side. >> i think we have to come together. i think we have to vote as

americans, you know. that's a right that we've been given, and i think we have to take advantage of that, and then we have to have a peaceful transfer of power. >> what was your takeaway from what she told you? >> not only was this the first time that we've had a chance to speak if the first lady since her husband got out of this race after the decision. she said, i am at peace with that, and she acknowledged that as a presidential candidate and now he can support another candidate in some form and also spoke about political violence and was expressing gratitude to the secret service in the job they did. the one thing i will say in reporting with the little nugget from speaking to her team. they reminded me she is a homegrown girl from philadelphia and you will soon see her on the trail in her hometown for kamala harris. >> that's a good piece of

nugget. as we're doing this reports on what's happening inside these states -- i just talked to senator lindsey graham of nebraska -- let's talk about georgia where the state election board voted 3-2 to basically say that all votes that are machine counted have to be hand-counted as well. what are the implications of this? raffensperger said could create chaos. >> it is difficult to understand because it is different from one state to the next. by having georgia having to hand-count ballots, it doubles down on that ant acquitted part, but it also creates opportunity to sow misinformation. we find those differences between the way states count votes and when they announce were used to sow doubt on the outcome of the election and whennage machineries were lied to by powerful people, they showed up on january 6th and engaged in acts of political violence, and i think we really

have to brace ourselves in knowing that there's quite a number of lawsuits already filed around all elements of voting, and it feels like there's a foundation being laid for contesting the outcome of this election. >> carlos, what do you make of it? >> look, this is probably going to make the post-election messy again and messy comes with risk, but can we talk about what it does now to the race? it makes the race about the past. it makes donald trump's campaign about the 2020 election. this is why republicans didn't have a red wave in 2022 because 2022 was about 2020, and donald trump is making 2024 about 2020. so this is yet another example of how lack of discipline is costing donald trump and how the focus isn't on the issues where he has a clear advantage. >> well, and be careful of what you ask for. the more the conversation is about are they going to change the rules in the last minute, nebraska, they're changing the rules in georgia.

does that encourage those who maybe weren't interested in voting for kamala harris, but they really didn't want to see donald trump elected. now they come out to vote. any time donald trump's on the news, yes t helps motivate his base, but boy does it put rocket fuel on the other side. >> look at republicans in georgia, right? this certainly has an effect on them too. >> and he did this in the two senate races. >> that's right. >> and the democrats ended up winning those senate seats in georgia. >> we should say there's a very delicate alliance right now between kemp and trump, and anything that could potentially be said in the wrong direction. peter, let's talk about alaska, and you heard lindsey

graham defend his trip here. he has every right to be there, and the optics of this, does it not essentially suggest that trump is feeling really nervous? >> this has been a last-minute change and let's also be clear that right now they don't have the votes that they need to do to make this change even though donald trump is directly engaging in this process in some form, but the big picture reminder here is that every electoral vote could matter this go around, right? so this is still going to be a tight race and the slim margins and that could make the difference. >> that's a sign of the campaign that's been on defense and continues to be on defense. i don't know the last time that it felt as if the trump campaign were actually playing offense. this is what you do when you feel like well, we may not be winning and so that's another sign of a confident campaign. >> stephanie, lindsey graham said the chances are 50-50. as peter notes, they just don't have the votes right now. and at the same time, the democrats rah watching closely because that one electoral vote was important to joe biden's victory in 2020. it could be decisive, depending on how the chips fall. >> it could be decisive, if it gets thrown back to the house all of the permutations of what happens is the vote has to go to the house where it's one state, one vote.

so there is a lot about the way that our elections are structured and the way the elections are playing out this cycle that leads me to believe that it might be a really sporty few months after november. >> carlos, just looking forward, given all of this and given what amy is saying about former president trump effectively being on defense right now, what do you think the strategy is to get on offense? is there one based on your conversations? >> look, in some ways he should maybe emulate what vice president harris has done. she has pivoted to the center. a true and tested strategy in american politics. donald trump keeps pivoting to the past and keeps trying to max his base. it's powerful, and we can't underestimate it, and he can still win this, no question, and his base has fallen short. he has to grow from his base, and he's doing nothing to achieve that.

>> our poll yet again shows what is shaping up to be an historic gender gap, amy. >> we don't know who is going to turn out and today, who will show up and vote and who is the most motivate side an important question, but then you asked the question and i don't think you've seen it on your poll, but other polls asking voters think not surprisingly, they said they thought donald trump would win. harris is seen as the more likely victor which tells you once again that the agenda in terms of who is controlling it has shifted appreciably to harris' benefit. >> the number of new registrations that have registered to vote and that's bringing new people into the political process, which is healthy, and most of those people came -- that bump came on the democratic heels.

>> guys, great conversation. >> and one year of "meet the press." congratulations. >> thank you. >> thank you for being here this sunday and being apart of it. appreciate it. thank you. that is all for today. thank you for watching and we will be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." ♪♪ ♪♪ this morning escalating violence across the middle east as hezbollah and israel ramp up the attacks. we'll have the