everybody has been commenting, scientific papers have been written about how warm the ocean is around the florida peninsula. it's this warm, warm water that is driving these storms, enabling it to intensify so quickly. everybody, be careful out there. let's get through this. >> bill, thank you very much. appreciate your time. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media @jdbalart. you can watch clips from this show. up next, homeland security secretary mayorkas joins andrea mitchell. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," florida bracing for hurricane milton, a

category 4 storm hurtling toward the west coast. meteorologists warning that the hurricane zone is getting larger as it gets closer to florida. officials ordering mandatory evacuations in some zones, telling everyone to get out while they can. a storm so big president biden has canceled an overseas trip this week. >> if you are under evacuation orders, you should evacuate now, now, now. you should have already evacuated. it's a matter of life and death. that's not hyperbole. it's a matter of life and death. >> can fema handle back-to-back storms? alejandro mayorkas joining me and his fight against disinformation. three of iran's proxies attacking israel overnight. israel hits lebanon again with unrelenting rocket and drone strikes against hezbollah targets. with four weeks to go until election day, could it all be decided in pennsylvania?

we will talk to the head of the democratic national committee and senator bob casey who is fighting for re-election in the keystone state. ♪♪ good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. hurricane milton, on track to strike florida's gulf coast as the most powerful storm to hit the tampa area in 100 years on the heels of hurricane helene's devastation. milton is now a life-threatening category 4 storm with landfall expected tomorrow night. moments ago, president biden told floridians to get out now, as mandatory evacuations expand along the gulf. >> my priority is to increase the size and presence of our effort. as we prepare for another catastrophic storm about to make landfall. this could be the worst storm in over a century.

god willing, it won't be. that's what it's looking like right now. >> tampa is vulnerable. the storm surge could be as high as 15 feet. the city's mayor leaving no doubt about how dangerous it could be. >> helene was a wake-up call. this is literally catastrophic. i can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of the evacuation areas, you are going to die. >> residents are racing to prepare. in addition to sandbags and plywood, there's an urgent rush to remove debris left behind by hurricane helene before it is picked up by milton's predicted 110 mile per hour winds, also massive flooding. the florida highway patrol proviing an escort for dump trucks. >> it's terrifying to think what the next storm will do with that

debris. >> it will be a war zone. >> there's something about this one that i'm feeling very uneasy about. >> we begin with nbc news weather anchor angie lanceman and tom brock. even if it weakens, the storm is grows in size. what's the latest? >> you are right. that's one of the things we want people to focus on, not so much the category. this is a massive storm. it maintains category 4 strength. the impacts will not change if it weakens or strengthens over the next 24 hours and the fluctuations continue. right now, it does look like it will expected to be a category 3 by the time it makes landfall wednesday night. most likely after midnight. after dark. the exact location of where the center of the system goes, it's in flux. we have about a 40 to 50-mile

spread in exact location of where that could be within the cone. right now, is it south of tampa bay? through tampa bay? north of tampa bay? those scenarios will matter. it took a breath, got its act back together. we saw an expanding wind field. that means more damage across florida going from 200 right now to about 375 miles in covering the entirety of the state with tropical storm force winds as we get into landfall time and beyond. this makes a big difference with a larger storm when it comes to the push of water slamming up against the coast. the bigger the storm, the more water, more storm surge. that's why we have warnings up and down the coast. 10 to 15 feet in tampa bay spreading down towards venice. this is what causes the most loss of life in these systems. especially we're going towards

high tide time. we are not talking about a low tide timing with the landfall. 6:51 for high tide in tampa bay, very concerning when it comes to that worst of the storm surge in this region. here are the areas we are most concerned from tampa bay to st. pete. we have the potential for this a little farther south, sarasota. any of these barrier islands, those are in mandatory evacuation zones. those where folks should not be as we wrap up the day today, especially even as we get into the second half of day. the time for you to get out and evacuate is dwindling. we have concern for flash flooding. rainfall amounts across the state, not just where the land landfall is, it's going to make a big difference. we see rain bands from five to ten to 18 inches of rain possible. no surprise also, this was updated earlier this morning, notice where the hurricane warnings are. not just where we expect

landfall on the west side of the state but also on the east side, stretching up into jacksonville. as that system skirts across the state in a quick pace, we will see those wraparound winds bring onshore winds. that's problematic on the east coast. where the center is will make a big difference. we are talking 100 plus for st. pete and sarasota, tampa. this will be a devastating kind of storm here as we unfold over the next 24 to 36 hours. >> wow. that's a tough forecast. the surge alone around tampa. thank you so much. sam, there you are, evacuation orders expanding. a major problem, drivers can't find gas. how do they get out? >> reporter: that's a great question. no one has the answer to that. i would say it bears repeating, it has been since 1921 the tampa bay area has taken a direct hit from a hurricane.

a few hundred thousand people then. now, tampa bay is one of the largest growing areas in the country. 3 million plus people in the metro area. evacuations keep expanding. i'm at this gas station here. the boards behind me, some of the pumps do have plastic bags over them. i cannot tell you how many times in the last 30 minutes people have driven in and said, is there gas available? no, there's not. there's confusion over that. come over here, you see, you walk up to the pump. pay the clerk inside. okay. pay the clerk inside. pan over and see there's just plywood up over where the clerk would be. this is a snapshot of what is littering highways here. there's a couple of major bridges. about five miles from here, they were jammed up yesterday. right now, i'm not seeing dozens and dozens of cars on the road, perhaps many have evacuated. many others can't get gas. over my shoulder, another gas station. if you can see, there's a couple

of cars. they have diesel. nothing else. i had a conversation with a woman a second ago and asked her what does this mean? you have 250,000 people being asked to evacuate and mandatory evacuation zones. here is what she said. >> you have to ride by. if there's no line or there's wrap over the pump, you know it's no good. i can't get enough gas to be sure i can make it far enough to do any real help. >> reporter: one note on the gas, governor desantis says they are preparing fuel reserves here. they are in the range of 1.2 million gallons of diesel and gasoline on the way. he says there's no shortage. this is what we are looking at on the ground. as far as the topography of tampa, one of the reasons the storm surge is so problematic, dangerous, 10 to 15 feet, is because the continental shelf

dips going into tampa. the water has nowhere to escape. it's very different than many other areas of the country. on the east side, that shelf goes down. the water has a place to escape. that's not the case here. it's why concern is so elevated. >> sam, thank you for all of that. as hurricane milton strengthens, fema's disaster response is politicized. donald trump is amplifying misinformation about fema with false statements about federal relief payments and insisting funds were diverted to immigrants. none of that is true. the biden administration trying to set the record straight. fema is knocking down the rumors online. vice president harris denouncing the lies as irresponsible. the president weighing in just moments ago. >> it misleads people. puts people in circumstances where they panic, where they really, really worry. they think they're not being taken care of.

this is an old phrase, it's unamerican. it is. people are scared to death. >> joining me now is homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas who oversees fema. i wanted to ask, how does the misinformation impact relief efforts? >> very significantly. thank you for having me. it's extraordinarily damaging. most of all, it's extraordinarily damaging to survivors of hurricane helene, of natural disasters. individuals lose trust in their government. they are reluctant to seek assistance that they need to meet their immediate demands. food, water, shelter. they don't seek it. they are entitled to it. they need it. we implore them to ignore the false information that is being spread and to seek the help that

we have available to them. it is also extremely demoralizing to our federal emergency response personnel, the state and local emergency response personnel who are risking their lives in the service of those in need. when we reach into flooded zones, when we reach into a home that's been destroyed to assist another individual, we don't ask about their party affiliation. we are there to help. they need to understand that. they need to trust us. they can rely on us. we have assistance for them. that is what these extraordinarily heroic individuals are dedicated to doing. >> something that's not a rumor as far as we know is how stretched and understaffed fema is. "the new york times" reporting that of the 50 disaster operation directors, only one was available as of monday. how is fema going to put all of

this together with back-to-back hurricanes? >> fema prides itself on the slogan of flexible fema. we can meet the needs of hurricane helene survivors and the individuals who will be in need as a result of the devastating hurricane milton. that is what fema does. it does it in support of state and local officials. we have been directed by president biden, by vice president harris, to not only dedicate the fema resources, the resources of the department of homeland security, but the resources of the entire federal government. that is, indeed, what we are doing. when we look at the height of hurricane helene, there were 5.1 million people without power. that's reduced by 4.8 million. at the height of hurricane helene, there were approximately 3.4 million people without

communication. that number has been reduced by approximately 3.1 million. we have tens of millions of liters of water and food available in anticipation of hurricane milton. this is what the brave men and women of fema and all of the brave men and women in emergency response do for a living. they dedicate themselves to the well-being of others. we have the resources to meet the demand. >> you can say how much has been accomplished. of course, for the hard-pressed people in some of the mountain areas, for instance of north carolina, that's where it is critical. do you need congress to come back in order to allocate more funds? do you need a supplemental with back-to-back hurricanes and congress out for the political season? they won't be back until january. >> andrea, two things. one, there are people suffering from the devastating impacts of hurricane helene.

one of the great challenges is the fact that the flooding has made areas very difficult to access. we have to save people. life and safety is our first priority. then we can begin in the hardest hit areas, the most remote area, to clear the debris and reach people in need. the fact of the matter is -- we have been clear throughout. let me reiterate. we have the resources we need. we have the funding that we need to meet the challenge of hurricane helene and the challenge of hurricane milton. but we are operating on a continuing resolution. that is not stable funding for the long haul. therefore, we need a real budget and not a band-aid for the long haul. the gravity and frequency of extreme weather events have only increased as a result of climate change.

its real-life impact on the people of the country. >> do you want congress to come back? >> the president noted correctly that he has asked congress to come back and provide funding so we have stability for the long haul. that's what we plan for. let me be clear again that we can meet the needs immediately. >> because of climate change, do you think you have to rethink how fema is funded? should a separate agency be handling this, the climate emergencies? >> well, fema is an agency within the department of homeland security. >> i'm aware of that. >> fema draws upon the resources of the department of homeland security. we work seamlessly as one department, a cohesive force in support of the american people. we also reach outside of the department of homeland security as one united administration in the service of one united country.

we have to put those politics aside and remember that we are one country. we assist people in need regardless of politics. >> one final thing. there's been a lot of politics here. we know what's been happening at the top of the ticket. there are significant criticisms by some republican governors who are not generally responding politically. they are responding because they don't think things were placed in the right position, they didn't have enough supplies. for instance, gasoline. the governor there says they have enough gasoline supplies. but you see there are empty gas tanks and people don't know how to evacuate in florida right now. >> andrea, we support state and local officials. the governor has, indeed, stated publicly that they have the supply of gasoline that the people of his state need. we are in constant contact with state and local officials to understand their needs and to be able to deliver whatever federal resources we have available and

that we have the authority to provide. we support the state and local officials regardless of politics, driven only by the needs of the american people. >> thank you very much. good luck to all of your teams in the field. thank you, secretary mayorkas. >> thank you, andrea. president biden will be in an all important battleground state, pennsylvania, tonight for a private fund-raiser for bob casey. he is in a hotly contested senate race. it could tip control of the senate. jill biden is going to campaign in her hometown area, philadelphia suburbs, next week. she's about to hit the trail for the first time in coming days for the woman who replaced her husband on the ticket. joining us now, democratic pennsylvania senator bob casey. how tight is it going to be? you have talked to me about how close this is. you have a very well funded opponent, dave mccormick, republican. >> yeah, andrea, great to be

with you and your focus on pennsylvania i think is warranted. obviously, we will have a close presidential race as well as a close senate race that i'm a candidate in. the principle or leading reason why it's so close in our race is because i have been under attack by multiple superpacs, but one in particular, which was set up by a group of billionaires -- out of state billionaires supporting my opponent who lied about living in pennsylvania when he was living in connecticut. but this superpac alone is the largest individual superpac, a pac set up for one candidate. it's the largest in the country. they have spent at least $30 million on advertising. we think that number will grow to 60 or $70 million. we are grateful the president is coming to help us raise money to combat those attacks. i hope if folks out there want to help us, go to bobcasey.com.

>> is this one state where because of his popularity in pennsylvania you would have been better off with biden at the top of the ticket than kamala harris? >> look, i think vice president harris is running a very strong campaign. she will be successful in pennsylvania. this is a state that always has close elections. when president biden was running last night, it was a whopping 1.2% between the two candidates. i think this race will be similarly close. i think the reason why i think in the end my side, my race and at the presidential level will be successful is because people know the difference between me and my opponent and between democrats and republicans on basic issues, basic rights, whether it's voting rights, women's rights, workers' rights. i think they know the difference in terms of the economic stakes. i have been a senator who has been working to lower costs, ratcheting down prescription drug costs for seniors, helping

families raise their children with a more generous child tax credit, supporting strongly a middle class tax cut when we go to battle with republicans next year on tax policy. i think people know the difference. we have to make sure we have the resources to be able to communicate that. i hope people will go to our website at bobcasey.com to tell us about that, about how they can help us. >> are you concerned about the shrinking democratic voter advantage? it was 916,000 in 2016. now it's just over 330,000. the trump factor has made a big difference in pennsylvania in attracting people to switch over and become republicans. >> i think part of that is that you have -- our state has been close politically, close presidential races. most races are very close. i think you have had over the last generation, there have been a huge number of democrats have been voting republican but never

changed their registration. in essence, their change in registration doesn't really impact voting as much because they have been voting -- some have been voting republican for a long time. i think what we are seeing in this campaign is a move in the other direction. republicans in communities across the state voting for democrats because of the basic threat to rights. i think the sense that their party has been taken over by a person and it doesn't stand for the principles that a lot of republicans in pennsylvania in my lifetime have stood for. >> we saw saturday that he had -- trump had an enormous crowd in butler. he was campaigning as the strong candidate, the man who stood up to an assassination attempt. falsely claiming, as did others on the stage, that the democrats were behind the attempt or somehow involved, which is not true at all. he is now going to reading and

scranton. that's your area, scranton, where you and your father before you, governor bob casey. he is going right into your base. >> look, we will have a competitive race at both levels. you have to compete for and earn every vote. that's what i have to do as a candidate. i think in the end, andrea, people have a good sense already -- there's still folks we need to continue to talk to about the basic differences between what i have been doing in the senate representing the people of our state, fighting for workers and families, fighting for children and seniors and people with disabilities, our veterans, and getting wins for them to lower costs and what my opponent is doing is running a hedge fund where he made personal money investing in china's military when they make missiles and bombers to confront us and also to make sure that we are clear about differences between us.

hope people will go to our website at bobcasey.com and help us. >> senator bob casey, thank you so much. we reach out to dave mccormick's campaign for an interview and we will continue to do so and hope he can join us. the latest on milton's path from the director of the national hurricane center. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. what does a robot know about love? it takes a human to translate that leap in our hearts into something we can see and hold. etsy. >> at university of maryland global campus, getting a bachelor's degree doesn't have to mean starting from scratch. here you can earn up to 90 undergraduate credits for relevant experience. what will your next success be? san francisco's leadership is failing us. that's why mark farrell is endorsing prop d. because we need to tackle our drug and homelessness crisis

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san francisco's leadership is failing us. that's why mark farrell is endorsing prop d. because we need to tackle our drug and homelessness crisis just like mark did as our interim mayor. mark farrell endorsing prop d, to bring the changes we need for the city we love. as we have been reporting, hurricane milton is churning in the gulf of mexico and barrelling toward the coast of florida. forecast to make landfall around tampa late tomorrow and officials across the state are warning people of life-threatening winds and storm surge, toevacuate. the national hurricane center warning milton could produce storm surges up to 15 feet. milton is a category 4, but yesterday it was briefly a category 5 as it intensifies

massively and worrying many forecasters, including a forecaster who got emotional. >> it's an incredible, incredible, incredible hurricane. it has dropped -- it has dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. i apologize. this is just horrific. >> that's how scary it was to him. joining us now, national hurricane center director michael brennan. thank you for being with us. this is the strongest storm of the season. it's historic in terms of tampa bay. they are talking about a 100-year storm. >> yeah, that's right. tampa bay has not seen a threat from a hurricane of this magnitude that has the potential to produce that kind of storm

surge in the region in anyone's living memory at this point this time. we are expecting milton to be a dangerous, large, powerful hurricane when it reaches the west coast of florida tomorrow night. it will bring multiple life-threatening hazards. storm surge, flooding rainfall as much as 18 inches. >> do we expect it might be upgraded to a cat 5? >> it's possible it could strengthen today. we are seeing signs that was right now. it's looking better organized. we aren't expecting a category 5 hurricane when it gets up towards the florida coast. it could be a powerful 3 or 4 hurricane. the main message is the storm will get bigger. it will double in size between now and tomorrow night. that's going to expand those wind and storm surge and rainism pacts over much of the florida peninsula. >> take a look at the map. show us -- is it the red area

now that's vulnerable? >> yeah. the red area is under hurricane warning. that's not just tampa and the coast but inland across the i4 corridor, orlando, metro, melbourne. the area we are most concerned about is in this area from clearwater to sarasota where we expect to see 10 to 15 feet in this purple area. near and to the right where the center of milton crosses the coast tomorrow night. >> michael brennan, thank you for all of the warnings. let's hope people are heeding them. thank you. coming up, israel expanding its ground invasion into southern lebanon as hezbollah keeps up rocket attacks. the latest on the widening war in the middle east, that's next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. we were loading our suv when... crack! safelite came right to us, and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust.

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israel's defense forces say hezbollah fired more than 100 rockets into israel's port city. this comes as nbc news has confirmed u.s. officials saying israel has not briefed them on its plans for retaliation against iran. israel has ramped up its offensive into lebanon overnight, firing into beirut and across southern lebanon in what the israeli military described as ex extensive strik against hezbollah.

gallant will be in washington tomorrow to talk about middle east security developments. the cia chief warning of a real danger of escalation as tehran says any new attack against its infrastructure would be met with strong retaliation. joining me now from beirut, nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel and aaron david miller, a former middle east advisor to republican and democratic secretary of states, where he helped formulate u.s. policy and negotiate between israel and the palestinians when those negotiations actually took place. richard first. netanyahu was speaking at the u.n. when hezbollah's leader nasrallah was assassinated. israel's defense minister will be here in d.c. netanyahu had a photo op releasing pictures of him ordering the strike from new york city. israel could retaliate against

iran tomorrow while the defense minister is here. we don't know about the targets. we believe that it won't be nuclear. there could be ballistic missile sites and air defenses, other things close to the nuclear sites. what are you expecting? >> reporter: i think it's very telling that the u.s. officials are telling you they haven't been briefed by israel, even at this stage of the game. the u.s. military, israeli military work incredibly close together. the fact that they haven't been briefed either indicates that they don't know, they haven't fully decided yet what the targets are, or there is this concern -- it seems like you are heading there in your open -- that the israelis don't really -- the americans don't trust the netanyahu government on this. they don't really trust ben

benjamin netanyahu to be honest. they might do this attack while his defense minister is in the united states, while these consultations are taking place. it would be an act of extremely bad faith. a short while ago if you saw the comments from jake sullivan, he said, we want full transparency because what israel does has an impact on the united states. if israel, for example, hits oil facilities in iran, it's an article that dropped a few minutes ago saying oil could go up to $100 a barrel, weeks before the election. if oil prices go up that much, it has an impact. before you go on, let me -- while the call to prayer is happening, i spoke to you from this very square a week ago. just then, people were starting to come out, people were starting to come out into the streets because of the israeli air strikes in beirut. now everywhere you go there this city, on the street corners,

there are families. because where israel is hitting is confined to one area. it's the hezbollah stronghold in the city. it is the most crowded neighborhood in beirut. mostly everyone is now living like these families, just out. no shade, no food. they have been complaining no one is taking care of them. frustration is growing. they don't know how long they will be like this. while the u.s. is looking for clarity, i can tell you the same thing and these same questions are asked here. >> richard, let me share with you, while you've been speaking, netanyahu has shared with the lebanese people a message that the hezbollah -- confirming the hezbollah successor to nasrallah was killed in the strike in the neighborhood you were speaking of, that quarter of beirut.

we have damaged hezbollah's capabilities. we have eliminated thousands of terrorists, including nasrallah and his successor. that might be a declaration of mission accomplished? maybe as you reported this morning, there's an indication, a hint from hezbollah that they might be considering a cease-fire not linked to having a cease-fire in gaza, which was the previous pre-condition, which is not happening. >> reporter: we are reading the tea leaves. yes, for many, many years, since 1992, you had hezbollah led by nasrallah. charismatic leader. he made the group what it was, incredibly organized. well armed. he was killed. israel carried out the assassination after hezbollah's communication systems was

compromised, after booby trapped the beepers, blown up the walkie-talkies. then there was an attack on the successor, a member of his family. the third in command is the deputy. he gave a speech earlier today that sounded a lot more diplomatic. he didn't say, we are ready, we are done, we are changing our organization forever. but he spoke in a way that gave hints that he would be open to a potential -- he encouraged the negotiation process, the cease-fire process. he did talk about gaza. he didn't explicitly link in so many words using the same formulation that nasrallah used in the past. that potentially could be an opening here. no sense that this is game over yet. if netanyahu is starting to talk in a way that sounds like they have done what they needed to do, hezbollah suggesting more

compromise, perhaps there's room for compromise and negotiation. >> there's a lot of pressure from the u.s. to stop, that they have done enough. pressure from the saudis, who are more interested in containing what's happening in lebanon. the aggression, the offense there, the fighting both ways, than worrying about what's going to happen in iran. to them, lebanon is where this could explode. we will leave it there. >> reporter: they don't want to see another gaza here. >> thank you, richard. extraordinary seeing those people on the street.miller, pi from there. we have netanyahu saying nasrallah's successor has been assassinated. they have eliminated so many of the weapons that they said were being hidden in homes, in tunnels along the southern border. is it possible that they are getting close to finishing the job that they set out for themselves in lebanon?

we could avoid further expansion? >> it's hard to say. thanks for having me, andrea. 150,000, 200,000 weapons, the israelis and americans believe the israelis have eliminated 50% of those. look, they were just rocketed with 105. that's 40 miles from the border. clearly, hezbollah has capacity to continue. obviously, taken an enormous beating. a cease-fire occurs whether in gaza or in lebanon when two parties are in a hurry. when there is real urgency. that's when parties reach an agreement. i'm not persuaded yet. i'm not sure we're at the point yet where we are talking about a sustainable cease-fire in lebanon. we're on the cusp of something

the middle east has not seen before, a possibility, but it's closer than ever of a major multi-front regional war, not with the deployment of ground forces but with ai, cyber, with one-way attack drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, potential attacks on economic infrastructure and even attacks on iran's nuclear sites. >> that we believe at least is one thing that's off the table for now in this first strike. if you get into a tit for tat and then iran responds and israel responds, this could escalate to what you are talking about. what happens to 101 hostages in had context? let's talk about the hostages. >> in the end, the tragedy of october 7 and the massacre, the

taking of hostages and the israeli response, the exponential rise in palestinian deaths mostly civilians, the hostages are emblematic of another dimension of the tragedy. governing is about choosing. the redemption of israelis on the battlefield has always been a preeminent israeli mission. netanyahu himself, as you know, in 2011 presided over one of the largest asymmetrical trades. one israeli corporal taken by hamas in 2006, five years later, netanyahu agreed to the release of 1,076 palestinians, including as you know sinwar, the architect of the hamas terrorist surgeon october 7. clearly, this is a willful decision on the part of the

prime minister to prioritize and not make the return of the hostages as a priority because it would create huge problems, particularly the asymmetrical number of palestinians who have been charged or convicted of killing israelis on his right wing extremist coalition. that's the tragedy that befallen 60 out of the 101 that may still be alive. >> as you say, it's a core principle. never leave someone behind on the battlefield. these are innocent civilians on the battlefield, along with more than 41,000 palestinians, according to their health authority. thank you very much, aaron david miller. thanks to richard engel as well. he joined up with a sky news anchor for a podcast launching tomorrow. listen where you get your podcasts. he has the most interesting and

the latest information from the front lines. an explosive new book from bob woodward shining new light on the relationship between netanyahu and joe biden and also between russian leader vladimir putin and former president trump. vaughn hillyard joining us with more on that. vaughn, an unnamed trump aide indicates the former president may have spoken to putin as many as seven times since donald trump left the white house in 2021. there's a denial from trump on truth social about that. what more are you learning? >> let's look at the broad blink -- blanket denial. a spokesman says the stories in this book are made up and they are not true. going on the attack against bob woodward specifically noting that he still has a lawsuit, donald trump does, against bob woodward for releasing the audiotapes of the interviews in

2019 and 2020. you see there, none of these stories are true and are the work of a demented and deranged man who suffered from trump derangement syndrome. you noted the reporting from bob woodward inside of this book that donald trump, since leaving white house in 2021, has had seven phone conversations with the russian president. i have gone through three different campaign officials about that specific claim of reporting. there has been no denial. there's no response. of course, this is a lengthy book with a lot of similar stories. there's another one in which there's reporting that donald trump, when he was in the white house in 2020, sent covid test machines to vladimir putin who was concerned about contracting the virus himself. there's much here. at this point this time, all we have from the trump camp is that

blanket denial. >> of course, bob woodward has his reputation, which -- his reputation for veracity compared to donald trump's. we will leave it there. vaughn, thank you very much. next, how democrats hope to convince swing voters to cast their ballots for vice president harris. we will talk to jamie harrison about that and more. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. bc r l and i had reached a ceiling, so i enrolled in umgc. i would not be the person that i am today had it not been for the partnership with umgc.

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vice president harris is amping up her media blitz, appearing on "the view" this morning. she will join howard stern in the next hour. tonight, she will be on "the late show with steven today, appearing on "the view" this morning and then with howard stern and then with stephen colbert. with just 28 days to go, some voters still feel they don't

know enough about the vice president. when pressed about immigration, the economy, paying for her policies, the vice president appeared to struggle with her answers. >> it is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations. >> but, but -- >> i plan on making that fair. >> but we're dealing with the real world here. >> but the real world includes -- >> how are you going to get this through congress? >> well, you know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in congress, they know exactly what i'm talking about because their constituents know exactly what i'm talking about. >> joining me now is democratic national committee chairman jaime harrison. great to see you, chairman harrison. less than a month to go, donald trump's proposals would add more than $7 trillion to the debt, but hers would add more than $3 trillion, so he's not being specific at all, let me pause at that.

does she have to be more specific? are people demanding more from her because they don't know her as well? >> well, andrea, she laying out policies that are actually addressing the needs of the american people. the policy that she rolled out today is a game changer. you know, for those of us who are both raising kids and caring for aging parents, it is a huge burden right now and the policy that she laid out today is a historic plan to in essence cover home care for seniors through medicare. it is the first time the program will cover home care. you know, i was raised by my grandparents, as you know, and my grandmother is at a nursing home now. one of the hardest decisions that we had to make as a family is because none of us could care -- could give her the attention and the care she needed in the home, but she desperately wanted to stay home, she wanted the dignity of being able to stay home, the comfort of staying home. and so that was a huge decision for us as a family that we had to make. and that's a decision that

regardless of if you're a democrat, republican, or independent, you're making those decisions every single day. and if you take a look, andrea, at all of the policies that kamala harris rolled out over the past few weeks, these are things that -- people are struggling with right now. elder care, is a big struggle for a lot of families. child care is a big struggle for a lot of families. buying your first issue, it is a big issue. she's proposing a $25,000 down payment, start a small business, she's proposing $50,000 credit -- >> the question was, the question was whether it is too much and not paying for it. let me ask you about breaking news, because we're now seeing the cook political report shifting its rating from the wisconsin senate race for tammy baldwin from lean democrat to tossup. if you're in trouble in wisconsin, you know, you've got a world of trouble in the senate races. >> i feel very, very confident about our operation in wisconsin. i've spent a lot of time in

milwaukee over the course of the -- and madison and a number of other cities across -- over the course of the last few months. i believe we have one of the best democratic party operations in the country right there in wisconsin. and i know the alternative, the republicans don't have that on the ground. so, all of the battleground states, i really feel good about what we're going to do in wisconsin. polls will go up and down, but in the end of the day, it is about getting people to the ballot box, and if you look at the last few election cycles in wisconsin, i don't think the numbers don't lie. we have won some of the closest races because of the ground operation we have there. and we're going to win again this november. >> and what about pennsylvania? >> pennsylvania, i feel really good about that too. i'll be back there this weekend and we're spending a lot of time and energy on the ground there. you know, even the republicans are complaining about their ground operation there. donald trump is outsourced the

field operation. we know all these races are going to be close. the polling says that they're all going to be close. and in those types of races, andrea, the ground game is the differencemaker. that is the -- that margin of error race, and we have the best operation that the democratic party has ever had in all these battleground states on the ground. and that's a differencemaker. they're all over the place, but we are focused like a laser. we're on the ground and all of our candidates, the vice president, tim walz, and all of us are converging in these states. every single day, every single week, until we get to election day. >> all right. well, as we know, donald trump is going to be in pennsylvania tomorrow, and scranton and reading. so the fight is on.

jaime harrison, thank you so very much. >> thank you, andrea. and tonight, we have a big premiere here in washington, ukraine's national ballet kicking off its first u.s. tour in more than 30 years right here at the kennedy center. ukrainian folk dancing will be featured alongside ballet classics, don quixiote. you can rewatch highlights from the show anytime on youtube, go to msnbc.com/andrea. chris jansing reports after a short break. chris jansing reports after a short break. six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. still have symptoms from moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease after a tnf blocker like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control,

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