3-year-old giant pandas arrived at the national zoo in washington. they are in the trucks. they won't make their big debut right away. the zoo says they will spend 30 days in quarantine before they will be seen. they will be at the zoo for ten years. they each got their own individual limo. they are each in their own limo with their photo on it. it's how you gotta travel. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can reach me on social media and watch clips from this show at youtube. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," this hour, former president trump will speak to the economic club of

chicago after an eyebrow raising town hall in philadelphia last night, which he turned into a 30-minute dance party. >> let's not do any more questions. let's just listen to music. let's make it into music. who the hell wants to hear questions. right? >> vice president harris sharpens her attacks about his stability and threats to use the military against domestic opponents. >> donald trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged. he is out for unchecked power. that's what he is looking for. in a few moments, new numbers from our poll on where the early vote is going, three weeks until election day as voters start heading to the polls today in georgia. in the middle east, israel under pressure from the white house agrees to limit its targets in iran. ♪♪

good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. with 21 days to go, early in-person voting begins today in a critical state of georgia, where donald trump is due back tonight. the new nbc news poll shows 52% of voters plan to cast their ballots early. more than 5.2 million votes have been cast around the country. a majority from democrats. this hour, donald trump is about to address the economic club of chicago after a bizarre twist during his town hall last night in philadelphia, following two medical emergencies in the crowd, trump stopped taking questions and spent the next half hour playing dj, swaying to the music, including "ava maria." >> go and vote. let me hear that music, please. >> everyone, let's thank president trump. god bless you. let's send president trump back to the white house.

♪♪ ♪ it's fun to stay at the ymca ♪ ♪ it's fun to stay at the ymca ♪ ♪ they have everything for young men to enjoy ♪ ♪ you can hang out with all the boys ♪ ♪ it's fun to stay at the ymca ♪ >> nobody is leaving. there's nobody leaving. keep going? keep going? should we keep going? ♪♪ >> the harris campaign seized the opportunity to question the former president's cognitive ability. harris adding, i hope he is okay. trump called it a great evening. the vice president is in detroit

today, critical for a democrat to carry battleground michigan as she keeps trying to appeal to black male voters by doing an interview with a popular host. we begin with mark murray, gabe gutierrez and yasmeen abdutalla. gabe, what's going on? >> reporter: hi. good afternoon. first, what the secretary of state said a short time ago, he says that this state is on pace potentially to have record breaking turnout for early voting. as of mid-morning, 71,000 ballots have been cast. ptentially record breaking. i'm in front o polling place.

it opened after the issues four years ago with long lines here in georgia. election officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of that. to the breaking news overnight. fulton county superior judge issued an 11-page ruling saying that election superintendents in georgia, it's mandatory for them to certify election results. it's mandatory by law, this judge says. that rejects claims from an election board member in fulton county who had voted not to certify the election results earlier this year during the presidential primary. as you know, republicans here in this state of georgia over the last several months have been raising questions about election rules in this state. there's been a lot of back and forth, a lot of legal challenges. separately, over hand counting ballots, the state election board a few months ago voted that had to be done. that's still being challenged. again, the breaking news today,

the fulton county superior judge saying that it is mandatory for election superintendents to certify the results, even if there are allegations of voting fraud. they have to pass those allegations on to the proper authorities and they can be investigated. but just those allegations are not enough to prevent that vote from being certified. >> that's a big deal, indeed. i'm sure it's going to keep getting litigated. that was a major concern. mark, it's not surprising that most republicans do not plan to vote early. we are hearing that from the poll that we see that more democrats than republicans are voting early. because there was so much that donald trump and others raised doubts about early voting. this does have an affect. the early vote, if it's counted early, before the election day vote, that leads the republicans, including donald trump, to think that they might be behind and then they catch up. there's an election day affect to all of this.

>> absolutely. this is so important for those who will be counting the ballots on election night and seeing the returns come in. there's a huge partisan difference. our poll shows 52% of voters, about half, say that they will vote early. in fact, that includes 5% who say they have already voted. this poll was in the field last week. i'm sure that share is larger. 44% say they are voting on election day. inside those numbers, among the early vote, those voting for harris by 17% according to our poll. if you are an election day voter, you are voting for vote by 21%. when we see ballots come in and get the batch of early vote that's coming in from a state or a county, that's going to be overwhelmingly democratic, overwhelmingly pro-harris. when we see election day ballots that are being cast, those will be republican and trump votes. >> to be totally transparent, because we all study this and we

all have our instructions, nothing is official until our decision desk -- this is the case for other news media as well. our decision desk will look at all of this. what is left to be counted, what has not come in. they will not call a race until they are 99.5% sure and have checked everything. there have been disputed in the past where there is an early call. trump jumps to conclusions or someone else would. you can't -- it's not official until the vote is counted. >> we will end up seeing a roller coaster of different returns. one candidate might be ahead and people say, nbc news and other news organizationed called this. no. there's another batch of votes that come in from the other side and other counties in different ways. when we can make a call, we

will. everyone, have patience on election night and maybe day and week. >> last time it was saturday morning when we called the race. if you remember, 2020 and what that was like. we remember that. when we look at this, there are growing challenges, especially now in detroit, in michigan. a key state. let's talk about that. harris is going there. she's really facing some problems according to her own democratic sources in getting enough out of detroit. that is -- a subset is lagging numbers from black men. she's doing another event focused on them tonight. or today. how important is it for her to deal with that? what about -- this is the state

with more arab american and muslim voters. the war is raging on. >> yeah. i think you can see how worried they are about michigan and how critical it is to their path to victory in looking at her schedule this week. she's going to detroit today, like you said. she's doing an interview. she's going again on friday and on saturday. on friday, she's holding three separate rallies in michigan. she's holding another event in detroit on saturday. that's three visits to the state in one week, five events. that shows you that they are worried about the numbers in michigan. they are struggling with a number of key voters groups. they are struggling with black men. that was evident in the agenda they rolled out early yesterday. you see it with arab american and mulim population.

that's more complicated because of the intensification of the war in gaza and lebanon and the community outside detroit has a pretty large lebanese american population as well. you have a number of people being directly impacted by the war's expansion. that's reigniting -- it's not like the anger and resentment towards the biden administration simmered because the war has not stopped. but it intensified. they are struggling with union halls. you have three key voter demographics across the state where they don't have the levels of support they feel they need. polls show that her and president trump -- former president trump are effectively tied in that state and across the battleground states. harris' clearest path is through the blue wall. >> of course, turning back to georgia, bill clinton will be there again after stumping in

atlanta as trump will be there tonight and bill clinton stumped in the suburbs for harris. both campaigns focusing on georgia where gabe is and where gabe talks about the important superior court ruling. next, the middle east. israel yielding to a lot of pressure from president biden in particular and will void nuclear and energy targets when it retaliates against iran. it continues to hammer gaza. our new reporting on the u.s. strategy in lebanon. "andrea mitchell reports" will be back in 90 seconds. stay with us. you are watching msnbc. (woman) look i got the new iphone 16 pro at verizon. apple intelligence is pret-ty awesome. (man) nice. (woman) you can get it when you trade in any phone. (man) whoa, whoa, whoa!

(vo) switch to verizon and get new iphone 16 pro, and get a new ipad, and apple one, all on us! that's over $1600 dollars in value! only on verizon. do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy

lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. as we await israel's promised retaliation for iran's missile attack, three senior administration officials confirming to nbc news that after an appeal from president biden last week, prime minister netanyahu has told the biden administration, when israel retaliates against iran, it will limit its targets to military facilities, such as missile production, rather than oil facilities or the nuclear program. netanyahu's office telling nbc news, quote, we listened to the opinions of the united states, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests. this as a team of u.s. military personnel and the initial component of t.h.a.d. have

arrived in israel with military personnel to run it, expected to be a big factor in defending against iranian missiles. joining me now is erin mclaughlin and jeremy bash. erin, what do we know about the strikes in gaza? another part of the phone call between prime minister netanyahu and president biden last week was a really strong push from the u.s. to stop hammering gaza, be more careful about civilian sites and get humanitarian aid in. also, you had an interview for the first time speaking out after the terrible death of hirsch and five israeli hostages last month. let's talk about those executions and what they told you. >> reporter: with respect to the situation unfolding in gaza, according to palestinian

officials, 55 palestinians have been killed from israeli air strikes in the last 24 hours. palestinians that we are speaking to in gaza desire a desperate situation, intense aerial bombardment as well as artillery strikes the likes of which they haven't seen since the early days of the war. we are hearing public outcries from members of the humanitarian community, the u.n. office for human rights put out a scathing statement, particularly with respect to israel's operations in northern gaza, saying, quote, the israeli military appears to be cutting off northern gaza completely from the rest of the gaza strip and conducting hostilities with absolute disregard for the lives and security of the palestinian civilians, allegations that have been denied by the israeli military. they say they are working to prevent hamas from regrouping. it's worth noting that this is

the fourth time the israeli military has gone into that refugee camp. what experts in the region say this points to is that there's a lack of a political solution there on the ground in gaza. meanwhile, as you mentioned, i spoke to rachel and john, the parents of hirsch, the 23-year-old hostage who was shot at point-blank range by hamas militants inside a tunnel in gaza. they described to me the moments of his death and how he was killed. take a listen. >> hirsch was found on his knees frozen on his knees with his back against the wall. he had put up his hands. you know, he only had one hand. he put up his arms to protect himself. the gunshot, one of them was so -- right on his hand, went

through his hand, into his neck and came out the side of his head. hirsch was just shy of six feet. he weighed 115 pounds. 53 kilo when we buried him. >> reporter: rachel and john say they are sharing this with the world because it's an urgent call for the remaining 101 hostages still being held by hamas in gaza. to that end, we were speaking to a family of a hostage still inside of gaza. they said they had a meeting, all of the families, the remaining 101 had a meeting with the israeli defense minister yesterday in which he told them that the talks to free those hostages had stalled. there was no hope of the progress continuing on that. >> this is heartbreaking. thank you for sharing that.

we have gotten to know them. here as they are grieving, they are continuing to advocate for other families despite the graphic description of the execution of their beloved son. thank you, erin. jeremy bash, as you know, the hostage families have been critical that the prime minister has not focused enough attention -- hostage release now. worry about the rest of the region and accomplishing his larger goals -- military goals later. that's been their frustration, especially since renewing all of the effort in gaza and these new initiatives in hezbollah, which are popular against the northern threat. netanyahu has now yielded to very strong pressure from the u.s. not to go after the nuclear, in this round. they expect there will be a series of retaliations. iran is acknowledging this restraint. maybe the dire prospects for a

larger war with iran will not come to pass. >> i think it makes sense for the israeli government, the idf to control escalation dominance. by that i mean, let them go after certain targets that implicate the threat against israel today, the ballistic missiles, the drones, the cruise missiles. those are the weapons that iran fired at israel on april 13th and on october 1st. strengthen the coalition of countries that came together to defend israel, including at the center of it, the united states. put in place in the region missile defense systems like t.h.a.d. as you mentioned earlier that the united states is fielding along with the u.s. service members who can operate those missile defense batteries. then down the road, if iran doesn't get the message and iran is not deterred, it leaves further options to go after other targets. >> israel feels -- netanyahu certainly and his cabinet feel they have restored deterrence after the disasters of october 7

when they were taken by surprise and responded slowly and ineffectively. with the pager and walkie-talkie explosions, the assassinations in tehran, which were provocative, according to the hostage negotiators, and hezbollah, that they have proven they can go after hezbollah. it's very popular, unlike the gaza operation in the last few months. at this point, what do you think israel's goals are? netanyahu and other officials have talked about they are facing an existential threat. they see a real window here, where they have done great damage to hezbollah, which was the insurance policy to tear --

tehran. why not go after tehran, which is their enemy? can they accomplish what they want to do in the nuclear field if they had to without u.s. help? >> israel is under fire from four different directions, not only from hamas but from the west bank but from hezbollah in lebanon and iran. israel had to de-fang iran's terrorist capability on its northern border. that was hezbollah. i think the idf even surprised itself with how it was able to marry intelligence with strikes and wipe out hezbollah's leadership. let's take stock. as referenced earlier, there are a lot of americans who have family in lebanon. a lot of lebanese americans watching this situation. here is what i would say. i think implementation of the u.n. resolution 1701 is the right formula. it's a way to get hezbollah out of lebanon. it's a way -- >> that's what the u.s. is calling for.

my reporting is also that there are a lot of risks there. the lebanese army that they are trying to stand up is so weak. hezbollah is so resilient, even the remaining leaders are very heavily armed. >> we are going to have to partner with the lebanese government. they are an important partner. this is a moment of opportunity for israel and the united states to get hezbollah out of the politics of lebanon, to use the tactical and strategic victories to drive a political situation in lebanon. we don't want lebanon to be on fire. we want israeli families to move back to the towns in the north where they have been displaced since hezbollah joined the war. >> our nbc news reporting is also that the u.s. now, having called for a cease-fire internationally and that was rejected, they see a potential advantage. they are upset with the u.n. peacekeepers for letting these

weapons be buried in tunnels under their feet and for being so ineffective. >> the u.n. has not done its job. it's going to fall to the united states, our partners and allies in the region to make sure that lebanon has a free and prosperous future free of hezbollah. i think there is going to be discussion on the campaign trail, distinction between vice president harris, donald trump on the future of the middle east. >> everyone wants to know, what is the timing of israel's attack against iran? everyone assumes it will be before the election. right now, will they wait, from your vast knowledge, until t.h.a.d., is fully operational? how long will that take? >> it could be a matter of days or weeks. i don't expect they will wait too long. israel's controlling the tempo, the pace. they will control the target set. >> jeremy bash, all your experience, thank you very much. next, with a handful of

house races in play to secure the majority for democrat, i will talk to the virginia democrat trying to flip a key seat the democrats lost two years ago. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. our right to reproductive health care is being stolen from us. i can't believe this is the world we live in, where we're losing the freedom to control our own bodies. we need your support now more than ever. go online, call, or scan this code, with your $19 monthly gift. and we'll send you this "care. no matter what" t-shirt.

it is your right to have safe health care. that's it. go online, call, or scan right now.

do your dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. what does treating dry eye differently feel like? ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ for relief that feels ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ ask your eye doctor about prescription miebo.

san francisco is in crisis and we need real experienced leadership. we need mark farrell. our interim mayor who got things done. who showed we can clear tent encampments, fight crime, and address the drug crisis. who will make the tough choices for our city's future. "i'm mark farrell. i'm running for mayor because san francisco deserves better."

"i'm ready to deliver that change on day one." mark farrell. a proven leader with the experience we need. democrats only have to switch four seats to gain control of the house. republicans hold a narrow 221 to 214 majority. a key race is in the virginia tidewater. it's a district heavily

populated by military families. joining me now is a navy veteran running for virginia's 2nd, in one of the state's two competitive house races. your race is leaning republican. what are you telling virginians why they should vote democratic? >> hi. it's nice to meet you. thank you so much for profiling this race. it's a majority making seat. i feel called to serve my country again. i served as an officer in the navy. i deployed during operation enduring freedom. like so many of the people here in my district, over 80,000 veterans in this district, we have stood up for our country before. i believe it's time to stand up again. that means protecting basic freedoms like reproductive

rights and voting rights, standing up for our democracy and rejecting extremism and standing up for veterans and military families. >> how do you address frustration about the economy, about immigration, the big issues donald trump pushed successfully? >> voters across the district are concerned about the cost of groceries, health care. i understand that we need to take serious action in washington to make sure that we can protect our local economy. we need to hold price gougers accountable. we need to make sure we are supporting affordable health care and housing. and energy prices. we have seen nothing but chaos and dysfunction from the current members of congress, which my opponent supports speaker mike johnson and extremism. she called marjorie taylor greene a good friend. they want the same things. in order to focus on the economy, we need to turn the page from that extremism.

that starts with flipping the majority making seat. >> how big a motivator is abortion among voters in your district? >> absolutely. it's one of the number one concerns that i'm hearing from voters across this district. although virginia is the last state in the south to protect abortion rights, it is by a thin majority. voters here want to make sure that we are protecting our country from a national abortion ban. even here in virginia, i have spoken with a voter who -- her rights are supposed to be protected. she was in an extreme medical situation and needed to travel an hour and a half away to access care. it took two weeks to get that care. we need to make sure we are protecting the full range of reproductive rights from abortion access to contraceptive care to ivf. my opponent voted 13 times to restrict reproductive rights. she used military budgets like the national defense

authorization act to try to strip servicewomen of their basic rights. it's irresponsible. i will always stand up for reproductive rights, against the extremism. i hope your viewers will check out missy4congress.com. >> both you and your opponent are navy veterans. what do you make of former joint chiefs chairman mark milley calling trump a fascist and retired admiral stavridis echoed that with me here yesterday? >> that's part of serving our country. i believe that donald trump has had a pattern of disrespect for the military. jen has stood by as he attacked veterans, as he used horrible phrases like suckers and losers,

criticized our generals as losers. i believe that we need to respect our military, stand up for veterans and military families. they are actively serving right now overseas. we need to stand with them. we need to reject a commander in chief who would work against them. my opponent has no backbone to stand up for her party. that's why it's essential we flip the seat. it's a battleground district. it's a key path to a democratic majority. and restoring respect for the military starts here. >> it's great to meet you. we reached out to your opponent for an interview as well. good luck out there on the trail. >> thanks. next, former president trump's dance moves taking center stage. he turns a town hall meeting in philly into a music party. kamala harris publicly questions his mental state. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ts" c

the market's closed. futures don't sleep in the after hours, bro. dad, is mommy a “finance bro?” she switched careers to make money for your weddings. ooh! penny stocks are blowing up. sweetie, grab your piggy bank, we're going all in. let me ask you. for your wedding, do you want a gazebo and a river? uh, i don't... what's a gazebo? something that your mother always wanted and never got. or...you could give these different investment options a shot. the right money moves aren't as aggressive as you think. i'm keeping the vest.

with election day three weeks away, and 34 senate seats up for grabs, the democratic majority hanging in the balance, democrats have far more seats to defend than the republicans. they have only 11. in michigan last night, slotkin faced rodgers. they debating on the race for the open senate seat. in texas tonight, the only

debate between senator ted cruz and congressman allred is taking place. texas is one of the few possible pickup opportunities democrats are looking at. they have not won a senate race in texas for nearly four decades, not since 1988. joining me now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. is it wishful thinking? i know the polling seems to be closer than it was. allred is an nfl former star. he is a well-liked guy, congress member. texas has been republican for as long as most people can remember. i covered that 1988 race. it wasn't even close. >> reporter: yeah, you know, andrea, i think that we can absolutely say that texas is the democrats' best opportunity to pick up a seat that belongs to republicans.

in the same breath say it would be a huge shock in allred were to upset cruz. there are a number of factors against allred. texas voters come home. democrats often feel as though they have a shot at flipping that state blue. and the republican machine churns up and ends up at the end of the day finding a way to get a victory. the other factor is this is a presidential election year. ted cruz has his issues. high negative ratings for him, even within his own state. the fact that donald trump is on the ticket and is running six to eight points ahead of kamala harris, that means that allred has to close that margin and have people vote for him and donald trump. he has cut a more moderate path than perhaps some of his previous statewide democrats like o'rourke. they are making a more focused campaign. every democrat from the top of

the ticket down to local races are singing from the same hymnal. they have the same people knocking on doors for them. that's something that has never been done during a federal campaign in texas. this debate tonight is crucial. you have to look at texas as being a mini-country. there's 20 different media markets. this will be the only opportunity that allred has to reach all of the markets all at once. it will be televised across the state. >> ryan nobles, you have so many hot races to cover. i don't know where you will go next. thank you. >> reporter: texas. >> exactly. kamala harris used donald trump's words against him. she played a clip of the former president suggesting he would use the u.s. military against u.s. citizens that he considers his opponents, or as he said, the enemy from within or radical left. >> he is talking about the enemy within our country,

pennsylvania. he is talking about that he considers anyone who doesn't support him or who will not bend to his will an enemy of our country. he is saying he would use the military to go after them. donald trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged. >> joining must now are susan del percio, kimberly atkins stohr. welcome both. susan, how impactful is harris' argument that trump is a national security threat with swing voters? >> i think it is a great line of attack. again, using his own words to make it is so vitally important to those swing voters, not that she's just coming up with her opinion of donald trump but rather showing that these are

his words. also really important is that she gets under his skin the way she does it, finishing the clip there. he is unstable and unhinged. that is a way to get him to act more unstable and more unhinged. i think timing-wise, it's pitch perfect. she couldn't have made these attacks a month ago. this is the time to really go after him with his own words. >> kimberly, in minneapolis yesterday, j.d. vance defended donald trump saying he would use the military against u.s. citizens. >> well, is it a justifiable act? of course, it is. there's a group of activists who are willing to threaten, harass and commit violence against their fellow citizens. if that happens, if you have a major reaction to an election in 2024, of course, you should

commit law enforcement resources to bring order back to our cities. >> has he forgotten who was responsible for january 6th? >> yeah. >> it was the trump supporters, not some other -- >> that's absolutely right. he has forgotten the law. it clearly states you do not use the military domestically. that's just not what is done in america. >> unless you use the insurrection act. >> right. a very rare process. that's not what donald trump is talking about or what j.d. vance is talking about. they are talking about lawlessness. you are right, the fbi has said consistently for almost a decade that the biggest domestic security threat comes from right wing extremists, not from people who disagree with donald trump. that points out again how dangerous this is. i agree with susan that for

kamala harris to talk about this directly, hold donald trump accountable for his own words and actions, is the most important thing that she can do to make her case about that difference, that clear contrast in the lead-up to the election. >> susan, what about the musical break for 30 minutes last night in philly? it was like "american bandstand." swaying, doing a play list, more than 30 minutes after two people had a medical incident. instead of getting back into the q&a, he let it go. >> yeah. the thing that came mind when i saw that is that, it's like you were waiting for the hook to take the guy off the stage. donald trump is a performer. he is an entertainer by trade. that's really what it comes down to. he just needed that big old hook from the old tv show days to pull him off. he wasn't going anywhere. as long as he is on the stage, those supporters will stay with him. it was completely bizarre.

>> it may be very popular with the people at that rally. it will go over well with his base. people looking at it, i don't know whether the swing voters in the communities around philly thought it was great. i don't know. it looked like fun. >> the people in the room were there. donald trump was there to do a town hall to answer questions from people in that crowd. it was a friendly crowd, clearly. he is there to answer questions. >> he was being interviewed. >> right. he is supposed to answer questions. he is not. he is sort of melted down into this bizarre, inexplicable sort of live sundowning in a way. it continues to show his unfitness. i think characterizing it as a dance party does a disjustice to somebody. he clearly did not seem okay. >> is it working for him? she has -- kamala harris and according to a lot of democrats, she's lost the momentum she had

in july. the polls are narrowing. just whether she needs to be keeping the momentum going. >> andrea, i never thought this would be anything less but a 50/50 race. we are a 50/50 country. there are some persuadable voters. i don't consider it so much she lost her momentum. i think that's just where we are as a nation. what is concerning -- i appreciate her saying, you are the underdog and we have a lot of fight. that's how you rally the troops. when donald trump keeps saying he is winning and winning big, there is something to be said for certain voters wanting to be, quote, on a winning side. i think at this point, vice president harris being more aggressive and going after trump and talking about winning, that will benefit her more. >> susan, kim, thank you so much.

coming up, the fight over transgender rights. a sleeper issue late in the campaign that could affect control of the senate. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ayaky because you love the ocean. not spreadsheets... you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. our matching platform lets you spend less time searching and more time connecting with candidates. visit indeed.com/hire

i take you, body in sickness and in health. (♪♪) for as long as we shall live. (♪♪) lgbtq issues have become a major issue this election cycle,

particularly transgender rights as donald trump and republicans nationwide are pushing an antitransgender platform. an analysis from "the new york times" shows that since the summer, republicans have spent more than $65 million on tv ads putting transgender issues front and center. the trump campaign specifically targeting kamala harris for a position she took five years ago to provide government healthcare to transgender inmates. inmates. the campaign ad has been playing during football and baseball games across the country. this is now a position she has reversed, but it is going after also three vulnerable democratic incumbents who voted for transgender rights in sports. joining me now is caylee gagnet of the "advocate" magazine. thank you for being with us. you have a big announcement today. talk to me about it, your endorsement. >> yeah, we do. so "the advocate today" is endorsing kamala harris for

president. "the advocate" has a long history of endorsing presidential candidates and we also have a long history of covering kamala harris' political career from her early days in san francisco officiating gay marriages in the early 2000s to her work in the senate fighting for insurance coverage for hiv prevention drugs. and into her tenure as vice president, when she was visiting the stonewall inn and hosting pride parties, you know, we spent some time with her last summer, our senior political reporter did, sat down with her for several interviews and she talked at length about her fight for abortion right access and how she sees that as really linked to the fight for transgender rights because these two issues are really centered around a person's ability to make their own healthcare decisions, about their own body. so, you know, our reporting really supports her as the most pro lgbtq president, potentially in our history. >> talk to me about your voter

guide, how did you analyze the candidates around the country and how did you put it out? >> sure. i mean, this is a hugely consequential election for all americans, but particularly for lgbtq americans. and so, you know, we have really taken a look at side by side the records of kamala harris and donald trump on a variety of issues from gay marriage to gender-affirming healthcare to transgender service in the military. and we have that full breakdown on advocate.com, along with a guide to a lot of the down ballot races are there are a lot of lgbtq candidates for office, for congress, in judicial races, and so it was really important for us that we helped our readers understand what is at stake here and how they can participate up and down the ballot. >> and we see three incumbent senators, jon tester, sherrod brown, tammy baldwin, all, you know, being put to task for their vote in favor of transgender sports inclusion.

why do you think republicans are making such a huge issue out of it this year? >> you know, it is interesting, i think it is really frightening, actually, because a lot of these antitrans advertisements you're seeing, a lot of attacks are based on misinformation and it is more of that same story of using misinformation to target a minority group. and really demonize them, and in this case, it is transgender people. and so, you know, the studies have shown, right, and polling has shown this is an issue that doesn't necessarily work very well for republicans. but they're hoping it is enough to get people motivated. and really the issue here too is that this has a real impact on transgender people and their lives. we have done reporting about, you know, children who had to flee their home states to move somewhere where they could get access to the healthcare they needed. so, it is really an important issue and it is hugely consequential this election. >> thank you so much, from "the

advocate," appreciate it. former president trump is now being interviewed by bloomberg news at the economic club in chicago. he's speaking about the benefits of tariffs, despite economists saying inflation and the deficit would be a lot higher under trump than harris because of his tariff policy. after a long trip from halfway across the world from china, two china pandas landed at dulles army this morning. bao li and qing bao arriving on a fedex carbo plane dubbed the panda express and are settling in at the smithsonian national zoo. they'll be here for ten years as the newest members of the panda diplomacy program between the u.s. and china, restoring what started in 1972 by richard nixon, a friendly exchange between the two countries. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." thanks for being with us. remember, follow the show on social media at mitchell reports

and watch the best of our show anytime on youtube, go to msnbc.com/andrea. "chris jansing reports" starts after a short break. ea "chris jansing reports" starts after a short break. your covera. begins october 15th... and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare and get... coverage you can count on for your whole life ahead, with our broad range of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. it can combine your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and more, all in one simple plan... for a low or $0 monthly premium. unitedhealthcare offers reliable plans with benefits built to be used, including... $0 annual physical exams, $0 lab tests and... $0 preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies. and you'll get more for your medicare dollar... with $0 copays on covered routine dental services... a $0 eye exam and an allowance for eyewear... plus $0 copays on hundreds of prescriptions,

at the pharmacy or by mail. now's the time to look at unitedhealthcare's variety of plans. so give us a call to learn more about coverage options in your area... all designed to fit your needs and budget. and to help make your medicare experience simpler, you'll get the all-in-one ucard. only from unitedhealthcare, the ucard is your member id and much more. show your ucard when... you visit your primary care provider, dentist or eye doctor, or fill a prescription at the pharmacy. and use it to access medicare advantage's largest national network of providers. now, if you have any of these chronic conditions, be sure to ask about unitedhealthcare's chronic special needs plan. enrollment ends december 7th. now's the time to learn more about america's most chosen medicare advantage brand. call or click to connect with unitedhealthcare today about the only medicare advantage plans... with the aarp name... for coverage you can count on for your whole life ahead. (♪♪)

why choose a mobile network built for coverage you can count on for your whole life ahead. for places you'll probably never be... ...instead of for where you are most of the time? xfinity mobile was designed for where you need it most. now xfinity internet customers can buy one line of unlimited and get one free for a year.

good day. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. town hall, or dance party? a trump campaign event turned music fest is today raising a seriou