good to be with you. i'm katy tur. 21 days until election day, and we have to talk about last night. i have been covering donald trump since 2015, have gone to so many rallies. i cannot count them all. i've seen a fair share of strange, unprecedented, and controversial behavior. just remember, for instance, when he used to read "the snake." never have i ever seen anything like what happened at his town hall in oaks, pennsylvania, last night. instead of continuing to take inquiries after a couple attendees had medical events, trump turned the question and answer session, again with pennsylvania voters, into a sing along and sway session. >> you know what we could do, though? if my guys can do it, how about we'll do a little music. let's make this a musical festy.

turn it up louder. we want a little action here. turn it up louder. ♪♪ ♪ maria ♪ ♪ this is a man's world this is a man's world ♪ ♪ y-m-c-a fun to stay at the y-m-c-a ♪ ♪ you can get yourself clean you can have a good meal ♪ ♪ seen your flag love is not a victory march ♪ ♪ it's a broken hallelujah ♪ ♪ nothing compares nothing compares to you ♪

♪♪ >> he did that for nearly 40 minutes. you really should go watch it all. it's interesting. nine songs, including pararotti, james brown, "it's a man's world," sinead o'connor's "nothing compares to you." oliver anthony's "rich man north of rich man." "november rain" by guns n' roses. the campaign calls it a total lost fest, in their words. to be fair, the crowd, for the most part, stayed. but governor kristi noem, there to moderate the discussion, looks periodically baffled and uncomfortable. as the music kept on going, so did the folks chosen to sit on stage. what makes it stranger is that this was an event intended to

give former president trump a chance to speak directly to the concerns of his supporters, to stay on message, to talk about policy. but when he did take questions, his answers wandered. on one about home prices, he responded in part with, "drill, baby, drill." on another about inflation, he brought up hannibal lecter, who he said was his stand-in for migrants who had broken out of asylums to claim asylum. the whole episode is reigniting questions about donald trump's mental acuity. at 78, he is the old estime jor party presidential nominee ever. in fact, marquette polling showed that 57% of voters agreed at least somewhat that donald trump was too old to be president. up from 52% a year ago. a reaction to the increasingly rambling speeches and answers to straight-forward questions, along with muffled words and

even orgetfulness. he told the attendees to vote on january 5th. reporters who have been covering donald trump a long time, nbc news correspondent garrett haake, who covers the trump campaign for us right now. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali, covered him in 2015 and '16 with me. "washington post" senior national political correspondent and msnbc political analyst, ashley parker. and "politico" white house reporter and co-author of politico's "west wing playbook," eli. we've been covering donald trump for over a decade, so we can speak to what we saw last night. garrett, i want to begin with you. i want a rundown of what happened, what the campaign said was going on. give us the reporting. >> so part of the leadup to this, this is one of these town hall style events where trump comes in with a guest moderator. they take prepared questions from the audience. usually not a ton, between five and ten questions. it's more focused than a rally

but not by much. this was at a packed venue here. what you saw before the musical interlude were two health episodes in the crowd. again, not uncommon at trump events, where somebody passes out and has to be tended to by medics. the music was used as an interlude while those things were being handled. at some point after the second incident is when your cover picked up, katy, ask where trump seemed to, for whatever reason, bail out on what had been the plan and go to this musical interlude instead. the campaign's response after the fact has been that this isn't what you think it is. they have argued that this is not about mental acuity. they've said that, you know, in a statement from the campaign, sort of an official statement, that donald trump is as focused and sharp as he's ever been. they talk about him having more energy and stamina than anyone in politics. this was about those attendees at this event. i think people can make their own judgments about this.

what it also was, separately, i think, clearly, politically, was a missed opportunity. this was in the philadelphia media market, the single largest media market in any of the seven battleground states. a place where donald trump has a problem with suburban voters, people who we would describe as traditional swing voters. what they saw from him last night was a deejay set, in large part, not anything like a political argument on any of the issues that will ultimately decide this election. >> put into the context of this particular campaign, what has the campaign been trying to do with donald trump? what have they been successful at? >> they've been trying to keep him focused on the issue set here, especially since kamala harris became the democratic nominee and not joe biden. remember, when the transition took place, there was about two weeks where trump was really going after harris on personal qualities. republicans were coming on tv and arguing to trump on television, as they often do, to focus on policy. the campaign had responded by putting trump in events where he might be surrounded by

groceries, to keep him focused on talking about inflation, or with moderator on stage conducting a discussion, via kristi noem here, or sarah huckabee sanders. to try to give him questions, that if he responded to them directly, would have him talking about those issues. they've largely cocooned him in the conservative media. he has done some unfriendly media. he did an event today with bloomberg in chicago. by and large, over the last month, they've kept him in places talking to audiences who are favorable to him, and trying to keep him focused on talking about the narrow issues set on which he is most popular. obviously, that did not happen successfully last night. >> we have some of the question and answer from the event today. we'll play that in a moment. ali, we saw some out of the box stuff in 2016. that's a diplomatic way of putting it. i mentioned the reading of "the snake." this feels different to me. i'm wondering if it feels different to you, as well. what stood out to you as you were watching this thing? >> i'm always looking for the parallels.

the way i think about, and i don't know if you and ashley and eli and others who were with us on the '15 and '16 campaign think about it this way, too, but i think of us building the foundation of what donald trump was as a public political figure. his political life, in an official capacity, didn't really have that much runway to it, especially after 2015. he was just running for president. but the first thing i thought of when i saw last night was a rally that we did in august of 2016 in fairfield, connecticut. we the put up the headline on the screen. i remember writing this story as a 19 notable thoughts that donald trump had during a rally i described as meandering and diverse in topic. but that, to me, i remember, was one that felt out of the box. at the time, it was because he was going between lambasting "the new york times," hitting hillary clinton, but doing it in a non-conventional way. if that's the baseline, and that's the foundation for what felt strange in 2016, then that puts this event in an entirely

new context to me. because we've never seen anything like this. political rallies are not deejay sets. when you're in a media market that is as important as the one garrett was describing, it is why this event is getting so much attention, and deservedly so. >> one of the dark mottos we had back in 2015 and 2016, eli, and we talked about this earlier, was that nothing mattered because it felt like no matter what donald trump did, it didn't matter. the "access hollywood" tape, shooting somebody on fifth avenue, there were just so many things that happened in 2016 that didn't sway his base at all. does that still hold today? i mean, if we're not talking about his base, does it still hold for people who are on the fence? undecided voters who are still not quite sure where they're going to go, specifically in pennsylvania. >> i think it could, katy, in an election that is this close. we've been hearing people like us on tv saying we've never seen this before, going on a decade

now. i don't think it is going to shock anybody out of voting for donald trump, hearing that again. but, you know, in a close election, to garrett's point, it's not just the philadelphia media market. this is montgomery county. these are the philadelphia suburbs. these are the voters -- this is a place where you might have more of the swing voters, people who are just not sure if they want to give donald trump another four years. instead of taking that opportunity to speak to the issues, he's just, you know, sort of basking in the cranked up soundtrack. again, it's just weird. it kind of takes the frame of this election that trump's campaign wanted, which against biden was the strength contrast. strength against weakness. they thought president biden looked weak, looked old. now with harris as the nominee on the democratic side, you can almost see that inverting itself in the closing days of this election. harris is concern trolling donald trump, tweeting after this performance last night, town hall, saying, "i hope he's okay." you can see the questions about

sort of comprehension, cognition. those questions we were talking about just months ago in the context of president biden are now questions people are asking themselves about donald trump. in a really close election, in a really critical county, i don't think anyone doubts that donald trump can get to 47% in pennsylvania, 48%, but can he get to 49%? the margin in this election, in these swing states, are going to be so small. the voters out there who are on the fence, though it is a small universe of voters, if they're watching this, they're contrasting it with what they heard, much more traditional rally speech from vice president harris in erie, pennsylvania, another important part of the state last night, if they're comparing and contrasting as far as who is up for the job, taking this seriously, it could get donald trump over the hump in pennsylvania and possibly other states. >> on the subject of mental acuity, i mentioned the marquette poll a moment ago. i also mentioned all of the things that have been happening that have contributed to that, that is the learning of the words, the forgetfulness.

i talked about january 5th for voting. we mentioned that last night, just one of many examples. but there's also his ability to follow a question and then to answer that question. we saw another example of that today when he was talking to bloomberg at that economic event. let's play it. this is on the subject of inflation and how it affects small, key word small, businesses. >> the small companies who get hit by all these different things and can't find exceptions. >> we have exceptions. no, no, we had an exception rule. i gave apple. >> apple is not a small company. >> no, no. >> please -- >> but -- >> the question is about small business. >> yes. but i -- >> what will you do for them? >> we have a very talented group of people. bob lighthizer did a very great job. we had great people. a large group of people. we made exceptions. in the case of apple, they needed an exception. you know why? because of samsung.

came to me, samsung makes a very good product, the phones and other things. because they're in south korea, they don't have the tariffs. because we're in china, we have tariffs. >> what happens if a small -- how do small businesses see you? that was the question. >> that's actually a lot longer. it goes back and forth a number of times with the editor really trying to get donald trump to answer the question on small businesses. ashley, when we're talking about mental acuity, he's never been somebody that has been concise. i mean, i've never seen him answer any questions concisely, but there does seem to be something different nowadays. when he is asked about these basic policy issues, even asked by voters about home prices or inflation, he goes off on these tangents. >> right. apple and samsung would certainly be a surprise to know that they're small businesses. i think what is interesting is, as you point out, even going back to 2015, 2016, i remember former president trump, then candidate trump, could be one of

the toughest people to quote, to literally put his quotes into a story. because they were tangents and all over the place. it is not necessarily something new. what we are seeing here is for some of his speeches, some of his answers, you really have to sort of have a phd in trumpism. or be a hard core part of his base to follow along on those leaps that he takes, where he seems to really make, if you're being charitable, a number of connections perhaps in his head that he does not share with the audience. it's sort of like going down a maga reddit rabbit hole, where he gives you a buzzword, like hannibal lecter. if you're read in, pro-trump, you know, oh, he is talking about immigrants seeking asylum. if you're not, if you're just tuning in, you think, this makes absolutely no sense.

>> what about the question of the ability to do his job? your colleague, ashley, blake, brings this up. he did whether voters think donald trump can do the job, whether he is too old. he has another question is whether he can do the job. if the answer is maybe, maybe not, who are the people around him that will be filling that out? >> well, you know, one thing, again, i think it is instructive to look back to when he was president, which is, as i discussed previouspreviously, h the first half of his single term realizing that the presidency was not a monarchy. he was not king. there is levers of the federal bureaucracy. there is, you know, bureaucrats up and down these agencies. now, he is surrounding himself with people who have a very clear, democrats would argue very far-right and very radical vision of how the government should work for the president.

and they have the interest but also the ability and the know-how and the expertise to implement it. and they wrote it all down in the 922-page or so document known as project 2025. he tried to distance himself from that. there are some things in there he hasn't supported or endorsed, there are a lot he has. that he has done, that he has tried to do, that he said he would do. whether or not he is engaged or he is up for the job, he is preparing a potential government who could certainly implement sort of this broad plan for overhauling the way government works, that they have pretty clearly laid out. >> ashley parker, ali vitali, garrett haake, and eli stokols, thank you so much for joining me on this very strange day. appreciate it, guys. former chief of staff for pennsylvania senator john fetterman and democratic strategist adam junkl eason.

good to have you. let me play sound from last night's event. >> i felt like i was sitting in a room with him. just him. i could have been here another hour, another two hours. it was great spending time with the president. >> i did expect him to take more questions. i thought he'd talk more. ♪♪ i -- >> people didn't, by and large, leave. some did, but by and large, they didn't leave. these are the true believers, adam. does this matter? does this sort of behavior, this event, matter to the folks who aren't going to the rally, who are maybe a little unsure about voting for donald trump, or maybe a little bit unsure about voting for kamala harris in pennsylvania? >> yeah, katy, i think it does matter. you know, as you say, the

gentleman in that clip you just showed was wearing a shirt with trump on it. i think he's probably going to vote for trump and was probably going to vote for trump before this rally. the question is, put yourself in the find of an undecided voter in the philadelphia media market, where the event was held. what did they see that would make them more incline to vote for trump over harris? pennsylvania would come down to a tiny margin. it reflects the country. pennsylvania is a closely divided state. the real operative question is, is trump improving his standing with voters who, at this late date, have still not decided? those voters know a lot about him. trump is the definition of a known entity, so they are looking for something new about him, something they didn't know before, that are going to push them in his direction. it's really hard to see someone coming away from that rally last night with any new information

that would make them more likely to pull the lever for trump in november. >> what about kamala harris? is she giving voters enough information about who she is with just three weeks to go? >> well, unlike trump, she is actually giving them information. she is rolling out new economic policies. she is running ads based on the issues. she is talking about health care and republicans' plan to take health care away from americans if they win and raise their premiums, as they will do next year if they win. she is giving them information. we see that having an impact. she -- even if the polls have tightened, she has improved her standing on the issues that voters care the most about. number one, the economy. her standing on that issue has gone up. immigration, her standing on that issue has gone up. even as we see these polls tightening, the harris campaign should be proud of the fact that they have improved her standing across these issues. her favorable ratings are much higher than trump. there's progress being made, even as the top line numbers tighten, which they were always

going to do because this was always going to be a close race. >> adam, i'm just thinking about all the things that have happened and how it is surprising that it is still so tight. adam, thank you so much. appreciate it. still ahead, 21 days left until the election, harris is trying to tell voters about donald trump. also, georgia opened the polls and beat an early voting record by 1:00 p.m. what that tells us about what to expect in the great state of georgia. plus, could democrats really win in texas? we check on the senate race between allred and ted cruz. we're back in 90 seconds. swiffer duster traps 4x more dust, for a clean even mom approves of. that reach! making hard to reach... so easy. swiffer. wow. the mother of all cleans.

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vice president harris seized on donald trump's bizarre town hall turned concert last night, tweeting a link to it and hopes he is, quote, okay. she's also warning, and she's warning voters that he is dangerous, telling people to take his words, take him seriously. >> after all these years, we know who donald trump is. he is someone who will stop at nothing to claim power for himself. watch his rallies. listen to his words. he tells us who he is.

donald trump is increasingly unstable and unhinged. and he is out for unchecked power. that's what he's looking for. he wants to send the military after american citizens. >> joining us now, staff writer at "the new yorker" and author of "letters from trump's washington newsletter," susan glasser. good to have you. donald trump the other day telling fox news he might have to use the military in the event of a chaotic election or the aftermath of a chaotic election. jd vance defended that. other people did, as well. here's what jd vance is saying. >> well, if it's using the assets if they're rioting, looting, burning cities to the ground, of course it is. there are a group of activists willing to threaten, harass, and commit violence against their fellow citizens. if you have a major reaction to an election in 2024, of course

you want to commit law enforcement resources to bring order back to our city. >> it's like the i'm rubber, you're glue defense. anything you say about me bounces off me and sticks to you. i mean, we saw an insurrection at the capitol led by donald trump supporters who were trying to overturn the election in the aftermath of 2020. yet, jd vance and donald trump and other republicans, as well, have come around and said, no, no, don't look at us. it's the far-left radical on the other side. what's going on? >> you know, i think you're right, that this is a through line for donald trump. let's be real, this isn't an idle threat of his, to use the military against american citizens. in fact, this was a theme of his in 2020, starting with the summer of 2020 and all the way through the election. donald trump was constrained only by his attorney general, his defense secretary, his

chairman of the joint chiefs. had those people not been in office, had different people been in office, this is exactly what donald trump would have done, regardless of the legality of such a measure. i think it really underscores the extent to which people are ignoring what donald trump is really literally promising to do. i'm not sure why it is that they continue to refuse to take him seriously on this point, considering this is hardly an idle gaffe. >> there's reporting that suggesting people want to move on from january 6th. they think it is spoken about too much. nearly half of people, not a majority, but close to a majority, like 46% who say it is time to let it go and talk about something else. why do you think voters, after four years, have said, you know what, i'm done with this? i don't think it is that big of a deal, or at least not as big a deal to continue to be worried about it? not always voters but enough voters. >> i think the problem, katy, is

propaganda works and lies and disinformation. donald trump was not only the one who incited this attack on the united states capitol, which in and of itself is something that's never happened in american history, but he spent the last several years rewriting the history of what happened on that day. he turned people who violently attacked our own capitol into martyrs and heros and people that he promises to give pardons to. even many of who pleaded guilty. people who he raised money for. people who he features in his political rallies. you know, he built a movement in which his truth must be the only truth. >> but, so -- >> even if it is literally a lie. >> why are the democrats not as good at turning it around on him? i mean, donald trump, you're talking about his propaganda, changing the past, rewriting it. why are democrats having a hard

time, given there is the video, actual video of this happening, why are they having a hard time convincing, not half, but a lot of voters that this was a big deal? this was worrisome, and donald trump was at fault for it? >> you know, the thing that leaps out to me in this election, katy, is that, remember it's not just the hard core maga faithful who are powering trump's return in the republican party's third straight nomination of him. it's not enough to have just the hard core trump faithful. it's republicans who know better and are doing it anyway. that's the thing that's really concerning. it's not about facts. in fact, they're saying, we didn't like january 6th, this group of republicans, yet we're going to go along with him anyway. i think of people like mike dewine, the governor of ohio, or glenn youngkin, the governor of virginia. these are not maga hard core,

yet they are supporting trump, even while recognizing that there are things he's done, including january 6th, they don't agree with. what's the anecdote for that in our democracy, when these politicians are saying, oh, yeah, that was bad, and i'm going to vote for him anyway? he lied about eating the dogs in my hometown, says ohio governor mike dewine, and i'm going to vote for him anyway. that, i think, is like a drug-resistant problem. it is a truth-resistant movement. we're, you know, facing it here. >> these are the sorts of things that put people's lives in danger. people in springfield's lives in danger. you have all this misinformation and disinformation about fema out there leading to threats to recovery workers. these sort of things aren't just campaign rhetoric. it is stuff that gets translated into the real world. i think what you're saying about these governors, these congress people, you know, acknowledging this stuff is a lie is wrong, but then saying they're still

going to vote for him, it's really hard to explain. susan glasser, i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you so much for joining us. coming up, what trump allies are doing to prep so-called patriots. that's what they're calling them. patriots to challenge election results around the country. more than 200,000 people have already voted in georgia on this, the first day of early voting. what that enthusiasm tells us just three weeks until the official election day. that is november 5th. not january 5th. november 5th. out on the things you love because of asthma? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. step back out there with fasenra.

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if it's tuesday, voters are going to the polls in georgia as early voting for the president presidential voting is officially open. 200,000 people cast their ballot, the most ever on day one. again, that is by 2:30 p.m. joining us from atlanta, gabe gutierrez. a lot of fol getting their vote done early. what does it tell us? >> reporter: no kidding, katy. nbc news poll shows half of americans plan to vote early. among those, kamala harris has a 17-point lead. we have seen a lot of enthusiasm

this morning for vice president harris. we were here early, and the voters told us they wanted to be among the first in line for what they view as a historic candidacy. here in georgia, there's a confluence of factors in this election. not only is there enthusiasm among black voters, but also the politics of disaster, the recovery of hurricane helene could be a factor. also a lot of questions about election integrity, at least the questions that republicans are trying to raise about election integrity in georgia. just this morning, a superior court judge in fulton county rejected a claim by an election board member here, essentially the judge said that election superintendents in the state, it's mandatory, they have to certify the election results days after the election. now, as you know, katy, over the last several months, republicans have tried to change election rules for what they view as combating voter fraud.

again, that judge came back today and said those election results must be certified. yes, early voting, record-breaking so far. we'll see how it ends up later today. 200,000, more than that, actually, have already voted so far today. >> thank you for the setup, gabe. to my next guest, msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin. let's talk about what gabe was reporting on. this is the georgia election board. a judge saying, huh-uh, just because you think there might be fraud doesn't mean you can't certify the results. explain the ruling. >> katy, the ruling was in a suit brought by fulton county board of elections member julie adam. she brought suit after failing to certify results after may's primary, saying she shouldn't have to vote to certify if she had real questions about the integrity of an election. judge mcburney of the fulton county superior court, a familiar face to some of us because he was involved, among other things, the special purpose grand jury that authorized fani willis' own

lawsuit and inquiry. mcburney ruling today that the statute says what the statute says. county election superintendents or boards of election must certify an election, that it is not discretionary but, rather, mandatory for them to certify the results of an election by 5:00 p.m. on the following monday. to the extent that they have questions about potential fraud, those are questions that they are obligated by law to refer to the pertinent district attorney, but not one that would excuse them refusing to certify for any reason whatsoever. >> i want to be clear because sometimes when we start talking about fraud or these rulings, the moves being made, there is a presumption there is fraud that sneaks into these conversations. there has been no instance of fraud on a level that's ever been able to change an election in this country. there has been no recorded evidence in a presidential election of that happening. the numbers of fraud or dead

people voting are infinite -- i can't even say the word -- very, very, very small. when the georgia board is coming out with this and saying, i'm worried about fraud, what do they have to go on in terms of evidence or examples of fraud in the past? >> one of the things, katy, we're seeing in georgia this cycle, that we're also seeing in many other states, as well, is an increasing concern about people who are not legally entitled to vote in various states. when folks like julie adam, who is the fulton county board member who brought this lawsuit, and also led the georgia election board to make a related rule, one of her concerns is that there are hundreds of thousands of people in georgia who are on georgia's election roll, their voter rolls, that shouldn't be there and should be pulled from the roll. either because they're no longer georgia residents or -- this is really the spector they raise

most often -- those people were never authorized to vote in the first place. for example, they may not be documented citizens. that's a refrain we are hearing repeatedly from state to state, and it is driving what is referred to as voter roll maintenance in various states. but voter roll maintenance is code for, let's take people who really are residents off of our voter rolls because we don't like how they might vote. there's really oftentimes no effort to confirm those people are, for example, residents of the state or county in which they say they're living. >> it'll disproportionately affect voters of color. lisa rubin, thank you. ahead, it is probably the best chance democrats have to pick up a senate seat. you heard that right. the best chance they have to pick up a seat, and it's in the state of texas. we're going to bring you inside the race between these two men here. first, a poll worker and election law experts are

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regardless of what happens on november 5th, the trump campaign has a plan that it is already putting in motion. you may remember scenes like this in detroit in the days immediately after the last

election, when pro-trump protesters stormed a ballot county center, alleging fraud, when fraud did not exist. now, nbc news has obtained a video of an rnc training session for poll watchers in michigan, giving volunteers who echo trump's claim of widespread fraud the tools to challenge votes in 2024. the trump campaign says they have 200,000 such, quote, patriots ready to go across the country. joining us now, nbc news justice reporter ryan riley. so what is this training session? >> yeah. the big thing the video, the training session, that was obtained by our colleague really lays out is there aren't many guardrails about what they're actually telling these voters. essentially, what you have is people coming in with preconceived notions because they read conspiracy theories online. instead of disabusing them of the notion and telling them the facts, telling them, for example, that donald trump did better in detroit in 2020 than in 2016, and that he did not

lose the state of michigan because of some fraud scheme in detroit, they're feeding those -- that sort of narrative. saying, you know, this could happen again. instead of educating the people that they're training about this. you know, they brought in a lot of these sort of influencers. including conspiracy theories to support this. one of them spoke to a number of these poll workers during a training a few weeks back. they're really kind of feeding into the narrative, and we really could see a rewrite of what happened in 2020, when you saw all of the individuals who we've identified as people who are linked to the trump campaign or on the rnc or the michigan party's payroll who are banging up against those windows. >> any precautions being taken? >> somewhat. they're trying to get, you know, some -- i think election officials know what they're facing down here. they know they have all these people who believe those conspiracy theories, so they're trying to prepare for it. it is a tough situation. you have a lot of people who are

just delusional about these conspiracy theories, and no amount of facts are really ever going to stand in their way. they'll continue to believe that the election was stolen no matter what officials say. >> ryan riley, thank you very much. moving on to texas. democrats think they might have a chance to snag a senate seat. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles has the matchup between colin allred and ted cruz. >> reporter: katy, no doubt this is an opportunity for colin allred, the sitting member of congress who is challenging ted cruz, the long-term incumbent in texas. this is the only opportunity he has to face off against ted cruz in a debate that will be seen by the entire state of texas, which in many ways, is a mini country. there are 20 different media markets in texas, which makes it very difficult to get your message out to a wide audience. it is very expensive. colin allred has raised millions of dollars in this race against ted cruz. it does show that it is paying off.

this race is within the margin of error. it is very close. it's still going to be difficult for allred to overcome what has been a red state for many, many decades. polls show that donald trump at the top of the ticket is leading kamala harris by anywhere between 5 to 7 points. colin allred would have to close that gap and get people to vote for donald trump at the top of the ticket and then vote for him further down ballot, which is a difficult proposition in a presidential election year. still, allred's team believes they have a shot. they're running a coordinated, statewide campaign. it's the first time the texas democrats have been able to do this in a federal race. they believe that allred presents a more moderate offering, a moderate alternative to ted cruz than perhaps some of the other candidates, like beto o'rourke, who ran against ted cruz in 2018. still, this remains a white whale for democrats. the it'll be a surprise if we wake up the day after te the election and allred is the

democrat who won the seat. it's still the only opportunity democrats have to pick up a seat currently held by republicans in this election cycle, which is a difficult map for democrats to hold on to their majority. katy. >> talk about texas a lot. a lot of election cycles. we'll see if it happens. vp kamala harris is in detroit today. she made an informal stop at an art gallery for a conversation with black men focused on entrepreneurship. don cheadle and detroit native cornelius smith jr. are there with her. coming up next, what israel just told the white house about its plans to retaliate against iran.

(man) these men of means with their silver spoons. what will become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash. they would descend into chaos.

new nbc news reporting confirms prime minister benjamin netanyahu promised bye-bye president biden he will only strike military targets in iran in response to iran's missile barrage last months. that promise, according to "the washington post," influenced president biden's decision to send israel a powerful missile defense system. along with the troops to operate it. joining us now in tel aviv, nbc news international correspondent hala gorani. walk us through what we know about benjamin netanyahu and his decision regarding iran.

>> reporter: so this is a promise that according to three senior administration officials who spoke with nbc was made by the israeli prime minister to strike iran but to avoid these nuclear and energy facilities. this would be reassuring if he keeps this promise to the region, of course, because striking nuclear facilities would certainly prompt possibly a more forceful reaction by iran. this barrage of missiles and rockets that were sent israel's way on october 1st followed the assassination of nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, which is iran's proxy in the region. now, it's a wait and see situation as always with the israeli prime minister. promises have been made by him in the past. most notably when administration officials told reporters that there had been some assurances made that israel would not invade or attack rafah on the southern part of ghazi.

not only did it go ahead with the plan, it continued to occupy a key corridor between gaza and egypt. it really is a question of waiting for this response by israel to the barrage of missiles that struck this country on october 1st. and to see indeed whether or not they stick to that promise, katy. >> hala gorani, thank you very much. that right there is going to do it for me today. deadline white house starts after a quick break. we were starting a business from the ground up. people were showing up left and right. and so did our business needs. the chase ink card made it easy. when you go for something big like this, your kids see that. and they believe they can do the same. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card from chase for business. make more of what's yours.

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