there is no power. the reality of being without power seeps into every nook and cranny, to be overly poetic, of one's soul. it really drives when mad. here at the havana bureau today we are speaking with cubans who are wrestling with just how to test and survive and keep on going in this context. it is a very, very difficult situation for the majority of this island that has approximately 10 million people. what happened? yesterday morning at 11:00 local time, there was a failure at the main power plant in cuba. that led to a nationwide blackout. the state communicated or tried to medicate with the population that it was getting power back online, and toward yesterday evening that was starting to happen around the country. there was some hope. but then today at about six clock in the morning, once again, bama. it is out, it went out. nationwide power cuts again. and slowly, and i hesitate to say shortly, but slowly power

is coming back in parts of the island. the central part of the island now has power. intriguingly, havana, the capital where i am speaking to you from, is actually the part of the country at the moment with the worst power situation, which is likely what they don't want, because they, as many nationstates, prioritize the capital because they have things to kickoff. power is gradually coming back in havana, but from the outskirts, how did the country get the state? the analyst i speak to point to two more main reasons. first, u.s. sentience. they have been ratcheted up by the trumpet ministration, but also the biting initiation the promise to them but didn't. those sanctions are called maximum pressure sanctions. they are designed to make it difficult for the given state to buy things, including fuel on the market to keep our stations on, and also to maintain the decrepit, friendly, power stations. secondly, the failed attempt or failed have attempt of the ruling communist party here to reform their economy into what they would say, to update socialism. those two factors, cold

geopolitical logic from the u.s. and ineptitude by the cuban government have created a perfect storm, whereby cubans, now millions on the island, or living without power and everything that entails. >> it's an extraordinary story. i thank you for reporting it. i was worried we were not owing to be able to get you, potentially, because it takes power to medicate with us. so thank you, ed augustine, for all of this. we will keep you in mind. thank goodness, thank you. meantime, with 17 days to go before the election, the surprising thing that donald trump's campaign is not doing. that is next. good day to all of you for msnbc headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we begin decision 2024 which is 17 days left in a nailbiting race to the white house. early in person voting started in nevada and messages today, making now 16 states where americans can personally cast their ballots.

or than 12 million americans have already voted, setting some new early voting records in both georgia and north carolina. vice president kamala harris is making her case to voters in michigan for a second straight day. this week, hammering the theme that former president donald trump poses a danger. >> we wanted to vote early and make sure our vote was banked, and make sure that we could turn out more votes for donald j trump. >> she is focused in on abortion. we have constitutional protected abortion here in michigan. it is not an issue. i don't have a uterus anymore, my husband never had a uterus, but we have utility bills, we have grocery bills. >> well, trump was also in detroit yesterday was a bit less critical of the city. we just heard that michigan voter telling nbc news why she voted early for donald trump. meantime, a wall street journal poll shows harris leading trump in michigan by two points,

while a quinnipiac poll shows trump living by three. both are well within the margin of error. here is the report from nbc's steve core nike about how the polling averages make the race difficult to predict. >> in michigan, what you see and read right here, the average lead for trump is 1/10 of one point. the average lead for trump in nevada, what you see and read right here, is 1/10 of one point. and it just take a look here, from 283, 255. if it flipped over to 1/10 of a point for harris, now suddenly harris is hitting 270. >> today the political events calendar is packed. harris appeared with lizzo in this half hour, she will be later with usher in atlanta. former president trump will hold a rally in pennsylvania, while former president obama will be speaking in las vegas. he spoke in arizona friday. obama focused on why character

is important in a presidential candidate, and compared trump with the late arizona senator john mccain. >> john was conservative. to put it mildly. ran against me in 2008. talked about me on the campaign trail. but, you know what? he understood that some values transcend party. he believed in honest argument. and hearing the views of other people. he didn't demonize his political opponents. >> we have several reporters and analysts ready to go into the story lines. so, with another welcome back of the show, kamala harris just wrapped up and addressed to supporters here behind you, to kickoff day one of early voting in detroit. so, talk about her message

overall. >> yeah, the message is really to push early voting, and encourage people to go ahead and make their voice heard now. as you can see behind me, it has kind of cleared out in here. and that is because what this event was really about was about gathering a whole bunch of people, rallying them up, getting them energized, and actually walking them over to a polling precinct nearby about a half-mile away. they made clear they were not too close to the present, because we obviously know there are laws preventing that. but the idea being that they marched supporters to go vote, make their voice heard. and that was the purpose of all of this. you're going to see more events like this from the campaign, events that, yes, will serve to motivate and get people excited, but also have a very real purpose of registering the boat, encourage them to march to the polls, and go ahead and get the message election process started. she kind of said excitations. she pointed out that in georgia and north carolina we saw early voting record get shattered, and she said michigan, you guys are known in detroit for producing records. so you have a tough bar to meet.

she encouraged them to go ahead and turn out those maximum numbers. what else we saw what she did talk about former president donald trump, her opponent. and one thing we are seeing in her stump speeches, she is actually encouraging people to go watch his own rally and hear his words directly. take a listen to what she had to say about that moments ago. >> you know, i keep talking about somebody needs to just watch his rallies, if you're not really sure how to vote. because he spends all time talking about himself and mythical characters, not talking about the working people, not talking about you, not talking about lifting you up. so, as we stand these next 17 days, we are going to go vote today, we are going to remind people to vote, we are going to register folks to vote, we are going to email, text, phone call, knock on doors. >> now, alex, a little bit earlier we saw lizzo here. she also delivered brief remarks. and in her remarks she went

after donald trump, who has had rather disparaging things about the city of detroit. lizzo in her own words says the other guy says that if kamala harris wins, the whole country will be detroit. in my eyes that means the country will be resilient and the country will be strong. that is the message we are hearing here in detroit. >> okay, thank you so much for that. let's bring in nbc in bed julian frankel. tonight's rally coming on the heels of trump's event in detroit. it was plagued by technical difficulties, but what was his message? >> that's right, alex. the former presidents microphone cut out mid speech last night in detroit, and the problem persisted for nearly 20 minutes. he remained on stage that entire time. eventually the audio was brought back and he was able to finish those remarks, but in terms of his messaging overall, we sort of heard him shift how we spoke about detroit itself, saying that the city was on the verge of a comeback. but he did acknowledge the history of the motor city.

we also heard him go after harris, as he often does, on the economy, on inflation, and especially on immigration, which he brings up so much on the campaign trail. i want you here specifically, though, how he talked about undocumented immigrants in this country. here's what he said last night. >> the united states is now an occupied country. how about that? did you ever think you'd be hearing that? we are an occupied country. we are being occupied. you know, if you have 1 million person army, that's a big army. they have millions and millions of people. november 5th, 2024 will be liberation day in america. >> alex, that message comes as he continues to try to cast harris as the incumbent in this

race, and really tries to tie her to the current biden administration. he is said to rally here in latrobe, pennsylvania as he and harris compete for these critical battleground state voters in this final 17 they push ahead of november 5th. >> okay, julian frankel, thank you so much for that. we are also learning a bit more today about why trump may be pulling so many no-shows lately. after backing out of the election special on 60 minutes, trump this week also canceled interviews with both nbc and cnbc reporters, as well as a planned rally with the nra. this in addition to refusing to have a second debate with vice president harris. so, from all know this, let's bring in alexi mcammond, host of the in sync podcast, and eugene daniels, co-author of the political playbook and msnbc political analyst. welcome to you both. eugene, you first, because your new reporting that after pulling out of an interview with the website the shade room, a trump adviser told producers trump was, quote,

exhausted and rephrasing some interviews. but that could change. does this prompt more questions about his physical fitness, his stamina, and how might that we can trump's support for voters who like what they call his tough guy style? >> yeah, it definitely begs the question from us about how he is feeling, and then for voters, as well. one of the reasons that donald trump was doing so well when president biden was still in the race was because he felt like he had this vitality, though they are essentially the same age. they are three or four years close in age. you had him running around, and talking tough, as opposed to joe biden shuffling around and sometimes it was hard to hear when he would do speeches. but now you see him backing out of those interviews we talked about, this reporting that i had and political playbook on friday about the shade room interview, and interviews come up and come down all the time. there was never a set date. but the fact that the trump adviser told the shade room that he was exhausted did perk

some ears, including mine. and when you tie that to the rally he had this week, or what was supposed to be a town hall, and for 39 minutes he listen to music and kind of bounced around , and some of his speeches, even some republicans would tell us that they feel like they are becoming less coherent when he is in front of the public. it does make voters and strategists, most importantly, asked the question of what is going on there. and whether or not he is fit for office, or his mental acuity. voters are thinking he has less of that as time goes on, and he is four years older than he used to be. i also think it is important that he looks angrier than he ever has. so it looks a little different to voters, as he is going around , and with darker language than he ever has before. >> i want to pick up on the last point, but also say to our viewers, you are right in the

numbers. donald trump is 78, joe biden is 81, but, to that end, if donald trump is elected he will be the oldest president ever inaugurated in the history of this country. so, keep that in mind. again, the angry part, because trump, he does seem kind of angry at the interviews, particularly those that harris is doing, accusing 60 minutes of election interference, saying that it should lose its license over how it edited its interview with the vice president. despite the fact that trump was also supposed to be interviewed by 60 minutes and backed out. does he gain anything calling more attention to this? >> you know, alex, the anger should be alarming to voters, just as his mental acuity and apparent cognitive decline should be apparent and concerning to voters. when i launch my podcast last month, the first episode tackled this very question, which is become the central question of the 2024 election. is donald trump okay? is he mentally fit to be president of the united states?

the anger, i would argue, is not just an extension of cognitive fatigue, but i would imagine this man has untreated ptsd after two apparent assassination attempts. it is no secret that that would be a traumatic event for anyone, but the symptoms and side effects of untreated ptsd include but are not limited to fatigue, not sleeping well, and being angry and having outburst in her interpersonal relationships. i think we are seeing textbook examples of those things from donald trump on the trail. >> and interestingly, it eugene, democrats are trying to highlight trump's mental and physical decline. they are also trying to emphasize that jd vance could be the one really in charge. take a look at this ad. >> is not just weird or dangerous. he could be a heartbeat away from the oval office. >> could he govern from prison? >> people should be concerned. >> the former president has been off his game. he is so disoriented.

>> this is a point the republicans, especially nikki haley, you'll recall, try to make about president biden. haley argued that something could happen to biden due to his age, and electing him would really mean that harris would be president. does this message work for democrats? >> that exact same ad we have seen from the other side of the aisle just months ago, as a reminder of how wild this election has been. i think it probably works with independents and some of these moderate republicans, especially a white woman in the suburbs who are trying to figure out what they are going to do this time around. these voters, the both sides feel like they have a pretty good chance of getting. for democrats, they are already ready to vote for harris, whether she is popular within the party. they are energized. but what harris is trying to do and what this ad is trying to get at is remind people of how they felt during the four years

of donald trump in office. you talk about voters who would tell you, republican, trump supporters who say yeah, it felt chaotic at times. i had more money in my pocket, but it did chaotic. i was always waiting for the next tweet for little rocket man or whatever. that is what we are trying to remind people about. now they are able to use his age against him. vice president harris, who turns 60 tomorrow, is much younger than he is. and now she is able to run as kind of the physical manifestation, in democrats eyes, it has changed. younger, she has black and brown, she is a woman, there are all these different things compared to old white men that were running a little bit ago together, that she is completely different. that is what this ad is getting at. and also, jd vance, right? he has proven to be, at times, a weight on donald trump as he has been out there, he has uncomfortable interviews, uncomfortable interactions with supporters. so that is what they are trying to pull at. these folks are weird, you actually wanted to be in the

white house? and for democrats, also saying donald trump is dangerous. >> yeah, alexi harris was pressed so hard during her interview with fox news, that michael greenbaum wrote kamala harris arrived for a fox interview, she got a debate. did she benefit from an adversarial debate, with asked out actually having to face trump again, and did she wednesday? >> certainly. i think excepting the fox interview alone and sitting down with bret baier is a fee for the harris campaign, especially when donald trump lamented the same with your network. as we know, he has canceled number of interviews with you guys, which is confusing. he has refused to debate her. she gave herself a chance to break through to the voters who were hearing the most and the worst about her. the conservative caricature that has been painted of her. she was able to burst that idea and to really show boat --

voters okay, maybe you think i'm a radical leftist because of what you heard, but this is who i am. and i also think, though it was combative, she showed that she is willing to go toe to toe with adversaries. she is able to take on tough questions, and she is not afraid. and, to eugene's great reporting, she is not tired. she can do these things. she does say yes to these debates and these interview opportunities, because she is not exhausted in the same way. so, having a vigorous campaigner in kamala harris is something that voters are seeing when she does these interviews, too. >> yeah, she is close to two decades younger than donald trump. all right, you guys, we were just shown a live picture of atlanta where she is heading her way right now, and there will be a rally there tonight. meantime, thank you so much, i will see you both again. and the numbers keep growing. what is motivating so many voters to get to the polls early? we are back in 92nd. 92nd. the 4 signs of early gum disease a toothpaste from parodontax, the gum experts.

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17 days ago in a presidential race that is closer than ever. early voting is open in 16 states, including nevada and massachusetts, as of today. more than 12 million have already voted, breaking records and georgia and north carolina. >> just get out and vote, honestly. i know it sounds a redundant, but get out there. this honestly is kind of important, and i don't judge who votes for who, but it is really important, especially for our future children. i have a daughter, and although she is three years old, her future matters to me.

>> lenore is exactly right. we have correspondents in place at two early voting sites in nevada and michigan, and we are going to go to nbc's steve patterson in las vegas, nevada where in person voting kicked off today. steve, it is only been a few hours or so, but are people taking advantage of the early voting option? >> absolutely. we are about three hours in, maybe 3 1/2, and you can see behind me, it is a lot lighter than it was before. there was a line stretching all the way down the block. that is now all inside. don't let it fool you, though, there are people snaking inside of that tent behind me. but people understand where they are. this is a crucial swing state. this is in the battle for 276 electoral votes. it seems like, they can absolutely tip the balance. and this is a place where it is always in a razor thin margin. the same, exactly the same thought this year. the polls are almost neck and neck. i spoke to people in that line, a lot of issues, of

course, on the table, including immigration, reproductive rights, of course, are some of the biggest ones. but the economy in nevada has to be number one. this state just did not recover from covid, from the pandemic, like other states did. it is last as far as other states and unemployment. 5.5% compared to the national average, 4.1%. people here are suffering. this is an economy that is entirely, almost entirely dependent on the service industry, and you have inflation hitting hard, you have unemployment hitting hard, groceries are more expensive, home prices are more expensive. people are concerned about their day today, and that, not cold of personality, not party, is exactly why they're voting. i spoke to one voter just about that. here is what she told me, listen. >> i mean, there are a lot of factors that play into our economy and where we are at now. it's not just one person alone. it is a whole lot of factors that play into that. so i can't put blame on anybody. it is who i want in there, that

will do the best job for us, to get us up here where we need to be instead of way down here. >> so, again, the margins are razor thin. it has gone to craddick here in the last however many elections since 2004. bush was the last time that they voted republican. but those margins are always within 4%. the only person to crack that since has been president obama in 2008. 12 points, which was one of the biggest margins in the state. he is speaking. it is not an accident, on the first day of early voting tonight as a surrogate for harris. he is doing a stump in just a few hours. people, of course, still excited about former president obama, and the hope is that he rallies folks to vote. back to you. i thank you very much, steve patterson, for that. we will go back to emma barnett in detroit where early voting got underway today. so, we were talking about the big push to get folks out of the polls as early as possible with you the last time. what are you saying right now?

>> yeah, alex, there is a big push in detroit, where early voting started today. and at the event i'm at right now, voters can come and shoot some hoops, and then go cast their ballot. literally right across the street. the detroit pistons, the basketball team here, partnered with the department of elections, and they have an event where you scan the qr code and you have to take an action. and that action is either walking across the street and going to vote, or making sure that you are registered to vote, or texting a friend to make sure that they go and vote. then you get access to all of this free stuff here, whether that be getting your nails done, getting your hair done, playing basketball. there is a concert later. a lot of fun, and a lot of energy here. as i mentioned earlier, early voting in detroit starts today, but it does not start in all of michigan. in michigan, everyone in michigan that is an eligible voter will be able to early vote on october 26. and this is a new thing here in michigan, because back in november of 2022, voters here actually pass a constitutional amendment to allow for early voting, and early voting, of

course, is different than absentee ballot voting. because in early voting it really looks like election day. and speaking of election day, because technically it is election day in detroit, there is a line across the street that is pretty long. it has definitely gotten longer throughout the day. a trickle in the morning, and it has steadily progressed to get bigger, of people who are here who attended this event and are like you know what? i'm going to go across the street and get it done. that is the sentiment i am hearing from a lot of these early voters. they are telling me hey, it's available to me now, i don't know, what if election day i end up being really busy. i spoke to the people who are going to be out of town for business trips, i spoke to an essential worker who has an unpredictable schedule. they just want to vote and get it done. one other tidbit i will give you, i have been speaking to voters all day as they have been leaving the polling station here in detroit, and, by no surprise, most of the voters in detroit are voting for kamala harris. and that is what they told me. but that is not shocking,

because detroit is a blue dot in a very, very purple state. so, don't let that be an end- all be-all here. >> and i just say, i hope that the folks that have gone there and done early voting have as big a smile on their face as you have, this love basketball. even playing basketball this whole time. there you go, smile. thank you very much for that. coming up next, we will focus on georgia and talk about the new early voting record there, and which party might benefit the most. the most. subject 1: who's coming in the driveway? subject 2: dad! dad! dad, we missed you! daddy, hi! subject 3: goodness! my daughter is being treated for leukemia.

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right now supporters are gathering ahead of a kamala harris rally tonight in atlanta. there you can see it for yourself. voters are heading to the polls for that state's fifth day of early voting. more than 1.2 million voters have already cast their ballots in georgia, which both the harris and trump campaigns view as a must win state. on the first day alone, in fact, more than 300,000 voters cast a ballot, doubling the states one-day record. joining me now, atlanta journal- constitution reporter