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>> we are barely two weeks from election day 2024. and nearly 12 million voters in nearly every state have already voted, all requesting an absentee ballot. while their candidates are all over the map this weekend, making their final pitches in battleground states, a different swing state each day as the clock ticks down. the vice president is headed to atlanta tonight, ahead of my interview with her tomorrow in the peach state. earlier this afternoon, she was in detroit with finger lizzo as she and democrats try to maximize black turnout. next week, she will be joined by barak and michelle obama . >> we have the power to make the decisions about the

direction of our country. we know this election is about two very different visions for our future. >> as the vice president flexes her muscles, trump appeared to be neither at full speed, or full power this week. he bounced from a disastrous public appearance to another. whether it was his awkward dance party at a pennsylvania town hall on monday, his testy tangle at the economic club of chicago on tuesday where he belittled autoworkers. or his microphone meltdown last night in detroit. the harris campaign is seizing both on trumps erratic behavior, and the campaign events and interviews the former president has canceled. to make the argument that the former president is unfit for a simple -- second term in the white house.

joining me now, congressman greg of new york. there are 17 days until the election. both are enforced this weekend. trump has been canceling interviews. backing out of appearances with 60 minutes and cnbc. on friday, he also dropped out of a podcast interview with a staffer claiming he was exhausted. trumps campaign has denied that. we also saw trump this week stop a town hall to listen to music and wander around the stage in detroit last night after a microphone fail. the harris campaign says this is all evidence trump himself is not fit to return to the white house. what do you think? >> i think people close to him understands that and knows that. look, he is the oldest guy.

he is an old man. his mental capacity continues to decrease. i think that is clear. he cannot continue to strangled that sentence together. the weirdest thing as you said, just him dancing. as opposed to answering questions, not going before the media other than very friendly media. but there is a problem when you are still losing your train of thought. there is clearly a problem with the former president and his mental stability. him being fit to be president for another four years he would not be a good person for that.

his physical and mental abilities, that should also give a warning to the rest of america. >> i am glad you corrected that, because both of you know he can dance. he showed that. let's get to georgia where more than 1 million ballots have already been cast. today, the vice president is rallying in atlanta where she will be joined by the singer usher. and tomorrow night on the show. obviously, every swing state counts in a close race like this. as democrats try to maximize black turnout, where does georgia fit specifically in that? >> georgia is huge. you know? that's the reason why you see so many people there. that's why you are going there. the congressional black caucus is there now.

they are touching bases with individuals to atlanta and further out. so i think that georgia, we know it will be very close. we've seen with the election of reverend warnock that georgia can be won. that was a historic vote twice. so it's about turnout. it's about getting people out to vote. for any possibility of the donald trump trying to return to the white house. as you said, all battleground states are currently in the battle with former president obama, who will be here tonight and the congressional black caucus. georgia, tremendously important. we are not leaving any stone unturned. we are covering all battleground states from georgia, to nevada, to arizona, we will be everywhere.

so much is on the line. this is the most consequential election of our lifetime. >> there is no doubt. we saw a huge turn out that elected senator warnock and senator -- in a state that never really elected democrats to those positions. democrats are working hard to turn out black voters up and down the ballot. the congressional black caucus as you mentioned, obviously a big part of that effort. working to elect more black members to congress. as you just mentioned, you are also leading the caucus tour, promoting the harris-walz ticket, which kicked off yesterday in georgia. describe the election, what you've seen so far. >> is fantastic. we are on the ground, talking

to people. what the vice president represents, what she has done, and what she will do. the excitement just continues to build. i think you see that in georgia now by the early vote turnout. it will continue to get folks to come out in great number. setting record numbers now, the early voting turnout in georgia. others that are there that will be there tomorrow also, going to the various churches, making sure we are bringing souls to the polls. people are excited about it. most importantly, they seem to understand the seriousness of the moment. what it means, whether we go backwards, or go forwards. you know, the heart of the civil rights movement as you know in the south, georgia being one of the key areas there with dr. king.

this is why we don't want to go back. because of what donald trump is talking about, we want to build on dr. king's dream, turn it into a reality. and how do we do that? turning out to vote. smack before you go, the leading -- leader. the vice president this week called on israel's killing of top hamas leader, yahya sinwar. an opportunity to finally end the war in gaza, returning israeli and american hostages, helping the people rebuild. it prepares to try again on a cease-fire deal between hamas and israel. as u.s. support for the war continues to complicate the vice president's campaign with antiwar voters, and arab and

muslim americans in swing states like michigan. what do you think happens now? and will it have an impact on our election? >> i think that what should happen, we do need to have a cease-fire. we do need to get humanitarian aid into gaza. you know, the world is a little different, and the middle east is different now than it had been previously in the sense that i've been working very closely with saudi arabia, with egypt, with jordan. all of these countries in the middle east that want to have a better relationship with israel, but also want to make sure there is a better way of life for the palestinians. they have committed to rebuild gaza, and to make sure that the palestinians have a state of their own, a two state solution. but right now, you need prime minister benjamin netanyahu to take a victory lap.

getting rid of sinwar is a big deal. that's like us getting rid of osama bin laden. now it should also open up that window where we can get those hostages home. understand israel has the right to defend itself. work with others in the region so we can help them normalize the relationship and move forward toward having a two state solution, which will then change the region into a peaceful area forever. >> all right. thank you, as always for being with us. new york congressman gregory meeks. now let's go to michigan. join me now is democratic attorney general dana. earlier today, vice president kamala harris held a rally in your state. let's take a listen to some of it. >> i keep talking about, somebody just needs to watch his rallies. if you are not really sure how to vote. he spends full time talking

about himself and mythical characters. not talking about the working people, not talking about you, not talking about lifting you up. >> attorney general, how well is she resonating with critical michigan voters? >> well, firstly, the vice president has been to the state of michigan so often during the campaign. she might as well take up residence here. we would love to have her. i would say this. i was on the doors all day in detroit today. i saw only two types of folks. people who were ineligible to vote, or people who were voting for kamala harris. there was no third bucket of people out there. i would say this, the people are excited. they are energized. there was a lot of motivation to get out there, and to vote for kamala harris.

we are very purple state here in michigan. it is always a close call. i think kamala harris is doing all the right things. and i think they will show up for her. >> getting out to vote for a few cities on thursday. let's compare the harris event to donald trump last night in detroit. his rally went off the rails when the microphones malfunctioned. even the former president wandering on stage for nearly 20 minutes. when the mic or backup, trump threatened not to pay the bill for the rally over the technical glitches. what do you make of what voters in your state witness that that event? >> the same thing they normally witness at a trump rally. just a lot of pettiness. anger and hostility.

and a lot of incoherent rambling mostly. which is the exact opposite of what you see at a kamala harris event. right? there are people who are joyful, people who are looking forward toward the future. and people who are really excited to vote for their candidate. yes, i will say, there are a lot of people who are afraid of donald trump and want to make sure he gets nowhere near the white house again. more than that, people who are just really excited for the opportunity to cast their ballot for vice president harris. we already have 1 million people as of this morning that have voted. today was the first day of early voting. we have voting patterns -- parties. the polls are open until 7:00 p.m. also tomorrow in detroit. detroiters are excited to get out there. i think we are going to see record levels of turnout by the end of this election.

smack the microphone incident came several days after a testy trump interview in chicago about economics where he had some pretty surprising things to say about autoworkers. take a listen. >> there mercedes-benz, they will start building in the united states. they have a little bit. you know what they really are? assembly like in south carolina. they build everything in germany, and then assemble it here. they take them out of a box, and then they assemble them. we could have our child do it. >> trump was talking about autoworkers in the south. but i'm sure there are many in michigan who heard what he said, what he had to say. i mean, how do you think they are reacting? >> i know how they are reacting. not well. they are insulted, and they ought to be. some of those workers, they are the hardest working people in our state and around the

country. you know, i don't think they take kindly to that kind of talk. that's all that trump knows how to do is to insult the people that he's trying to court. he's been to the city of detroit multiple times where he has insulted the city of detroit. as i've said a few times, calling us ugly, and then asking us out on a date. it doesn't make any sense. at the end of the day, all it's doing is motivating people to get out to the polls to make sure they are voting for kamala harris. i think that is what we are going to see at the end of the day. >> early voting got underway today in michigan. the state has already received as you said over 1 million absentee ballots from voters as of today. earlier figure shows strong activity within democratic strongholds. among those who request mail-in ballots. 55% were sent to registered

democrats while only 35% went to republicans. another 10% went to voters with no political party affiliation. aside from michigan being a battleground state in the presidential race, there is also a tight senate and close house race, too. how are you feeling about all of it with just 17 days to go? >> well, i am nervous, but i'm cautiously optimistic. the polling, it obviously has been close. at the end of the day, in michigan, if the democrats are going to win, it's all about three things. turnout, turnout, and turnout. if we get a strong turnout, democrats win our state. if we get a week -- if we get a week turnout, that's when trump won. everyone still remembers what it was like to wake up the day

after the election in 2016. nobody wants to repeat that event. people have that in mind. that's why i think they are not going to sit home as we go through this process. again, early voting, no reason absentee voting, and then voting on election day. >> we are out of time, attorney general nessel. i must ask you this. are you concerned as someone in the legal community about challenges by donald trump if you were to lose michigan, or for that matter of the states? trying to challenge and go through the process to undo if he infects loses in your state to undo the vote? >> we've already been seeing challenges during the past several weeks. even since the ballots have been out. we've seen repeated efforts by the rnc and others to challenge the right of american citizens. michigan residents to vote.

i am not particularly impressed with the strength of those lawsuits. so we are going to keep defending the people of our state, defending the will of the voters. and i think ultimately at the end of the day, people will know that our voting system is safe, secure, and accurate. >> michigan attorney general dana nessel, thank you for being with us. an appurtenant -- important alert. tomorrow i will be in my exclusive sitdown interview with vice president and presidential candidate kamala harris. that is sunday at 5:00 p.m. eastern right here on politics nation. do not miss it. coming up, former president trump has turned from talking about black jobs to black neighborhoods. but those of us with long memories aren't buying it. i will explain why in this week's got you. you.

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as the days take down to the election, former president trump has suddenly taken a keen interest in african-american voters. we've heard him talk about black jobs. and now he claims to be concerned about black neighborhoods, as well. in a social media post this week, trump claimed without evidence that if vice president harris were elected, blacks would lose their political power for ever because their neighborhoods will be majority migrant,end quote. it's extremely interesting to me to hear donald trump the politician claimed to be concerned about black neighborhoods. in the 1970s, donald trump, the budding real estate developer and his father had to settle

the housing discrimination suit with the department of justice, although the trump's didn't admit to any wrongdoing in the case. witnesses testified they refused to rent apartments in majority black buildings. marking indications with a c for colored. trump never got over the settlement. as president, he gutted the fair housing act. trump claimed the law meant to make sure blacks and others are given equal access to housing would destroy the suburbs! presumably by allowing people of color to live in them. the biden-harris administration has been working to undo some of the damage done on housing during trump's term . if he should return to the white house, things could get quite a bit worse. project 2025, the blueprint for a second trump term, written by

some of his closest right wing allies, calls for the dismantling of the federal department of housing and urban development. it would also rollback civil rights protections, and force law enforcement agencies in black amenities to bring back controversial policing tactics like stop and frisk. whether they want them, or not. like so many of us, the last embrace of black neighborhoods doesn't pass the smell test. not after the real estate career where he allegedly made it harder for blacks to find housing. and a term as president where he talked about black residents as a threat. that's why come november, african-american voters will be sending trump back to his own home in south florida. there goes the neighborhood, and i got you.

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