like an elementary school really where we would take road trips. and you know and you will see this as yours get older, it is so special to realize that your kid is really good at what they do. and she is a professional and really good and has done restaurant work and work that michelin star restaurants are now recipe developer. >> and a personal chef. tiny spin chef. get the plug out. >> she is really good mom. >> thanks. >> she is a great partner with her husband. i mean, it is the whole package. >> superstar. >> this is the icing on the cake . that is all the time we have for this weekend. thank you for watching. we will see you tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. for a new week of morning joe. until then, enjoy the rest of your weekend. weekend good morning. it is sunday, october 20th.

i'm alicia menendez with symone sanders-townsend and michael steel. today the candidates are crafting their closing messages. vice president harris focusing on the issues, and donald trump, we will show you his off the rails remarks soon. and elizabeth warren back on the campaign trail as the vp makes her push on the economy. michael cohen is at the table to respond. grab your coffee and settle in. welcome to "the weekend." set welcome to "the weekend." >> we are just 16 days now from the end of voting, talking about election day, and the splint screen could not be more clear. has night donald trump hurled obscene at his opponent.

>> arnold palmer, the man was strong and tough. i refuse to say it, when he took showers with the other pros, they came out of there and said oh my god, that's unbelievable. i had to say it. >> i just -- i don't -- i don't know what to say. luckily for you all out there, vice president harris isn't letting donald trump go unchecked. she has scrutinized his fitness for office. >> i keep talking about someone needs to watch his rallies if you're not sure how to vote. he spent his whole time talking about himself and mythical characters, not talking about the working people or you. and breaking overnight, harris will attend church service and provide remarks in georgia as part of the souls to

the polls events. joining us is jason johnson and professor at morgan state university tara setmeyer, a former communications director and cofounder of the seneca project. >> good morning to both of you. so, i am not -- i don't have a question because i'm actually stunned that this is what our country is doing right now. you have the republican nominee for the presidency of the united states, standing on stage at a rally, not talking about the economy. not talking about creating jobs for the next generation. not talking about providing health care or even dealing with the attractable issues around climate. no, talking about a man's genitalia. this is the part that is the

most disturbing, tara. the people behind him who are laughing and yucking it up and thinking that is good political discourse and what the next president of the united states should spend his time talking about. they weren't offended. they were mused. that's the rub with donald trump. it's all about the amusements and entertainment and yucking it up and dumbing you down enough to be stupid enough to buy in to these narratives about other people, about our country, and about another man's genitalia. >> you know what it is though, michael? this is what they want. they like it. this is who they are. this is who those voters are. so we need to accept the fact that there are people in this country who are perfectly fine with all of the issues that donald trump has presented to us, the fact that he doesn't

respect democracy, doesn't respect women. he's a sexual abuser, a predator, a liar, and he wants to be a dictator on day one. he can sit there and rant and rave incoherently at times at rallies, cracking jokes, and to make the determination of what the future looks like in those states, those people need to look hard, the ones still undecided and say, is this the future of america that we want? is this the leadership we want? we are coming to a cross roads in this country, we really are, and trying to diagnosis and figure it out.

it's cognitive disdance. the people who are yucking it up and encouraging the authoritarian wanna be, they are voting against his own interests. he doesn't care about anyone but himself. he has unearthed the lowest common denominator. the cultive personality will ride or die with him. they are not the majority of the american people. i firmly believe that, and many of us watching this believe there are more of us than there are of them. we need to hold him accountable and stop normalizing this. part of this, watching this go on here, we have donald trump on a stage talking about arnold palmer's manhood for ten minutes, but that's not the front page headlines. meanwhile, you have kamala harris and the standard that she is being held to.

not saying she shouldn't answer policy questions or shouldn't be better, but i'm telling you right now, the way it has been whitewashed and sane washed for donald trump and the cognitive decline and inappropriate comments, and all of this, compared to kamala harris, there's no question in competency. what is it that is going on that allows the election to be close? i think we have a lot to talk about post election as far as our country and our society and why so many people are attracted to that we have 16 days to make sure more of us than them go to the polls to defeat the maga nonsense. >> dr. johnson, it's what you are now hearing from harris on the campaign trail, sharpening the contrast with herself and the ex-president. here's what she had to say about donald trump's plan in atlanta. >> he has no plan for how to address the needs of the

american people. he is only focused on himself, and now he is ducking debates and canceling interviews because of exhaustion. when he does answer a question or speak at a rally, have you noticed he tends to go off script and ramble? generally for the life of him cannot finish a thought, and he has called it the weave. i think we here will call it nonsense. >> making an argument about fitness. he is not persuading anybody anymore. he's appealing to the lowest

common denominator. >> alicia, before we started, i was showing michael i have friends who went to the rally last night. they are not ones that usually go to rallies. one of my friends joking, she's a delta and was not going to go there. they came back chanting, we are not going back, hi, jayla, waving flags and everything like that they described a crowd you don't usually see. young people, old people, all sorts of different people. everything like that. it doesn't always happen in atlanta, certainly not a falcons game, right? what we are seeing with harris, her crowd sizes are staying the same or perhaps expanding, bringing in people who are still enthusiastic when it comes to the last minute. what about trump? not just the contrast with the two. it's a big contrast i noticed

this week, there's a huge sunday night football game between the jets and the steelers. what did you have happening in pennsylvania? tim walz in front of the steelers stadium, talking about the jobs, the community, and what kamala harris will do for the regular person. donald trump has antonio brown and people accused of inappropriate behavior wearing offensive t-shirts hanging out with turning point. that's the contrast here. where do people want to be close to? they want to go to downtown atlanta on saturday night to be around kamala harris. the steelers organization said donald trump is attending our game, but he's in a private suite. they didn't want to endorse the man for sunday night football. people are trying to be near kamala harris, and they don't want to go back, and they want to get away and be disassociated from donald trump. >> not only did he talk about

arnold palmer's business yesterday -- >> okay. >> all right. >> yeah. >> he -- he had more things to say about the vice president. let's play it. >> we have to tell kamala harris that you have had enough, and you just can't take it anymore. we can't stand you. you're a [ bleep ] vice president. the worst. the worst vice president. kamala, you're fired. get the hell out of here. you're fired. get out of here. >> someone in the hallway who i don't think heard the sound before said oh, jesus. okay? i just, you know, one could argue that some people say he's the candidate at this point.

i look forward to donald trump's comments lead up to the election. as you all know, the media says the voters know donald trump, but have they heard the sound. i am utterly disgusted at the double standard, and i just -- election day cannot come quick enough for me, y'all. i want to say that. >> an exclamation point on that. when you look at the headlines, particularly out of major leading publications, i will give you the new york times initial headline, politico, and others, who down play the former president of the united states, talking about a man's junk, and yet, they didn't think that was serious enough to level up and call it what it

was. had that been kamala harris standing on the same stage, talking about an individual's private parts, tell us what you think the headlines would be screening this sunday morning, tara. >> they would talk about how unfit it is. how inappropriate it is, and that's not what the leader of a free world should be focusing on. we know what the headlines would be, and there's something jarring about watching the inherent violence that donald trump spews, and the visceral reaction to kamala harris, she got scrutinized for not going to the al davis dinner this week, which i thought it was the right decision. when you have issues or events like that when you're not supposed to yuck it up and everybody is going to crack jokes about one another in a normal political race, we are not. donald trump is a danger to our

democracy. kamala harris is competent. we don't have to agree on the marginal tax rates and health care policy. she is not running on stage, slurring words, wearing makeup that doesn't match, and talking about people's genitalia. >> we are going to break. >> she's not a felon. yet this is what the headlines are. >> we are going to break. jason and tara are staying with us. i would like to note the first line of the new york times called it a course insult. you take that for what you will. next, we will play vice president harris' comments on reproductive freedom and reproductive rights and get into the issues in georgia and the top of the next hour, and we have senator elizabeth warren, joining us from the road as she is campaigning for vice president harris and down ballot candidates across the country, and senator warren is also on the ballot. you're watching "the weekend." you're watch ing "the weekend." o due to bur

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he belittles their sorrow, making it about himself and his television ratings. it is cruel. >> jason johnson and sarah setmeyer are back with us, and you have the vice president there, jason, laying out the scolding words about how donald

trump abuses families and their family, referring to amber thurman who couldn't get the reproductive care she needed in her state because of the state laws and lost her life because of it. >> yes, and this is the person who claims during the week he's the father of ivf or whatever else it is. i think -- and this is something that a lot of people are expressing in the first segment, like why are we here? how is this happening, et cetera, et cetera. it demonstrates the fact that you have a lot of people in the country who don't know how government works. they think this is going to work fine, and it doesn't matter who happens to be the top of the ticket. that's why this election is close. a lot of people really don't understand how the government operates, and in addition to that, part of who is to blame for it, and we have talked about this as well, how some of the political press covers the man. it's not just what would have happened if harris was talking about someone's private parts, it's the press normalizing the bad behavior. talking about a guy in a locker

room, i don't know if it's donald sterling or donald trump. that's the thing. a man was in the press, forced to give up his team for talking about this thing, and that's not the headline. not in the hill, not in axios. i will call them out. that's how it should be talked about. it's despicable behavior. the nation's behavior is terrible. how the heck have we allowed this thing to go this long? voters can vote however they want to vote, but the press had a responsibility to talk about how despicable this man was. >> we bumped in with sound of the vice president talking about reproductive care, an issue resinating with women and also men. the seneca project has a new ad appealing directly to men on this question. take a look. >> it wasn't easy getting here. the loss, the heartbreak.

my wife is tough, resilient. she said we will just keep trying. i didn't know much about ivf until we needed it. there were moments when all hope felt lost, but we finally got our miracle. from the moment i held her, i vowed to protect her. if it were up to donald trump and j.d. vance, our little girl wouldn't even exist. >> oh, tell me about the research that went in to that ad, tara. >> yes, thank you for playing it. that ad is called "hope." we saw research that saw one of the most persuadable relationships is between dads and daughters. that was inspired by one of my students at harvard when i was up there a couple of years ago as a fellow, talking about her relationship with her dad, who was a big republican, and she was in the military. she said, dad, how can you want this man to be my commander-in-

chief? she was in tears over it, and he ended up not voting for donald trump. he realized the impact for his daughter. millennial dads in particular were uncomfortable with the way donald trump and the maga movement has treated women, rights have been taken away, and they don't want their daughters growing up in a country with less rights than their grandmother. when ivf was under scrutiny and the attacks on ivf and maga was all over the issue, we said who is talking to the dads out there about how their families are made and who is to determine how they have their families? how dare they? we decided, and i don't think there's been any other organization that has done this, speaking to girl dads in the swing states in particular, about this. the wives don't go through this by themselves. the moms don't go through it by themselves. the dads are frustrated with the attack that donald trump

and maga and coming after them and their families and inability to protect their daughters if the people are in power. we are -- and recently you have seen a lot of stories coming out about this. the girl dad relationship and how powerful it is. it's more persuadable than any other, wives or siblings. when elections are this close, it's important for dads and men out there, and we know the gender gap is historic at this point. anywhere from 14% to 26%. that gender gap with women, looking at abortion and reproductive rights and our freedoms and lives literally on the line. now it's time for the men to step up and realize that their vote impacts the lives of the women in their life also. what are they going to do? are they going to make that decision to protect the lives of their daughters, wives, sisters, and their mothers? or are they going to fall down

the trap of this toxic masculinity. >> very different definition of strength. thank you both so much for getting us started. next vice president harris making a final push to win the backing of disaffected republicans. you're watching "the weekend." . you're watching "the weekend." u i'm quite harmless, really. and when people ask, “but aren't you linked to dangerous flu complications like pneumonia, heart attack, and hospitalizations?” i just say, “but i'm just the flu.” (sniffs.) it's him! who? i'm just the flu. demand more from your flu shot. sanofi higher-dose flu vaccines are proven to provide better flu protection than standard dose flu shots in older adults. they've even been shown to better protect against flu-related complications. don't get fluzone® high-dose if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its components, including egg products, or after previous dose of flu vaccine. don't get flublok® if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its components.

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unlike donald trump, who frankly as we have seen, cares more about running on problems than fixing problems, i want to fix problems, which means working across the aisle. >> according to new reporting from nbc news, vice president harris is zeroing in on a group of voters her campaign believes could make a critical difference in battleground states, republicans and republican-leaning independents who can't bring themselves to support donald trump. liz cheney will join harris for a series of conversations

targeting suburban voters in pennsylvania, wisconsin, and michigan. >> all right, we are going everywhere, trying to get everybody, and because that's what you do in a campaign, and i know people out there are like, why is it necessary for the vice president to have to do all of this when the man on the other side of the aisle, her opponent she is running against can't even muster up enough energy and courage to get up and go to church on sunday and get the oil laid on him that he probably needs given the way he's been talking on the campaign trail, but folks this is the state of our democracy. i think the race is close and the energy on the ground is bursting at the scenes. it's not just energy for democrats. i think there's energy for republicans out there, and this is all about who turns out at the ballot box, early vote for election day. >> i think that's right, and i think it's important and

appropriate to note, in light of how we opened up the conversation this morning, and it's unfortunate, america, that's the way we have to open up the conversation about a former president speaking on things that have nothing to do with your well being and the future of your kids and grandkids, but rather his abject concern about another man's private parts. i want to note up something ashil capore laid out in an interview. he noted talking with barrett marrison, it makes it hard to vote for someone like kamala harris because she's the antithesis of a lot of things that john mccain advocated for throughout his life. but on the other hand, she doesn't want to overthrow the government. she doesn't want to instru