who know him best, from the people who worked with him side by side in the oval office and in the situation room. and it is clear from john kelly's words that donald trump is someone who, i quote, certainly falls into the general definition of fascist. who, in fact, vowed to be a dictator on day one and vowed to use the military as his personal militia to carry out his personal and political vendettas. donald trump is increasingly unhinged and unstable. and in a second term, people like john kelly would not be there to be the guardrails against his propensities and his actions. those who once tried to stop him from pursuing his worst impulses would no longer be there and no longer be there to rein him in.

so, the bottom line is this. we know what donald trump wants. he wants unchecked power. the question in 13 days will be, what do the american people want? thank you. >> madam vice president, do you have any reaction to what the former president said -- >> vice president kamala harris on what is arguably her most pointed, her most, i would say, strongest comments about donald trump concerning what has been a key part of her campaign, that he is dangerous, and as you just heard from her that she believes he is unhinged and unstable. let's talk about the back story to what we just heard because there are new revelations about donald trump and his first term in office that fit a familiar pattern, as he runs for a second term. reports that describe not just

his disdain for the u.s. military, the way you heard kamala harris just put it. he does not want a military loyal to the constitution but to himself personally. that speaks to his desire, according to john kelly and others, to control himself, the u.s. military, what they do, how they can be used. in a new interview, trump's longest serving white house chief of staff, general john kelly, tells "the new york times," americans should have no illusions about the kind of leader trump wants to be. >> certainly the former president is in the far right area. he's certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators. he has said that. so, he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist,

for sure. >> if he was left to his own devices, would he be a dictator, if he didn't have people around him? >> i think he'd love to be. i think he'd love to be just like he was in business. he could tell people to do things and they would do it and not really bother too much about whether -- what the legalities were and whatnot. >> in a statement, trump's campaign accused kelly of fabricating the stories about trump because he failed to serve the president well, saying that the retired marine general suffers from trump derangement syndrome. but kelly's on the record comments coincide with a new report from "the atlantic" that details trump's admiration for dictators and his belief that the military should be loyal to him, not the country. it quotes him as saying, i need the kind of generals that hitler had. it also describes how trump allegedly lashed out at the funeral bill for a young soldier

who was murdered at fort hood saying, quote, it doesn't cost 60,000 bucks to bury an fing mexican, except he used the word. he said, don't pay for it. a spokesperson for trump denies he ever said that and called it an outrageous lie. i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard in duluth, georgia, where the former president will be holding a rally tonight. peter baker is chief correspondent for "the new york times" and author of "the divider." annie -- is president of the jewish council for public affairs. i want to thank all of you for being here. peter, by our count here at nbc, john kelly is one of 23 former trump officials who have made it clear they feel he is dangerous, unfit, a threat to democracy. but to what john kelly has said that produced this very strong statement from kamala harris, in your book, the divider, you write about kelly, the things he

said about donald trump, his relationship to the military. so, help us put it in context, and just give me your reaction to what you heard from kamala harris, which seemed, to me, to be stronger than anything that we have heard from her on this topic. >> yeah. i think that's right. look, john kelly, a four star marine general who served as his chief of staff was very disturbed by what he saw in donald trump. john kelly is not a liberal. he's a pretty conservative guy. what he found in trump was somebody who didn't have any sense of limits, didn't have any sense of the constitution. in our book, "the divider," we first told the story of how trump said to john kelly, i want generals who are like hitler's. john kelly said back to him, they tried to kill him, right? trump didn't seem to understand, now confirming this story on the record in the latest accounts, which, of course, is important. we had other stories in the book as well, but other generals who expressed concern about trump's dictatorial or authoritarian

instincts. paul -- had a conversation with trump in which trump was trying to have a military parade down the streets of washington. he said, that's what dictators do. that's what he told him in a private meeting. general mark milley wrote in a resignation letter at one point that he didn't end up sending to trump saying he would resign because he didn't believe trump believed in the same values the united states fought for in world war ii. he decided it was more important to stay in office and fight against trump's abuse of the military, the worry that he would use the military against civilians, as he is now suggesting he would do. so, when you hear kamala harris say this, she is -- in fact, you're right -- using stronger language than before to try to get across the stakes to those voters who haven't made up their minds. this isn't a choice between an average republican and democrat. it's a choice between somebody who believes in traditional

american democracy and somebody who doesn't. >> you heard her talk about guardrails that people like kelly and milley will not be part of a second administration from donald trump if there is one. so, amy, not only did donald trump allegedly say he wanted generals like hitler had, john kelly also describes donald trump's admiration for hitler. let me play that. >> he commented more than once that, you know, hitler did some good things too. and of course, if you know history, again, i think he's lacking in that. but if you know what hitler was all about, you'd be pretty hard to make an argument that he did anything good. >> your grandparents survived the holocaust. can you help us put this into a larger perspective, this idea hitler wasn't all bad? what's the danger? >> look, we have to understand just how crazy it is that 80 years after the holocaust, 80 years after my own grandparents

survived the holocaust, we have a presidential candidate here in the united states that is glorifying and admiring hitler. and we have to understand it alongside the broader normalization of anti-semitism and extremism that trump has engaged in. it's not just glorifying hitler. it's labelling jews who don't support him crazy or disloyal, a label he's extended to other groups like the black community and latinos. it's pre-emptively blaming the jewish community, scapegoating the jewish community, for his possible loss. and that is part of a tactic to blame the jewish people and other potential scapegoats for not only his loss but the broader challenges, broader -- in society, the core authoritarian and core fascist tactic. so, we need to understand that. and it can't be considered partisan to call that out and name it. it is not about liberal versus conservative, democrat versus republican. it's about fundamental safety of the jewish community, of so many

other communities, and the core tenets of democracy. >> let me ask you about that safety because we have reported on this show several times, just one example, about the amount of money that synagogues in the united states are having to spend on safety and security, the kinds of threats they get, the phone calls they get, the danger that they see. so, when you hear something like this, does your experience tell you that words do have a real world impact and it is dangerous? >> absolutely. we see firsthand how this, sort of, increasingly normalized rhetoric, the anti-semitic, anti-immigrant, racist, white supremacist rhetoric and the conspiracy theories at their core lead directly to real world violence. we're coming up on the anniversary of the tree of life shooting in pittsburgh, the deadliest attack on the jewish community in u.s. history. that was a shooting that was

emboldened and inspired by the same rhetoric and conspiracy theories we're hearing normalized in this campaign about replacement, about efforts to replace the white race or the electorate with immigrants and other communities. we know that these conspiracy theories have already been given a prime-time platform by former president trump during the debate and on the rally stage nearly every night, if not more frequently. and as we actually move toward people heading to the polls and the results starting to come out, it's very possible that he'll lean even further into these conspiracy theories. so, they lead to real world consequences, including what we saw in pittsburgh n buffalo n el paso, in charlottesville, and so many other attacks that have targeted our communities inspired by this dangerous and main stream rhetoric. >> i want to bring in paul -- the founder and ceo of independent veterans of america and host of the independent americans podcast. paul, thank you for being here. i want to play more about what john kelly says. in this case, it's about donald trump's feelings, as he knows

them, toward veterans. take a listen. >> does he have disdain for the disabled? >> certainly his not wanting to be seen with amputees, amputees that lost their limbs in defense of this country fighting for every american to -- him included -- to protect them, didn't want to be seen with them. that's -- that's an interesting perspective from the commander in chief to have. >> why didn't he want to be seen with them? >> he would just say, look, it doesn't look good for me. >> and to repeat what peter pointed out, this is a four star general who is saying -- there are voters, and we know this because we've talked to them -- who just see this as more of the same or maybe he doesn't really mean it, right? what do you hear when you hear that? >> i hear a four star general who lost his son to a land mine in afghanistan. his son died in service of this

country. so, when he thinks about making a decision to go public and have his voice on the record so the whole world can hear, i think john kelly, the father, stepping out of the role as four star general, and making sure that the country understands how high the stakes are. we can't ever normalize any of this because the world is watching. our enemies are watching. when they see a headline like trump praises hitler, trump attacks wounded veterans, trump fighting with arlington cemetery, our enemies are celebrating. this is a good news day for vladimir putin, who wants to see our country ripped apart, who wants to see the former commander in chief attack people in his own country. this is a field day for our enemies. and i think we have to remember that beyond the politics there is a very important national security environment. and the entire world and all our allies are watching this chaos. and we should never normalize it because this is not normal. we're talking about not just the president but potentially electing a commander in chief who will be the authority over our entire military and the sons and daughters of people who are watching. if you've got a son or daughter in uniform, that's going to be

their boss. >> a commander in chief at a time of war. we have wars in the middle east. we have war in ukraine. the atlanta council international affairs group cautions that the u.s. will indeed be electing a war-time president. and in reality, they say, this is not a prediction. it is where we are. does that change the stakes? >> yes, absolutely. we're talking about adversaries with nukes. we're talking about multiple regions around the world with conflict. just today the pentagon released information about american troops that were wounded in iraq because they're fighting i.s.i.s. we're engaged around the world, in yemen, in syria. we've got troops in harm's way right now. it's often below the radar, but american men and women are in uniform and dying. they need a commander in chief who respects them, respects their diversity, honors them, appreciates their sacrifice. this is not just general kelly.

this is every official who served under donald trump. it's people who like mcchrystal, people like dck cheney, the former secretary of defense, who have now aligned against trump. and they're all ringing the alarm. they're all saying the same thing. this is about our national security and the future of our country, and everyone should be concerned. >> so, the trump campaign -- we read their statement -- pushing back against these reports, calling john kelly a liar. have we heard anything from donald trump himself? >> at this point in time, i think it's important to be clear here, kris, donald trump is not running away from his denigration of his former chief of staff, john kelly, or the likes of james mattis, his former pentagon secretary, or mark milley, the former chair of the joint chiefs of staff. donald trump, instead, is using his cavalier attacks against his perceived political enemies from liz cheney to barack obama to liz cheney and joe biden to his

attacks on these military leaders who served in his administration, to calling for the major news organizations, cbs, abc, nbc, to have their licenses taken away from their ability to broadcast on television. this was all last night in the aftermath of this conversation that john kelly had with michael schmidt at "the new york times." and i think it's important to note because donald trump is not trying to present himself as a uniter for the united states. instead, he is using this and his own unique authoritative leadership, right, talking about how he would solve immigration. he said, you don't need a bill. you need a president. he is suggesting america needs a dictator for a day. donald trump is not necessarily running away from the characterizations that are being described by the likes of john kelly about him. instead, he is going on the attack against leaders like him and james mattis and mark milley to suggest that it's because of

them that the united states finds itself, in his words, a weak position. take a listen to him in front of thousands last night in north carolina at a rally. >> i think what happened is when putin saw how weak we were, how pathetic we were, with the stupid milley and these generals that aren't even generals as far as i was concerned -- what a stupid group of people they were. mattis, milley. you know the real ones? the ones that i used to defeat i.s.i.s. we defeated i.s.i.s. they were the real generals. >> donald trump, kris, is campaigning against these generals. i want to make that very clear. this was last night at his campaign rally in north carolina with now less than two weeks left. he's going to be making his way to georgia. and again, donald trump is saying all of this publicly. it's not a political candidate who we have been used to seeing over the last century in the united states of america. yet he is speaking the words about how he would even like to see the military be used.

just the other day he suggested that come election day, that the military and the national guard should be ready to come to action if the political left, his enemies, tried to rig the election again. it's not clear what he means by that, if he is suggesting the military leaders should disobey the biden administration's orders and act rogue or independent of the administration. but these are words of donald trump here in realtime two weeks out from election day. >> amy, then there is is story of a 20-year-old army private, daughter of mexican immigrants, killed at fort hood in 2020. trump said publicly he would help pay for her funeral. and then later that year, he asked about the cost. "the atlantic" reports that, according to attendees and contemporaneous notes of the meeting taken by a participant, an aide answered, yes, we received a bill. the funeral cost $60,000. trump became angry. it doesn't cost 60,000 bucks to bury an fing mexican.

he turned to his chief of staff mark meadows and issued an order, don't pay it. later that day, he was still agitated. can you believe it, he said, according to people, they're trying to rip me off. trump spokesperson says that's a lie. there are other examples of trump dehumanizing certain parts of the population. when you hear that reporting by "the atlantic", what do you hear? >> the dehumanizing language targeting mexicans, immigrants, we've heard from him and frankly a number of other public figures over and over again in recent years. it has become wholly normalized in our political rhetoric. it goes hand in hand with the racist conspiracy theories we've been talking ab. and ultimately it's intended to sow distress in our democracy by pitting communities against one another, dehumanizing, finding scapegoats, and ultimately

creating division in a way that is intended to undermine our democracy and our institutions. we need to understand how it fits into the broader narrative. we talked earlier about the cycle of violence the sort of rhetoric leads to. as we come up on the anniversary of the pittsburgh attack, it was an attack that attacked the jewish community directly, but was fueled by anti-immigrant rhetoric. the shooter used a lot of similar language we just heard from former president trump and other politicians dehumanizing immigrants and believing jews were orchestrating the replacement of the white race by bringing them into this country by replacing our electorate. again, we need to fully understand that none of these things are happening in a silo. the anti-immigrant, anti-mexican rhetoric goes hand-in-hand with the bigotry and extremism. and all of it is meant in service of undermining our democracy. >> paul, i think it's worth noting that we are talking about

a young woman who made a choice. you choose now to serve in the military. nobody is drafting you. she made a choice. she was horribly murdered. and it's reduced to "an fing mexican." do you think that, with the larger community, used to be the military was sacred if you were a politician, right? and maybe even just with people who are part of the military family, it makes a difference when they hear that. >> i hope so. >> who they vote for. >> i hope so. it should. because this is going to be the man who could be in charge of your daughter or your son, setting the tone, setting the example. vanessa guillen was more than just a single soldier that was murdered. she sparked a movement. the vanessa guillen act was passed. it was some of the most significant reform on military sexual trauma and sexual assault in history. there was a tremendous movement to find her, to seek justice.

this is a very important signal for the reform that is overdue, especially in regard to safeguarding women in uniform. to have trump hit this story and this person in this way is especially egregious and outrageous and cuts to the core of who he is. this is outrageous and he has to be in charge of the most diverse military on the planet. how can we do that when he speaks about so many people in this country like that. >> paul, thank you so much for coming in. i want to thank all of our guests for being with us. we appreciate you coming on the show. in 90 seconds, vice president harris also sat down for a wide-ranging interview with nbc news. why she believes the nation is finally ready for a woman of color to be president. now that you're eligible for medicare, it's time to take advantage of everything medicare has to offer, and much more. with a humana medicare advantage plan. humana has plans that can enhance your life in so many ways. it starts with peace of mind. humana's medicare advantage plans offer $0 or low monthly plan

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from the persistent gender gap to the issue of abortion to the historic nature of kamala harris' campaign, there's a reason this race has been called the boys versus girls election. and now in a wide-ranging interview with nbc's hallie jackson, kamala harris explains why she believes america is ready for its first female president of color. >> do you think the country is ready now for a woman and a woman of color to be president? >> absolutely. absolutely. and i am seeing that, in terms of every walk of life of our country, you know, i think part of what is important in this

election is really not only turning the page but closing the page and the chapter on an era that suggests that americans are divided. >> you've been reluctant to lean into, to talk about the historic nature of your candidacy on the campaign trail. why is that? >> well, i'm clearly a woman. i don't need to point that out to anyone. the point that most people really care about is, can you do the job and do you have a plan to actually focus on them? >> nbc's hallie jackson joins us now along with political analyst juanita tolliver. i watched the interview several times, hallie. bravo, my friend. >> thanks, kris. >> among the things you asked the vice president was if she thought sexism would play a role in the election. what did she tell you? >> the reason i brought that up, too, kris. you heard that answer when it came to her comments from back in 2019 when she talked about the elephant in the room.

she has a different perspective. she made clear, now four years later. but some of her allies, including, for example, former president obama, have implied that sexism may be at play for part, at least, of this gender gap that we're seeing in this race. and i asked about that. let me play it. >> do you not see sexism as a factor in this race at all? >> i don't think of it that way. my challenge is the challenge of making sure i can talk with and listen to as many voters as possible and earn their vote. and i will never assume that anyone in our country should elect a leader based on their gender or their race. >> i spent some time with the vice president's team on the campaign trail in michigan, wisconsin, and pennsylvania on monday. she was traveling around with former republican congresswoman liz cheney, and the audience was clear. they wanted to reach not just women but undecided voters overall and disaffected republicans, voter who is may be

turned off by former president trump but who are not quite ready to cross that bridge yet and vote for vice president harris. that's who she's trying to reach. it's a small slice of persuadable voters. the campaign feels that could be decisive in a close race. >> as close as it can be. juanita, what she said about sexism, it was a carefully crafted political answer after the criticism that obama faced for allegedly waving his finger at black men this campaign season. but do you think she doesn't think, as some women voters, maybe more than a few women voters, have told reporters that they believe absolutely sexism is a part of this campaign and part of her challenge? >> i think the vice president is deeply aware of the role of sexism and racism and prejudice in this country, given her current career trajectory as the first black and south asian and woman to hold many of the positions she has held. so, i don't think that's what she was getting at though. i think what she was getting at

is challenging voters to re-evaluate their understanding of leadership. and when she said that, i don't believe that anyone would vote for a person based on gender or race, i think that what she was appealing to was their logical intelligent ability to determine that she's the best person for this race based on substance versus arguments of representation. and it honestly harkens back to shirley chisholms presidential announcement back in 1972, when she declared, i am a woman and i am proud, but i am not the woman candidate. i am black and i am proud, but i'm not exclusively the candidate for black people. i think that's what the vice president was getting at, directly challenging anyone who doesn't look like her, men, people who are not individuals of color, to reconsider what they consider to be a leader based on substance, the strength of her character. and in doing so, she drew another contrast with donald

trump. >> "the new york times" says the matter of mrs. harris' matter is defining the campaign, creating a contest that is, in ways, overt and subtle, a referendum on the role of women in american life. i mean, we saw childless cat ladies, overmasculinity in the trump campaign. let's take our shirt off in the middle of the rnc. abortion, obviously. >> right. >> why not lean into her historic candidacy as part of, you know, the explanation of why things are different? and i think, in a very real way, the contrast she wants to make with the other side. >> well, i think she does emphasize it, especially once she's talking about the differences in how she will lead compared to joe biden. and think back to her speech on the dnc stage when she accepted the nomination for the democratic party back in august. she did talk about being the daughter of immigrants. she did talk about being black

and south asian and her role as a woman. i do think that is something that, let's be real, chris, every time i appear on your show, it's the first thing people see. when she said, of course i'm a woman. i don't to explain that. they see her skin tone. they see her posture. what she wants to do is make sure people understand this is a campaign of substance. and by highlighting her policies, by highlighting how she will lead, by highlighting her character, that's the way she wants to draw this contrast. and i respect it, honestly. and i don't think it's going to cost her anything with black women or south asian individuals because her connection to these communities is long standing. remember, this is a woman who attended howard university, pledged a historically black sorority. and also when she ascended to the top of the ticket, it was black women who held one of those first organizing calls for her. vice president harris knows who her base is. she knows what her identity is. what she doesn't want is her identity to be any reason why

any voter in this country will decide to not select her. and that's why she's leaning on substance. >> hallie jackson, people can see the entire interview at nbc news.com. i recommend it. thank you, my friend. juanita, you're going to stay with me. still ahead, how the harris campaign is combining star power with an unprecedented level of voter research. it is fascinating. keep it here. companies delivr is exceptional customer experience. what makes it possible is unmatched connectivity and 5g solutions from t-mobile for business. t-mobile connects 100,000 delta airlines employees. powers tractor supply stores nationwide with reliable 5g business internet. and helps red bull revolutionize coverage of live events. this is how business goes further with t-mobile for business.

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smack in the middle of record breaking early voting, the harris campaign is combining celebrity with an unprecedented level of voter research in what "the new york times" calls the furious search for a fickle sliver of the country, persuadables, some unsure if they'll even vote. one result, the power pair of eminem and barack obama in detroit. the superstar rapper talking and the superstar talker rapping. >> i also think that people shouldn't be afraid to express their opinions, and i don't think anyone wants an america where people are worried about retribution or what people would do if you make your opinion known. i think vice president harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others would be protected and upheld. >> i have done a lot of rallies, so i don't usually get nervous. but i was feeling some kind of

way following eminem. now, i notice my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, vomit on my sweater already, mom's spaghetti, i'm nervous but on the surface i look calm and ready to drop bombs but i keep on forgetting! >> so, we know why harris wants obama out there. but busting out the grammy winning hometown detroiter eminem is just the latest celebrity the campaign has enlisted. tomorrow it will be bruce springsteen, slated to perform in a rally in atlanta. just a sample of what we saw after the cast of "the west wing" showed up in three wisconsin cities. but will it all inspire those uninspired voters? can it convince lookly harris voters to actually fill out a ballot? i want to bring in the chief strategist for romney's 2012

campaign and senior adviser to the lincoln project. also with us, juanita tolliver. juanita, celebrities on the campaign trail is nothing new, but this level of research and microtargeting is. as a former director of campaigns at the center for american progress, pull back the curtain for us just a little bit. how do decisions like this get made? who goes where with who, when? >> this is the ultimate targeting, chris. and i'm telling you, it's down to a science here. if there's voter who is like specific actors or actresses who may have been nikki haley voters in the primary, great. we're sending julia roberts there. that is how this goes. down to voter trends, down to behavior and preferences of media, movies, and television, and then to voter propensity to actually turn out to vote. i appreciate that this is spanning across the country, where you have usher and stevie wonder in atlanta over the

weekend. you mentioned bruce springsteen in pennsylvania as well as atlanta this week. it just shows the range of this effort because it's ultimately an influencer program being deployed. and i appreciate how democrats are also going to where their endorsers and celebrities who have engaged with the campaign are as well. i'm thinking about taylor swift down in florida, where democrats had floating banners going across nearby the concert venues. they had friendship making parties and texting phone banks for volunteers. what this is about is about that action. it's about expanding the reach of the campaign to people who might not have been committed to turning out to vote and making sure they know enough about the campaign, the harris campaign in particular, to turn out. again, they are being explicitly clear in their targeting to deploy these surrogates across the nation. and it is ideally going to pay off and be able to turn those early voters then into volunteers who help them continue to get out the vote in

the lead-up to november. >> the thing is stuart, look, nobody is suggesting this is about endorsements moving voters. there are very, very, very few instances in modern history -- some would argue none -- in which an endorsement has made a difference in the outcome of a race. but in terms of motivating voters, in terms of maybe reaching those people who are, kind of, on the fence, do you think this is effective? >> yeah. i think it's super effective. politics is downstream from culture. and, you know, this is an advantage to democrats to have. i'm so jealous. i would sit in these republican meetings and say, who would you get? we can get ted nguyen. i can remember one of those meetings. somebody says, can we get somebody on the cover of "rolling stone"? the answer tended to be no. i think this stuff resonates with people. it gets their attention. and you're at the stage of a

campaign where you're asking yourself, have we done everything? what else can we do? and just continuing to do the same thing is usually not the best way to go. it's usually a lack of imagination or a lack of options. and i think if you just compare this to the trump campaign, the harris campaign has composure. they're calm. they're doing this. they're deliberate. there is no focus group, poll, or strategist that has told donald trump, you want to close, talk about having military tribunals for individuals and american generals. they're just flailing around. >> so, let me ask you about this, though, because i think there are people you can just send out, like, probably almost anywhere. they may be microtargeting julia roberts. where can you send julia roberts where she's going to be unpopular? i want to give you, stuart, one specific example. the actor kristine bran ski. she was out in pennsylvania

trying to reach fellow polish americans. that's 5% of voters in that county. the west wing's bradley whit ford was in wisconsin, where he pointed out his dad had been president of planned parenthood there. those personal connections, do those amp up the effectiveness? >> yeah, it's huge, because there's a special connection there. you know, when you see these performers and they come to their hometowns or they come to some place like where they grew up, they can bond on that. what he's really saying is you and i are not that different. i'm famous, but we share the same values. let's work together on this. i think it's really smart. and i have to say, i think when this thing is over and done with and harris has won -- which i think she's going to do -- i think we're going to look back on this as one of the most perfectly executed campaigns in modern history. >> stuart stevens, time will

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we are taking you to the white house briefing room, where national security communications adviser john kirby is speaking. let's listen. >> i do want to start by extending our thoughts to the victims of the horrible terrorist attack in turkey this morning. our prayers are with all of those affected and their families and also the people of turkey at this very difficult time. turkish authorities are investigating that is a possible terrorist attack. and while we don't yet know the motive or who is exactly behind it, we strongly condemn this act of violence. now, i think, as you have all heard earlier this morning, we have seen the public reporting indicating that north korean soldiers are traveling to russia to fight against ukraine. we're working closely with our allies and partners to gain a full understanding of this situation. but today i'm prepared to share what we know at this stage. we assess that between early to mid october, north korea moved at least 3,000 soldiers into

eastern russia. we assess that these soldiers travelled by ship from the -- area in north korea to vladivostok, russia. these soldiers travelled to multiple military training sites in eastern russia, where they are currently undergoing training. we do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability. after completing training, these soldiers could travel to western russia and then engage in combat against the ukrainian military. we have briefed the ukrainian government on our understanding of this situation, and we're certainly consulting closely with other allies, partners, in the region on the implications of such a dramatic move and on how we might respond. i expect to have more to share on all of that in the coming days. for the time being, we will continue to monitor the

situation closely. but let's be clear, if north korean soldiers do enter into combat, this development would demonstrate russia's growing desperation in its war against ukraine. russia is suffering extraordinary casualties on the battlefield every single day. but president putin appears intent on continuing this war. if russia is, indeed, forced to turn to north korea for manpower, this would be a sign of weakness, not strength, on the part of the kremlin. it would also demonstrate an unprecedented level of direct military cooperation between russia and north korea with security implications in europe as well as the indo-pacific. russia's cooperation with the north korean military is in violation of multiple u.n. security council resolutions which prohibit the procurement of arms from north korea and military arms training. this move is, likewise, a violation. president biden's direction, the united states continues to serve security assistance to ukraine.

just the past week, which i think you've seen, united states has announced more than $800 million in security assistance to meet ukraine's urgent battlefield needs. now, looking ahead, united states is on track to provide ukraine with hundreds of additional air defense intercepters, dozens of air defense systems, additional artillery, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help keep ukraine effective on the battlefield. in the coming days, united states will announce a significant sanctions traunch. president biden is determined to provide ukraine with the support that it needs to prevail. to that end, the president announced today that of the $50 billion that the g7 committed to loan ukraine back in june, the united states will provide a loan of $20 billion. the other $30 billion in loans

will come from a combination of g7 partners including the european union, the united kingdom, canada, and japan. now, this is unique. never before has a multilateral coalition frozen the assets of an aggressor country and harnessed the value of those assets to fund the aggrieved party, all while respecting the rule of law and maintaining solidarity. these loans will support the people of ukraine, as they defend and rebuild their country. and it's another example of how mr. putin's war of aggression has only unified strengthened the resolve of g7 countries and our partners to defend shared values. and yep, that's it. thank you. sorry. i had an extra page in there and i wasn't sure where i was going. >> does the -- is the assessment that the presence of north korean troops can have a meaningful trajectory on the war? and secondly, you said earlier

even, that it shows a sign of desperation on the russians. but does it also demonstrate north korea's commitment to this burgeoning alliance with russia? and is that in and of itself a broadening and discouraging concern for america? >> so, in your first question, too soon to tell what kind of an impact these troops can have on the battlefield because we just don't know enough about what the intention is in terms of using them. so, i think that's why i said at the top, we're going to monitor this and watch it closely. to your second question, yeah, absolutely. as we've also said, yes, i call this a sign of desperation and a sign of weakness. it's not like mr. putin is being very honest with the russian people about what he's doing here. and mr. peskov spoke just the other day, denied knowing anything about it. but we've also talked many, many times about the burgeoning and

growing defense relationship between north korea and russia and how reckless and dangerous we think that is not only for the people of ukraine. and clearly we'll watch to see what this development means for them. but also for the indo-pacific region. >> thank you. with the u.s. diplomats in the region -- saudi arabia and israel, do you believe there is a chance now for the ceasefire to be back on the table? and do you believe that with the demise of mr. sinwar you have bigger chance or worse chances to negotiate with. >> the ceasefire you're talking about i'm assuming with negotia? >> the cease-fire you're talking about i assume is with gaza. the short answer to your question, nadia, is yes. we wouldn't be engaged in these

diplomatic efforts if we didn't think there was still an opportunity here to get a cease-fire, a cease-fire for gaza that brings the hostages home and increases humanitarian assistance and certainly a cease-fire between israel and hezbollah. as for the implication that the deaths of the two leaders, as president biden said last week, that does open up, we believe should open up an opportunity to try to get there. but i'll let secretary blinken speak to his travels. he's still on the road. he talked about today they had good productive conversations specifically with respect to gaza while he was in israel. there's still a lot of work before us. >> reporter: one more quickly, the number of casualties killed in gaza was 729 through the last 20 days. the total number is 100,000 between the dead and wounded.

does the u.s. still believe that israel's strategy in gaza is working and do you still support it? >> we still support israel's responsibility to defend itself against these threats, including the continued threat of hamas. we still urge israel to be mindful, ever mindful of civilian casualties and the damage to civilian infrastructure. we'll continue to work with them to that end. >> reporter: has the u.s. made an assessment training that north korean soldiers are going through in russia that could be used in ukraine? does this represent a new agreement between north korea and russia? >> i don't believe we have a very specific assessment at this time of the exact nature of all the training. there's three sites that we assess right now that this first

are being trained. i can go so far to say in general terms it's basic combat training and familiarization. we'll monitor this and watch it closely. if we have more information we can share with you, with will. concerning your question about this relationship, we've been watching it grow for many months. the question we're asking ourselves, and we don't have an answer for, what does kim jong-un think he's getting out of this. you talked about information sharing, maybe that's part of it. maybe it's technology, maybe

it's capabilities. we don't have a good sense on that. not only the impact on the war in ukraine but the impact in the situation in the indo-pacific. >> reporter: how significant is this for u.s. allies? >> it could be significant. we don't know enough. i think you mean in the indo-pacific. until we have a better sense of what the north koreans believe they're getting out of this, as opposed to what they actually get, it's hard to put a metric on it for the indo-pacific. it's concerning. it's been concerning. this willingness of kim to literally put skin in the game here, soldiers in russia for the potentially deployment, we haven't seen them deploy, but the potential deployment, he thinks he's getting something

out of this. >> reporter: you mentioned the u.s. is discussing how they would respond. what's the significance of that? >> we'll continue to talk about security assistance as i mentioned in our topper. the president has made it clear we'll continue to provide security assistance up to the end of his administration for sure. we'll see that continue to flow. we're talking to allies and partners about what the right next steps are. i'm not at liberty to talk about specific options, but we'll have those conversations. >> reporter: china is a critical trading partner with north korea. how is china looking at this? >> we don't know how president xi and the chinese are looking at this. if you take their comments at face value about having security in the region, particularly on the korean peninsula, one would think they're deeply concerned by this development.

you can expect we'll be communicating with the chinese about this and certainly sharing our perspectives to the degree we can and gleaning theirs. >> reporter: south korean sources, according to intelligence, these north korean troops don't understand current warfare, including drones and there will be significant casualties. >> we don't know -- we don't know what they'll be used for, if they're going to deploy and for what purpose. i can tell you one thing. if they deploy to fight against ukraine, they're fair targets. the ukrainian military will defend themselves against north korean soldiers the same way they're defending themselves against russian soldiers. the possibility that there could be dead and wounded north korean

soldiers fighting against ukraine is absolutely real if they're deployed. >> reporter: just to clarify something you said earlier about what kim jong-un gets out of this, as far as you know, has he gotten anything in return? >> from this particular move, i can't speak to that, m.j. i don't think we've seen any specific quid pro quo with respect to this provision of troops. but, we know that he and mr. putin have again been growing in their defense relationship. we know mr. putin has been able to purchase north korean artillery, north korean ballistic missiles which he used against ukraine. in return we've seen -- at the very least some technology sharing with north korea. what this particular development means going forward, we just don't know. we'll have to watch that. >> reporter: do you know if this came about because putin specifically -- >> we'll continue to listen to this briefing, but i think it's

important to go to nbc senior national security correspondent courtney kube. this is an historic decision on the part of the u.s. and g7 going back to russia's invasion of ukraine. they took assets that were in their own jurisdictions. now they're using them in an historic way. talk about what this is and why it could be important. >> reporter: so what we have seen over the past several months is north korea has provided russia with equipment, weapons, weapons that have been used effectively on the battlefield in ukraine. now for the first time we have u.s. officials speaking on the record on camera saying there's concern that some of these 3,000 north korean soldiers who are in eastern russia, training with russian soldiers, that they could be deployed into ukraine, used potentially to help russia in their war there. why this is so significant is

two main reasons. number one, it shows the real growing and partner -- burgeoning partnership and relationship between these two nations. there was some concern initially that maybe this would be north korean soldiers moving into ukraine to see how some of the weaponry is being used, to maybe learn some lessons based off how some of their systems are operating in a combat zone. if they're going in to fight alongside russian soldiers against ukrainian soldiers, that's an escalation and expansion of this relationship. the next concerning piece of this for u.s. officials is what could north korea be getting in response here, what kind of potential technology. could it just be money as president zelenskyy postured or could it be something that's a game changer for north korea in the name of military technology? >> the questions that kirby posed that are still hanging out

there if this does indeed turn out to be true that troops will be used for combat, how might the u.s. and allies respond. courtney kube, thank you. coming up, new data that shows home buying is getting easier in key battleground counties, but are voters feeling it before election day? ore elecy let's get to work. create a beautiful website in minutes with godaddy. liberty mutual customized my car insurance so i saved hundreds. with the money i saved i thought i'd get a wax figure of myself. oh! right in the temporal lobe! beat it, punks! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. our advanced matching helps find talented candidates, so you can connect with them fast. visit indeed.com/hire