hey, folks. welcome back to "the weekend." you know, we're in single digits now. did you realize that? because there are just nine days left until this election hits us. and more than 40 million americans have already cast their ballots. there are also two growing story lines that we need to tackle at the top of this hour. according to the "wall street journal," republicans are facing increased concerns that the party's ground game has stalled in critical battleground states. you don't say! i guess if you don't have one, that's what happens. meanwhile, some democratic strategists like simon rosenberg of the hopeium chronicles are

beginning to make the case that polls from the right-leaning organizations are flooding the zone, leading to an inflated sense that trump and the republicans could dominate on election day. joining us now is nbc news correspondent, vaughn hillyard, and ceo of the tara group, tom bonnier. welcome both. >> so can we -- well, let's start with this ground game. vaughn, you've covered the trump campaign, you've covered them extensively. you've traveled with the former president. what is going on with the ground game situation? >> let's just start off, symone, with the very fact that donald trump has publicly said over the course of months that he wanted the rnc's -- the share of their money, to go towards what he says was fighting voter fraud and integrity units as opposed to the get out the vote efforts, the ground game. donald trump in august literally told the crowd that they already have enough votes, they just

need to make sure there's not cheating so they don't lose. we've seen that play out at the ground game level across the country. it's usually the rnc and the campaign that teams up with the state gop to build those ground game operations. but instead, here in the recent weeks, we have seen them effectively outsource that operation to the elon musk pac, america pac, which is sort of haphazardly trying last minute to put something together, along with the likes of turning point usa, which is that charlie kirk organization. but neither of those two organizations, neither of them have any wins to their name, on record here. so that is a lot of pressure to put on these organizations to do donald trump's campaign ground game efforts here. and i think that that is where i was in the rural arizona county of mohave county just last week, kind of like the maga capital of the west, if you will. and it was grassroots volunteers for trump that were the real driving forces there. so come a week from tuesday, if

donald trump is in this race or even wins it, a lot of that has to do with grassroots volunteers and enthusiasm among maga faithful. >> tom -- >> go ahead. >> sorry. >> i was just going to say, i can just tell you as the chairman of a political party, you can't outsource your ground game to folks who don't know jack about the ground or the game. so, you are where you are at this point. elise, i'll give it back to you. >> i look forward to learning what the difference is between the ground and the game, chairman steele. but we can save that for later in the show. tom, tell me at this point, nine days out, what can polls tell you? what is it that polls cannot tell you? >> well, what polls can tell us at this moment is that it's a close election, or at least that's the most likely outcome. we do see that they're bouncing around a little bit. everybody is still riding the polar coaster for some reason. one poll will come out that

shows it close, "the new york times" poll a few days ago, democrats are in doom and despair. this morning, there's a plus four survey for abc for vice president harris and everyone's excited. the reality is, the pollsters don't know. they're building these likely voter models where they're guessing who is going to vote. the reality is, we have hard data now. you're talking about the early voting data. that's the data that we should really be focus on. it's who's actually voting. that's going to tell us a lot more. so my advice to people is, probably pay very little, if any, attention to the polls over the closing days. >> i want to stick with that, because i think we need to get on the table and put it right there, that there's a lot of -- a lot of y bs going on right now, with flooding the zone with bad polling. and the republican firms, maga firms, explicitly, oriented towards that effort. you have on pod save america co-host dan pfeiffer noting this. the fundamental danger of all of these republican polls that are

flooding the zone, that simon rosenberg has written about so often that it has created an depression among republicans and the republican base that trump is going to win. that's part of the set-up narrative. that's the set-up narrative. they'll put these polls up in your face on wednesday, thursday, friday morning, and go, but donald trump was leading by 6. how did we lose? and so the reality of it is, i agree with you, tom. you can't really take these polls to heart, because the zone has been flooded with a lot of bad information to bring the averages down for kamala, because we're basically looking at trump's ceiling. and so, how then -- how then do we process the rest of the campaign, setting these polls aside? >> and what does the early data voter tell us, because the chairman is right. this is the same thing that happened in 2022, with the red wave and all the polling. he's exactly right about what's going on. >> and we have to remember, in

2022, the polls -- the average poll missed by five points. which is a big miss. it's why the polls told us that there was going to be a red wave and it didn't happen. because of these red wave polls. and the news, as you said, simon rosenberg has shown us that it's actually a bigger op this time around. there are many more of these red wave pollsters out there doing what they do. what the early vote is actually telling us is that turnout actually looks pretty good for democrats, which is somewhat surprising. we didn't expect -- we move that in 2020, there was huge early voting turnout. democrats were more covid conscious. republicans were told by donald trump that voting early was fraud. so democrats dominated it. we expected to see that shift. we know republicans have been pushing the early vote so far. we're seeing a small shift. we're not seeing the sort of shift that republicans were counting on. and in states like michigan and wisconsin, democrats are actually leading in the early vote at this moment. and states like georgia and north carolina, where republicans started off hot,

it's actually coming back together and it looks more like it did in 2020, which is certainly a good sign for democrats. >> i would also say on that point, elise, and maybe, vaughn, you can address this part of it as well, the interesting aspect of this turnout modeling is, you have to take into account that during the primary, trump lost about 20 to 22% of his base that went for nikki haley. we lovingly called them the nikki haley voter. they are still in that camp. those folks don't fall back in line. what are you seeing and what is your reporting telling you about how within the various cohorts that are coming together, that are going to the polls now, sort of a read on the exit polling, if you will, the early read on the exit polling in terms of how people are actually landing, as republicans specifically, as

we're seeing a big bump like you saw in georgia, where they were like 4% of the early vote or 50-some percent of early vote were republicans and 30-some percent were democrats. i say, let's be careful about that number. that's not all maga in that republican vote. >> that's absolutely accurate. and if we could, let's take arizona as an anecdote to this. arizona has a long history dating back to the early '90s of mail-in voting and early voting. and we saw in 2020, donald trump tell republican voters, don't do that, go in perp or drop off your mail ballot on election day. and at the close of election night, when most people are going to bed, joe biden had an 8 percentage point lead. as we started to count these late allots, that eight-point lead turned into 20,000 votes. if you go, this is where the data we're seeing so far in this 2024 election, it's actually maybe more reflective of the

2018 election in arizona, where, at that point in time, it was republicans who historically were the ones that would mail-in vote and early vote. and on election night, martha mcsally and kyrsten sinema, they were effectively tied when everybody went to bed. but it was democrats who were coming in late to vote and were turning in their mail ballots late and handing them at the voting election. and kyrsten sinema ended up beating martha mcsally by 2.5 percentage points. republicans want to see these big numbers coming in right now, because that's how it used to be in some places around the country. if they were not getting these numbers, that's what would be so highly concerning for them. to your other question, i think when we're looking at that turnout operation here, really, my question that is outstanding, which, again, when we're talking about turnout models, just how many of those maga faithful are actually going to become maga voter. because donald trump turned out a record number in 2020 around

the country. but are there even more of those people that he's able to turn out here over the course of the next week? >> yeah. >> tom bonnier, i am curious, when vaughn came on, i said, what do you want to talk about nine days out. and he wants to talk about tuesday night, sort of, we get to election night, what it tells us about where we are as an electorate, where we are as a country, when we sort of zoom out beyond this who's going to win, what will it tell us next tuesday? >> yeah, well, if i can just put in one plug here, because you mentioned election night, i want to do -- take a slight digression to a reminder. >> please! please! go for it. >> we talked about the mirage, where what we said was, look, the vote is going to look republican at first, and then it's going to come in more democratic. and the reality is, even though more republicans are voting early, especially in states like pennsylvania, where the mail

balloting is still overwhelmingly -- it's still two to one democratic, those early votes we see on election night are going to look much more republican. donald trump will say, again, stop the count. so when you ask, you know, what will it tell us on election night? we have to be very careful in those first few hours. because, in a lot of these states, it will look like donald trump is winning. then those mail ballots in states where, look, they asked for the right to be able to count those ballots before election day and have them ready to go. they weren't given the right to do that in many of these states. it could take days to be able to answer your question. but in the end -- >> days, weeks? let's manage expectations here. >> it could be. well, california, we know california can take a few weeks to get these votes. it will be a while before we can answer that question. but we do still appear to be closely divided. . but let's remember, since the dobbs decision, one party has outperformed the polls consistently.

and that's the democratic party. >> vaughn, i just, you know, i'm clicking this pen. >> all right, vaughn, settle in. it's coming. here it comes. >> vaughn, we played the sound a little earlier of a preview of senator j.d. vance on "meet the press" today with our colleague, kristen welker, where he is saying that he essentially agrees with the enemy within comments from donald trump, talking about democrats, specifically, like pelosi and adam schiff. and it strikes me as, this -- why is this their closing argument, is really what i would like to know. and then, this is not what we do in america. this is just -- i can't remember, you know -- i'm 34 years old. i can't remember any other republican presidential candidates making the case that donald trump and j.d. vance have made about the fact that like, america is trash, it's garbage, maybe i'll be nice after, in a

couple of months. i want to be a dictator on day one. like, what is the argument here? take me into the maga world. >> i think the difference between the campaigns that you and michael have run is most campaigns throughout the last decades of american history have been on unite to win campaign strategies. that's not donald trump's. it's divide to win. because he believes that there are enough of those maga faithful that are energized by the personal attacks, that that is what gets them involved and gets them engaged. and at the same time, for j.d. vance and anybody that is trying to run alongside donald trump, there is only one way to run. and it is to run that way. the issue for them is, we have this conversation, all of us, right after the 2022 midterms. when the likes of kari lake lost and tudor dixson in michigan and

herschel walker in georgia, these trump-backed candidates for senate and governor, they all tried to run like donald trump, on election denialism, on conspiracy theories, on personal attacks, on supporting the overturning of roe v. wade. and the voters came out, despite what even the polls were suggesting, came out and rejected that form of republicanism. yet, we knew donald trump two weeks after those midterm losses announced his 2024 presidential run. and at mar-a-lago, inside of that ballroom, he made clear exactly how he was going to run. he was going to run the exact way that those 2022 republicans ran and lost. fast forward, we are here at this moment in time. the question is, has he been able to convince a few more americans that the conspiracy theories are real or worth dismissing, to vote for him. and put him back into the white house. or are americans again going to reject that form of politics that has long been rejected in the united states of america? >> nbc's vaughn hillyard, my usual reminder to you when i see

you in arizona, i want you wearing so much sunscreen. tom bonnier, thank you so much for joining the program. our dear symone will leave to join our friends on "meet the press." but coming up, gary peters joins us to discuss the fight for control of the u.s. senate. this is "the weekend" on msnbc. control of the u.s. senate this is "the weekend" on msnbc m, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. 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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democrats, as you well know,

face an uphill battle to keep control of the senate this cycle. republicans need a net gain of only two seats to take back the chamber. but senator gary peters, the chair of the democratic senatorial campaign committee, has defied gravity before, helping his party to hold on to power during a similarly challenging cycle in 2022. this time, he is pulling out all the stops. earlier this month, the dscc made investments in texas and florida in their senate races after both seats not long ago were considered by most to be all but lost by democrats. and democratic senator gary peters of michigan joins us now. good morning, senator. >> well, good morning. good to be with you. >> good morning, senator! it is a treat of you here, because i kind of align myself with your thinking, sir, about the prospects of the democrats in the united states senate. i think there are a lot of factors in this -- in these various races that are not accounted for in polling, and certainly not accounted for by

the political party, my party, when it comes to how to run those races. what's your response to those who are painting this as a fete de complete, that democrats will automatically lose this, that the republicans only need one more pickup, but i have a sense that there's a little bit more at stake here in terms of this effort coming to benefit the democrats than people may realize. >> well, i'm glad you have that view, i think it's an accurate view. we're basically where we always thought we would be. we knew these were going to be really tough races. they're in battleground states, presidential battleground states. and by definition, a race will go down to the wire. so the way we won last cycle was mentioned in the opening, we were able to win last cycle, when folks didn't think that was

going to happen. in fact, we made history, the first time since 1934 to do that. and the same dynamics. we have superior candidates and incumbents versus highly flawed republicans. we can run a candidate versus candidate race in each of these states. and because we've always known that they were going to be very close, we've built up a very effective and strong ground campaigns in our presidential battleground states. we've been able to team with the presidential efforts there. and we're knocking on doors, talking to folks, turning people out. the enthusiasm is incredible. but we are facing, there's no question, a lot of money that's coming in, just in our main battleground states in the blue wall, we've had republicans announce over $40 million against us here at the last minute. so fund-raising is important, which is why my defendthesenate.org site for the dscc is critical because we need to plug the gaps we're seeing vul of this onslaught of republican money coming in the end. but folks go to

defendthesenate.org they can contribute in a way that helps us plug those gaps and win. and i'm still very confident that n tester will win in montana. it's really tough to poll there. retail politics makes a whole lot of difference, and john is the best at that. he'll pull it out. and we can go on the offense. what we're seeing in texas is very encouraging and florida as well. >> let's talk about your home state, the ex-president in michigan, just yesterday. once again, just absolutely dissing detroit while in detroit. take a listen. >> i mean, you know, they want me to say, oh, detroit's great, you know, it's so great. you know, it needs help. i said, it needs help. and people said, oh, he wasn't positive. i can't be positive. i'll be positive within two years, i'll be positive. you'll see what positive is. but how the hell you be positive? >> the president was in michigan. the message remains consistent there, both what you think about the ex-president being in

michigan, saying that, and what you are saying to voters in your own home state about why they need to come out and vote, not just top of the ticket, but all down-ballot. >> well, first of all, it's outrageous what he said about detroit. detroit has had amazing comebacks over the years. it's a vibrant city. the people in detroit are incredibly offended by what donald trump said, as they should be. but he's never liked detroit. you have to remember, in '20, when he lost the election in '20, he tried to disenfranchise the whole city. they attacked the account there, so that nobody's vote would count. he doesn't care about detroit. he always insults the city. i think we're going to see a huge turnout in detroit. people are going to realize that he is a person who is unfit for office. doesn't understand exactly what's happening in their city, as well as other places around the country. so i think he's going to pay a big price for that.

and as we're campaigning here in michigan, i was with the vice president yesterday, with mrs. obama in kalamazoo. the enthusiasm was absolutely over the top with folks who were out there, working, making sure that the voters turn out. and folks realize that when kamala harris wins the presidency, she'll need to have a majority in the united states senate. and our sflaits with enate race slotkin is critical. elissa is running a great campaign. we need the resources at the dscc, and that's why defend defendthesenate.org is so important. now we have to run through the tape and bring home the victory. >> so what are those races -- while you're filling the gap in

the spaces that you need to fill the gap in, and that's smart, appropriate effort by the senatorial committee. you have this little thing called texas. and i bet -- well, you, sir, may have had texas on your bingo card, but i know a lot of folks probably did not. and particularly when you look at the dynamics there, let's take a quick listen to collin allred and ted cruz in houston on friday. >> at the same time, after he had gone around the country lying about the election, after he had been objective to the results in arizona, ted cruz was hiding in a supply closet. that's okay. that's okay. i don't want him to get hurt by the mob. the appoint is, there shouldn't have been a mob! there shouldn't have been one! and if you summon one and you run for united states senate, you ought to lose your job! >> allred is a dynamic and very

appealing candidate in the state of texas and that has shaken republicans a little bit, because now they have to put resources in a state they shouldn't have to put resources in. so that says a lot about your game, sir, in terms of how you're looking at the map with the kind of candidates that you have in a place like texas. >> i absolutely -- he is a superstar candidate. you know, he's been able to win in a tough congressional district. he would be the longtime republican in the suburbs of dallas. he connects with folks in an incredible meaningful way. and the issues are on his side. as we talked about at the rally. having vice president harris there at the rally, i think was significant, particularly the focus that we saw on reproductive freedom. texas has draconian rules. we have women who are being denied essential care, that have to leave the state in order to get health care. that's absolutely outrageous that that has to happen.

folks have to know that that has happened under ted cruz's efforts to basically undermine the basic freedoms and rights that women have for reproductive freedom. so we're confident we're going to have a huge vote of folks who want to make sure that their voices are heard, and understand who took away their fundamental rights, and then punish them at the voting booth, which is the way this democracy is supposed to work. and we have an amazing candidate in collin allred, who's delivering a very powerful message and has a history of fighting effectively for the people of the state of texas. >> all right. senator gary peters of michigan, who's doing the work on behalf of democrats across the country to hold that senate seat. thank you so much, sir. >> thank you. >> much more to discuss straight ahead here on "the weekend." we'll be right back. s straight ahead here on "the weekend." we'll be right back.

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so here's the deal, folks. trump and his cronies are aggressive and organized in ways

that i don't think people can really fully appreciate with respect to their legal operation to challenge the election results. this has all been set up in a motion for some time. this time, the rnc is also leading the charge. nbc news reports that the republicans have recruited now -- sit down, you may want to grab your coffee for this one, over 220,000 poll watchers and poll workers. and about 5,000 volunteer lawyers ready to deploy through early voting and election day activities. a source close to the trump campaign is alicia, they're ready to bring it in and employ their lawyers to go, look at all of this fraud here. >> part of what i want to do here is level set for the audience how out of the ordinary this is. i think we've talked a lot, we've tried to manage expectations about what's going

to happen on election night, we've had mark elise on, we know there will be charges. it turns out laura trump is busy doing something other than making music videos. during your time at the rnc, was this -- was this where your focus was? >> no! i'm trying to win elections! i'm not -- lawyers! i'm not going to pay for a lawyer! if i have 220,000 volunteers, they're going to be out there working their butts off. they're not going to be out there stand around, monitoring somebody's vote. they'll be turning out the vote. and that's the problem the party is going to have! it's just, it is a very wrong way to do it. you're seeing it, you talk to republicans in michigan. i talk to republicans in georgia. i talk to republicans in other battleground states.hemorrhagint right now, because as we've

noted a couple of times, all of those efforts by the rnc are not going into ground game. they farm that out to elon musk? what the hell does elon musk know about a ground game? how does he know how to organize a poll? but they've got the poll workers and the poll watchers, and that's where -- that's where the intimidation is being set up. that's where the sort of, you know, we're going to own this space. and boards of elections and certainly secretaries of states are all prepared for that, as well. but this is where the resources are going. so y'all keep putting those resources there. please, keep putting them there. >> right. as you know, as you and i both know, part of our responsibility is to say, this is happening, and at the same time, it is intended to have a chilling effect on voters, and you cannot allow it to do that. >> that's it. >> yeah. that's exactly right. up next, congresswoman lisa blunt rochester will join us to discuss her history-making

senate campaign. you're watching "the weekend." n. you're watching "the weekend."

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in just nine days, our country could see many historic firsts on election night, far beyond the walls of the white house. congresswoman lisa rochester is set to make history. if her close ally angela alsobrooks also were to win, they would become the first two black women to serve together. joining us now, democratic congresswoman lisa blunt rochester of delaware. >> good to see you, representative -- >> good morning. >> good morning to you. good to see you. so, you know, i have this thing that i've learned over the years from being a county, state, and national chairman. it's hard as hell to run against history. and i think that's one of the dynamics that set up not just

the race that you're in, but certainly the race that we see with kamala harris. how do you -- how do you have a conversation with people who still second-guess, second-guess the role of women as executive leaders, or senatorial leadership, where, you know, you're in a rarefied space, in a space that they don't often see you in. how do you have that conversation to help people bring them along to understanding the power of your leadership and why it's important for them to consider what you're putting on the table. >> well, first of all, it's great to be with you, again. you know, in this moment, a lot of times we talk about the history-making factor of this. but i think for many of us who

are doing this each and every day, whether it is vice president harris, or county executive angela alsobrooks, we're just doing the work and letting the work speak for itself, but we're also sharing our lived experiences and why they are important. and so for me, when i'm talking to folks up and down the state of delaware, our focus, while it is important that we're making history, our focus is really about making a difference in people's lives. and they see that, they feel that every single day. and so in this present moment, you know, we recognize -- i always say, i'm aware of the isms that are out there. it's been said that even for our vice president, you know, donald trump can be lawless, but she has to be flawless. we kind of know that. but the stakes are that high and the work is that important. and that's why we keep going. and so i'm focused in this

campaign right now on making sure that people understand what we're up against, and why the stakes are so high. we tell people, don't take delaware for granted, don't take this race for granted, because i don't take any single vote for granted. and it's just important that people know, this is about everything from our reproductive freedoms and our democracy to things as basic as clean drinking water. and those are the things that i've worked on in delaware, whether as secretary of labor, head of the urban league here, these kinds of things are the things that we're going to continue to work on. so i tell people, if they're interested in learning about our campaign, you know i've got to put in a plug, go to lisabluntrochester.com so you can hear about the issues that are important to us. but in this moment, i do have to say, i cannot believe, you know, you mentioned the number of women -- i read an article recently that it was 25 years

between carol moseley braun, the first black woman elected to congress to kamala harris, a quarter of a century! and then from kamala to laphonza butler, 7 years, and potentially no gap. i always say, four and five are coming. and that's what we hope to do. >> there are the intrinsic qualities of a leader, and then there's also the framework that a person uses for leadership. and you had vice president harris out on the trail just yesterday. she was in michigan, talking about the way she sees the role and the way her opponent sees the role. take a listen. >> there is a yearning in our country for a president who sees the people. not just looking in the mirror all the time, but sees the people who gets you and who will fight for you. that is what this election is

about. and my whole career, i have put the people above partisanship. i never ask somebody, are you a democrat or a republican, before i offered help. instead, the first and only thing i asked is, how can i help you? and that is a major difference between donald trump and me. >> this is who she is. kamala harris for the people. we know who donald trump is. we know who donald trump is. and yet there are voters who still have not made up your mind. congresswoman, what do you say to them? >> you know, i say that, again, you know, vp harris said it clearly. her focus is for the people. it is about lifting all of us. i know on the campaign trail here in delaware, you know, a lot of people think as delaware as just a blue state, but we are literally only three counties, and we vote blue, purple, and

red. and yesterday, i was actually at a university of delaware football game. and a woman actually whispered in my ear, i voted for you early, and then she said, i'm an "r." now, the fact that she had to whisper that was a whole another thing. but it goes to the point that people have to look at, what is the future of this country? how do we turn the page on darkness? how do we go, you know, i've seen the split screen of donald trump serving and joe biden and kamala harris serving. and we know that donald trump says he wants to be a dictator on day one. to me, this is a moment where each and every one of us has to ask ourselves, what direction do we want this country to go in? everything from our reproductive freedoms, as michelle obama talked about the other night to our democracy, to creating an opportunity economy, which is what kamala has folks on. in this moment, you know, i've

heard delawareans say to me two things, i'm excited, and i'm anxious. i'm excited, and i'm scared. and what i'm telling people is, take that energy, use it as focus, use it as fuel to get as many people to the polls as you can. and even for us individually, i've said this speech many times to people, about getting people out. last week, i got on the phone and call my cousin in philadelphia. i said, did your kids vote? do they have a plan. it is literally incumbent upon all of us to make sure that we get people out to these polls and that we each do our part. >> can i just say, michael, i know that she's running to represent delaware, but i love the philly enquirer labels you a philly native. they want to make sure they get a little bit of credit. >> yeah! >> born in valley. >> for all that you've become. >> born in philly, you know. but delaware is home. delaware is home. >> just, you know, before we let you go, congresswoman, delaware

is home. and at the heart -- part of the heartbeat of delaware has been joe biden. and, what does it mean to a lot of delawarens about sort of the, you know, the end of his presidency, the elegance in which he decided to step down? how do a lot of folks in your backyard look at that, as they consider the future and you're part of that future, that they're looking at. >> you know, michael, we are so proud. we are immensely proud of the leader that he has been for this country. he will go down in history, you know, and we are just grateful. i think that that is the biggest word that i hear from delawareans. you know, this is special. this will be the first firearm many of us that he's not going to be on a ballot in some sort of way.

and we want him to have peace of mind. it's one of the reasons, too, why i think our greatest gift to joe biden is to make sure that kamala harris is elected. i mean, he -- i served on the vice presidential selection committee before him. i was one of the four people he selected. and so so when kamala became his running mate, you could tell that they had this strong relationship, this strong sympatico was the word that he used. and i think it will do him the greatest honor if we, as americans, elect kamala harris as the next president of the united states. >> congresswoman lisa blunt rochester from delaware, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. stay right where you are. there is more of "the weekend" in just a few moments. a quick reminder, this wednesday, you can join michael steele along with jen psaki, steve kornacki and claire mccaskill for a brand-new virtual event, msnbc live democracy 2024, the insiders.

to buy tickets now, scan the qr code on your screen or go to msnbc.com/insiders/2024. you'll get analysis and behind the scenes look at the election's stloechl and even get some of your questions answered. stay with us. me of your questio. stay with us for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

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so, you never have to worry about costly damage from clogged gutters again. it's the easiest call you can make. call 833.leaf.filter today, or visit leaffilter.com. you are going to look at some live pictures out of pennsylvania, if we can pull those up. any minute now, vice president harris will be speaking at a

church service in west philadelphia and is set to speak at any moment. i admit, i have been singing the fresh prince of bel air theme song all morning, sir. >> okay! >> can't have the reference to west philadelphia -- >> that'll work, that'll work! that's good! you know, look, this is all taking place in the backdrop of, you know, events that happened this week with the endorsements around this presidential race and "the washington post" literally stunning the country with an unprecedented decision to not endorse. and there's been a lot of questions. and i just wanted to raise up our colleague and friend jonathan capehart, who last night on his show, had some really, i think, important words to share on that front.

because he is an associate editor of "the washington post." and you know, i'm just going to read a couple -- a little bit of what he said. the decision to not endorse in this election, the most consequential in our nation's history, is abominable. i remain a wonder of "the washington post" opinion staff, but know this. in columns for post opinions moderating "washington post" live skprens most definitely in this chair,ly dmoesksd ly i wi democracy in broad daylight. i wanted to give a shout-out to the associate editor at "the washington post," jonathan capehart for making it very clear that while bezos may want to turn the lights out, he's going to stay in the light on this. i think a lot of people look at what the "l.a. times" and "the washington post" are doing and have done in the face of everything that they've written

and reported about both of these presidential candidates, that they cannot make a recommendation to the nation on who they think could be the next president of the united states. thank you, jonathan. >> it is jarring, michael, to hear you talk about "the washington post," to talk about our colleague here at msnbc, who splits his time over several institutions. and that it takes faith, it takes bravery to be the person who speaks out and says all of this. and as i watch the split screen, waiting for vice president harris to arrive in philadelphia, at this church service, reminded, we are in it. it's nine days, right? she is now going to be doing -- this is it! she is hitting all the battleground states, she is bringing that message directly to people. and those endorsements matter. they matter, because they reach people. >> they do reach people. and particularly the faithful, if you will, who read and absorb

the intellectual, you know, gift that, you know, these editorials and reporters and editors provide. so you can't walk away from that. you're seeing kamala harris set up and put in motion her closing argument to the nation. and i think that that's going to be critical for her to have the ability to do that in the way in which she's bringing light, and not darkness. there's more still ahead right here on "the weekend." we'll be right back, folks. "the" we'll be right back, folks on my bed... my couch... my jacket or jeans in between washes... even shoes. febreze doesn't cover up odors with scent, but fights them... and freshens! over one thousand uses. febreze fabric refresher. hey, take a moment. do you know who we are? we are the kids you champion every day. we are the ones who dream big. and because of you, our dreams become a reality.

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folks, that does it for the weekend, the sunday morning. we will see you back here next saturday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. he sure to follow us on social media at the weekend msnbc. you know, our men velshi continues our coverage. >> we are going to talk about a lot of stuff you were talking about, particularly these political endorsements. it's a complicated issue because some people wonder why it is newspapers get involved in this thing but one also wonders why if you decided you didn't want to, why this moment, 10 days, 11 days before the most consequential election of our time, is the moment you decided to not do it. it feels a little off and i am glad you read what jonathan capehart said