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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," one week to go. the candidates are road warriors stopping in every battleground state trying to win over the undecided voters. >> we're going to win back that beautiful white house. we are going to make america great again. >> do we believe in the promise of america? and are we ready to fight for it? and when we fight, we win. more fallout from the controversial comedian about his racist comments during the profanity-filled trump rally at madison square garden. could it affect the outcome? >> if somebody doesn't respect you, if somebody does not see you as fellow citizens with equal claims to opportunity, to the pursuit of happiness, to the

american dream, you should not vote for them. the democratic senator in charge of holding his party's majority in the upper chamber against tough mathematical odds this year joins me with his latest tally from the campaign trail. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. this time next week, polls across the nation are going to be open for the final hours in what could be the most consequential election of our lifetime. vice president harris arguing, democracy is on the ballot. >> we understand the opportunity that we have before us to turn the page on the fear and divisiveness that have characterized our politics for a decade because of donald trump. we're not about the enemy within. we know we are all in this together. that's what we are fighting for.

>> this is a theme she will be hammering home tonight with a major address from the ellipse. this is the same spot where donald trump addressed his supporters on january 6th, before rioters stormed the u.s. capitol. former president trump moments ago insisting harris is the one stoking division. >> she's running on a campaign of demoralization and really a campaign of destruction. really, perhaps more than anything else, it's a campaign of hate. a campaign of absolute hate. >> all this amid backlash over the racist, sexist and crude rhetoric that dominated trump's rally at madison square garden. we begin with yamiche alcindor, garrett haake in allentown, pennsylvania, where donald trump will hold a rally later today,

and peter baker and "washington post" senior national political correspondent ashley parker. yamiche, start us off. it's on the ellipse. this is where kamala harris is going to speak tonight. of course, it's where that speech was on january 6th. >> reporter: that's right. good afternoon, andrea. i'm standing just outside the ellipse, just a big green space outside of the white house here. there is security fencing going up. lines are forming. the vice president is expected to deliver a speech that's going to be about her vision for america, her to-do list, and also a vision of america that would have democracy and freedoms threatened if donald trump were to be re-elected. she's going to say that he has an enemy list while she has a to-do list. she will talk about the fact that the economy and lowering costs of living for americans is chief among the things she wants

to do. she wants to ensure freedoms like to have housing, create more housing. she will talk about having abortion bans lifted around this country. she's going to say that donald trump is a threat to democracy, that he is someone that in his second term if he were to be elected, that he would be someone who would be ushering in a phase of american society where the very foundation of this country could be put at risk. i want to play for you part of what she said in michigan on the campaign trail. take a listen. >> my opponent spends all of his time talking about -- just diminishing who we are at america and talking down at people. talking about -- i don't know. we're the garbage can of the world. we're not. >> reporter: it's interesting, because campaign officials -- harris campaign officials tell me and other reporters on a call this morning that she's really going to be focused on trying to

move persuadable voters. they are the people who may be dissuaded by the madison square garden rally. they are wondering about people who may be changing their minds on donald trump in terms of the last few days. right now, the harris campaign has amended the permit application to expect at least 40,000 people here. that's up from 20,000 just yesterday. a big crowd is expected here. >> yamiche, that's going to be quite a rally. one week before the election. garrett haake, you are in allentown, pennsylvania. that's a part of pennsylvania where there are a large number of hispanic, particularly puerto rican residents, eligible

voters. pennsylvania has about 300,000 eligible voters who might be reacting more particularly because it was so personal to what happened at madison square garden. >> reporter: the folks here started lining up a few hours ago that won't happen for seven hours. allentown is a majority latino community here in pennsylvania. i'm going to talk to some voters throughout the day to figure out what impact, if any, this comedian or the overall msg rally from sunday night might have had on their vote. nationally, it does seem to have driven a resurgence in donald trump. people are searching for more information about him and about that event. one dynamic that has been consistent across this race, which sounds counterintuitive, is the candidate more in the spotlight has tended to be losing. you are doing better when the national conversation has not been about you. that's not a dynamic that fares

well for donald trump in this moment. i can tell you, as we are talking, donald trump is approaching about an hour into his remarks at mar-a-lago, remarks that the campaign added just at the last minute yesterday to try to get ahead of the day narrative-wise today. i have been watching those remotely. it's been a low energy trump rally on decaf, essentially, in front of a crowd of supporters at his residence in florida. probably not the spark he is looking for to change the subject. one thing i will be looking for, to see how it affects the dynamics in the last race, sort of single individual who might impact this, steve bannon let out of prison in new york state early this morning, back on his podcast today. someone who has often directed the maga movement in one way or another through his megaphone. i will be curious to see what impact he has. >> that's a good point. peter baker, j.d. vance says

people have to stop getting so offended at every little thing. that was his reaction to the madison square garden remarks. you wrote about that and more broadly about the profanity, the kind of language that has been used by donald trump and his supporters during this campaign compared to his previous rhetoric. talk to us about your reporting. >> yeah. i was at madison square garden, by the way. what was striking was how much everybody there, the speakers, they were taking offense. their message to the audience was one of grievance and resentment. how dare the liberals and the establishment and media, the democrats disparage us in this way or that way. when j.d. vance says we shouldn't be offended, it is only on one side, not the other side. you are right, there has been a tonal change in trump's message over the nine years since he first appeared on the presidential political stage. we did an analysis of his speeches going back to 2016

compared to today. he uses profanity now 69% of the time more than he did eight years ago. some people say that is a function of age, a condition people call disinhibition. it may also just be part of his strategy. it's a testosterone-driven campaign. in that audience you are showing, the tone was like a wide world of wrestling event where everybody is -- hulk hogan is tearing his shirt off, they are chanting tampon tim about tim walz and so forth. it comes from the top. former president trump uses the language, four-letter words and so forth, that were verboden. imagine bozo, it's not a word you hear from donald trump.

>> i know. that was 1992, peter. when we think about it, it was -- it's quaint now. still, the language was shocking for madison square garden. people were cheering it, that was what was so hard to understand. ashley, i want to play a moment that vice president harris was caught on a hot mike. she was with gretchen whitmer. >> i've been bugging your team. we have do this. >> we have microphones listening to everything. >> they are aware that they are having a problem getting men. it seems to be, ashley, she's been focusing with beyonce, michelle obama on building the support among the women who so favor her because of dobbs,

because of other things. hoping this gender gap will play that way in their favor. are they writing off the men who donald trump is appealing to? is it just that they know they have to make up more ground and think women will -- if enough women vote they will win? >> there's objectively a gender gap that both sides are aware of and are basing their strategy around. harris does perform better with women for a number of reasons that includes but not limited to reproductive rights. they are not writing off young men. you can look to -- these were people not necessarily acting at the instruction of the harris campaign, but michelle and barack obama's pointed comments to men saying that it's impossible -- they made different arguments. but it was very much directed

towards men, explaining why they believe men need to get out and vote for vice president harris for president. what's interesting is this gender gap which you see especially among younger voters, and especially among black and brown voters, is something that's been trending in this way for a while and is not necessarily expected to abate if donald trump is not the nominee. it's an immediate problem for the harris campaign and democrats right now on how they get some of them back between now and election day. it is also potentially a major problem and challenge to grapple with for the democratic party writ large in future elections on what the party is, who it represents, who feels included in it. it's having some challenges with men, especially young men. >> the feeling of alienation that we have been talking about. it's very -- it's not just in the polls but when we talk to

voters, that's what they are thinking and feeling. thanks for starting us off. in 90 seconds, steve kornacki joins me from the big board with a potential path to victory for both sides and possible roadblocks. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. e plaque psoriasis my skin was no longer mine. my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. don't let symptoms define you... emerge as you, with clearer skin. with tremfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. tremfya® is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. emerge as you with clear skin. ask your doctor about tremfya®. ♪♪

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day, more than 48 million americans have cast their ballots. joining us now, steve kornacki. this race is a dead heat by anybody's description. show us some of the paths to 270 electoral votes for each candidate at this point. >> yeah, sure, andrea. look here, these are the poll averages in the seven core battleground states that you are hearing about. big picture, look at how close they are, no matter who you see leading in one. the biggest margin for anyone is donald trump by .1 and .2 in georgia. a fraction of a point in all of these states right here. in terms of the paths for the two candidates, one thing you do see is where there are harris leads in the poll average, as short as they may be, they are in the northern tier.

michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. the three places where harris is ahead in our state poll averages. what that would mean, if you take a look at the battleground here, if harris were to win wisconsin, michigan and pennsylvania, the three states we talked about, right there it puts her at exactly 270 electoral votes, barring a surprise anywhere else. have to say outside the battleground, elections are happening. we go into every election night saying, maybe something causes a surprise. without that, if harris gets pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin, she's got it. from donald trump's perspective, we will reset these to the battleground category. we saw his best polling was in georgia. he also had a very, very small lead in north carolina. a state he carried in 2020. and he had a small lead in

arizona. if he were to get those three sunbelt states, it would land him at 262. he would need one of these -- you see nevada, it only has six electoral votes. it wouldn't get trump there. these three, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, win any one with those three sunbelt states and trump would be over 270. all the attention being paid to pennsylvania in particular. that's why -- i think that's where the two paths converge. if harris can win the northern tier and sweep it, she will probably be the president-elect. if trump sweeps the southern tier, he needs one from the northern tier and he will probably be the president-elect. >> if pennsylvania is close, we may not know because they don't start opening mail-in ballots until election day. they don't do pre-clearing of the ballots. it's up to you, pennsylvania.

we might be there for a while. right? >> yeah. i will say it looks like the overall number of people voting by mail is down. while they didn't change the rules in pennsylvania, there's the possibility it's a more efficient process this time around. we will see. >> that was the case during covid. more people mailing them in. steve kornacki, thank you very much. when it comes to the senate, democrats are facing a brutal map this year because they are forced to defend more incumbent seats than republicans are. democratic senators in ohio, pennsylvania and wisconsin in dead heats trying to hold their seats. in michigan, two house veterans, slotkin and rodgers, are in a tossup race for an open senate seat. in montana, jon tester is behind his republican challenger with montana becoming increasingly red. joining me now is the man leading the charge. it's up to gary peters from michigan, trying to hold on to

democratic control of the senate. chair of the democratic senatorial committee. the last time we talked, it was not this tough. in your home state of michigan, for instance, it's a tossup between slotkin, who was comfortably ahead at one point, and rodgers. slotkin said ticket splitters were pivotal to her winning in 2020. is that the path this time, too? >> i believe kamala harris will win in michigan. it's going to be a close race, but i believe she will win. i'm confident slotkin will win. we are where we thought we would be. we knew these would tighten. the ones in battleground states means that those are tight races by definition. it's not a surprise. then we have some tough turf to hold, incumbents in montana and ohio. we are in the fight in both of those states.

right now, we are looking at candidate versus candidate battles, superior democrats running against flawed republican challengers. we have a tremendous ground game. it's about turning out voters, identifying them. it's how we won last cycle when no one thought we could do it. we have a ground game. when you look for an extra point or two, the ground game is a difference maker. it's clear in those races, those numbers are going to be in that range for a ground operation to have help. we do have a lot of money coming against us. the republicans are pouring money against our democratic candidates who are running. we're trying to close the gap. we are still in full fund-raising mode. my defendthesenate.org is critical to make sure we have resources. as long as we plug the gaps, we work our ground game and turn out voters, i'm confident we can win. we have to run through the tape. we can not let up until the polls close.

>> do you think senator brown in ohio has a tough challenge there? >> he does, no question. donald trump is going to win ohio by a few points. brown has consistently been able to win and outperform where the democratic performances are in ohio. he is as authentic as you can get. he has been a champion for working families. his numbers are encouraging. it's going to be a photo finish. in the end, given the strong candidate we have in ohio and brown's reputation as being a fighter for the people of the state, i'm confident he will come out on top and win. >> democrats have dangled the prospect of flipping texas where ted cruz is defending his seat.

colin allred is a great candidate. what makes you think he can beat cruz? >> the dynamics are different. we have an incumbent who is not that popular in texas. as you mentioned, allred is a strong candidate. the challenge has been to get him better known in texas. it's an expensive state. he has been able to do that. as people get to know him, they have been supportive. particularly on reproductive freedom in texas. texas has some of the most draconian laws. we have horrible stories of women that have had to leave the state of texas to get essential health care because of folks like ted cruz and others that have put these horrible rules in place in texas. women are going to be showing up in large numbers and making sure that their voice is heard. i'm confident that he can do it. we just have to continue to work to get his name out, resources continue to be an issue in

texas, that's why our defendthesenate.org, we are putting resources in to help him. it's real. we will continue to work hard right until the polls close. >> in pennsylvania, where there's a large hispanic and particularly puerto rican population, 300,000 people, do you think the impact of those racist comments at the trump rally might help bob casey? >> i do. what was said at the trump rally is simply outrageous. it really shows the disrespect trump has for folks, folks of puerto rican descent. donald trump has disdain and disrespect for people. i hope folks are as outraged as i hear they are and make sure they send a strong message to donald trump that you can't

disrespect us and expect to get our vote. we will support kamala harris, somebody who will be a uniter, bringing people together. that's what we need in this country. we need to come together. i think anything that -- from this election is the best lesson is we have to stop this h hyper-partisan division and hate. >> thank you. we will focus on another key senate race. one race that senator peters is defending, wisconsin. we will talk to senator tammy baldwin who is in a tight race. new reaction to trump's msg rally from people in pennsylvania. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. rts" on msnbc. f historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking.

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former president donald trump is heading back to the critical battleground state of pennsylvania today. he is holding a rally in allentown that has a large puerto rican population that's grown significantly since 2020. tonight's trump event will feature a number of puerto rican speakers. the potential result of the backlash to the racist comments about the island. things have been changing. let's find out from george salice. the campaign did not for hours address this. it was only after the clash that they started readjusting. certainly, j.d. vance was still discounting it. >> reporter: yeah, it's the big

question is how the former president will address it at the ppl arena, if at all. there's a large contingency of supporters from the puerto rican side to amp up the message he is with the puerto rican people. one thing i can tell you from talking to voters on the ground, nobody thought that joke was funny. the difference is those that are supporting the former president say, we understand this was a joke, that this one comedian made. it does not reflect the views of the former president. people on the ground right now are supporting the former president saying it doesn't move the needle at all. you have undecided voters and voters against former president trump who are saying, this is the nail in the coffin. this is an area of pennsylvania, allentown, lehigh valley, that has seen explosive growth of the latino population over the last 20 years. you have seen the campaign spend a lot of time here over the last section of this campaign, in this race for the white house. these are the battleground

states, crucial votes for both sides, for this voting block. 600,000 eligible voters, latino voters in the state. obviously, comments like this are very much concerning in how they could affect the latino vote overall. those that are supporting the former president say they believe that what the comedian said was an isolated thing related to what that comedian said. they are not looking at it as an extension of what the former president believes. i have to tell you, many of those that are on the fence about it say they did not appreciate this one bit. they said, this is what's going to force them and compel them to go vote for vice president harris. a little of my conversation with some of the voters on the ground, take a listen to some of that dialogue. >> wrong time with little days left to election and trump trying to do his best for the latino community, i think it was a total downfall to do that.

i can't speak for all puerto ricans. i can speak for myself. i'm sticking with trump. trump is the one that's going to make everything better for the latino better. >> i'm sorry, but i prefer kamala. >> reporter: again, the consensus. it's a mixed bag of whether or not people are very angry or those that are going to support the former president and those that are going to vote for vice president harris. we will keep our ears to the ground and see what else develops here as this rally gets underway at 7:00 this each. some of the crowd gathering hours ahead of the rally. >> if donald trump apologizes, that conflicts with what j.d. vance said, that people should stop worrying about this, making too big a deal out of it. i'm paraphrasing.

any separation from his own event -- i believe that was on teleprompter and rehearsed and cleared by the campaign in advance. george solic, thank you so much. a closer look at wisconsin, a state that could be decisive in next week's election with democratic senator tammy baldwin, who is in a tight re-election campaign. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. there's one thing we can all agree on. the promise of our constitution and the hope that liberty and justice is for all people. but here's the truth. attacks on our constitutional rights, yours and mine are greater than they've ever been. the right for all to vote. reproductive rights. the rights of immigrant families. the right to equal justice for black, brown and lgbtq+ folks. the time to act to protect our rights is now. that's why i'm hoping you'll join me today

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wisconsin isn't just a battleground state in the race for the white house, it's in the race for the senate. as democrats work to hold on to their slim majority, senator tammy baldwin is facing a bigger challenge from a republican ad campaign focusing on immigration and attacking her same-sex partner, one of four seats held by a democrat, she is now rated as a tossup. joining me from her campaign tour bus, senator tammy baldwin. thanks for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for being here. why do you think the race has gotten so tight? >> look, wisconsin has always been a battleground state. in 2016, trump won with .7%. four years later, joe biden won wisconsin with .6%.

we always expected my race to be tight. that's why in the closing days, we are taking this bus tour to red counties, purple counties, blue counties across the state. the difference on the issues between myself and my opponent could not be more stark. eric would vote to repeal the affordable care act. i helped to write it. he celebrated when the dobbs decision came down overturning roe v. wade. i'm leading the effort with the women's health protection act to codify roe nationally. on issues like social security and medicare, i want to make sure that they are around for generations to come. he supports a plan that would cut social security benefits by $6,000 per month. they are tossing millions upon millions of dollars on negative attack ads, as you suggested.

we think it will be $100 million spend in wisconsin on air and online attacking me. if people want to help me fight back, go to tammybaldwin.com and chip in whatever you can. >> do you think you will be helped by the dobbs decision? reaction to that? the women's vote, the huge gender gap? >> yes, look at what is happening here in wisconsin. we have on the books a law passed in 1849 which is widely viewed as a criminal abortion ban. services are only available in three out of our 72 counties. my opponent thinks that's okay, that a woman's right could vary from state to state, zip code to zip code, county to county. that's not okay with me. that's why i'm fighting to restore those rights. i believe a strong majority of wisconsinites agree with that position. >> let's talk about the attack ad, from your opponent's

campaign, targeting your partner. what do you make of the race turning frankly homophobic? >> look, these sort of things are usually considered off bounds in politics. right? to talk about people's personal life, family members. eric is trying to distract us from his real vulnerabilities and conflicts of interest. he owns a $3 billion california bank, a $7 million home in laguna beach. he has been named one of orange county's influential business people of the year three years in a row. he wants to distract from the fact that he is not from here. he doesn't get us. we have a green county wisconsin. we have a brown county wisconsin. we do not have an orange county wisconsin. that bank he owns does business with foreign banks and foreign governments.

he will not divest if he is elected. that's what he says. think of him being on the committee. he could set regulations that enrich him. i'm fighting for the people of wisconsin. he is fighting for the wealthy and big businesses like him. >> how does the harris campaign affect your campaign? does it help? >> they are -- what helps is the ground game. both my campaign and the harris campaign is engaged in right now. wisconsin is known for really getting out the vote. i think that's going to make the critical difference. we have made sure that our field campaign is well resourced. everywhere i go, i'm helping kick off canvasses and that sort of thing. there are volunteers coming out of the woodwork. it's so encouraging and inspiring for me to see. people are committed to getting out the vote. that will make the difference in the final days.

>> senator tammy baldwin, it's a pleasure. thank you so much. good luck out there. >> thank you. >> we extended an invitation to the challenger. we await to hear from him. thanks very much. next, new israeli strikes killing dozens in gaza as a cease-fire deal remains elusive. critical humanitarian air becomes more scarce. you are matching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. self. cool right? look at this craftmanship. i mean they even got my nostrils right. it's just nice to know that years after i'm gone this guy will be standing the test of ti... he's melting! oh jeez... nooo... oh gaa... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

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an israeli air strike on a residential building in gaza earlier today reportedly kiled at least 93 people, including 20 children. marking the deadliest attack since israel renewed military operations there in early october. it came hours after the israeli parliament passed a bill banning a u.n. agency that aides palestinians. that prompts international

condemnation given the desperate humanitarian crisis in gaza strip that secretary blinken was calling out. linda thomas-greenfield said israel -- joining me from tel aviv is raf sanchez and ben rhodes, former deputy national security advisor in the obama administration. raf, this is the u.n. agency that israel accused of being engaged with hamas on october 7th. they didn't provide the proof on many of the people they accused, nine people were fired. many countries did cancel unrwa support and re-establish it. what does it mean for thousands

who are supposed to be fed properly to meet this deadline of 30 days from two weeks ago the president set? or else weapons could be withheld. >> reporter: this new israeli legislation doesn't go into affect for 90 days. the united states is warning, if it does, it would effectively cripple the u.n.'s ability to deliver aid into gaza. unrwa is the system inside. by far the largest u.n. agency. bigger than the world food program, bigger than unicef. it's the structure upon which this whole aid effort is built. as you said, israel has long had unrwa in its sights before october 7th. it accused the agency of spreading extremist ideology through its schools, perpetuating the palestinian narrative on refugees, of the right of palestinian refugees to

return to what is now israel. now israel is really turning the screws. it is notable that this legislation passed with votes from the left, from the right and from the center in the israeli parliament. this was not a project of the extreme right. the u.s. is warning israel not to move ahead with implementing this legislation. you mentioned those comments by the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. they are some of the strongest we have heard from the u.s. this entire war. she talked about israel blocking food getting into northern gaza where that massive air strike took place earlier today. she said, the united states rejects any israeli efforts to starve palestinians in northern gaza or anywhere else. i think that is the first time that we have heard a senior u.s. official float the idea that israel may be deliberately using starvation as a weapon of war. >> thank you, raf sanchez.

that's a change. ben, secretary of state blinken, defense secretary austin sent a letter to israel earlier this month threatening to re-evaluate america's military support if humanitarian conditions don't improve. they were promised -- secretary blinken was promised there would be progress. what is going to happen with all of these attacks? >> i think we're going to find out whether the administration will follow through on its words or whether, once again, the words are empty and meaningless. these are facts. aid is not getting into northern gaza at anywhere near the humanitarian needs that are on the ground. getting into northen gaza at anywhere near the humanitarian needs that are on the ground. unrwa is the principal mechanism to deliver aid to the palestinian people in gaza. it is a vast infrastructure of aid delivery that cannot be

replicated by any other delivery system. in fact, when the u.s. tried, in part because of restrictions on unrwa, to set up that pier, you'll remember that pier broke apart. it just showed if you wanted to get aid to people starving you do through the existing channels. so the existing u.s. law restricts military assistance to a partner of the united states that is preventing aid from populations. that's the law. so i think what's going to be tested is either this is going to be changed and you're not going to have the dissolution of unrwa by the israeli knesset. or the administration once again, has to make a choice, do they follow u.s. law. or do they engage in some kind of verbal gymnastics to avoid following u.s. law. this is international law. i think it's -- linda thomas-greenfield's remarks show you how to start this. >> well, ben, they can't deliver food while they're still

bombing. that's one of the problems. not just that they stop trucks at the border, the trucks can get in but they can't get to the people who need it, as what's happened with other parts of central israel in the north, they've cleared it and not held it. that's the criticism by david petraeus and a lot of other people, retired u.s. generals that keep going back. >> that's right. and we've seen the war move from north to south back to northern gaza. >> right. >> you know, there are plans among some in israel, these are their words right, either to repopulate northern gaza -- >> but a lie to blinken to his face last week, i was there. >> yeah, exactly. these are things being discussed openly in israel about whether or not to create some buffer zone or resettle in northern gaza. so the stakes are very high year. the question is yeah,

ultimately, you would prefer to have a cease-fire for hostage deal to end the fighting. even if there's ongoing fighting, andrea, even if there's ongoing bombing, there's still responsibility to get aid to populations that are suffering. again, even in the context of this year-long war, what's been happening in weeks in gaza is among the worst that we've been seeing in terms of dire circumstances. in terms of trucks not getting in, reaching people who are starving. i think it's to have that perspective that it's actually getting worse in this war, but it is. that's why you see the warnings from the national aid organization organizations from u.s. officials, cindy mccain out out strong in support of need to have human taken aid. with the circumstances here, it may be that the presumption is that we're consumed with our election. this is a time, when maybe our attention is elsewhere. but the reality is, this problem

is going to be there, one week from now, two weeks from now, on january 21st, no matter who the president is. >> ben rhodes, thank you very much. up next, a quick update for you, this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ♪♪) [child giggling with delight] (♪♪) (♪♪) ♪ ooooh. ooooh. ♪ ♪ ooooh. ooooh. ♪ come on, you two. dinner time. ♪ ooooh. ooooh. ♪ baby. ♪ ooooh. ooooh. ♪

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was chosen back in the sixth grade to write a weekly column about my activities in my elementary school for my hometown paper in new rochelle, new york. those are the roots to me growing into an nbc news correspondent. that's why when we launched this program in 2008 now the longest running daytime program on msnbc. we called it "andrea mitchell reports." our hour has been driven by my reporting on politics and foreign policy, as well as reporting of the best correspondence in the field. and after 16 years of being in the anchor chair every day, i want time to do more of what i love the most. more connecting, listening, reporting in the field. especially whoever is elected next week is going to undertake the monumental task of handling two foreign wars and the political divisions here at home. so, sometime after the inaugural next january, i've asked nbc and msnbc for the opportunity to

continue covering those stories but from a different vantage news, still with nbc news and msnbc. chief as washington chief foreign affairs correspondent but not on a daily show. from time lines debates and elections here at home to breaking news around the globe, my goal will continue as it always has been to bring you our viewers the major newsmakers shaping our world and country right here on msnbc. i've been able to take all of you with me as i covered presidential summits to secretaries of state to russia, japan, china, israel, west bank, jordan, chad, iraq, pakistan, afghanistan, just to name a few stops around the world. what i've always loved most is i traveled around the world and here in the u.s. meeting people, meeting our viewers, meeting you. especially hearing about your lives, learning how we can do a

better job of informing you in political years and our allies around the world. come some time next year, you'll see me in your living rooms still on mobile devices and other plat for thats, but perhaps in your hometowns and cities, still asking the questions to get the answers that you deserve. through the next week, of course, we're all focused on covering the last stretch of this election. then a presidential transition. ultimately, a new administration. i look forward to sharing more with you after the inaugural about all of our exciting plans being my reporting in new ways right here across nbc news and msnbc for many years to come. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember, follow the show @mitchell reports. and you can watch the best parts of the show anytime on youtube. "chris jansing reports" reports now.