in case you have not heard, tomorrow is the last full day the 2024 presidential campaign. donald trump has four rally scheduled across north carolina, pennsylvania, and michigan ending with a rally in grand rapids. kamala harris will spend the day in pennsylvania with rallies and allentown, philly, pittsburgh. for us, we will have a full day of coverage and a full day and night of regular shows. i will be here at 9:00 eastern. then tuesday we have nonstop coverage starting early in the morning. is group will gather at 6:00 p.m. eastern and we will stay here all night and into the morning. it's going to be great. great. it's going to be great. ♪♪ this sunday, the final

sprint. >> it is time for a new generation of leadership in america. >> we will never give up. we will never, ever back down, and we will never, ever, ever surrender. >> as the 2024 election nears the finish line, vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump make their last appeal to voters. >> i want to protect the women of our country. i'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. >> he simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women. >> where does the race stand?m nbc's steve kornacki has the results of the final poll before election day. plus, violent threats. donald trump suggests sending liz cheney to war and says she should have guns trained on her face. t >> let's put her with a rifle standing there with nine barreli shooting at her, okay? let's see how she feels about ho it. >> anyone who wants to be

president of the united states who uses that kind of violent rhetoric is clearly disqualified and unqualified to be president. and trash talking. >> there's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. yeah.an i think it's called puerto rico. >> after a comedian's racist remarks about puerto rico at a trump rally, democrats seize on the hateful message to court hispanic voters. my guest this morning, democratic senator rafael warnock of georgia and republican governor doug burgum of north dakota. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief political analyst chuck todd, christina londono rooney for "the washington post" for telemundo, marc short, former chief of staff to mike pence and former white house secretary jen psaki. welcome to sunday and a special election edition of "meet the press."

>> from nbc news headquarters in new york, the longest running show in television history, this is a special edition of "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning from our election headquarters at 30 rockefeller plaza in new york. with just 48 hours until election day the stakes could not be higher in what may be the closest election in recent memory, as former president donald trump and vice president kamala harris promise two starkly different paths for the country.di >> as president, i pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to the challenges you face. i am not looking to score political points.oo i am looking to make progress. >> we will not be invaded. we will not be occupied. we will not be overrun.t we will not be conquered. we will be a free and proud

nation once again. >> more than 72 million americans have already cast their ballots.ha seven states will decide the election and never in recent memory have the polls been so close in those battleground states on the weekend before election day, but will the battleground expand? a shocking new des moines register iowa poll overnight n shows vice president harris leading former president trump 47% to 44% among likely voters. mr. trump had an 18-point lead over president biden in the si state back in june. the startling reversal driven by the gender gap and the strength of independent women who back harris by a 28-point margin. both candidates are urging voters to show up. >> for those who haven't voted yet, let me just be clear. no judgment. no judgment, but you still have time. >> i come today with a message of hope for all americans with your beautiful vote.

we don't want your money.ut i don't want your money. i want your damn vote!an >> now, our final nbc news national poll completed overnight shows the race statistically tied among registered voters, 49 to 49% can the vice president hold her growth fund with black and latino voters and deliver a superior ground game? can she grow democratic support in the suburbs and will the issue of abortion power women to the ballot box?ur can former president trump break through the blue wall as he did in 2016 on the issues of the economy and immigration? can he narrow the margins among black and latino voters and turn out young men? will nikki haley voters stick with trump? and if he loses, will the former president accept the results? he still hasn't exceeded the 2020 race. and already spreading baseless claims about the 2024 election.

former president trump and their surrogates are making their closing arguments. >> hello, wisconsin. siogwi >> georgia. >> north carolina. >> if we win pennsylvania, we're going to win the whole deal. >> we have an opportunity in in this election to turn the page on a decade of donald trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. >> kamala, who is grossly incompetent, broke it. i will fix it. >> donald trump is a loser.tr >> you cannot, kamala harris, pretend that you had nothing to do with the biden administration when you are the sitting vice president. >> in many cases, our allies are worse than our so-called enemies. c >> they want, if elected, donald trump would walk into that office with an enemies list. when elected, i will walk in with a to-do list. >> i consider myself to be the father of fertilization. i want to protect the women of the country. i'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. >> we have to choose leaders who

embody the values we seek to pass on to our children. >> she violated our border and unleashed an army of gangs and criminal migrants from prisons s and jails. >> make the margin of victory so big that you know what can't happen. >> the only thing that can stop us -- it's the only thing that can stop us. t >> he is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the united states capitol. >> we will never give in. n we will never give up. we will never, ever back down and we will never, ever, ever surrender.l >> we begin this morning in the battleground states.n north carolina was a state former president trump won in 2020 by a small margin and both candidates held events there on sunday. already more than 4 million people have voted in the

state despite the huge impact of hurricane helene. dasha burns is where the rally was held last night. you just spoke with the former president this morning.rnhe what did he tell you? >> kristen, good morning. that's right. i just got off the phone with or the former president moments ago. i asked him about that new stunning des moines register poll showing harris leading in a typically red iowa and he told me the poll was, quote, fake, and he called the pollster a trump hater though he called hee a talented pollster in the past and praised her earlier this year when it showed him leading big in the iowa caucuses. experts see the poll as reputable. i also asked the former president about the gender gap and i asked what was his message to women thinking about voting for vice president harris. he said, quote, you are voting for the wrong person and will end up in a depression and you're not going to be safe. the former president has largely

leaned into talking points and platforms that cater to male voters. his closing message for women has been focused mostly on safety and access to ivf. he recently received backlash for his remarks saying he would protect women, quote, whether they liked it or not and he referred to himself as, quote, father of fertilization. at that same rally, the former president laughed at and leaned into crude comments from a supporter who shouted that vicea president harris, quote, worked on the corner, a phrase that's used to describe prostitution. mr. trump said, quote, this place is amazing. just remember it's other people saying it, not me. and, kristen, this is en representative of the tone that has turned off female voters that we've talked to across battleground states and here ine north carolina where the former president is playing a bit of is defense despite the fact this he won the state in two consecutive elections. kristen?spat >> dasha, fantastic job getting that phone interview.fa

we are going to talk with steve kornacki about that iowa poll that you mentioned.ng thank you so much. today, vice president harris is in michigan working to shore up the blue wall. her simplest path to winning the white house.e. nearly 2.8 million people have already cast ballots and early in-person voting ends today. nbc's yamiche alcindor joins us from detroit. what are you hearing from inside the harris campaign, and i know you spoke to the vice president earlier this week. ou >> well, good morning, kristen, from battleground michigan. the harris campaign is feeling cautiously optimistic as the vice president is focused on tho closing argument focused on attacking former president donald trump as a danger to democracy and her optimistic about the future.th harris said if elected on her first day as president, she would put forth a package of bills centered on lowering the cost of living for americans and that the economy will be her top priority.op meanwhile, senior harris campaign officials say their internal data shows they're o

winning battleground voters who have made up their minds in the last week by double digits. still, harris is doing w everything possible to avoid the blue wall crumbling like it did in 2016. hence, today, she's here campaigning in detroit and east lansing.od a harris aide tells me they have a big operation focused on dearborn, michigan which has a n significant muslim community in the state.an that source says harris has, quote, meaningful support from local leaders there and muslim groups, but harris campaign events have been often interrupted by pro-palestinian protesters, calling attention to the death toll in gaza., there's still a question whether those voices will negatively impact her by staying home or voting third party. kristen? >> the all-important blue wall. great job getting that interview with the vice president. thank you, yamiche.ge turning now to our brand new nbc news poll and national political correspondent steve kornacki is here to walk us through all of the numbers. steve, this is the moment we

have been waiting for. what does this poll show us?l hi >> fittingly, isn't it? at the very end, we find a tie nationally, 49% for harris and 49% for trump. really, that's what we found when we last polled this a couple of weeks ago and we go under the hood here and look at other numbers and there's a he question of enthusiasm and a couple of notable things and this is a share voters who are calling themselves very interested in this election.sh you can see, it stands at 77% which is down from 2020 when we had that historic turnout. also interestingly here, the interest is lower among hispanic voters and black voters. typically, you would say that is bad news for democrats, but this year, keep in mind, among black voters, that could be troubling for the democrats, but among hispanic voters if that does not translate into election day votes that could be trouble for them. and then we come to the issues that voters say matters most tot them and how they rate candidates.

notably, harris continues to do best on abortion, 20% advantage there.ag and trump continues to do best there, 20% as well. >> she is doing better on abortion and cost of living and we will have to see how that pans out with the voters. >> the dueling approval ratings and this is an albatross for harris here. her administration that she's a part of, joe biden's approval rating sits at just 41% and then there's this twist. donald trump retrospectively, do you now approve of how he did as president? our poll, 48%, almost half gives him an approval rating. >> we have to pause again. 48% is higher than the approval ratings that he was getting when he was president. steve, really striking to see that. >> exactly. is that a hidden advantage for trump in some way? this, too. we hear all the stories and images from early voting and look at this, two-thirds of voters in the poll say they've s

vorted already or -- voted already or they are going to vote on election day. one-third of the electorate saying they will turn out and vote then. you can see, we saw it in 2020, remember.to the early vote here.n more harris friendly in our poll and the election day vote and that's the big wild card. you don't know what that turnout will look like on election day and if trump has an election day and see if it was enough to overcome and the gender gap again. i we have talked about this throughout the campaign. we talked about this for decades. trump up 18 with men. harris 16 with women.lk that is a 34-point gender gap by about ten points. if this happens, this would be the biggest gender gap ever pocorded. >> stunning, and his lead with men bigger than her lead with women. >> interesting turnabout from what we've seen in the past in some cases here. and then take a look here. these are the battleground states. these are the averages. and the most lopsided, quote,

unquote, 1.9 in arizona and razor tight -- razor thin in the battlegrounds. >> tight and it comes as we're getting the striking new poll out of iowa.ge dasha mentioned it. what can you tell us about thati >> wow. this has thrown the political world for a loop because neither party, go back here, neither a party has been treating iowa a a battleground at the presidential level. donald trump did extremely well here in '16 and '20 and won by eight points. this would be, if this actually happened, this would be harris ahead by three over trump in iowa and that would be an 11-point shift for harris in iowa. what is the climate in iowa? one thing that might be notable here is you look at where harri is drawing her support from the des moines poll. among women, 20% advantage over trump. this is particularly strong forn her, independent women and fo senior women and trump obviously doing better with men and one thing to keep in mind in iowa, abortion has been front and center there with the new six-week ban that went into effect this summer. >> that gender gap on display

yet again. fantastic stuff. steve kornacki, great stuff.ag thank you so much. >> and joining me now is democratic senator rafael warnock of georgia. senator warnock, welcome back to "meet the press." >> good morning. always great to be here with you. rn >> well, it is always great to be having you, especially on this significant sunday. let's start off by talking about the results of our latest poll. senator, 66% of voters believe the country is on the wrong track. as you know, historically, incumbent parties don't win re-election when the number is that high. do you believe that vice president harris should have distanced herself more from president biden and sooner? >> i believe as this poll indicates that this is a changed election and the voters in that regard have a very clear choice. they are saying that they want to turn the page.

donald trump wants to turn back. it's in the slogan, it's in the proposals that he lays out when he actually says something. he wants to make america great again. he wants to move back. we are not going back. we're moving forward. and i think you're seeing that. i'm feeling it here on the ground, the energy. the momentum is with kamala harris because she represents the future and represents the hope and promise of america and the country, that is always forward looking, and you have a 78-year-old president who wants to go back. >> i hear you talking about the fact that it's a changed ck election. t she only narrowly leads former r president trump on that point, and when you were running for re-election, you walked a very fine line when it came to president biden in terms of distancing yourself and really holding him a bit at an arm's length. you were successful in that yic regard. should she have done the same? h >> what i did was i focused on the people that i was seeking to

represent, and that's what kamala harris is doing every single day. donald trump is making this election about himself, and about what's good for him. in fact, he has an enemies list and she has a to-do list and among that list is protecting e women and their right to choose. donald trump is saying he will h protect women and then he goes on to say i will protect women whether they want it or not. i don't know about you, but evee as a man, that sounds rather ominous coming from the mouth oo a convicted sexual predator. we don't need a predator. we need a president in the oval office and that person is kamala harris and the voters are seeing that and i believe this will be a tight race and that's the nature of the country at this moment, but the momentum is with her. >> let's talk about something that happened this week. the vice president was delivering her closing argument at the ellipse in washington. as you know, at the same time,

president biden seemed to refer to donald trump's supporters as garbage in reference to some comments that were made by a comedian. the president quickly walked those comments back and he said no, he was purely talking about the rhetoric. but do you believe that president biden clouded and stepped on kamala harris' closing argument in a critical moment of this race, senator? bi >> as the pastor of ebenezer e baptist church where martin luther king, jr., served, i think we all need to elevate the character and the tone of our political discourse, and that's what kamala harris is doing. she is a joyful warrior. she is the candidate, and she is saying that we need to turn the page on this. you know, i think about the fact that ever since donald trump came down that escalator, american political discourse, the nature of the family conversation that we're u

having as an american people has been going down and, thankfullyg we have a candidate who is forward looking and who is lifting that conversation up. he has an enemies list, and he thinks that people who disagree with him are the enemy. she's inviting them to sit with her at the table. i think that's what a leader looks like. >> senator, let's talk about , another aspect of this race and polls have consistently shown that kamala harris is trailing where president biden was when it comes to black voters. former president barack obama, as you know, had a pretty blunt message for black male voters.ss he called them out for, quote, not feeling the idea of a woman president. do you agree with former president barack obama?ba >> i can tell you what i'm feeling on the ground. i've been all over this country to several of the battleground states. i was in michigan a couple of

weeks ago in a black fraternitya house, my own fraternity. i spent time in barbershops and encountering folks obviously in my church and other churches, and there is momentum for kamaln harris and the more voters hear about her, including black men, the more they like her. look, i've been through this. folks were saying and there was hand wringing when i was running and folks were saying we're not sure about this turnout. let me tell you something. a black men are not going to show up in droves and waves voting for donald trump. they're not, and it's because they know who he is. this is the man who took out a full-page ad in "the new york times" saying that the central park five, these young men of color should get the death e, penalty for what was indeed a heinous crime, and when it was proven that they were innocent, he doubled down. kamala harris, on the other hand, understands the concerns of the african-american community.rs she's laid out a plan to support

and strengthen black businesses, women-owned businesses because she understands that small businesses are the backbone of our country.un i'm proud of our coalition. it looks like america, and i believe that come tuesday, whilk it's going to be a tight race, i believe the country is going to get this right. t here is my concern. we can all go back and forth, and i don't pay much attention to polls, and i really trust d what i feel on the ground. the race will be decided on tuesday and we are seeing record turnout and the harris campaign, to their credit, is doing the hard work. they knocked on 56,000 doors in georgia this past saturday. so they're putting in the work, but the race will be decided tuesday. we need everybody to show up. >> all right.er senator warnock, we've got a jam-packed show. so i will have to save my other questions for next time, but we covered a lot of ground. thank you so much for being here on this sunday before election day. we really appreciate it.

>> happy sunday morning, everybody. >> and to you. when we come back, republican governor doug burgum of north dakota joins me next.

(man) these men of means with their silver spoons. what will become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash. they would descend into chaos. sleep more deeply and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat, relieves pressure and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. visit purple.com or a store near you today

what if your mobile network wasn't just built to work out here... ...but was designed differently to also give you blazing fast wifi where you are most of the time? reliable 5g, plus wifi speeds up to a gig where you need it most. xfinity mobile. now xfinity internet customers can buy one line of unlimited and get one free for a year.

and joining me now is republican governor doug burgum of north dakota. governor burgum, welcome back to "meet the pres welcome back.s and joining me now is republican governor doug burgum of north oe dakota. governor burgum, welcome back to "meet the press." >> kristen, great to be with you. good morning. bee >> good morning. thank you for being here on this sunday before election day. great to have your perspective. let's start off by talking abouf women voters and something that nikki haley said in particular and she's, of course, trump's former primary rival and former u.n. ambassador. she said she does not believe the former president's closing message is resonating with women voters. listen to what she had to say.wh >> this is not a time for them to get overly masculine with

this bromance thing that they've got going.t 53% of the electorate are women. women will vote. they care about how they're being talked to, and they care about the issues. they need to remember that. >> governor, do you think that mr. trump's closing message is resonating with persuadable women voters? >> well, i think that president trump's closing message will go beyond gender. they go beyond identity. they go beyond race, and they go beyond all these things because what he talks about every day is the things that affect all americans, whether you're a democrat, an independent or a republican because again, when i'm on the ground like i'm here in pennsylvania today, people va are saying hey, inflation is killing me. the borders are a concern. safety in our cities and worried about the economy and their thec jobs with the horrible jobs report we had on friday.

i think the issues he's talking about are resonating with voters and i think when you see in the polls that we have a race that's very close, but president trump is outperforming in all um these polls where he was in '16 and '20. so i'm very confident that the message that he's delivering that lifts up everyone is going to be the winning message on tuesday. >> well, speaking of polls, of course, we have our poll which shows the race is all tied up, and then we have this new poll out of iowa which shows that vice president kamala harris is leading former president trump in iowa 47 to 44%. he had the lead by four points just about a month ago. so do you think that he is failing to win over, that he's w effectively losing women voters? does he have a problem with women voters, governor?el >> i think there's an emmerson poll that came out in iowa that has got president trump up plus

ten. i guess we will find out on tuesday where that is. i was in iowa the night president trump won 98 out of 99 counties.dapr there was a lot of choices for other republican candidates and the room to vote for that night. i think his strength there is, you know, across the entire state and we know that polls vary a lot based on who you're sampling. you know, age, rural, urban, all ofn, these things can matter. and i think again, if you take the average of the last two polls and i think trump will confidently win iowa. i would be surprised and completely shocked if that comes anywhere close to being the fact in iowa.ly i think your poll showing it tied nationally is more accurate because i think that's the ur feeling that i get on the growth -- ground is a very tight race that is going to be decided on tuesday. but the momentum in the last week that i felt on the ground including yesterday being at that penn state football game is that the energy for all en demographics is very, very e positive, and in pennsylvania,

trump's going to win because of the energy issue. so in pennsylvania and he's going to win michigan because of the autoworkers. i think in some of these swing states it's in trump's favor. >> governor, let me ask you about a big story this week. the campaign continuing to deal with the fallout from the offensive comments about puerto rico made by a supporter of president trump by that comedian at that rally last weekend. the puerto rican community in pennsylvania factors almost 500,000 people in that critical state. some saying they were absolutely furious about the comments, hurt that former president trump hasn't apologized. do you think that this incident could cost former president trump the state of pennsylvania, which is critical to winning? >> well, i was there last sundai at madison square garden when this insult comic at 3:00 p.m.

in the afternoon, hours before president trump even arrived at madison square garden made the comment and the crowd was groaning. there was not approval from a very supportive trump audience. so this is not how trump supporters feel and it's not how president trump feels and then, of course, as you reported earlier today, you know, a comic that no one's ever heard of says something versus the president of the united states calling half the voters in the country e garbage. v president biden. i think it shows two things. one is the disrespect of this administration for americans and their concerns, whether it's the border and whether it's er inflation, but it also reflectsw what we've seen is that vice president harris was part of this cover-up of joe biden's t capacity. >> speaking of that, governor, former president trump had this to say back in september on that point about garbage. listen. >> it's not her. it's the people that surround her. they're scum.

they're scum, and they want to take down our country. they are absolute garbage. >> so, governor, is it hypocritical to fixate on president biden's comments, considering donald trump used the word garbage to describe kamala harris' supporters?bi >> well, i think what -- again, what we're seeing here again this week, again, and whether the parsing of comments from the last seven days is not what's going to determine the election. i mean, i would be thrilled to be on this show talking about the fact that north korea is sending troops to ukraine, that israel is getting ready to confront iran over the nuclear weapon, but this is american politics and this is the season of the last week before election.nd there's always been -- there's always a lot of name calling in the last week and this has happened before. i think at the end of the day, the voters will make a decision about their own condition and r people telling them what they

should be enraged about because he or she said this thing is not the same as -- a person's lived experience, and if their lived experiences are having trouble pay for their paycheck, for their food, gas, o rent or mortgage payment, that outweighs in the end. the economy is what will drive voters on tuesday. most americans don't have time to listen to all of the soap opera of which comments people should be concerned about. >> all right.hi governor burgum, as you know, enjoy talking foreign policy with you and we'll have you back to talk about that, but thank you for being here just days before the election to talk k io politics. we really appreciate it. >> great.y thank you, kristen. >> thank you. when we come back, the closing message in the final days of the race. what will make a difference in this razor tight election? the panel is next.

welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news chief political

welcome back. the panel is here. nbc news chief political analyst chuck todd. former white house press secretary jen psaki, host of "inside with jen psaki." christina londono rooney, senior washington correspondent for telemundo, and marc short, former chief of staff to vice president mike pence. thanks to all of you for being here in our election headquarters studios. >> it's here! >> it's finally here. here we are, and, chuck, i have to kick it off with you. set the scene of where we are. you have our poll which shows this race is deadlocked and it hasn't really moved from our last poll and then you have the poll out of iowa. what do you make of these results? >> look. i'll set the iowa poll result aside for a little bit. i've looked at the sort of three outcomes this of this race that are staring at us. if you look at it through the prism of history and what happens when there are unpopular presidencies and that's advantage trump. when you look at the last ten

days, who has had the better campaign and the better closing, that's harris. trump has had a treshl last -- terrible last days who he is trying to speak to. and the data points to a tie, right? >> right. >> including our poll and all of this other stuff and we're all trying to figure outdo campaigns still matter. how broken is the information ecosystem, right? you have certain things like that. that's how i sort of enter this race, and i think we're all so spooked by shifts in the electorate that were missed in '16 and '20. i certainly think there are a lot of questionable polling techniques this year. as for the iowa poll, look, if you know how she does her polling, she does not -- she does not allow herself to be prejudice by previous elections. >> ann seltzer who does the poll. >> yeah. she's trying to figure out who is the electorate going to be, not based on the electorate that was and that's why she's had success than many other pollsters. so it may be that she's

oversampled democrats a little bit in her poll. they made it through her survey. maybe harris isn't winning by three, but i do think it's an important signal. we have seen that harris is overperforming with older white voters. so if you're overperforming with older white voters in pennsylvania and michigan, you are likely doing well in iowa, and i would keep an eye on it to see if it narrows and another state and that is kansas. that's predominantly white and we've seen numbers indicating that that was a single-digit state, as well. so if that is your signal, well, then that is the path to how harris wins this presidency. >> jen, what do you make of what chuck is saying? the demographic that we're looking at coming out of this iowa poll? coming against the backdrop, as chuck says, you're dealing with a president who is deeply unpopular and vice president harris is the vice president right now. >> that's true. if you're the harris team and

you're waking up this morning, and anne seltzer who is the queen of all polling you're feeling good not because you're banking on iowa being in the win column for you, but because of what chuck said and it could be a good sign of demographic groups that she's been trying to make up ground with which is older white voters. she has already coalesced and brought together the democratic base for the most part and brought it back to the 2020 numbers for biden and that is a good sign. if you're the harris team, you're also feeling very good in the iowa poll about the gender gap. you're feeling good about that when looking at early numbers and you're feeling good about that, and you're feeling good about late deciders which showed up in "the new york times" poll, 58-42 late deciders moving for harris in the sunbelt and there are two things you're feeling good about even if you're not betting on eyeway being in the win column. >> the republicans are turning out in bigger numbers in early voting than we have seen in the past two elections. what do you make of that?

you think the story is actually a little bit more complicated? >> i think they should feel good about it. you never know what will happen if you're sick, and i think it's a good data point for republicans and i don't think it's determinant, kristen. let's keep in mind, donald trump said if you're voting by mail it's fraudulent, don't do it. so if you're overperforming that, it's a low baseline. there's something else missing and in the iowa poll it shows 89% of republicans voting for trump. that's a beg 11% of republicans who may go somewhere else. i'm not questioning that trump is going to win iowa. i think that poll over sampled democrats, but if you're having a defection at the top of the ticket, i think that's a big challenge you don't see just because republicans are early voters. arizona, the last two cycles, and they have not selected donald trump in the republican ballot and that's missing in the data that's come back so far. >> that's the question if what we saw in iowa raises those types of questions with states

with similar demographics. let's talk about what i was talking about with governor burgum. this issue that the trump campaign has been dealing with throughout the week. the fallout after that comedian made those really offensive comments about puerto rico. based on our reporting, folks in pennsylvania and other states are quite angry. does it make a difference particularly when the race is this close? >> first of all, kristen, i would say it's not about what the comedian said. it's about donald trump not coming out and defending puerto ricans and not apologizing for his words and that's one thing. then if you go to the latino belt in pennsylvania, we have anecdotal evidence, i can't say -- i don't have numbers, where latinos that had already voted for donald trump are knocking on doors trying to rally the harris vote because they are insulted. they are trying to remind the country that they're not immigrants. they're voters. and it's interesting to contrast

it with the poll that came before after the dogs eating dogs and cats where latinos said he's insulting other immigrants, they're not talking about us. but the one -- the puerto ricans that are sticking with donald trump are those with the evangelical vote because of the abortion issue that works the other way. they believe it's against the religion. and the democracy issue and within the latino community, the threat of democracy they have heard from donald trump is kamala harris. they think she's a socialist, she's a communist. he defined her like that and she didn't fight back. >> it just raises the question do these last-minute gaffes make a difference? we'll have to see. great stuff. thank you. we have a lot more coming up with the panel. stand by, guys. when we come back, could the battleground actually expand? what does that stunning new iowa poll mean for the race? steve kornacki rejoins us. stick around next.

(man) look at this silly little sailboat... these men of means with their silver spoons, eating up the financial favors of the 1%. what would become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash, unlimited deposit bonuses and handsome retirement matching? they would descend into chaos. merciless chaos.

welcome back. could the 2024 welcome back. could the 2024 battleground expand? that's the big question after that stunning new iowa poll overnight. steve kornacki is back with me to break down what it could mean to the road to 270. what do you think? >> that is the question. is this more of a state-specific phenomenon what this poll is picking up in iowa. remember, abortion has been front and center there the last few months and a six-week ban went into effect statewide over

the summer and there's two congressional races and millions of dollars being spent and i'm going to stay on the issue of abortion. is it driving something in iowa that we'll not necessarily see elsewhere or is it a ripple effect that we will feel elsewhere and the most obvious place to look if it would be, will be wisconsin. this is what iowa looked like in 2020. look at all of the red on there. i'll just go back to the last election before donald trump became the republican standard bearer. this was barack obama in 2012. look how much blue you saw on this map. there's no state in the country with more obama-trump counties than iowa. the second most, though, would be right here in wisconsin, and again, this is 2012 in wisconsin, and this is obama. this is trump last time. look at all that red. demographically, lots of similarities and lots of overlaps, so if something is happening in iowa that is spilling over more broadly, this is the place that you would look, wisconsin. as you say, kristen. the fact of the poll catching everyone's surprise is a reality. we have not seen much polling outside of the core battleground

states n this entire campaign. we have assumed and both parties assumed there's not much to see there, but if there is, where else could you look? i'll give you one to look at early on election night. it's new hampshire. biden won this. 2016 this was the closest state that clinton won that she came the closest to losing. look at that, a 3,000-vote margin. j.d. vance is in new hampshire today for the trump campaign and in general things are happening outside the battleground we haven't been talking about. >> all right. steve covering all of the angles for us today. we really appreciate it. and when we come back, after felony convictions, assassination attempts and biden's bowing out, the 2024 election has been historic on so many levels. we'll have much more with the panel next. stay with us.

kamala take kamala take my palmala. the american people want to stop the chaos.

>> and end the dramala. >> with a cool, new step-mamala kick back in our pajamalas. and watch a ram kamala. >> like legally blondala. >> and start decorating for christmas. fa, la, la, la, la. because what do we always say, keep kamala and carry onala! >> the vice president with the surprise appearance on "saturday night live" last night, part of her closing strategy. christina, start us off. let's fast forward to tuesday night. when what are you going to be watching for in this unprecedented, extraordinary election? >> none of us thought we would be here. we never thought we would have kamala harris almost being tied with donald trump, so what i'm watching for is what this election is going to teach us, teach our country, the results.

we have so much to learn about the new voters, the new parties, and i'm really looking forward to seeing if the power of the woman voter and the power of the latino vote, if this sleeping giant finally woke up and is making itself heard. >> it's a powerful way to put it. chuck, what are you going to be watching for and to that point about a sleeping giant and new voters which we're tracking quite closely? >> look, i think ultimately, i'm paying attention because we have a 2016 in reverse effect meaning i do believe a lot of voters didn't know what they were going to in 2026 and they went in and decided what they didn't want, right? they voted for something different. they knew what they didn't want. they didn't know what they were going to get. i do believe i am -- that the voter that walks into the booth that is thinking about trump is probably voting for harris, and the voter that walks into the booth thinking about biden is voting for trump, but let's step back, whatever happens.

this is not the beginning of something or the end of something. we continue to be in the middle of something. we continue to do we haven't done since the 19th century is finish two straight one-term presidents. the likelihood of this being a one-term presidency is high, not low. we are a country that has been voted against hillary clinton in '16 and got trump. we voted against trump in '20 and got biden. i think this is another vote against election and not a vote for. we sit here and think it's about all these issues and this is really a cultural, like, people believe they're voting for a way of life, a good chunk of both sides of this which is why nothing gets resolved after tuesday night. >> such a fascinating way to put it, chuck. and jen, you obviously worked for the obama campaign which was very much an election where people were voting for something, particularly if you look at some of the margins in some of these battleground states. what are you watching for just reflecting on what chuck said? >> i will reflect on something christina said, too.

one, for people. including those out there voting for harris are people who might just be voting against trump. for them, it's bigger than issues and there are a lot of issue we'll dive into, the economy, abortion, et cetera, it's about morality and character and does that matter in leadership? it's also about preservation of democracy and is that something we should stand for. liz cheney and kamala harris probably disagree on 80+% of issues. they agree on that. does that matter? i'm watching that. to add on what christina said on the women's vote and trump won white women pretty sizably over the last two cycles and it's not just whether harris wins white women or not, but is this the year of the women and the power of the women's voice in politics and it's not about electing women, but about abortion rights and other issues and is that something that pushes the outcome in one direction. >> and speaking of which, your former boss, former vice president mike pence not endorsing donald trump.

he hasn't come out and endorsed kamala harris, but what do you think a second trump presidency, marc, having served in the first one would mean for the country? >> kristen, roughly 70% to 75% of people think we're on the wrong track right now. the top two issues is border security and the economy. this should be a republican landslide here. if trump prevails, i think it's a testament that people withstood as a fighter who survived a couple of assassination attempts. but if he fails, and democrats win, despite everything in the republicans favor, i think it should be a reckoning of the movement and this election cycle we abandoned our position on life, abandoned our position on marriage and abandoned our position on markets and free trade and on national security, and government run health care, and i think if that were the case then i think it would necessitate true reckoning inside the party and the movement.

>> it also be that you should not nominate an anti-democratic felon. it may not be about the issues. it should be about the person at the top. there are lots of ways to look at it. >> i'm not going to say that the democrats are defenders of democracy, but i do think that when you nominate someone who didn't one vote, you're a defender of the democracy. but i do think that republicans in this cycle have abandoned what they have traditionally stood for and there should be a reckoning inside our party. >> chuck? >> look, the fascinating aspect of this is neither party is going to be satisfy -- they're not going to accept defeat. the question is do you accept defeat because you don't like the vote count or do you not accept defeat because you don't like the way the party did it, right? my greatest fear about this election is if trump wins, for a generation is what they believe this is how you conduct yourself in politics, and that this will cement this for a generation. i fear the transactional nature of him could actually turn the party into a kleptocracy if

we're not careful. and one thing about political parties when they lose, they end up trying to emulate the party that wins, not necessarily. and while democrats have try to be the anti-version of this, losing 2 out of 3, there is going to be it's own reckoning inside left and if you can't beat them, join them and whether it's lying or exaggerating, and i do think that that is what i think is on the ballot about our politics going forward for another half generation. >> i don't know if it's about being the same as the behavior, but i do think and we were just talking about this, it may make the democratic party less inclined to take risks in terms of -- risks, i say in quotes, putting a woman at the top of the ticket and a woman of color at the top of the ticket and is it -- does it make democrats more less aversion which i think would be a huge shame. >> christina, i'll give you the

the last word. we have about 30 seconds. >> what chuck said. whatever happens, i just hope it didn't normalize politics the way it has been conducted from both sides, and i hope there's a much greater level of civility, and i don't think we're going to have another january 6th because i don't think people are going to go to bat for donald trump because they have been abandoned by him, the ones that are in jail right now. >> i think everyone is hoping for a peaceful election cycle. thank you all for a really thoughtful panel on this really important sunday. and thank you for watching. join us on tuesday night for full election coverage right here on nbc. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday it's "meet the press." ♪♪