david axelrod: that's like a layup for any president to do. you get a huge audience. so the fact that they turn that interview down was really a concern to a lot of people. i think that set alarm bells off in a lot of places. - mr. speaker, the president of the united states. [cheers] pamela brown (voiceover): then in march, biden gave a state of the union speech, many described as a show of strength, seemingly reassuring some democrats. joe biden: and i've been told i'm too old. whether young or old, i've always been known-- i've always known what endures. i've known our north star. the very idea of america is that we're all created equal and deserves to be treated equally throughout our lives. we've never fully lived up to that idea, but we've never walked away from it either. and i won't walk away from it now. [applause] pamela brown (voiceover): president biden's team was accused of trying to minimize the obvious. jeff zeleny: he would walk with his aides around him as he would walk to marine one on the south lawn of the white house so he wouldn't be seen simply w

[applause] so, my guests need no introduction david axelrod and karl rove.wo of the most defining legal strategist of their parties of their time. so grateful to have you botho here to talk about this important election. there's so many directions we could take this conversation. butt my first question would jut be what is keeping you up at night about this race? >> every single thing. [laughter] i mean the thing is it is an unpredictable race andnd the stakes are so s large. but it is as close as can be. we were talking before about these public pools that are all over the place. the plate with peoples emotions. we can't lose, we can't win, the truthy, is it is very, very clo. we do not even know what will tip the scales. we're talking about the fact that elections -- which iss how it happened in north carolina the governor's candidate. we have got potential broader war in the middle east. there are so many things that can happen you can't count on if you're running a campaign. you cannot predict but you know it's could have an impact. >> you are seeing if

yeah, david axelrod. thank you so much for joining me this morning. and up next my new reporting on the competitive senate race in deep blue, maryland. and how one candidate in prep improperly but tax breaks for years. plus, i ask a democrat in a deep red state how kamala harris is impacting his race will see what happens with this senate everybody, if you're inclined to pray, pray for jon tester for you saturday at nine on scene? my monthly subscriptions were problematic and one was billing me three times per month. thanks, rocket money for saving my money three times a month is insane, but with rocket money, you can see all your subscriptions in one place and easily cancel the ones you don't want right from the ap quintessential money management app, it's only gotten better from when i first used it. love to hear it rocket money keeps track of all your spending for you and even helps you create a budget with just a few taps. >> that's that i've ever used download rocket money today did we choose safely anywhere in the hallways working on a project w

. >> plus 40 president obama's chief strategist david axelrod, on where harris is trailing biden and new reporting on democrats, maryland senate candidate plus face-off. >> we have got 44 days til we're going to turn this state red. >> we are ready to continue to build the future together with just over a week until they debate the vp candidates helping or hurting their ticket. and 25 years, stars of the west wings celebrate at the white house inside politics the best reporting from inside the quarters of power starts now good morning and welcome inside politics sunday i'm manu raja 44 days out from election day, donald trump is dealing with the down scandal in north carolina that he does not want to talk about yesterday at a campaign rally there the gop nominee for governor mark robinson was nowhere to be found. and trump made no mention of him or the bombshell cnn report that revealed robinson made graphic and inflammatory comments on a porn website years ago with lieutenant governor, even expressed support for reinstating slavery instead, trump would endorsed robinson in the prima

. >> former senior advisor to president obama david axelrod and karl rove, a former senior advisor to president george w. bush sat down to discuss the 2024 presidential race. topics included political polarization, the role of leadership and the rise of political violence in the u.s. this is part of the atlantic festival. ♪ . >> enthusiastic bunch. >> i like it how's everyone doing? good? [applause] >> so my guess here we know, david axelrod, karl rove two of the most really defining leading political strategist of the respective parties of their time, and so grateful that you both here to talk about this important election. but distally correction we take this conversation by guest my first question would be what is keeping you up at night about this race? what you think about? >> every single damn thing. [laughing] i mean the thing that is, it is an unpredictable race. mistakes are so large but it is as close as can be. we're talking before about these public polls bold which ar the place and they play with peoples emotions. we can't lose, we can't win. but the truth is it's very, v

[applause] >> so my guess here we know, david axelrod, karl rove two of the most really defining leading political strategist of the respective parties of their time, and so grateful that you both here to talk about this important election. but distally correction we take this conversation by guest my first question would be what is keeping you up at night about this race? what you think about? >> every single damn thing. [laughing] i mean the thing that is, it is an unpredictable race. mistakes are so large but it is as close as can be. we're talking before about these public polls bold which ar the place and they play with peoples emotions. we can't lose, we can't win. but the truth is it's very, very close and we don't even know what will tip the scales. what type of the fact that elections, we just saw what happened in north carolina with the governors candidate candidate we got a potential war in the middle of -- so things can happen that you can't count on if you're running a campaign. you can't predict which is could have an impact. >> you're saying a few running mark robinson cam

political commentator alyssa farah griffin, also, cnn political commentators jamal simmons and david axelrod i think just does the stuff about women is, i mean, does it strike you as odd? >> i started laughing and thinking it was creepy, but then thinking more about it. it's very infantilizing. i'm talking about women as though we're week, we're meek, we need to protector, we need to defend her and we just sit around thinking about abortions all day. it just underscores a fundamental lack of understanding for why a demographic that represents half of the country is one that he is struggling. so profoundly with i think donald trump, if he loses this election is going to look back and think that one of the worst decisions he made was not having a female on the ticket who actually knows how to speak to living, breathing normal women about issues that mattered to them. and i would just finally say, yes, reproductive rights do matter. access to ivf, to the whole suite of care that women care about, whether it be abortion or so on. but economics, national security are also women's issues and just

because even if there's a tiny little shift that can make the difference brinson, david axelrod yeah. >> john, the interesting in the internals of this poll, what they show is that she's actually holding her own with white voters, that she's getting about the same number that joe biden did four years ago. she's not and that's partly because she's doing not as well with white non-college voters, which is doing better with white college voters. but the real kind of thing that caught my attention was black voters. and she's not, she's doing very well among african-americans, but not as well as joe biden and that seems like a fairly important challenge for the campaign. >> so let me show you this graphic here. this is harris versus biden among black voters. these are the 2020 exit polls. this is what actually happened on election day. joe biden got 87%, donald trump got 12. kamala harris right now is getting 79% to 16% for donald trump. now smaller subgroup is so there's a large margin of error in this polling, a larger margin of error. so let's, this might not be an exact number, but we'

david axelrod and mike murphy. you can tell him, i'm so excited that you guys are here and together on tv for the first time in quite some time but let's let's talk a little bit about this final stretch here. and, you know, axe and i were talking a little bit to about how this might play out, any sort of one small thing or the other could tip this any which way, which the way that it's tilting right before election day could make a huge difference. brian fallon spoke with the politico playbook podcasts. he's of course a top comms adviser to kamala harris, worked with hillary clinton and here's what he said about her strategy going forward, especially around interviews. let's watch people should not read too much into what some have described as a shortage or lack of interviews in the first six weeks of the campaign, we had a lot to do in the first seven weeks. >> and now in the remaining weeks of the campaign pain being out there and being everywhere as much as possible is a strategic imperative ax, what do you, wh

so we'll see up ahead, former senior political adviser to president obama, david axelrod is here. the first ballots of the 2024 election were supposed to be mailed out yesterday in north carolina that didn't and happen. we'll tell you why and how it could impact the number of votes that go toward trump and harris don't forget to vote on today's poll question at smerconish.com, will the election end with a smooth the peaceful transition of power while you're there, sign up for the newsletter. jack ohman, just sketched for us that cartoon tomorrow a two two-hour whole story? we special the candidates and their record on the key issues of the election season. what does their past tell us about how they will lead the whole story with anderson? cooper tomorrow starting at eight on cnn every day, dirt in mind settles deep within your tiles grout lines, staley steamers, powerful, custom-made equipment removes the dirt you see in the dirt, you don't your time island ground isn't clean until its daily steamer clique vick's vapor stick provide soothing non-medication vix vapors easy to appl

. >> cormorant senior advisor to president obama, david axelrod

cnn senior political commentator david axelrod is with us now. david, you've seen a few post-labor day sprint and there's an article in the washington post. you're actually quoted in it, which suggests that the trump campaign sees a need to go even harder against vice president harris now, perhaps because some of the attacks they haven't, they've used so far, haven't been working and there's a blind quote in this article, it says quote, if you think this race is going to be decided by likeability, you're making a grave error because neither one of them is going to be liked aend of this race. what do you think of that? do you think they have to try to muddy it even more i think if you live in one of the six battleground states, you should hide your children from the television set for the next we've so i think it's going to be a very tough race and yes, i think that it is very clear that people have formed an opinion of donald trump and if this race is decided on popularity, he will lose that race. >> so their mission is to try and tear kamala harr

the white house a lot to get to tonight, joining us cnn, political commentators, van jones and david axelrod, also a republican strategist, erinperrine david i mean, obviously the bait was a crucial moment. how do you think that dynamic, i mean, have the dynamics of the race shifted? >> you know what, we don't i think they've shifted in some ways because anytime in an event when 67 million people are watching one candidates, so clearly dominates the event, especially against someone who is expected did to be the dominant figure on the stage. it has some kind of impact in terms of voting. we don't know. there's not a lot of elasticity in the electorate. and i think both campaigns are waiting to see how these polls shakeout in a few days when the, when this thing really washes through to see if its influence actual votes, then there was there was pulling about how prior to the debate about the large percentage of people who still want us to know more information about kamala harris on the debate. >> certainly, there were a lot of there was a lot of information there whether it's what she said

david axelrod potentially very significant. what's going on in nebraska right now in an effort to get 270 electoral college vote. >> yeah. well, i think lindsey graham went there so to talk to them about this, the president, apparently former president trump called in for a reason and it's just as alayna laid it out. if if kamala harris at the most likely path for her still pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin in that one district in nebraska, it it's a tie. it goes to the house and the house votes based on the majority of each delegation. in other words, there i think i don't know what these i think it's 26 republican delegations now, 24 democratic delegations but it would give trump the edge if this thing gets kicked into the house. so you can imagine the turmoil that that would create wolf. >> it would create a lot of turmoil id that kadia goba is from semafor has with us as well. could thanks for coming in. and what does it tell you that donald trump is personally making phone calls to some of his supporters in nebraska. >> i

with us now, cnn senior political commentator, former senior adviser to barak obama, david axelrod. >> good to be with you guys are having entirely too much fun set this morning. what happens with everything you want sums up, i want fireworks, i want the whole treatment. >> every we told days of cantor now that fireworks went off behind him, everyone's going to want him in. talking with people on tv from the harris campaign and then hearing from democrats involved with the campaign, one of the things you hear is that everyone feels they did great in the debate. the question is can it reach the undecided voters go? and i'm not sure they have an answer, at least not the answer they want yet to. it leads me to this question. we of what really is an undecided voter where are they in, who are they? yeah. well, look, part of the challenge here is that undecided voters are undecided because they're not really focused on this campaign the they are low information voters. >> they tend to be younger and likely they've, they didn't watch the debate. they may be seeing some social media on it, bu

david axelrod. i know you have a question yeah. well, that that that graphic there is exactly why i said earlier that she needs to spend the preponderance of her time, 70 or 80%, talking to the american people about where she wants to lead and not getting sidetracked with trump, but john, i just want to talk about the state where the debate is going on and why it is the focus of both campaigns. take pennsylvania out of the equation and then talk about what it would take to replace this one state. >> oh, if you want to get to 270 without pennsylvania, well good luck is the answer. so let's take let's leave it. let's just leave pennsylvania as a toss up. if you're let's start with vice president harris can you get to 270 without pennsylvania? yes but you know, you'd have to win michigan. >> you'd have to win wisconsin so then you're at 250. and so then what happens? you could recreate what joe biden did, right? joe biden flipped. georgia hadn't gone democrat in a very long time. bill way back. and then you come out to arizona. hadn't

we kept making the argument to david axelrod, and others you can win indiana. you can win this state and they would say initially no, you can't. they haven't voted for a democrat since 1964. he thinks there's a message that people be receptive to hear so finally they were able to convince the candidate and his advisers to spend time in indiana and he did a couple of things. number one he showed up. my parents always say show up. you've got to show up at work hard. he ended up winning indiana. secondly there were people who were angry and he would tell us afterward sometimes hey why did you do that? it was not fun getting screamed at and he said you've got to listen to allow that these folks that have a legitimate story about displacement and interruptions and alienation in america. and third he had some answers to that alienation. not a-team policy papers that he would give them. here's what i will do to try to help you. they can't fix every problem but here's what i will do. barack obama won indiana for the first time since 1964 because he showed up and he was

when you hear people like david axelrod, a big shot with barack obama who is now blaming trump for people wanting to kill him. listen to this. >> we have to be honest about this. if you encourage, you know, and i know trump folks will say well don't you can't, you know, blame the victim here. when you tell people that if we lose you won't have a country anymore, you know, and we saw it on january 6th, it was his words that precipitated a insurrection, violent insurrection of the capital. 's you cannot so the seeds of violence and then play the victim. >> alena he says marched peacefully and they try to how come into excitement and they are saying eliminate the threat to democracy, and they are not involved in any way any of these 2 kooks taking shots. that does make any sense. >> we have to take trump out. is a threat to democracy. insurrectionists, calling meghan republicans cult members. calling anybody that works for him trying to throw them in jail , but president trump is the problem with somebody tries to take a shot at them. i have news for you. i can't imagine why anybody would wa

and by the way take a look at what former obama advisor david axelrod had to say.ten. >> i said years ago presidential races were mris for the soul and 2 of you are the people find out and they will want to know. so 1 way you reveal that is through interviews. and town halls. and unscripted interactions, and i think she needs to do more of that between now and the election to get people comfortable. >> the problem is she can do it and her team know she can do it. and it's not like a debate where she's going to memorize her lines and just like a robot recite them. meanwhile according to a new political report democrats are privately worried the teamster unions shocking announcement this week that they would not endorse or, this is the first time this union is not endorsed a democrat for president since 1996. that can be a major warning sign for a campaign. remember. a poll released by the union shows 60% of rank-and-file members want donald trump. only 34% want kamala harris. and by the way the leadership the teamsters should have gone along with the rank-and-file.

. >> so david axelrod accuses trump a plate with the assassination attempts, he is here on that as well needs a path and result of this administration because she's the vp. >> steve malloy don't size on how many jobs kamala harris would destroy this country if electric vehicles were mandated, for everybody and michelle, oh kamala harris is packing heat and going to shoot you if you break into her house. we dig into that theatrics at the top of the hour. (♪) (♪) voltaren... for long lasting arthritis pain relief. (♪) there are many ways to deliver a shipment. at old dominion freight line, we deliver them this way. this way uses technology and goes the extra mile to do things the right way. the delivering promises on time, every time, way. honestly, i was scared when i was told age related macular degeneration could jeopardize my vision. great. one more thing to worry about. it was all too hard to deal with in the beginning, but making a plan with my doctor to add precision was easy. preservision areds2 contains the exact nei recommended, clinically proven nutrient formula to help reduce

surrogates hitting every media market across every battleground state because, as dan pfeifer and david axelrod were discussing, this will be a close and competitive election coming down to tens of thousands of votes in a handful of states. we cannot afford to leave any stone unturned. we'll campaign aggressively. that's already begun. tonight is important. it is an opportunity for the vice president to introduce herself, make sure that people understand the choice between her positive forward-looking vision, new way forward for the american people, against donald trump's dangerous backwards looking agenda. and so we'll have that tonight but continue to press the case for the remainder of this campaign. >> bill: you saw that "new york times" poll that came out the other day. this is one of the items they were asking. they wanted to know do you need to know more about kamala harris? the numbers are stark. 18-29, 53% say yes. hispanics 43. among those who did not vote in 2020, the number is 48%. so trump is going to get up there tonight and say 3 1/2 years. what are you waiting for? what is she g

saw i been watching the media and the pre-and post debate gain coverage use all john king and david axelrodn cnn beforehand very soberly talk about how kamala harris had to do some important things and always distinguish herself and unveil what she planned to do as far as her policy and she did not really dispose of that problem because a lot of undecideds are still undecided and there's a kitten whisper between the two sides when it comes to the polls, you know this and harris has a slight lead but it would've been if there was a knockout ahead of the other. >> the abc pullout today says that harris one by 58 were 36% and it didn't change the overall tenure of the place, the race i should say, liz kind of set me up because you know the media consensus kamala harris had a strong performance and trump took her bait but the media criticism that she provide few details of what she would do work and help small business in the middle class and what about her evolution on these topics. >> i think they're assessing this based on the kamala harris campaign and the vibe that you get from donald trum

david axelrod, trump now saying on the rally stage, there won't be another debate, okay, so and harris obviously wants there to be well, we understand where he clearly what people think. people think she won and he did not win. but who is hurt more between the two of them? if there is not another debate will obviously trump has decided that he would be hurt more if there was another debate and she has decided that she could advantage yourself. i think that was such a decisive outcome in that debate. and if i were in trump's team, i think i'm not sure i want to put them on that stage. again, if you're harris his team, you're saying another event like that could be a real boost because we're still a distance from the campaign. and another debate closer the campaign could be very advantageous right? >> although sometimes it's nice to just, you got to win chips. >> yeah. but you know what? i don't really buy these polls. i mean, i think that this is a very close race. if you look at polling averages, she's probably got a point and a half maybe a two point lead nationally. but in these batt

i want to get in the room here to get some initial reactions with our great panel, david axelrod, let's start with you. what did you make of how vice president harris did? did she meet the moment? >> yeah. i think she did what she needed to do. what she needs to do is be the same person that people have seen on the stage for the last month and have seen a new sense of sort of confidence of calm and comfortable a comfort that we haven't seen before from or we didn't see certainly the last time she ran, she was she was very connected to her. what she seemed strong, she seemed competent, she seemed like someone who could be president of the united states that was the first test. one thing i know we've got a lot of opinions here we have time for but i think she i well, two things then. >> i think that she she handled the issue of her changes or perceived changes in policy pretty well. i mean, i think the idea that her values have been the same and have been consistent was it's a good bridge. there. one thing that i want to note is the core we were asking the question earlier, how will she h

when you hear people like david axelrod, he's a big shote with barack obamaxelrod,a. >> he's now blaming trump for people wanting to kill him. >> listen to this. we have to be honesto be about this. if you encourage it, you know,ye and everybody i know the trump folks have said, well, don't don't, you know, blame the victim here. when you telwhen you tell peopl lose, you won't have a country on jore, you know, and we saw it on january sixth, it was his words that precipitated a. insurrection, violent insurrection at the capitol. so you can't sow the seedsence of violence and then play the victim andhe leader. he says march peacefully. and they tried to hook him into incitement and they're saying eliminate the threat to democracy and they're not involved in any way on any 2 these two kooks that are taking shots. >> that doesn't make any sense. wes taat doe yeah, we have to tt trump out. he's a threat to democracy.. insurrectionist calling maga republicans cult memberscalling calling anybody that works for him, trying to throw them w in jai o throl. um but president trump's the problem whe

you know, and by the way, takerm a look at what former obama adviser david axelrod had to savidd had toy. >> listen. i said years ago that presidential races weres fo for the soul and whoever you are, you know, people wantut they'll they'll find out and they'll want to know. so one way you reveal that is i through interviews and isd unsc and town halls and unscripted interactions. and i think she needris do i think she needs to do more of that between now and thege election to get people comfortable? i well, the problem is she can't do it and her team knows she can't doand hew sh it.te and it's not like a debate where she's going to memorize her linee's goine hers and justt recite them. meanwhile, accordinge a new political report, democrats are privately worriert democd te teamster teamsters unionnt shocking announcement this week that they would not endorse her. k thatthis is the first time this union has not endorsedt a democratn for president since 1996. for could be a major warning sign for her campaign. now, remember, a polmpaignl reld by the union shows 60% of rank and file me

us right now is cnn senior political commentator and former senior adviser to president obama david axelrod, what are you thinking about as we're heading into his big night? what do you think about? >> well, i thought was kind of funny that jason miller, first of all, you usually try and downplay expectations. candidate, he's turned his guy into mohammed ali and floyd meriweather. and i think if i'm the harris campaign, i'm thinking go ahead and knock yourself out because that's what but trump tends to do sometimes he's very good at this. he's been, this will be his seventh nobody's ever done more. and he had 14 years on television before that. he knows how to command a stage. and the question for harris is her main mission is to talk to the american people, share where she wants to lead the country, share a little more of how her background not just as vice president, but her entire career points to the things that she's committed to and not let trump dictate the terms of the debate with his antics. she's going to need to push him back. she's probably got a few lines in her pocket, but it'

her plastic bubble and goes positions because, you know, van i think this is suffering for what david axelrod earlier caught a little irrational exuberance maybe that was before van has a little irrational exuberance after the after last night, but it's pretty rapid okay. >> but but but, you know, people still you know, people still want to know what she's about. they don't they don't really look, she punched him and know she wanted to debate last night. it's clear but it is not clear to people what she stands for. and i think that she needs to get out on the stump. look, she's going to pennsylvania seeds on the schedule a bunch. she's going to be out there trying to replicate what we did in 16 by going to these small counties and convincing people. i think that's what she should do. listen, that's what i'm advised president trump to do visit a lot of places in pennsylvania, small places manufacturing jobs restaurants, shaking hands and kissing babies, you know running for president is running for governor in 50 different states. that's how you approached this. >> jamie gangel, kamala harris

and david axelrod, you don't know what this feeling is like. this is incredibly having ptsd i mean, the pressure after looking at the polls that came out yesterday from the new york times and siena college showing this race could not be tighter. voters still have questions about at least one of these candidates. what are the 24 hours before a debate like? >> they're, they're incredibly anxious. but the thing is that if you've prepared well then you should have some confidence that, you know the questions that are gonna be asked. and you also know how you're going to answer them and how trump is likely going to answer them. and you prepare for something that you can't predict because trump is an asymmetrical they'll fighter so he can say or do anything. i think the goal for her is to stay focused on her mission, which is to deliver her message to the american people. but one thing i want to point out, normally like when we had a bad debate in 2012, famously with debates after that we had a vice presidential debate in between. so the stakes of th

and a conversation with karl rove and david axelrod about this 2024 presidential election.n, you can go online for free, and that address is theatlanticfestival.com. if you're in washington, of course, you can buy a ticket. if you can't make it to washington, theatlanticfestival.com to hear the conversations. editor in chief of "the atlantic," jeffrey goldberg, we appreciate it. >>> coming up, how elon musk destroyed twitter. we'll speak with the authors after a new book on what has happened to the social media site since musk purchased it. >>> and as we head to break, coming up this weekend on nbc sunday today, my guest will be 16-time grammy winner, the legend, the icon, alicia keys, talking about her hit broadway musical "hell's kitchen," loosely based on her own upbringing, her own life, her rise from hell's kitchen in new york to the top of the music world. now, we can call it a tony-winning broadway musical. my conversation with alicia keys coming up this weekend over on nbc "sunday today." we'll be right back here on "morning joe." ♪ wife and his children on a run fr

. >> david axelrod once said in an article i read when obama was running in '08 that every change electionbaste the incumbent. what she did last night was flip the tables. she said, wait a minute, you're raising a national sales tax, that tariff of yours, she wouldn't even call it a tariff, she said he's going to raise taxes of $6,000 a couple, a family. she made him play defense on inflation. how did she do that? she did that right up front with the sales tax. >> the trump sales tax, she talked about the trump abortion bans. i mean, again, that's -- that's a wild thing that donald trump didn't at some point turn to her and go, wait a second, you've been in the white house for three and a half years. >> he didn't do it. >> trump could not do that, he was so addled last night, chris. >> i don't even like talking about iq because it's so basic. she is no smart, her "stereophonic" attack on him, roasting him like a pig the first half hour. he was fevered, he was looking for the frozen strawberries, he was nuts. i said i've got an hour to go here and he's already roasting here. he's finished.

okay outfront, now two people who know all about big presidential debates, david axelrod, stuart stevens, who have been in every debate prep room. >> pretty much everyone that there's been you were on opposite sides during the 2012 campaign with barak obama and mitt romney but there's a lot of mutual respect between the two of you, as we know so david, when you watched those clips and they are clip epps, right. so when you put the totality of a conversation around it, it may come off different but obviously the strategy there with pence was you know, anytime you overtopped her to call it out will that will that play well, if that's what happens on tuesday look, i wouldn't necessarily advise that strategy. you know, it's interesting there has been this big debate within the debate about whether the microphones