vaughn hillyard, thank you. join us tomorrow night for coverage of the presidential debate. we get under way starting at 8:00 p.m. on nbc.

here is vaughn hillyard. >> reporter: tonight, just days from his critical face-off with vice president harris, former president trump zeroing in on a tough issue for voters, the economy. >> we delivered an economic miracle, which kamala and joe turned into an economic disaster. >> reporter: among trump's plans, increasing tariffs on imports and eliminating tax on social security benefits and tips. harris recently adopted his no tax on tips proposal. >> she is actually copying a lot of my plan. in fact we're going to send her a maga cap. >> reporter: trump taking a suggestion from a reporter and tech billionaire elon musk to create a government efficiency commission which would audit the entire federal government to cut waste. >> and elon, because he is not very busy, has agreed to head that task force. >> reporter: trump sign and executive order in 2020 that would have allowed for his administration to fire a segment of the federal civil workforce and hire his political appointees in their place. today musk writing "i look forward to serving america if the opportunity arises," but that

>> vaughn hillyard, thank you. >>> now to the gas price story that may be hard to believe.plummeting. the national average on track to go below $3 a gallon. priscilla thompson on how low they could go. >> reporter: a day many drivers thought they would never see again. >> anybody else notice that the gas prices just plumpted by 40 cents? >> reporter: gas prices dropping below $3 a gallon in 17 states, including here in texas. >> love it -- >> reporter: that reaction in contrast to what drivers were saying last year when the national average was more than 60 cents higher. >> gas prices are pretty, pretty high. >> keep going up and up. >> reporter: but now experts say the national average is on track to drop below $3 a gallon next month for the first time in more than three years. >> as we approach thanksgiving and christmas, it's possible the national average could fall to as low as $2.75 a gallon. >> reporter: what's behind the dip? lower demand globally, particularly in china with the slowing economy and among americans who tend to travel less in the fall. it's not just im

vaughn hillyard, thank you. join us tomorrow night for coverage of the presidential debate. we get under way starting at 8:00 p.m. on nbc. >>> tonight in kentucky an urgent search is under way after a gunman opened fire, injuring five people. schools in the area have been closed and authorities are offering a $10,000 reward. priya sridhar is there. >> reporter: tonight the manhunt continues for a suspected shooter in laurel county, kentucky. >> our goal is to apply steady pressure and wearing mr. couch down. >> reporter: according to newly released court documents obtained by nbc news, a woman called 911 30 minutes before the shooting to warn that 32-year-old joseph couch had texted her that he was, quote, going to kill a lot of people and then, quote, kill myself. authorities say couch bought an ar-15 and 1,000 rounds of ammunition at this store before he drove eight miles away and allegedly began randomly shooting at cars on the interstate. officials say couch served in the army reserve. according to the documents, officers began tracking couch's phone, which led them to h

>> okay, vaughn hillyard, thank you. one of the few things trump and harris agree on, they both oppose the sale of u.s. steel to a japanese company. but some local workers are desperately trying to change their minds. gabe gutierrez explains. >> reporter: this is u.s. steel, responsible for some 4,000 jobs across pennsylvania. and now at the center of a fight that's growing more heated. what frustrates you the most about all this? >> i think that it's a lack of concern, you know. you're right, i'm pissed. >> reporter: chris kelly, a democrat is the mayor of west mifflin, a small town near west pittsburgh with the steel plant. his garage is also his office. at first he was skeptical when a japanese company, nippon said it wanted to buy u.s. steel. but he says nippon won him over by promising billions of dollars in local investments. >> i learned what the deal is about, what the offer is, the protection of jobs, to protect pensions, protection and modernization. >> reporter: now two people familiar with the matter tell nbc

vaughn hillyard, it looks like you're at a town hall. i realize now that you are not. again, i guess if there were voters asking him questions, if he was doing a town hall, i would wonder if any would be asking about his legal troubles or they would be asking him about, i don't know, their own policy desires and desires for their own lives. lisa rubin, after all, this is an election to be president. lisa rubin, vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. >>> and still ahead, what could be a bigger deal than the former third ranking republican endorsing a democratic candidate for president, well, she just got one upped by somebody in her own family, no less. >>> plus, the father of the suspected georgia school shooter has been arrested and charged, what is now facing. >>> and what vice presidential candidate j.d. vance said about that shooting that the democrats are seizing on. we're back in 90 seconds. secons thyroid eye disease a long time ago. and year after year, you weathered the storm and just lived with the damage that was left behind. but even after all this time your

nbc's vaughn hillyard is in charlotte, north carolina, where former president trump will be later todaygal correspondent lisa rubin is outside court. ashley parker is "washington post" senior national political correspondent and an msnbc political analyst. kristen gibbons is a former prosecutor, civil rights attorney and msnbc legal analyst. a lot to get to. lisa, let's start with what we heard. the former president saying e. jean carroll's claims never happened, even though a jury found that they did, that the doj rigged the case, also not true. are there any legal consequences for what he had to say today? >> chris, there could be, and that really is up to e. jean carroll and his lawyers. the reason i say that is that what he said today should amount to additional defamation of e. jean carroll. his claims today were substantively nearly identical to things he said in the past, for which he has been found libel by a jury. however there wouldn't be additional consequences including e. jean carroll decides to sue him all over again. we've seen instances of former president trump saying t

vaughn hillyard is joining us now. vaughn, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. this week could be a defining one with early voting just days away in many states. more so, that tuesday night debate, well, it set the tenor for what americans are watching play out on the campaign trail now. the two presidential nominees in duelling showdowns friday night. vice president kamala harris in pennsylvania. >> we're not going back because america is ready for a new way forward! >> reporter: former president trump in nevada. >> comrade kamala harris, you're fired. get out. >> reporter: as thousands of voters, including those in battleground wisconsin begin receiving mail ballots next week. >> you're a big trump supporter. how do you feel about the raise right now? >> it's close. >> reporter: mr. trump speaking to reporters from his los angeles golf club on friday while facing scrutiny with the travels with laura loomer known for making racist comments online. >> i know she is a big fan of the campaign. i really don't know. she brings a spirit to us that a lot of people hav

. >> with us now vaughn hillyard, nbc news correspondent and aaron gilchrist, white house correspondentughn, what are you hearing from trump's team, and people close to him hours after what the fbi is calling a second apparent assassination attempt. >> right now, we're actually hearing very little in terms of donald trump's own social media account where usually we hear the most from, we have heard zero since the apparent attempted assassination took place this afternoon. we know speaker johnson was at mar-a-lago after the attempted shooting. he posted on his x account that he and his wife were down alongside of him. and they were met with him for multiple hours. we have seen tweets from both of his sons, one of his sons, eric junior suggesting that something has to change. this is a family that now has gone through two attempted assassinations, apparently, of their father. and this is a moment here for the campaign where they find themselves 51 days away from election day. and understanding, as you were just noting, this is when you really see the schedule ramp up. he has planned stops

with us, vaughn hillyard, what are you hearing from the trump team and those close to donald trump justours after what the fbi is calling a second apparent assassination attempt. >> reporter: we are hearing little formally from the trump campaign at this point. there have been a couple fundraising text messages that of gone out, one which you noted and another that read from trump, my resolve is stronger after another attempt, like. thank you for your support. unity is maga. for trump there were questions when he returned back to his golf course exactly where he was going to proceed from here and we know he was meeting with speaker johnson who was on site at mar-a-lago, apparently waiting for his arrival after his afternoon on the golf course. speaker johnson tweeting and par, quote, i am departing mar- a-lago where we spent a few hours with trump and thanking god for protecting him. once again. no leader in american history has endured more attacks and it remains a strong and resilient. is unstoppable. we know when he was on the fifth all of the golf course today he was with steve, a f

. >> nbc's vaughn hillyard is here in studio with me. okay, vaughn.idea that liz cheney, dick cheney, can make a difference, and what you're hearing about it. >> for eight years we have had the conversation among reticent conservatives that could not ever see themselves voting for a democrat. would they not vote, write somebody in, would they vote for a democrat? there's been a scale of that, and i think liz cheney is a prime example of that. she voted, let's be clear, in 2020, for donald trump. she of course quickly said she regretted that vote. now take a listen to where she is justifying her vote for kamala harris this time around, and why she's doing that, versus another one of those options. >> i've never voted for a democrat, and it tells you, i think, the stakes in this election. you have many republicans out there saying, well, we're not going to vote for him, but we will write someone else in, and i think that this time around, that's not enough. that it's important to actually cast a vote for vice president harris. >> reporter: and of course

. >> we have vaughn hillyard who's joining us, nbc news correspondent. so, vaughn, donald trump wanted the mics to stay off. didn't want to change the rules. he got his way. nbc news is going to keep the mics off when the candidate is hot speaking, their mic is off. he's complaining about the rules and complaining about abc. let's play a moment from him last night on fox news with sean hannity. >> when they said they wanted to change the rules they had agreed to, did they ask for notes? did they ask for -- >> they wanted notes. >> they wanted to be seated and they wanted your mic hot. >> they wanted a desk. i want you got to do a standup. >> after they agreed to the other. >> but they wanted a desk from the beginning. >> vaughn, complaining. it's kind of his modus operandi. >> and ultimately, the campaign got what they wanted and this is what biden campaign had agreed to back in june. look, i don't know whether donald trump wanted these rules or whether his campaign wanted the rules, the harris team was trying to poke the bear by almost provoking him onli

vaughn hillyard at the rally site at mint hill in north carolina, and former pennsylvania republican n charlie dent. so, vaughn, no mention of mark robinson, what's the campaign telling you about him? >> reporter: mark robinson is nowhere to be seen near the campaign. there's been no unendorsement of the republican running for governor here. it's a notable absence in a state that donald trump must win. he won north carolina in 2016, won in 2020. donald trump was focused on a lot of things that were not mark robinson in the last hour, katy. >> what did he say today? what was the message to voters in north carolina? it's a purple state. it's potentially a toss-up between the two candidates, what was his pitch? >> reporter: there are actually two massive headlines oftentimes at these rallies and events we hear the same lines delivered by donald trump. and i'll try to keep this tight for you and the congressman. on tariffs, donald trump threatened if he were to be president this 2025 to not only expand by putting on and implementing aggressive tariffs, but also by telling countries that,

vaughn hillyard in north carolina ahead of donald trump's event there. hn you have been listening to former president trump as he continues to speak at trump tower in new york. characterize what he has been saying. >> reporter: was that to me? >> yes, vaughn. >> reporter: sorry about that. i'm listening in real time. i was distracted by donald trump himself. one of his attorneys in this appeal here in front of the appeals court trying to get the decision that was made in 2023, that was made by a jury, we should repeat, made by a jury that found donald trump to have sexually abused e. jean carroll. this was going before the appeals court. donald trump for the better part of the last 30 minutes now has been essentially doing exactly what led to the defamation liability found against him earlier this year by a separate jury in which he was penalized for $83 million. he is continuing here at trump tower right now where this press conference is taking place, he is saying that he did not know e. jean carroll, he never met her. there's a photo of them together.

joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard, usa today's washington bureau chief susan page who correspondent peter baker. so, vaughn, first to you, "the new york times," sienna college poll out today with a poll of sun belt battlegrounds and it shows trump in pennsylvania today, georgia tomorrow, vance in north carolina today. it doesn't take a genius to figure up what they're up to. >> you were talking with mark and steve about this earlier, all the polls are within the margin of error. if you look at arizona, for example, there is an eight-point swing in the last month. let's be very clear. it is unlikely, no good number of arizona voters don't think there is an eight-point swing, but this is close across a number of battleground states. when you're looking in this homestretch here, early ballots start to go out, can tell a lot where the campaigns are priority priorityizing their folk out. if you look on wednesday, trump has a stop in north carolina, on a plane tonight to go to georgeia, a rally tomorrow. tonight, in pennsylvania. it is those three states, if donald trump

i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard who covers the campaign, vaughn, how are they reacting to all of this? >> reporter: this is a moment here for the campaign where their candidate is in control, chris. for donald trump, he is in the air, here to charlotte, north carolina. to address the fraternal order of police, the largest police unit in the country here. of course this comes after the nearly hour remarks that he delivered at trump tower. it was initially billed as a press conference, he took no questions, instead, after leaving that appeals courtroom there, he talked extensively about the details of the case. he brought up the other women who made allegations against him, other than e. jean carroll, when it comes to evidence, it could potentially have been brought into the courtroom as a part of this appeal. donald trump talking extensively about it. i want to let you, though, look at the statement here from trump campaign spokesperson, steven chung, talking about the sentencing being delayed after after the election. there should be no sentencing in the election interference

nbc's vaughn hillyard is in savannah. make america great again, his latest abortion comments i would say, argue against his apparent belief that he isn't struggling with women voters. tell us what's going on. >> reporter: right. this is a campaign that's coming you to the homestretch, ballots are going out to voters here. you can say about donald trump what his vulnerabilities are with women voters, watching it grow with battleground polls and marks on the economy, understanding where a great majority of voters are calling him not necessarily the more favorably leader or the personality that is best positioned or the person with the age who is best postured for the next four years to serve in the white house. but when you look at the economy and some of the more sensitive issue where is voters say that they believe donald trump has higher marks than kamala harris. and that's where you see him focusing, behind me here on what -- we need to be very clear, chris, is very explicit, aggressive policy that he says he would impl

joining us now, nbc's mike memoli in charlotte, north carolina, and vaughn hillyard who is in tucson, arizona. vaughn, what are we expecting to hear from the former president today in arizona? >> reporter: right. he is here in southern arizona. he'll be delivering remarks here later this afternoon to a crowd here in tucson in this battleground state. of course exactly what he'll focus on is an outstanding question. we know that this is part of the western swing that will include a stop at his golf club in los angeles tomorrow. he'll also hold a fundraiser before making his way to las vegas for a rally. of course yesterday he attended those 9/11 ceremonies, but this is going to be the first time that he takes to a public campaign stage following his debate there which he is -- continues to claim that he won and says on his social media account that kamala harris lost. so this is going to be his moment to make really his first big public remarks from a campaign stage since leaving philadelphia. >> and vaughn, there's this whole issue with laura lumer, the woman who was with trump yester

our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments, and we start with nbc's vaughn hillyardn california where former president trump has been speaking. vaughn, what's he talking about? >> reporter: hey, chris. this was billed as a press event here. so far donald trump has been speaking for a half hour and has not answered press questions. instead he is focused at his trump golf course in los angeles on this particular neighborhood, some of the homes begun falling into the pacific ocean here because of the water movement up against the land. he's also focused up on immigration here, continually coming back ever since the debate night on immigration and its impact on communities. yesterday he was suggesting that senate candidates should wholly focus in ohio and arizona on the impact of immigration, and he was also made mention of the debate on abc the other night, taking swings at their anchors, saying it was an unfair debate. of course yesterday trump announced that he would not be taking part in additional gate beyond this point. i'll let you take a listen. i mentioned immig

. >> joining us now, vaughn hillyard awaiting trump's remarks. egist susan del percio, bacile smikle is here as well. vaughn, trump and vice president harris finally agreed to the debate rules. what are we learning? >> reporter: we're learning that the debate rules are going to look a lot like they did for the joe biden and donald trump debate this we saw back in june. and after some back and forth, the original terms that were put forward by the trump campaign. and abc releasing those terms in part. there are no prewritten notes allowed for a response. each individual will have two minutes for their rebuttal. they will have an additional two minutes. then there's also the muted mic situation, their mic will turn to mute. so for the campaign pain, they should expect a debate to look like that, the one that we saw in june here. and when we're looking at the diementalics of this, this is different than we have his tortically seen in presidential debates. we should not expect to at least as the public to hear any interruptions from one candidate over

let's get right to it, and joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard, and white house reporter and coauthor of "politico's" west wing play book, eli stokols, good to see you guys. so, vaughn, what is trump's strategy? hitting up the reliably blue areas like new york and d.c., 47 days out from election day, and is his message to those voters in the blue states any different? >>. >> reporter: right, and this is coming at a crucial time. ballots are being mailed to voters, including in wisconsin, and a great many counties literally today. so for donald trump, he made a decision to have a campaign ral ly on long island. but also donald trump is still contending that he thinks he can win the state of new york, for him, he is the chief strategist of his campaign. he's using new york to call for the reinstatement of state and local tax deductions. these were roll backs part of the 2017 tax law that he signed into law in 2017 while he was in the white house. and so he is using new york as a backdrop where state and local taxes are higher than some other more of the red states where he

>> joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard and in detroit, nbc news correspondent, maura elt, -- barrett, and mark leibovich. this isn't just about filming at arlington. this is an about altercation that took place. are ads like this supposed to shift the focus from what happened on the ground to the larger muddying of the waters here? >> absolutely. and it was kamala harris' team that just this last friday put out a tweet and called out donald trump for disrespecting arlington national cemetery sacred grounds for political purposes and in response, donald trump's campaign released this video and testimonies from gold star families who lost loved ones. this, for all intents and purposes, 20 years of u.s. engagement in afghanistan gets whittled down to key moments and facts here when the trump administration or i should say the trump campaign is quick to ignore donald trump's own role in the withdrawal, dating back to february of 2020 when his administration worked with the taliban to sign the doha agreements. their plan was to have the u.s. exit afghanistan in may of 2021

nbc's vaughn hillyard covers the trump campaign for us. former gop communications director and ceo of the seneca project. also with us, former assistant district attorney in manhattan and legal analyst catherine christian. great to have you all here. lisa, you were inside the courtroom. as i said, very high stakes here. give us a sense of the tone and your big takeaway. >> judge tanya chutkan is prepared and incredibly professional. she knew exactly what she needed to accomplish today and went through where we've been in this case, what was left on the table when it was stayed for the former president's immunity appeal, and what needs to be schedules now. she was primarily concerned with two things, scheduling briefing on presidential immunity, and then other motions that would be pretrial motions. recognizing that this case will likely go to the supreme court and back again before it's tried before her. that's why she did not even attempt to set a trial date today. later today, we should get a scheduling order from her about the immunity

joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent aaron gilchrist and nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard live in california for us and amna nawaz, co-anchor of pbs "news hour" and msnbc contributor. what is the vice president's message today in pennsylvania? >> we know pennsylvania is critically important to winning this election in november. and the harris/walz campaign has made that point very clear. we know the vice president spent five days in pittsburgh last weekend and this week, and then a day and a half, two days on the calendar in philadelphia, and now she's going back to pennsylvania yet again. the first two johnstown, pennsylvania and then wilkes-barre. we understand the campaign sees these two counties as republican strongholds. a counties that former president trump won in the last election cycle and the campaign says their purpose now is to extend the momentum they feel they have from the debate, which they say vice president harris won, and also to try to talk directly to those swing voters in those counties where the vice president wants to grow support. so she'll visit a

i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard, live in tucson.id jolly is a former republican congressman from florida. ashley parker is "washington post" senior national political correspondent. both david and ashley are msnbc political analysts. welcome to all of you. so, congressman, "the new york times" says that trump's particular political goals in this case appear to be the same as they've always been. you stoke anger, give someone people to blame for their misfortunes. did he overstep this time, though? >> he did. this was an idiotic moment by donald trump, truly an idiotic moment, and as the focus groups show, democrats, independents, republicans all are scratching their heads, saying, why is donald trump doing this? i think part of what is so unsettling is we also see a former president trying to regain the white house by paying attention to internet conspiracies and social media conspiracies and by being -- the likes of laura loomer and others going into this debate, so we see someone lacking the capacity to return to the white house i

joining us now from west palm beach is vaughn hillyard. also with me is national law and intelligence correspondent tom winter. again we have more body cam footage once we get it loaded up in our system. tell me more about this routh fella and what the fbi is -- they're not charging him with attempted assassination. why not. >> first off, the number one goal for them is we got somebody in custody, let's keep them in custody. so for their purposes, easiest charges are these charges of the possession of a firearm, by a prohibited person, a convicted felon and also he took -- he scratched off the serial number and had a firearm that had that off. we have it in our possession and we have the photos of it and we've got the gun itself. we don't have a problem here. so that is number one. get him off the street and keep him off the street. figure out what this guy is about. and let's figure out how did he get the gun? did someone sell it to him illegally. >> because he can't legally buy a gun. he's a convicted felon so he's not allowed to possess

. >> we begin with nbc news correspondent yamiche alcindor covering the harris campaign and vaughn hillyardering the trump campaign. yamiche, let's talk about the harris team going to pittsburgh today. it's her eighth trip to this critical state. on the economy, this is where she lags most behind donald trump. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. vice president harris is here in battleground pennsylvania to deliver a major economic speech here in pittsburgh. this is a speech that's focused on connecting with voters. campaign aides say she wants to make sure people dealing with the price of their groceries, the price of gas, their wages and not being happy with the financial struggles that they are dealing with, that they can think of the vice president as someone trying to craft policy and a vision that will help their lives. as you said, this is an issue, an area where she does have room to grow. look at our nbc news polling, former president donald trump is plus nine when you ask voters when it deals with the idea of who would deal best with the economy. he is plus eight when you ask voters

that was nbc news vaughn hillyard reporting. and remember, in november, you're not just voting for president. there are a number of local measures on the ballot. if you are not yet registered to vote, you can do that online through october 21st. just point your phone's camera at that qr code on the screen. it will take you right to our website where we have a full voter guide, including how to register important deadlines and what you need to know ahead of november 5th. now to zukes. it's a new type of robotaxi soon coming to san francisco. the company held an open house yesterday to show it off and are today in the bay. marianne favro was there at the foster city headquarters with what experts and potential passengers have to say about it. zoox is based here in foster city, and the company is doing something different. instead of adding driverless technology to a regular car, they are building their robo taxis from the ground up. it's the new robo taxi on the block. san francisco people lined up to climb in and check out zoox n

nbc's vaughn hillyard is following that story for us. they're literally calling him a chicken. tell us more, though. i mean, they've had a lot of fun with some of this stuff. what do we know about how it's landing? >> right. kamala harris and the democrats clearly want another debate. they felt good coming out of the debate last month against donald trump, and they would like another stab at having tens of millions of americans be able to watch the two square off. donald trump has not agreed to the cnn debate that the harris campaign said just over the course of this weekend that they wanted to partake in. i'll let you listen to what this digital ad that's going on billboards, but also on mobile billboards. i want to let you listen to a little bit of it. ♪♪ now for his part, donald trump just this weekend at a campaign rally in north carolina was saying that he wanted to debate at one point on fox, but that kamala harris wouldn't agree to it, so at this point in time, it appears to be a standstill, but we should note when we're looking at this here for donald trump, this comes

vaughn hillyard is reporting. most people will say nebraska? tell us about it. >> reporter: this all comes down to the scenario where nebraska's congressional district around the greater omaha area, could potentially be the consequential electoral college vote that decides this presidential election. there are just two states, chris, where it is not a winner take all for electoral college votes. that is nebraska and the state of maine. that's where you see that map there. back in 2020, joe biden narrowly won that congressional district, cd2, right around omaha. this is what has led over the course of the last several months the trump campaign to hone their attention on potentially trying to change the state law in nebraska with the republican governor and republican members of the legislature to make a last-minute effort to change the law to make nebraska a winner take all. so effectively, in the scenario, it's 269 electoral college votes for kamala harris to 268 for donald trump, well, instead of that extra one going to kamala harris and givin

nbc's vaughn hillyard is following the trump campaign on the ground in arizona. this for a very long time. i often ask the question, when republicans have expressed concern, when they're worried about something trump says, who will he listen to? who can have his ear? who can talk to him? do we have the answer? >> we sure do, and it seems to be getting crazier and crazier. look, i remember negotiations when i was on the hill working for speaker ryan, and we're trying to breakthrough something, and the president wanted to talk to the speaker and there's a fox news personality, of how things go. now we're into a whole new level. we have talked a lot about how potentially this trump campaign is more disciplined than the previous iterations, i think we can throw that out the window. this person has a very tenuous grasp with reality, and it is clearly the type of person he wants to be surrounding himself with. at the same time, i don't want to make any excuses for donald trump. he has agency here. he is the person who is surrounding himself with these people. and it ju

vaughn hillyard has reaction from donald trump and his campaign. good evening to you. i understand the public has received a fundraising text from team trump, what does it say? >> so far, the fundraising texts are kind of the most up- to-date information or words we have gotten from donald trump and his campaign. one fundraising text that just came through reads on the "from trump, my resolve is stronger after another attempt on my life." another said i am safe and well, i'm thankful to have your support here. we are waiting to hear anymore official word from the trump campaign or donald trump himself. there has been no social media post, even on his truth account since this place -- played out earlier this afternoon. i was talking with somebody familiar with the incident as it unfolded, that he was about on the fifth hole when gunshots rang out at that point in time. the secret service covered him before removing him from the course and taking him back to the club. he was golfing with his friend, real estate investor steve wycoff. this was a down day for him on the ca

. >> joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard who's in mint hill, north carolina.his actual pitch on manufacturing? >> reporter: the manufacturing pitch was a focus on the economy, the extent to which he focused in on parts of his remarks here just outside of charlotte and battleground, north carolina. and the headline of what he did say when it came to manufacturing was the extent to which he would implement aggressive tariffs, come 2025 as part of his white house's effort to increase domestic production. let's be very clear, what he has threatened to do, it would have far reaching implications. not only immediately on the actual producers, whether they be an agricultural or manufacturing in the united states, we saw this play out in 2018 and 2019, when he placed selective tariffs on some goods coming from places like france, other european countries, mexico, canada, but then he also is threatening to put a far reaching tariff at 200% on chinese goods. this is for donald trump a message to voters that he will do what it takes in order to ensure that u.s. manufactu

nbc's monica alba and vaughn hillyard are tracking the campaigns.o msnbc host jonathan capehart and msnbc political analyst and former bush administration aide elise jordan. monica, start us off, what do we know about the next phase of campaigning for the vice president? >> reporter: well, this is really something we've seen in the last seven or eight weeks when she became the de facto democratic nominee. and to seize on the momentum where the early weeks it was the announcement, the running mate and the democratic national convention. and all of these people that weren't paying as close attention until now in this back-to-school vibe with the september debate. and now they're really trying to use that and launch it to the next pace in the next acceleration manner. that is the reason you're going to see the travel, the vice president on the road all day today, tomorrow. you're going to see governor walz do the same, their spouses and surrogates fan out, that's part of trying to highlight what they debut as a very successful post-debate moment. they'

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on the ground in west palm beach, florida for us.t are we hearing from the former president? >> we have seen multiple fundraising and text messages coming from the campaign in the 24 hours since the attempted assassination. we have in the form of social media posts from donald trump now heard from him placing blame at the feet of democrats, particularly vice president kamala harris for what he describes as rhetoric that led to these apparent assassination attempts to take his life. just one social media post from just a short time ago saying, quote, "because of the communist left rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse." that these, quote, ridiculous lawsuits, referring to the indictments against him, and the civil suits are specifically designed to inflict damage on joe's and kamala's political opponent, me, and it has taken politics in our country to a whole new level of hatred, abuse and distrust. to our understanding, at this point in time donald trump will proceed with his campaign schedule. tomorrow he is s

vaughn hillyard, i start with you. that they had stopped carrying his rallies about five months ago. tell me about the push and pull, and how much of this right when media is comfortable and uncomfortable broadcasting. >> reporter: right. kind of my role is not the psychologist, but as a reporter thinking one of the conversations i'm often engaged in is the extent to which donald trump is potential distorting the facts, or whether he is truly confused about what the facts are. i think when you're listening to his rallies, or listening to his remarks, oftentimes, it is trying to decipher what that blurry line is, is it intentional or actual confusion? that's where i will cite the former administration officials that worked closely with him, from two of his former secretaries of defense, to former secretary of state, to former national security advisers to him, who have questioned donald trump's judgment, and the extent to which he would respond erratically to situations. we have seen he's increasingly surrounded by an o

we're not taking gun enforcement seriously. >> vaughn hillyard, are you still with us? >> i am. >> so donald trump, someone who has attempted to assassinate donald trump twice using an ar-15. is donald trump doing any re-thinking about his views on the weapons that have been used in both of those incidents? >> it's a question worth posing to donald trump at point. the press has been able to get some questions to him recently, and of course, there's maybe going to be another presidential debate. we have seen donald trump suggest when he was in the white house after the likes of the parkland shooting, suggesting that he would seek to have some sort of gun control reform. that never actually transpired or took place. instead, he stood by the nra, and said that they had effectively what they needed. they did push through an executive order, an attempt to ban bump stocks, in terms of assault weapons, he has not sided with putting on a ban on semi-automatic weapons. donald trump has continually gone to the nra convention, pretty much every year, been to several of them alongs

vaughn hillyard, inc. you so much.aryland on the homeland security committee, also a member of the task force investigating the first assassination attempt on former president trump in july. thank you so much for being with us. i was talking to your colleague, jared moscowitz, just a short time ago, and it is almost hard to fathom that while you are still investigating an assassination attempt now, there is another investigation going on. and you have said this goes beyond politics. tell us how you see what is happening right now. >> well, it's deeply disturbing. and i think it really threatens to undermine our democracy at a very fundamental time, when we have a very close and divided nation that is going to have to make a big decision with respect to who is going to be our next president going forward. and there are many other decisions and elections, you know, below that, going all the way down to the local level. but i think it is critical right now for those of us on this joint task force, for sure, and i would sa

nbc's vaughn hillyard is here with more. vaughn, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, willie. it was that debate that would set the tone for both candidates this week, and questions now whether former president trump needs to change the trajectory of this race. last night vice president harris, speaking in front of the congressional black caucus -- >> donal extremist allies intend to take our nation backwards. >> reporter: former president trump visiting police in battleground nevada yesterday, trying to bounce back from his debate with vice president harris. >> nobody can believe how bad they've done at the border, running our country. >> reporter: trump calling himself a, quote, extraordinary genius in a social media post, and claiming he won the debate with harris, citing unscientific internet polling. >> we actually had one 92-6. >> reporter: polls showed trump trailing by five points, a slight boost for harris before the debate. ♪♪ the vice president riding a wave of momentum, set to kick off a blitz in pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin. that push comes as harris sits

our vaughn hillyard has more. >> reporter: as he prepares for his to be showdown, former president trump totally reshape the justice department and target political opponents. >> we will completely overhaul -- >> reporter: he reposted doctored images of top democrats along with dr. fauci and gates with the caption how to actually fix the system. in his new book alleging facebook ceo mark zuckerberg will try to unlawfully influence at 2024 election writing if he does anything illegal, this time, he will spend the rest of his life in prison. this weekend, trump promising retribution against 2024 election administrators writing lawyers, political operatives, donors, legal voters and corrupt election officials. those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught and prosecuted at levels never seen before in our country. illegal voting is rare and tonight a republican election official in arizona told us he is worried. >> i am concerned. we will see professionals who are willing to bend general rules, prosecutorial efforts will occupy these positions. >> reporter: the consequen

joining us now, vaughn hillyard from savannah, and also joining us, monica alba. >> donald trump and economy and hardball style in the use of the executive branch, frankly, and we have seen efforts to place tariffs on a range of goods to increase u.s. manufacturing and put pressure on u.s. companies to increase the domestic production and force the imports of goods into the united states to come with a cost, and usually the cost coming down to american taxpayers, and in pennsylvania he told john deere, if they move some manufacturing to mexico as planned he will place a 200% tariff on their goods coming back into the united states and promised to put tariffs on all u.s. imports which is $3 trillion annually. donald trump said he could place tariffs at will on a range of goods. as he suggested yesterday, even on one specific american company if he so chooses to, and this is a candidate making the case he has power. >> the world was a safer place and the economy was better, and the u.s. was better. there were no -- as many wars in the world. my personal experiences have been that less

>> i want to thank our colleagues julian frankel and vaughn hillyard who saw the post and wrote it up. it is serious because it is part of a strategy. he asked erratically but he is systematic about what he's doing. and it is sort of to intimidate people come is what i was told by one legal expert. and it will make it official, let's say trump claims fraud, he is saying when i win the election, that this will -- the only way he can lose is if there is fraud. they will feel the pressure to actually follow-up on his demands that people be investigated, people be executed. under american law, you are not to be prosecuted unless there is probable cause, basic evidence. >> i have heard of that, yes. >> so this is him laying groundwork for a campaign to go after to say he's cheated out of the election and b if he wins, prosecute his enemies. sparkling the seed for this and ultimately hopefully they will bear fruit for him, that is his plan. >> and building on a pattern i saw in his first term where he did -- i didn't find the bias whether it was pro-trump by a store and a trumpet bias in th

let's bring in nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard in west palm beach and white house correspondentce this latest incident? and are there any changes expected to his schedule? is he going to come to new york still as planned? >> reporter: right, we have actually not seen donald trump yet outside of a post on social media that speaker mike johnson posted late yesterday evening after he visited with him at his mar-a-lago estate. before i go further on that point, i want to point out, you see the boat behind us here. this is -- i have been out here and talked to you a lot over the years across the agoon from mar-a-lago. this is thefirst time we have seen law enforcement on this lagoon outside the perimeter of donald trump's mar-a-lago estate. he's there today. we anticipate him going to michigan tomorrow. he'll then be going to long island, new york, for a campaign rally on wednesday. he'll make remarks in d.c. on thursday. saturday, he'll hold a rally in north carolina. he still intends to move forward with his schedule as planned. of course, secret service did exactly the job they we

we will first go to vaughn hillyard in las vegas where trump held that rally last night at this pivotal moment. ron? >> reporter: that's right, this week could be a defining one with early voting now just a mere few days away, but even so, it was the debate on tuesday night that set the tone for what americans are helping play out on the campaign trail. the two presidential nominees in dueling showdowns friday night. vice president kamala harris in pennsylvania. >> we are not going back, because america is ready for a new way forward. >> reporter: former president trump in nevada. >> kamala harris, you are fired, you are fired! get out! >> reporter: as thousands of voters, including those in battleground wisconsin, begin receiving mail ballots next week. >> you are a big trump supporter? how do you feel about the race right now? >> it is close. >> reporter: mr. trump also speaking to reporters from his los angeles golf club on friday, while facing more scrutiny from his own party, over his travels this week with laura loomer, a far right activist known for making racist and homophobic c

we begin with kelly o'donnell and vaughn hillyard and jeff mason.doug emhoff defended kamala harris after attacks by trump ally, sarah huckabee sanders, who said harris has nothing to keep her humble because she doesn't have biological children. let's watch the first gentleman. >> as if keeping women humble, whether you have children or not, is something we should strive for. it is not. women in this country are sick and tired of weak men trying to take away their fundamental rights -- [ cheers and applause ] and then gaslight you about it. we are sick and tired of it. and the women in this country will never humble themselves before donald trump. [ cheers and applause ] >> i said first gentleman. he wants to be the first gentleman. he is the first gentleman in kamala harris' life but he is the second gentleman. he is a good campaigner for her. he went right to it. >> reporter: of the campaign season. >> this is becoming personal for the harris family. the campaign intends to stay focused on reproductive issues. but here they are coming at her becau

joining us now, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard, and our legal analyst.least according to the group's website, the fund-raiser that was slated to be taking place at trump's bedminster golf club is postponed. he was never a confirmed attendee himself, though rudy giuliani, and other close allies of his, including peter navarro were. notably, donald trump has appeared at such fundraisers for defendants in the past. including last year in bedminster to support the january 6th defendants in their legal causes. he has called them patriots and said they should be pardoned. it's not clear when it will be delayed to, but it was meant as not only an aid to these defendants, but also to celebrate the justice for all song which was when donald trump can be heard reciing the pledge of allegiance while about 20 january 6th defendants were singing the national anthem. he has played that song at multiple events of his including one time last year in which january 6th capitol attack footage was playing behind him as he stood with his hand on his heart. it is now delayed,

. >> with us now is vaughn hillyard and white house correspondent kayla gardener. robinson did not attend the rally over the weekend. what's the trump campaign saying about all this? >> we should note there's not been an unendorsement from donald trump at this point. donald trump historically does not distance himself from the likes of roy moore or walker, but that's why the saturday rally and the fact that mark robinson was not in attendance is so notable. you can make the case that this is due to the fact that donald trump himself needs to win the state of north carolina just six weeks from now. the campaign continues to point us back to donald trump's social media post about mark robinson. and this is a reckoning that the candidate is losing his campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, senior adviser, and his finance director. this is not a good moment for the campaign and understanding that the presidential republican campaign still needs to come out on top in order to pull off a victory here in november. >> the new polling shows a tight race in north carolin