Donald Trump declaring there won't be a second presidential debate between him and Kamala Harris, the former president hosting the announcement online shortly before his rally this hour in the battleground state of Arizona will monitor that. CNN's Steve Contorno is at the Trump event in Tucson and is with Kamala Harris in North Carolina. We'll get Harris's reaction to all of this. But, Steve, let me go to you first. What reason does Trump give for not doing another debate? Wolf, just moments ago, Trump posted on his website Truth Social laying out his case for why another debate is not necessary. He wrote, I quote, when a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are I want a rematch. Polls clearly show that I won the one. The debates, and he ended with saying, in all caps there will be no third debate. He also said that the vice president should, quote, focus on what she should have been doing for the last four years. Now, I should note that a CNN poll of registered voters who watched the debates, 67% of them, excuse me, 63% of them said that Harris outperformed Trump. Trump, though, is making the case in his campaign, has made the case that they have gotten more of a bump out of this debate than Harris has, and they see no need for a second debate when 65 million people watch the first one. So instead, he is hitting the road. Today he's in Arizona, a critical battleground. Also, a border state. So we can expect that immigration will be on his mind. It certainly was at Tuesday's debates. He also is going to focus on the economy on this. Behind me, on the stage, there are signs set up with some of his economic messaging, including Make housing Great again and no taxes on tips. Even in a state like Arizona, where it's a border state and immigration ads have been flooding the airwaves, most voters say the economy is their number one priority going into this election, just as it is in all the other swing states. Wolf, I see if good turnout on the scene for us. We'll see what Trump has to say. This hour. We'll stand by for that. Now to Vice President Kamala Harris out there on the campaign trail in North Carolina and still pushing for a debate rematch with Trump. Eva McKend in Greensboro, North Carolina for us right now. That's where Kamala Harris will soon hold her second event in the state today. So, Eva, what's the latest? What did she already say? Well, Wolf, the reason why her campaign wants another debate is because they believe that that platform illustrated, in their view, that the former president is unfit for the presidency. And although winning a debate is not the same thing as winning an election. They feel as though overall it just provided a lot of momentum for the campaign, though they are still measured in their response and know that they have a lot of work to do. Wolf, let's talk about North Carolina. They believe that this state is really in play this cycle for a whole host of reasons, one of which they feel as though the candidate, the Republican candidate for governor here, is especially weak in a way that benefits them. They also are encouraged by the amount of momentum here. When it comes to early voting, 161,000 people have requested ballots to vote early. You also have nearly a dozen historically black colleges and universities in this state, and so they can speak directly to those voters. I can tell you that I spoke to some young women in the crowd from Bennett College. They are very excited, and this is the first time that they'll be participating in a presidential election. And so for those reasons, and then also running on the strength of reproductive rights, they think that they can really compete in this state in a way that they haven't been able to do in the recent past. I'll leave you with this, Wolf. The last time a presidential candidate was a Democratic president candidate was successful in this state. It was 2008 with President Obama. And let's take a listen to how the vice president spoke about the debate in Charlotte earlier this evening. Two nights ago, Donald Trump and I had our first debate. And I believe we owe it to the voters to have another debate. Because this election and what is at stake could not be more important. Now, Wolf, say that they aren't successful in Pennsylvania, here in the state of North Carolina, if they are able to pull out this state with North Carolina and a few other states, they can still get to that critical 270 electoral votes. So that is why she is here today making two stops that is why they are investing so heavily here in the South. North Carolina clearly a critical state. Even more came on the scene for us. Thank you very much. I want to bring in our excellent political experts right now. Jeff Zeleny, I want to remind our viewers of the results from our CNN instant poll of debate watchers. The other night. 63% said Kamala Harris won the debate, compared to just 37% who say Trump won that debate. Are you surprised Trump is now forgoing the chance to have a better performance in front of tens of millions of voters? Wolf, only surprise in the fact that if Donald Trump holds to this, and I think we should say if he holds to not wanting to do a third debate, it's simply him giving up on a very large audience, which is something he very rarely does. But one of the things he clearly did not like was that contrast on stage. The contrast benefited Vice President Kamala Harris. It did not benefit Donald Trump. of course he could have a rematch. He could actually prepare for this debate, which clearly he did not do for the debate in Philadelphia. But no, I'm not surprised, necessarily at the outcome because he is trying to live in an alternative universe, where he says he won the debate. He says polls say he won the debate. That clearly is not true. Republican advisers, Republican allies, Republicans who want him to win tell me they think he missed a big opportunity. so the reality here is he, believes he can sort of live in this, unity or this world where he is saying he won. He clearly didn't. But the contrast with Harris is something that clearly, does not appeal to him a second time around. A good point there, Michael. Eric Dyson is with us as well. Michael, thanks for coming in. It wasn't that long ago, as you and I remember when the Trump campaign slogan with regard to debates was, quote, anybody, any time, any place, they even sold t shirts emblazoned with that motto, do you see Trump refusing to do another debate as a tacit admission that he's scared and that he lost? Of course she beat him like a dirty rug. She smoked him like a pack of menthols, and his fatal mediocrity was revealed. Here is a man whose delusional narcissism has made him believe that somehow he won that battle. Remember, he said she had just turned black, so he was racially charged in his rhetoric. And then he said she was stupid in that very bright. She was so bright. She just charged you with intelligence and logic and overwhelmed him. Here's a guy who's proud to be unmolested by enlightenment, facing up against a woman who was his, intellectual superior, and she drubbed him in all certain terms. So, yeah, it makes sense for him to back off and to pretend that he has nothing else to prove when he has everything in the world to prove. But he has the privilege of his own white masculinity to hide behind. Scott Jennings is with us as well. Scott Trump is continuing to claim he actually won the debate, but this is what Republican strategist Karl Rove, a man you and I know well, writes today. Listen to this. Tuesday's debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was a train wreck for him, far worse than any, anything team Trump could have imagined. Mr. Trump was crushed by a woman he previously dismissed as dumb as a rock. Which raises the question, what does that make him? What do you think of what Karl Rove has to say? Well, he missed an opportunity. I mean, there's no question about it. She came out, she had a game plan. She executed it. I do think he got some points scored on the economy, which in our CNN snap polls showed he actually went up on the question of the economy afterwards. But overall, he got off track for most of the debate after the economic portion was done. I'm not surprised that he wouldn't want to do another debate. I don't think there's much to be gained for him in another debate. I think, you know, he's done seven. He won one, which was the Biden debate in June. The other six, the snap poll said he didn't win and he lost three to Hillary, but he still won the election. So I don't think it's fatal. but he did miss miss a chance to execute, during this debate. And now we're going to grind it out for the next two months. It sounds like with no big event to change the flow of the election. We'll see what happens. Ana Navarro is with us. Anna, in a statement declining to face off against Harris in another debate, Trump uses a prizefighter comparison. What did you make of that? Well, Wolf, anybody who follows boxing knows that when a, champion wins a fight, they either have to defend the title or retire. But if you want to keep that belt, you go back into the ring and you defend the title. So he wants to use his own, analogy. I would say to him, then go ahead and retire. Look, we all saw it. 70 million Americans saw it. She baited him. She reeled him in. She fell, laid him, breaded him, fried him, and then chewed him up and had him for dinner. So this is undeniable. Donald Trump is used to lying and saying lies so many times over and over and over again, that he himself begins believing them and thinks people are stupid. I'm going to believe I'm also the reason he's not doing another debate is because he thinks it's not going to be good for him, and it's very ironic because we all remember he spent weeks, if not months, you know, mocking Joe Biden for not wanting to do a debate, which was false, but he would do it at every rally. I think Kamala Harris should do the same to him, mock him, go with him, call him a coward, call him a chicken, send people in chicken costumes to his, rallies and, you know, remind him that if he wants to, that if he's so brave and he wants to defend his boxing title, he should go back in the ring. You know, it's interesting. Just beat by Thurman. He he got beat by a girl. He got beat by a woman of color in front of 70 million people. I hope it hurt.