MSNBC Lawrence O'Donnell Show 11⧸9⧸2024 Full Debate Cover

something that you think is well you know I'm really glad about uh winning the coin toss again to get to sit beside Joy Reed table but uh Rachel thank you for the most absurdest reading of debate rules in history uh debate rules are an embarrassment to the American political system it is a game show created for and by television it is preposterous at every level the two minutes and a president is never never limited to two minutes in a response or in a time to think about something or say something but then when you get all the way down to this utterly nutty microphones are absolutely muted except they're not and when they're not is not describable uh this this set of rules now has entered has crossed the line into the Twilight Zone of debate rules but there's no I don't want to ruin the suspense Trump's going to lose the debate because in debating you lose if you lie like right off the bat you lose if you lie you lose hundreds of points right off the score if you lie uh he's going to lie and for younger people they might not know prior to Trump lying didn't happen in presidential debates disagreements did you know uh a bush might say well you know tax increases will hurt the economy and a Democrat might say please tell me when that's ever happened because they don't you know there be that kind of interpretation of what happens with a tax cut or uh you know your idea of how to cut the deficit won't actually work but people weren't lying it didn't happen and the worst moment any candidate ever suffered in a presidential debate was when Jerry Ford as president in his debate said that he did not think that Poland was heavily under the influence and control by the Soviet Union and he had to correct that the next day uh and that's it that's it in the whole history of it you can't pick another factual mistake yeah it was like it it it's that's known sorry uh Mr Ford that is actually wrong and it wasn't a lie it was an attempt by a politician to make something sound better for his purposes you know it lived within the the norm of political attempts to bend stuff and he bent it too far he bent reality and he lost AR arguably over I mean it was really a devastating moment this trumpian thing is nonsense it makes the entire debate idea even more absurd than it's always been and Trump is going to lose and the and the question is just is is the American Media going to recognize that or they're going to say you know he actually he lied well that was a good that lie worked and that you know that's what's going to happen after this there going to be people who are saying you know arguing that Donald Trump did okay or that kamla Harris didn't do okay when he is going to lie and lose there's no doubt about it so I will distinguish between the rules of the debate which I think you have arguably dismantled you have inarguably dismantled and the logistics of the debate because they did make logistical decisions that the campaigns in some instances disagreed with Nicole one of those is no audience which the Harris campaign has contended is a disadvantage actually and that might be a little bit counterintuitive but their contention is that a live audience brings out the worst in Donald Trump and that without a live audience you essentially get quiet Trump which is not real Trump and is actually maybe his best foot forward in terms of presenting himself just in terms of whether he seems like a person who can control his own faculties what do you make of these rules and and Logistics and and how the campaigns are viewing them as advantages or disadvantages look this may make me unpopular up here but I don't think anyone that the Harris campaign is interested in talking to tonight gives a damn about any of this right they are talking tonight and the momentum that she's achieved in the most extraordinarily successful I mean we compare her candidacy to Obama's but President Obama had months and months to get to where she got in days and days so what she has to build this incredibly successful movement candidacy what she what she gets to do tonight is to take that sort of political Special Sauce that that she and only she has ever done in American politics and presented to the largest TV audience that's it nobody watching that she cares about politically and statistically gives a damn about the rules and and for whatever the rules are dumb not dumb fair not fair they agreed to them so she's not the victim of any of the rules yeah um she agreed to them she's there tonight so the rules are what the rules are but what her really Miracle campaign needs to do tonight is to leave all of this to us right leave this to Cable chatter and go grab the voters that still haven't you know seen a rally or don't know who she is or maybe have heard some of those lies maybe they heard she's a radical San Francisco liberal and she used to stand there and do what Liz Cheney said was deliver a speech that George W bush could have given or Ronald Reagan which which is probably the so far the largest TV audience that has seen her but if you saw her that night and you see her tonight and and she gives again what LZ Cheney said was a speech that Ronald Reagan could have given you won't believe the lies and so this is this is interesting endlessly ceaselessly interesting to us and I actually have an even more radical view than you I think they should ask one question who won 2020 and if they can't get Trump to tell the truth or answer I don't think they should go any for them stay on it stay on it but but but your your attorney general said that was um but Chris kreb said it I mean like I actually have an even more radical view than you do on the rules but I'm not sure that helps kamla Harris sustain the moment this is what Chris ha was saying earlier in our coverage saying that what Harris needs to do needs to calibrate correctly is the relationship between how much time she spends even acknowledging there's somebody else on the stage and how much time she spends speaking to a through the camera to people at home who are watching her who are trying to figure out whether or not they want to vote for her and it's a very difficult thing to calibrate because obviously she's a human being so she's going to get he's going to say things that are ldly false to to to to Lawrence's point I mean not just lies but lies that are you know livess right like lies that are like disgusting lies are the kind of that like are are you know that that you you would get you kicked off of social media platforms once upon a time so we'll say things like that and the question about like how you respond or not I also do think like there's two parts of the debate there's the there's the fact that she's gonna have more people she can talk to than any other audience she's going to probably ever have then there is to your point Lawrence about the post-debate narrative chewing and we do know that like one of the things that does happen is that does matter a lot right because there's what people see and then there's the discussion afterwards and the on effects and the clips on Tik Tok and all that sort of thing and to your point Lawrence I really do think like this is where the asymmetry is at its most intense and egregious right if kamla Harris yesterday had posted identically what Donald Trump did yeah on Twitter yeah it would literally be the only story in America today I don't even think there's a question about that it would be a front page story in the New York Times it would lead all the networks it would be everything con Harris calls on calls to prosecute and jail donor what right but that the New York Times would literally cancel every other opinion piece they had planned for the rest of the week and have everybody write on that all condemning it and so there is just this unavoidable asymmetry yeah um and maybe it's avoidable if depending on the Press but but that will also be part there's two stages here there's Comm Harris addressing the American people and there's the way that this debate gets digested in that sort of broader way we have to take one last break um before we're getting into the debate tonight I want to tell you remind you that you can watch the whole debate right here plus our analysis thereafter uh California governor Gavin Nome is going to be joining us from Philadelphia right after we squeeze in this very quick break Governor Nome with Alex Wagner just ahead we'll be so the term spin room um is both a little nauseating and sounds kind of derisive but it's neither uh it's become a sort of term of Art in politics it's the room or in this case the cavernous site where people who aren't the candidates themselves go before and after the debates to do interviews and talk to reporters about what the candidates are going to do or have just done in that debate in the spin room tonight in Philadelphia among the very high-profile supporters and elected Democrats who are there on behalf of kamla Harris is our next guest California governor Gavin Newsome who is standing by right now in Philly uh with Alex Wagner over to you Alex thanks Rachel I just want everybody at home to know for truth and journalism I'm on a booster seat right now there's no way I'm approaching the Govern set up even more then yeah thanks for that that's right uh Governor I think we all remember at the convention you you took uh vice president Harris over the top and officially nominated her on the floor it was an exciting moment for California I know you have a long history with the vice president can you talk a little bit about how you know what your expectations are for tonight from someone who's on the biggest stage arguably of her political life but has been you know making the argument for a while well I mean in the frame of expectations and I don't want to overstate but I don't want to understate I have great expectations because I've seen her up close I've been at those debates that people have seen Game tape on they've seen videos on I was in the room I've seen her underestimated particularly dare I say uh with men yeah uh I've seen her capacity to get under their skin I've seen her capacity and forgive me this is not just a wrote and cliche thing to say prosecute the case whatever that case may be both against the candidate but also prosecute the case for the future so I think we're going to see both and tonight I think she's going to be tough I don't think she's going to sit back and take it from Trump I think she's going to give plenty but I also think she's going to be talking about you she's going to be talking about me the people watching it home you know you bring up the sort of gender piece of this which I think is worth talking a little bit about because in the last debate that you and I both attended which was featured President Biden and Donald Trump trump was kind of self-contained to a large degree I mean he was still saying rambling incoherent you know dis spreading disinformation but he was not as aggressively mendacious as because he didn't need to be he didn't need to be mean had someone he had a different person on the other side and and if if President Biden took it to him uh he's thin skinned he's weakness masquerading his strength I mean this is a fragile guy he's a broken person I mean really is uh and as a consequence of that he's incredibly vulnerable to reverting reverting to who he really is which is someone that doesn't necessarily feel worthy and is trying to overco compensate and I think that's easily exploited he's easily manipulated and he's easy and prone to get off message and I think that's why I think she has opportunity to be particularly effective tonight because I don't think she's going to be timid I I don't think she's going to overdo it but I think she will take that prosecutorial mindset and I'll tell you what KLA Harris will show up tonight not Camala I think this is also about dignity this also about respect and she's going to demand it on stage and if he doesn't provide it he may regret that yeah it feels like because she's a woman because she's a person of color she triggers Trump yeah in a way that Biden didn't didn't necessarily and and Trump's ability to control himself we are already hearing from his campaign maybe in question tonight I do wonder when you when you say you're confident that she's going to bring her a her prosecutorial aame one of the things that's been successful for in previous debates and prev moments is her ability to be naturally herself and to laugh at things that are worth laughing at or to have sort of natural human reactions to things how much do you expect humor to be a tool she deploys against well we've talked a lot about that and I've seen a lot I mean people ask what is about KLA Harris that most people don't know that you know going back decades and decades is her humor is her wit uh is the Joy you're now seeing I saw her a few weeks ago at a fundraiser I said This Joy is back it's the old comma there's a lightness to her and so I think she can still bring that as she brings it to Donald Trump and then pivots to again prosecute the case for the future because here's the differentiator people say well how can she be the change candidate she is change she's not Joe Biden and she sure as hell is not Donald Trump but she can focus on the future because she represents the Next Generation a new generation but that's again Prosecuting the case for a future where everyone feels seen and everyone feels included you know that's a lot to do right humor natural reactions prosecut Prosecuting you're someone who is a habitu can I say that of Newsmax and fox you you are unafraid of going you know to the other side Earth two as we like to call it on MSNBC um how do you pick and choose which pieces of disinformation which trolls to respond to in a format where you know there's a healthy back and forth well I think when you're demeaning other people when you're attacking vulnerable communities uh when you're being a bully uh I think that's when you stand up and I think that's about character that's about values and I think anytime it reflects in that space uh where you're attacking the lgbtq community you're attacking minority communities where you're attacking immigrants you're talking down or past people standing up tall in asserting yourself and pushing back I think that has Universal traits we all want to be loved we all need to be loved we all want to be respected we all want to be protected we all want to be connected to something larger than ourselves if she can bring that universality to this and defend the defenseless boy she walks away with this debate let me ask you one last one in terms of just how we should be thinking about this debate because I think belatedly we're having this National conversation about sashing Donald Trump the fact that this man has been rambling incoherently irresponsibly for months if not years but it's been especially acute in in recent week and I think we're fin this dialog about how do you not normalize or how do you not Trend towards cerence when you're when you're talking about what Trump just said how do you accurately sort of explain to the American public the mendacity the incoherence the irresponsibility the aggression in in a in a way that that accurately reflects the the tone and tenor of a person that is increasingly unhinged is not only unhinged but he's derivative of himself I find him incredibly what does that mean derivative of himself boring and I and this I may get in trouble particularly with this audience five or six years ago you tune in maybe for the train wreck the clown show but there was some entertainment value you've been watching some of his speeches it's monotone he's boring across the board even in his audiences you see people paying attention not to the speech to themselves walking out early something he's lost a step and what happened look what I think will happen tonight I expect if she's successful He he'll start off that old Trump perhap in that last debate uh and try to be the new Trump again he's the one guy universally graded on the curve he's you know in his little pity party he's the victim he's always been the victim um but there'll be a point where he gets off his game these are two minut that's a long period of time 2 minutes 2 minutes the one minute followup he's incapable of not taking the bait and she's very capable of not taking the bait she's extraordinarily disciplined particularly in an environment like this again look back in her one-on-one debates consistently back decades and decades this is where she shows up and shines all that said I'm not a naive this guy doesn't play by the rules which means then he has more options in a debate and when someone has more options he's a more challenging person to debate so I'm not suggesting this is not only high stakes this is a huge challenge but I have all the confidence back to your opening question that she's up for the challenge all right Governor Gavin Nome it is great to hear uh perspec perspective some words of wisdom as we head into a consequential night in American politics back to you Rachel thank you thank you very much Alex thank you Governor joy that last point that he just made and he said he may not he may lose people in our Audience by saying it but he essentially said he said he's that that Trump is derivative of himself Alex got him to clarify that by that he means he's boring he says Trump used to be even in his political life more entertaining but now he's so self-referential that he can't hold a tune like he he can't follow a a tell a good joke he can't follow a story through to the end he can't make a point he's constantly referring back to some tangential tangential or self-referential thing in a way that loses people and he's describing that as a a weakness that Trump won't be able to sort of resist falling into particularly as the night goes on yeah and I think it's It's always important to remember this Donald Trump is four years older than the Trump that debated Hillary Clinton and he's older yet than the person who was on The Apprentice who could read you know when the producers would tell him who to fire he could do that he could perform that but to years older than Clinton when he was debating Clinton absolutely eight years older sorry eight years older sorry you're time is a is a myth um um you know I mean Nicole makes this point a lot it's his act is so stale that fox doesn't even really cover him live anymore it's very rare that they take him because I think they've even started to realize it's unhelpful to their preferred candidate to show him and the more that you actually watch him which is why you know we all debate whether to show him we do show him sometimes because you watch it and what you really see is a decrepit mind you see a person who is declining he is the oldest person ever to run for president and it is clear that he is in some form of cognitive decline and he keeps referring back to things that make him comfortable Hannibal lecor the movie that he went to the premiere for the you know the second uh version of he he goes to places that are bizarre which he calls the weave but I think to take it back to what Lawrence said and I think to what Nicole said too this is the reason that this debate is so artificial and so in some ways built in a nonsensical way because they are sashing him in real time by muting his microphone and not showing you what Trump is really like which is the way he is at his rallies what they're doing is presenting an artificially cleaned up version of Donald Trump and so I think for vice president Harris she really can't think about him like I think about the way she responded to Dana Bash when you know God bless Dana she asked that absurd question about her race making her defend her racial identity and she said same old thing next next thing and it was such a brilliant way to just dismiss something stupid I think she does need to correct things like the tariffs and explain you know what a tariff is you know I think if that comes up but I think all she has to do I will just reiterate what I said before this is a 90-minute TV show for vice president Harris to present herself to the small number of people who are watching who want to vote who are not non-voters but who for whatever reason have not gone from Biden to her from Indie to her or from not voting to her treat it like a TV show and that's your audience how do you get those people to vote yeah you know look you have to think about Donald Trump as a TV show because he is okay it's in its ninth year this is the ninth year of the series there's no TV series in history that was better in its ninth year yeah than its four year or its first year okay never and audience fatigue sets in on most TV series before they ever get to 9: okay and they're and you're lucky if you're fading out at s and so this is he is stretching this TV series now into its ninth year with no new episodes it's the same script from the pilot from the first episode the problem though is that the sort of product tie-ins are a lot more lethal right like there's not a toy in the cereal box there's a loaded gun at our democracy I mean the problem is that the saturation of the TV show is into the most extreme elements of our politics and I I think that that you know Chris Christie has an oped out tonight and and um he makes some good points having prepped Trump 30 times and having debated him himself that Hara seems to have already Incorporated in her presentation to this this really important swath of voters and I I would add to your list she should go for two time Trump voters who have had enough of the TV show I mean I I I think there are a lot of how do you get those Nicole well I think you put Dick Cheney um on a bus with Bernie Sanders and send him to eriepa and then if they can they could be in the bus together that long have peninsula of of Michigan and then maybe drive them you know or maybe maybe you ask Josh Shapiro where he deployed all the Republicans who endorsed him Josh Shapiro ran a coalition candidacy that's how he destroyed Doug mastriano she now has a coalition of support and I think if if you know David plff and we all do from being on TV he's going to make sure she takes his TV audience and communicates about the cost of everything housing school education groceries everything um but I I think in terms of sort of the political building blocks that she has to work with she she she will do all this and and to your point about the filter we put on this um we can't sit and say did did she speak to the kitchen table issues did she fact check him because the moderators refused you know all she has to do is is is I think what the governor said I mean if you look at how she dismantled Brett Kavanaugh and Jeff sessions and Bill bar it wasn't by saying BR Kavanagh you've never backed a law that controls a man's body it was by saying Mr Kavanagh do you know of any laws that govern what a man can do to his body I'm sorry what I don't understand the question I'll repeat it do you know I mean she's very good at asking questions that reveal everything about men that are a million times smarter than Donald Trump will ever be while KLA Harris is in Philadelphia for tonight's debate her running mate Tim Walls has spent the day campaigning in Spring State Arizona he's expected to attend a debate watch party there in Mesa Arizona you're looking live at that venue right now I can also tell you that after the debate Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walls will be joining us he will be our guest here on snbc you guys he's coming look busy we're going to be his only cable news interview tonight once the debate is over so be sure to stay tuned after the debate for That interview but speaking of Arizona let's go now to NBC News political and National correspondent Jacob sobero famous for being the easiest man to talk to in all of American News Jacob is watching the debate tonight with a focus group of Swing uh swing state a focus group in swing state Arizona he's in Phoenix uh now Jacob I understand some of the folks who are there with you tonight uh talk to us on MSNBC after the first presidential debate as well between Trump and Biden not there's not total overlap with the whole group but some of those folks are overlap it's going to be especially interesting to hear from them now yeah I'm excited to uh to reintroduce everybody to some of those folks Rachel and and the reason that we're inside by the way and Tim Walls will be inside tonight and the watch parties are inside is it is 107 degrees right now in Phoenix Arizona they've had some ridiculous stretch of over 100° temperatures in Arizona so our friends at 12 news here uh in Phoenix our NBC partner in the affiliate here have been nice enough to invite us inside 12 News has also been following the race here very closely not just because Maricopa County obviously Phoenix where we are is the largest swing jurisdiction in the entire nation with four and a half million voters this state Arizona was decided by only 11,000 but because the candidates have been here non-stop ultimately this thing is going to come down to the voters and let's just let's go see them uh right now Rachel they've been nice enough to hand over one of their sets here uh to us and if you remember Rachel last wasn't me it was Gotti Schwarz but Jeff our friend Jeff here was one of the folks that you met last time Jeff if I remember correctly correct me if I'm wrong your quote after the debate was Donald Trump hell no Biden oh no is that correct that's right and so now we come to the next debate and we have to decide is kamla Harris up to the task of taking Trump down because he's unacceptable on every basis level and do you think you could come out of this perhaps you didn't want to go with either of them after the last one you think it could come out going with vice president Harris after this one it's either that I'm not going to vote for president okay all right I'm going to quickly try to go around the table if I can real quick Nicole was with us last time uh as well Rachel Nicole I remember you saying to Gotti that you were prayerful about your husband and you not participating ultimately at the top of the ticket how are you feeling today very much the same I mean I need to see a different character than I've seen consistently in the past and I'd have to go forward to see that character continue to change okay and uh this is Juan Carlos Rachel Juan Carlos wasn't with us last time this will be Juan Carlos's first election I'm always excited to talk to a first-time voter Juan Carlos you're leaning towards Trump but you have said you don't like the rhetoric that you hear from him on immigration is there a chance based on what you see tonight you could go the other direction there's a small chance because my family came here legally but they're legal immigrants and are you referred to Southern countries just in sit well with me you know okay uh we'll see you after the debate as well this is Romeo guys Romeo uh you were talking about how you went for Biden back in 2020 you're leaning towards Trump now but tonight you could ultimately sway the other way is that right uh yeah absolutely I'm really just looking for KLA to affirm where she stands on a lot of these issues where I've heard she's flip-flopped so i' really just want to see where she stands I'm so excited to watch with all these people Rachel you might remember Denise who said she wrote herself in at the top of the ticket in both 2016 and in 2020 are you still thinking about doing that this time around or is this debate maybe going to be a game changer for you I'm still thinking about it this time around I've done a lot of research on it and there are eight states one of which being Pennsylvania which allows writing candidates to vote writing candidate votes to count without having to file any paperwork okay Denise we're going to be uh checking in with you after the debate um remind me your name time forgive me Julian Julian Julian's a musician Julian uh is somebody who is not always participating in the political process right you were telling us before this when it was Biden versus uh Trump that you perhaps felt like the candidates didn't understand your life but if I'm not mistaken you feel a little bit differently right now right yeah I think that vice president camela Harris uh she goes more towards the middle class and I'm considered middle class you were saying that even you are struggling maybe with paying for housing you thought you could end up I mean it's not an exaggeration you could end up homeless if stuff with your job doesn't go the right way yeah if I don't come up with the money for my rent or if I can't find a job by October sometime and not told me that's what you'll be listening for tonight Julian thank you very much we'll check in with Julian after the debate and finally guys this is Bonnie Bonnie is a retired school teacher 30 years is an elementary school teacher right Bonnie the thing I love about what Bonnie said to us before the debate is you said there's a lot of sort of thrown around about undecided voters often that they're uninformed they're not paying attention you say that's the exact opposite with you you've been paying very close attention how are you still undecided that is correct uh I have been paying a lot of attention and the negativity uh overshadows the issues and so I'm still at the point where I'm undecided or possibly I will not vote for the president and but could that change tonight I'm coming in with an open mind and hopefully uh I will feel strongly toward one of our candidates well that's why we have assembled this group uh Rachel guys it's going to be really exciting to be here with everybody tonight and watch want to say thanks again to our colleagues here uh at 12 news in Phoenix and uh we'll be here on the other side of the debate guys we'll see you then cannot wait to hear whether or not the things that you everybody's looking for um is is what they hear from the debate that's going to be fascinating see them turn around you should also tell everybody that their audition to be local news people went very well and they're all in line for a job she said you guys could all be a part of the 12 News team uh after we're done with this based on how you look at the anchor desk can Rachel there's a lot of behind the scenes stuff I'll show you after the debate I'll I know you got other things to do well no go on go on okay come on check this out I knew you were gonna do this here we go the real Phoenix is behind the fake Phoenix I had no idea what that's amazing wait wait wait wait wait so there's there's an opaque screen that shows a fake view of the real View just in case it could be very hot you know we don't want these people to be sweating while we're watching the debate in here uh but when the time is right you open it up and and you see you all know I'm a shitzer I kept it closed but maybe tonight we'll open it up thank you very much Jacob appreciate it fantastic 107 degrees right now in Phoenix between 5:30 and 6 o00 at night 100 days straight new record for the City of Phoenix 100 days straight with uh temperatures re reaching over 100° smashed the old record which was in the 50s or 60s I think wow what are you saying what are you implying no idea I think we need to drill baby drill basically I think we got to drill our way out of the heat in Phoenix is kind of my that's my platform is the woman who writes herself her name in trying to get other people to do it as well yeah I feel like she might she's trying to create the case for the viability yes exactly you're trying to you're trying to campaign yeah I was you know on on the climate issue I spent a little bit of time with the um Trump and Republican Party platform which I will admit I did not spend a lot of time on or before because I didn't think there was much there but in addition to the onepage document that they released they released a 16-page thing that and the um the climate proposal is literally coal yes I mean that's the idea the idea is coal bring back Co that we need to bring back agenda 47 or project agenda 47 not the 20 project 2025 thing which they're trying to distance themselves from which is hilarious but literally the agenda 47 what he's proposing it's interesting too because Joy was talking about these sort of like group his mental grooves and the places he goes back to comfortably there are two there are sorry there are three positions that he has three actual what you could recognize what we call policy positions everything goes back to them border security border wall tariffs ring around the country which are sort of the same thing conceptually in certain ways and then drill baby drill and we we played this amazing clip where a guy at the uh Sturgis Motorcycle Rally ask him a great question on Fox and Friends being like I've got multiple kids who are trying to rent the rental prices in these cities are insane and I'm paying my come what should we do about it perfectly great like brass tax and he basically goes on a drill baby drill yeah and it's like the drilling is not going to bring the rent down but it is it is his go-to you watch tonight the Comfort place he goes to is open the Taps on oil and uh you know tariffs on and and and Border those three plants and we're being we're being laughed at as a country and mass deportation which I hope comes up I mean there are a few things that I think there's a lot of onus on ABC you know the the the the moderators because if if they don't bring up the fact that he is Accused Hai of eating pets people's pets or if they don't bring up his plan to mass Deport 12 million people and ask well how would you choose the 12 million people how would you round them up what would be the process why would it be bloody like that seems like that should come up the climate issue seems like it so it'll be interesting to see what choices they make about the questions to ask him and hopefully just won't be framing things he said about vice president Harris as questions for her and for him to expound upon we're just a few minutes out from the start of the debate Nicole I understand you have a special guest standing by in the spin room yeah we are we are really lucky to have um someone that we all have grown to turn to in times like this joining us now from the debates spin room in Philadelphia is Illinois senator Tammy Duckworth um it is so essential that that you are there and I wonder how strongly you feel or what your thoughts are about the cacophony of voices specifically speaking to Trump's lack of Fitness to lead the military after his stunt at Arlington and after his pretty public displays of disregard for the men and women of the military well it's clear you know we've always known that this is a five-time draft Dodger I gave him the nickname Cadet bone spurs uh and yet he continues to insult our military our military families he's insulted Goldstar families and yet he still wants to be commander-in chief of our military and by the way during his last Administration when he was in office last he actually changed the rules at Arlington National Cemetery so that he could be buried there even though he's never served as a in in the United States military it's really shameful um and now you see that he has no respect for our for our Warriors He's no respect for our veterans and uh using the sacred grounds of Arlington for a campaign commercial I mean there's no low to which this man will not sink Senator yesterday 11 generals um issued a letter uh really imping his ability to to serve as commander and chief Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney um who probably don't agree with Democrats Maybe by this point they do but traditionally they have not but on on questions of of the Constitution on US National Security on protecting our constitution they are enthusiastic supporters of Vice President Kamala how do you make sure that a broad Coalition of Americans recognizes that vice president Harris has a broad and ideologically diverse ring of support specifically around her credentials and her leadership on National Security issues I think you're going to see more and more people step forward to talk about the need to maintain that support and you're going to see people diverse voices Republican voices coming forward you're seeing that here tonight there are many people here uh uh there's a group of retiring generals who are here already uh talking about their support for her and that and how unfit Trump really is to be commander-in-chief rememberer this is a guy who incited uh and attempted to overthrow the United States government because he lost an election um and really I hope that tonight KLA speaks directly to the American people and reassures them uh that she will re that she will be the candidate the president who will respect and protect and defend the Constitution of the United States sign oath of office that the president of the United States takes but obviously Trump as president did not live up to that oath of office um but you're going to see more and more people step forward and it's not just going to be the high-profile individuals you're going to see everyday Americans step forward our Rank and fou troops in the military also stepping forward to say that they truly you know would rather have Kamala be the commander-in-chief than a Donald Trump yeah it's a theme that's really emerged every day um since the um senator Tammy duor thank you very much for taking some time to talk to us Rachel thanks Nicole and thank you Senator let's bring back in Alex Wagner she's in the spin room in Philly uh with our colleague former US senator Claire mccal Alex thanks Rachel you guys get to have pizza and New York and hang out together but I get to have Philadelphia hogies and hang out with CLA mcal so I think I win it's great to see you thank you um I do I I wonder you know there's a lot to talk about in terms of KLA Harris but you are a woman who also served as in the prosecutor's office and I wonder as you think about kamla Harris's history as a prosecutor what you think the advantages of that kind of experience are and what the potential Pratt Falls are in a debate setting I don't think there's any Pratt Falls I mean you have to understand when you're in a courtroom as a prosecutor there is no script you know what you want to elicit from your Witnesses you know the points you want to make on cross-examination but you don't know what the Witnesses are going to say you don't know how the judge is going to rule on motions you have to learn to think on your feet it is an incredible training ground for debate uh I watched her it was so funny because we served on a committee together yeah and I'd watch her cross-examine Witnesses and then she'd watch me cross-examine Witnesses and then we' do the the fist hey we got it right so she will listen I think she's got this tonight um and I I mean I guess I'm just somebody who doesn't believe Trump is going to be anything other than Trump yeah I mean he's had plenty of opportunity to be disciplined to clean up his act to quit insulting people to quit being a jerk time after time and he just can't help himself he thinks that's why people like him CU he says things that you're not supposed to say right so I just don't see him being the kind of candidate tonight that is going to reassure America he's the guy and it is an old episode and it is tired and on the other hand I think she's going to show people she's ready it's a it's a sort of strange choreography right cuz there's clearly the polling shows that people want to know know more about her and where she stands but at the same time the sort of broad wisdom is that if this election is about Donald Trump she wins and it seems like one of the devices she has used thus far in her career to Great efficacy is questioning right like whether it's a senate confirmation hearing or whether it's you know in a debate setting she can as Nicole points out get across a point without actually stating something but instead posing it as a question and it feels like you know using that sort of prosecutorial skill of questioning might be especially effective with Donald Trump who has no real answers to anything yeah and that's called cross- examination exactly when you pose a question that really is a statement but in the form of a question that doesn't give the person who's receiving the question a lot of Wiggle work there's not a lot of places they can go now he'll wiggle um but her job really is to shrink him on the stage yeah um if she takes command of the space and she is asserted and friendly and knowledgeable and I I do think this thing about the military is some secret sauce for her I think there are a huge number of people in this country that are very uncomfortable with the way Donald Trump has treated our military talks about our military has treated Arlington uh gold star families I think if you looked at the convention I mean she really did she talked about the strongest lethal fighting force in the world and fighting for good across the country uh I think she's going to use that tonight and that's what she needs with those undecided voters especially white men over 50 yeah well and it's no surprise that kazir Khan who's the father of a gold star service member will be in the spin room tonight so you can bet that's going to be part of the spin after the debate CLA mccal I love hanging with you at all these insane moments in our American political cycle back to you Rachel Alex Sinclair um thank you I I want to mention one thing that's come up a few different times uh tonight as we've been preparing for the debate to start in just a moment it's got one of the real open questions one of the real wild cards we sort of on the lookout tonight and it's not so much about what's going to happen on stage but how it's going to be covered and this is something you have seen reflected in recent news headlines for example uh the Milwaukee Journal senel was in mosy Wisconsin to cover Trump's rally there this weekend this was the headline they put on their report quote Hannibal Lector Al Capone and a list of promises takeaways from Trump's mosy rally quote the former president was expected to deliver remarks focused on the economy but his discursive speech bounced from topic to topic following his mindset at any given moment here was the A1 front page of the Orlando Sentinel yesterday look at the top headline nutting up Trump's latest promises from the campaign Trail quote Trump threatens to jail adversaries front page of the paper here's how the Washington Post headlined a trump press conference the other day quote Trump rants comma resurfaces sexual assault allegations for 49 unfocused minutes the post also providing a kind of translation service for Trump's recent totally incoherent remarks on Child Care quote following Trump's train of thought as it derails on a child care question this is the New York Times today which has otherwise been um I think aggravatingly kind um and forgiving to Trump in so much of its political coverage over the course of this year but this was the headline today from Peter Baker As debate looms Trump is now the one facing questions about age and capacity one of the Dynamics that's changed since Biden dropped out of the presidential race is that Trump is now not only the oldest person in the race he would be the oldest person ever inaugurated as president if he wins and whether his recent speaking style and foibles are a reflection of that advanced age or it's just what his brain is like regardless of how old he is the issue Nicole and joy you've both been talking about this tonight the issue of his coherence and his sort of strangeness as a candidate is now more regularly showing up in headlines and I think that it's being talked about more bluntly because I think reporters are getting less shy about the fact that he really very often doesn't make any sense when he talks well and also because people are pointing it out I think Lauren did an excellent job pointing it out the other day I did a whole block on it on my show because it is a thing that is our responsibility it's not our job to make Donald Trump's insan San it sounds sane and I think for too long the media has covered for him in a very particular way in taking bananas things he said and then translating them as if they really made sense if you really just par through them they don't and I think we need to present him as he is because they certainly didn't hold back when the person that they were covering was Joe Biden do you think that the headlines that I just described there are essentially just a response to the kinds of criticism or do you feel like the tide is turning in terms of the way the mainstream you know down the middle press is seeing him well I I think local reporters write what they see and see what they say and say what they see and I think if you don't see them every day you don't have the same risks of numbness I think the platforming though is a complicated axis around which a lot of us have twisted and turned I for a long time especially after the Dominion lawsuit and saw that fox was openly trying to reelect Donald Trump and ate him in his coup I oriented myself around if they're showing him it must be good for Trump we shouldn't be platforming him because of the Nexus between domestic violent extremism and what Christopher Ray called domestic terrorism after January 6 when they stopped airing him I I personally reexamined broadcasting him unedited and live in real time because I thought what do they now that I know their worldview and their political and business aims from Dominion what are they not showing us also I mean we just went through the experiment where we elected a person of advanced age into the presidency and like we all know the presidency is stressful and agees people that guy with the nuclear codes in four years is just just an obviously insane thing to contemplate never has nuclear codes to begin with at any age but the the person we're seeing right now with the most powerful military on earth and the nuclear codes four years from now after being president for four years like what are we doing here the ever since Tim wall started using the term weird one of the people who fit that description is always J Vance I mean the guy is weird in his actions the statements he puts out there the words he puts on on social media and generally how he approaches matters that are quite fundamental to people here is a compilation of JD awkward moments this month vice presidential candidate JD Vance is now pushing a bizarre conspiracy theory that is taking the right by storm tonight CNN's Tom Foreman has fact checked this claim about Haitian immigrants abducting and eating pets in Springfield Ohio Tom hey Abby even in the toxic political climate of our time this is a wild claim Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance who is railed about a large influx of Haitian immigrants into the rather middle-sized town of Springfield Ohio posted reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn't be in this country and this claim which focuses on kittens and ducks has exploded in the farri Echo chamber Amplified by the Trump campaign conservative commentator Senator Ted Cruz Donald Trump Jr Elon Musk and more they are saying and or implying if you elect vice president kamla Harris her immigration policies will put your pets at risk but to be clear this allegation against these immigrants is patently false well if you think it will not get more weird and more Awkward his Jance responding to a school shooting and calling a school shooting and a fact of life which is not true school shooting is a loss of life it cannot be a fact of life days after the murder of two teachers and two 14-year-old students at appalache High School in Georgia JD Vance weighed in on what could be done to stop the epidemic of school shootings he said gun laws were not going to solve the problem I don't like that this is a fact of life but if you're if you are a psycho and you want to make headlines you realize that our schools are soft targets and we have got a bolster security at our schools Vance's cold matter of fact and honestly heartless response is reminiscent of Donald Trump's reaction to a school shooting in perville Iowa 36 after it h 36 hours after it happened it's a very terrible thing that happened and uh it's just horrible to see that happening it's just horrible so surprising to see it here but uh have to get over it we have to move forward we have to move forward so here's how normal leaders should relate to matters related to school shootings when lives are lost and actually families are grieving it's not a fact of life it has to stop so before I begin I do want to say a few words about this tragic shooting that took place uh this morning in Winder Georgia um we're still gathering information about what happened but we know that there were multiple fatalities and injuries and um you know our hearts are with all the students the teachers and their families of course and we are grateful to the First Responders and the law enforcement that were on the scene but this is just a senseless tragedy on top of so many senseless tragedies and it's just outrageous that every day in our country in the United States of America that parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home Al live it's senseless it it is we've got to stop it and we have to end this epidemic of gun violence in our country once and for all you know it doesn't have to be this way it doesn't have to be this way so we will continue of course to to send our prayers and our thoughts to the families and all those who were affected