Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/22/24

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Harris, Cheney visit swing states in bid for GOP voters

I come to this decision as a mother. I have five children. And there was a moment right after January 6th when my husband and I were having dinner with our two youngest, our two sons. And I looked across the table at my young sons, and I thought to myself, you know, in the aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, are they going to grow up in a country where we don't have to worry about the peaceful transfer of power? Are they going to grow up in a country where that is guaranteed? And I believe that every one of us in this election has a duty and an obligation to do what we know is right for the country, and that's to support Vice President Harris.

So I'm very honored to be here and to do that. Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney yesterday in Pennsylvania explaining part of her reasoning for supporting Vice President Kamala Harris. The pair made stops in three crucial swing states, bringing a bipartisan message to voters. Yeah, I mean, that's something, isn't it? Yeah. I mean, and at this point, it is about the next generation and what's the world they're going to grow up in. This election could make that decision for them. They're a part of it. Really could. And Willie, that scene that we just saw, it's remarkable. It's history coming to life. And for me as a conservative, it's the conservative text that has been on my desktop as a young lawyer,

was on my desktop as a member of Congress, my desktop still, Mika will tell you, in offices of the conservative mind, where Russell Kirk sums it up neatly, that we're not to be a party of ideology. We are to be a party that upholds the Constitution and upholds conventions. And we are the protectors of institutions. And the line that it's really kind of, for me, somebody who's read this his entire life, but really never seen it have to come into play. Russell Kirk concludes the conservative minds intro, the last introduction that he wrote in 1986, seventh edition, where he said, sometimes we conservatives have to decide whether we are going to attach ourselves to the party of permanence or the party of progress. And our decision is based upon the facts that are before us.

And that is what real conservatives do. They look at the world as it is, not through some hyper ideological lens, and they decide what protects the country, what protects the Constitution, what protects customs and conventions the best freedom. And it's not a perfect choice all the time. But that's a decision real conservatives make. And that's what Liz Cheney's doing. Real conservatives, real conservatives love their country and want it to continue and want the Constitution to endure. First of all, it is a striking visual, isn't it, to see Vice President Harris and Congresswoman Liz Cheney on a stage together, knowing that Harris has Cheney's support, has Dick Cheney's support, given the history of the Cheney on a stage together, knowing that Harris has Cheney's support, has Dick Cheney's

support, given the history of the Cheney family and the Republican Party, the way Democrats have felt about them historically. That is quite an image. But Liz Cheney, you're right, Joe, is making the case to those Nikki Haley Republicans, to those Mitt Romney Republicans, those John McCain Republicans, George W. Bush, H.W. Bush, Reagan Republicans, and reminding them this is who we are and this is who we've been. We defend the Constitution. We push back against aggressors like Russia. And we want legal immigration in this country. It's an important part of who we are, as Ronald Reagan said in his farewell speech as he left the White House. So she's saying, effectively, I haven't changed all the people around me in this Republican Party, or at least in the MAGA movement.

They are the ones who've changed. They are the ones who are following an autocrat down this path. And she said, you don't have to do this. Here is the way. She said, even, you know, you can go to the quiet of that ballot booth and vote your conscience and nobody ever has to know what you did. If it's uncomfortable at your kitchen table in your community to vote for Kamala Harris or to not vote for Donald Trump. No one has to know. Go in the box and vote your conscience. That was her message in this barnstorming tour yesterday with Kamala Harris. You know, Willie, you were you were working yesterday elsewhere. So we didn't get a chance to talk about all the things that happened. But to attach a line from what Liz Cheney said to what we're saying about conservatives wanting to uphold the Constitution and and Madisonian democracy over the weekend. And I'm curious what your reaction was to Donald Trump

repeatedly saying that he was going to go after his political opponents, that they were the enemy within, that Nancy Pelosi was the enemy within, that Schiff was the enemy within, that CBS News should be shut down, that all of these all of these anti-democratic, all of these pro autocratic lines that Donald Trump is is putting in all of his interviews and seemingly all of his speeches. And again, what's jarring to me is he's been pushed back on by Sean Hannity, but he doubled down. He's been pushed back on by Laura Ingram, but he's doubled down. He was pushed back. Howie Kurtz, he's doubled down. He was pushed back from Harris Faulkner and he's doubled down. He is laying the precedent. Why else would somebody make statements that were

against their interest, which is I'm going to be an autocrat. I am going to to call, you know, my opponents, enemy combatants, the enemy within and go after them, which he keeps promising to doing. Even as conservative, well, pro-Trump Fox News hosts keep saying, but you don't really mean that to you. And he says, yes, I do. What does that what does that mean for Americans? Yeah, that's that common interview we've seen on Fox News where the interview tries to coach Donald Trump to the right answer and he refuses. My reaction is how many times does he have to say these things before people start to believe him? These are not one off. These are not slips of the tongue.

This is his campaign narrative, that he is going to seize power and do what he wants with it. And believe me, all the people who are there now, who provide some kind of a bumper or a guardrail against his autocratic tendencies are going to be long gone. And they'll be installed because they'll go along with what he says. The Arnold Palmer comments got a lot of attention over the weekend. They were strange and amusing in some respects, some projection there, obviously. But what was more serious was what you said, Joe, which is the repeated again, not one offs, repeated insistence about what he's going to do with his power.

Should he get it back? Yeah. And he keeps making that promise. And Mika, it's it's in making that promise. He is again, he's laying a precedent in this. And as Bill Moore said this weekend, he said it's not Trump derangement syndrome to quote Donald Trump, because that's what people think. Oh, you've got Trump derangement syndrome because you're saying these crazy things. No, all we're doing is quoting what Donald Trump keeps saying, even when Fox News hosts keep trying to push him off of it. And and and that that's a promise.

And and it's also it's his it's almost his closing campaign statement. It's also a playbook to have Fox News back him up, avoid it, whatever, say he didn't mean it. But to say these things that are literal and dangerous and true. And he's carried out similar threats before we've seen it. But also, as you mentioned, Willie, to sort of pepper them with crazy talk about genitalia and other things that distract people, perhaps they'll focus on it or focusing on his swaying and sitting there for 39. I mean, that's disturbing, not as disturbing as saying you'll use the military to go after your political rivals. we get to some new polls from AP and NORC, just one final point about Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney and seeing them up on stage together talking about democracy and talking about the dangers of second Trump administration. I just found it striking as well to see two women of wisdom

and experience from two completely different backgrounds and two completely different points of view being the example, holding up the pillars of freedom together. It was really impressive. And I hope young women everywhere and everyone everywhere takes a look at what they are doing right now in this moment where what is needed is strength to stand up and speak out and not to cower. Real strength. Along with real strength, real compassion and a real love of our Constitution. Along with Joe, Willie and me, we have the host of Way Too Early, White House Bureau Chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire, U.S. Special Correspondent for BBC News, Katty Kay, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and associate editor of the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson, and MSNBC contributor and author of the book, How the Right Lost Its Mind,

Charlie Sykes. Let's get to that new polling that shows the Democratic ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz remains more favorable than their Republican counterparts. The latest AP and ORC poll of registered voters finds 51 percent have a favorable view of the vice president, a five point net positive, and 41 percent have a favorable view of her running mate, a four point net positive. Compare that to 40 percent who have a favorable view of Donald Trump underwater by 18 points and just 33 percent view his running mate, J.D. Vance, favorably down 15 points. The AP poll also looks at the top economic issues and it finds that voters feel Harris, get this, such a dramatic, dramatic shift.

Voters feel Harris is better to handle taxes on the middle class. Harris is better to handle jobs and unemployment, as well as the cost of housing. That is a radical shift. Trump has a slight edge on issues like cost of groceries and tariffs, but those are within the margin of error. I want to go to Charlie Sykes. And Charlie, there are two things to look at here in this AP poll, such a dramatic shift on favorability ratings. Trump upside down 18 points. Harris is actually is actually. Plus, what is she? Plus three, plus four. This is something plus five. This is something just we've talked about on the show. This is something that people watching may not pay as close of attention to. This is highly unusual, not only in American politics, that you have a leader who is plus five in favorability ratings in the middle of the campaign.

This is highly unusual in Western democracies. We have talked about an FT article from last year that just talked about the leaders all across Europe are, you know, in the 30s with favorabilities are wildly upside down. And yet people like Macron still win elections here. This tells a story. And we're going to be talking about Jim Garrity, who had a great column yesterday talking about how Kamala Harris is always underestimated by the right. She's always been underestimated by the left. And she somehow manages to keep winning elections, which reminds me of what Newt Gingrich said after Joe Biden once again shocked Democrats and Democrats, I mean, Republicans, by saying we always underestimate Joe Biden and to our detriment. And now they're doing the same thing with Kamala Harris. Talk about all of this, her favorabilities, those those those numbers on the economy, which the Harris campaign has to be very happy about. They've been seeing it in internal polling for some time. And also the event you went to yesterday in Wisconsin with Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris. You know, let me start right there, because you're absolutely right.

I was sitting on stage with Kamala Harris and Liz Cheney, and I was thinking to myself, don't overlook how remarkable this is, what an extraordinary odd couple this is, but also what a remarkable political moment when you have people from opposite sides of the political spectrum who are joining hands and saying, this is not a normal election. This is not a normal contest between liberal and conservative, Republican and Democrat. Look at this man. Look at what he is doing. And, you know, it really is interesting watching Kamala Harris introducing herself to two voters who I think may have been skeptical. Look, this took place in Brookfield, Wisconsin, which is the beating heart of red Wisconsin.

I mean, in the wow counties. And she really went into the belly of the beast. And I think that one of the things she's been doing since she got into this race is introducing herself. And I think that some of those numbers reflect the fact that the voters just didn't have a clear vision of who she was, uh, what her personality was, uh, you know, they may have seen YouTube clips, but she's made tremendous progress. You know, and I was able to talk to voters afterwards about about their reaction. And she's she it feels as if she is getting she's getting her sea legs in this campaign. And I and more and more confident in in presenting herself. And I have to say, and I can't emphasize too strongly what a bold move it

is for her to be really aggressively pushing this big tent that, you know, it is the closing argument to say that we really are trying to put together a bipartisan coalition. We really are reaching out to people who may have never voted for a Democrat in their lives, who spent their whole life voting for people like Reagan and Ford and Bush and McCain and Romney and Cheney. And they're asking them to vote for Kamala Harris. So that was extraordinary. And I think that you are seeing that she's making some headway in introducing herself to the electorate at the very time when when Donald Trump continues to put on one display of his deplorability after another. Yeah, we'll see more of that in just a moment during his appearances in North Carolina yesterday. Eugene Robinson, you look at that

favorability number, the new one for AP, that matters. If you're on the fence, you step in, you say, which which one of these two do I actually like? Which one do I want to see for the next four years? It's not a policy thing. It's a it's more of a gut thing. But to watch Vice President Harris, she knows she has to turn out her base. But as Charlie says, she's also clearly trying to give a home to voters in the Republican Party independents who just can't bring themselves to push the button for Donald Trump. Liz Cheney is helping in that regard, but trying to expand beyond the base to make sure she wins those three states she was in yesterday, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin. Absolutely. Well, let me go back to the to the Cheney Harris appearance.

You know, I had the same reaction that Mika did. Those were two just amazingly strong and powerful women on that stage. And I just felt really proud of that moment, that they were carrying the banner for our democracy as we know it and doing that so well. Look, those favorability numbers have to be really, really welcome news to the Harris campaign. I'm sure they're very happy about that. At the same time, they at this point of the campaign, they have to have, you know, David Plouffe and the and the and the number crunchers doing all the granular work sort of county by county, making sure that they know who their voters are and who they still want to get and making sure they get out to vote.

But but that that really says a lot. The contrast in favorability is is usually a significant indicator. And if it is this year, then that's very, very welcome news for Vice President Harris. It's also an extraordinary effort by the vice president to try to win over these Republicans. They spent a lot of time and resources there, which on one hand shows just how close the election is, but also the campaign clearly sees an opening. Cady, let's talk about the economic numbers, though. Writ large, that poll suggests Americans still relatively unhappy with how things are going. About 60 odd percent of Americans say they don't feel good about the economy. That said, that is an 11 point improvement, as we can see there from a year ago. So that is

trending in the right direction. And then when we see the individual 11 point improvement, as we can see there from a year ago. So that is trending in the right direction. And then when we see the individual categories, though, as Joe and Mika mentioned at the top, Harris has really made inroads that she's ahead of Trump in a few categories and pulled even in others or narrow, narrow deficits for so many voters, including potentially those disaffected Republicans. The economy is going to be the make or break issue. This seems like it's heading in the right direction here in the campaign's final fortnight for Harris. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting how many polls have asked people both about the economy and about inflation as if kind of separating out those two issues. And when you talk to voters, it's really the inflation numbers that are bothering people the most. I mean, you know, out in somewhere like Nevada, the New York Times has

just done very good research on this and reporting on this, where rent prices have gone up by multiples since COVID and people are really struggling. And the one defining issue in that state for people in the Las Vegas area is rent. And so it's interesting to see there Kamala Harris pulling ahead on rent. This had been a concern for the campaign that if people were that dissatisfied with prices, they would blame the Biden administration. And by extension, they would blame Kamala Harris and she would get pinned with this. But either she's done a good job of separating herself sufficiently from President Biden in the last four years where we've had this inflation or her proposals on things like giving $25,000, as she now repeated a lot, to first-time home buyers.

That's having some impact, too, on people who are looking at housing as their biggest concern. I'd be interested to see how much in the last two weeks, especially with this jobs report that's going to come out just before Election Day and how that might affect the mood of people on the economy, how much she leans into the economy in the last two weeks. Absolutely. We have so much more to get to. Still ahead on Morning Joe, Republican Senator J.D. Vance is attempting to defend Donald Trump's comments about some Democrats being enemies from within. We'll show you his new remarks on that. Plus, there's a new effort to warn voters about the threat of artificial intelligence ahead of the upcoming election. NBC's Ken Delaney and joins us with more on that.

Morning Joe is back in 90 seconds. 22 past the hour. Welcome back. During an interview on Fox News yesterday, Donald Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, was asked about the former president continuing to refer to his Democratic opponents as enemies from within. Take a look at how he defended Trump's remarks. He keeps coming back. He's asked about these enemies within comments. And I've read all of it. I've listened to all of it. It's hard for me to know what he really means about it. But that's not my question. My question is, why is it necessary? Well, Bill, first of all, Donald Trump is unfiltered. I think it's one of the reasons why the campaign has gone well is because he's not doing a basement campaign strategy. He's not just running on slogans. When people ask him questions, he speaks from the heart.

When we had these terrible riots in the summer of 2020, 20 people died, $13 billion in property damage. Why wasn't law enforcement empowered to put down these riots to reimpose law and order on American cities? That's, to me, what President Trump is talking about here. Look, we've obviously got some very important enemies to focus on overseas. But if people are burning down our cities, then, of course, we have to have a police response to that very basic violation of our right of public security. He mentioned Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi by name in this case over the weekend. Yeah, Bill, well, look, I mean, you have Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi who have been really part of weaponizing the Department

of Justice against our country. I think what Donald Trump is saying is, look, we are the strongest country in the world. We've got the best people in the world. But we do have some broken leadership. We have people like Nancy Pelosi who's getting rich off of insider stock trades, even as her own country has gotten poorer, who's obsessed, Nancy Pelosi is obsessed with Donald Trump, not with reimposing policies that are going to deliver peace and prosperity for the American people. And of course, like I said, we do have people on the left, not most people to be clear,

but some people on the left who are encouraging violent responses to what we believe is going to be a Donald Trump victory in a couple of weeks. That's not okay. And I think it's totally reasonable for the president to point out that yes, we've got the strongest country in the world, but we do have some broken leaders in Washington. It's why we're one in this race. So it's OK to use the military against them. Well, this is I hope that was the follow up. I'm absolutely certain it's not. I say there's so much there's so much to sort through here. Start with a question where the host goes, I really I don't know what it means.

He goes, it's hard for me to know what he really is talking about. What do you mean? It's hard. No, no, it's not. Why would he lie to his viewers? It's not hard. Read his quotes where he says he's going to use the military and the National Guard against Democrats. And then you have Glenn Youngkin last week and you have the speaker. Well, he's talking about illegal immigrants. And then he says to Howie Kurtz, no, I'm not. I'm talking about the Democrats. But you're calling them the enemy

within, Howie says. And he goes, yes, because they are the enemy within. And then then he is asked, but you're not going to use the federal government to go after them because, well, that's what they did to me. So, yes. And so he keeps saying Democrats are the enemy within. Nancy Pelosi is the enemy within. Who's the California guy? Adam Schiff. Excuse me. Adam Schiff is the enemy from within. And so and he says people on the left are the enemy from within. So he knows exactly the host, what Donald Trump's talking about. So I'm not sure why he's lying to his. That's how they help ignore the public. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know why he would lie about that because he knows because Donald Trump says this is exactly what I'm saying. And then so revealing that you advance saying, well, Donald Trump's unfiltered.

He speaks from the heart. Thank you. Thank you. That is an admission against interest, as lawyers would say in the courtroom. That is an admission against interest. When you say, well, people love Donald Trump because he's unfiltered and he speaks from the heart. So when he tells you he's going to use the military against his political opponents, J.D. Vance just told America this guy means it. Yeah. And isn't that what we hear from so many people for so many years now? Oh, he's unfiltered. You can't believe everything he says. He's just riffing up there. It's jazz. But if he says something over and over and over again and has a track record of proving, see January 6th, that he's not afraid to use the power

for ill, then you've got to listen and believe him. And poor J.D. Vance, who obviously, again, is the beta in this relationship and has to say what he has to say to get through the interview and to protect his guy. He's making excuses. He's deflecting. He's talking suddenly about Nancy Pelosi trading stocks and benefiting. says there are enemies of the people inside the Democratic Party on the left and that he will use the National Guard or the military, as he has now said repeatedly, to go after him. Believe him when he says it. Believe him when he says it. Let's bring in MSNBC contributor, our good friend, Mike Barnacle. Mike, we can talk about the Yankees and Dodgers in just a minute and kind of smooth things out a little bit. But let's talk about what we've been seeing today. You can talk about J.D. Vance if you want to. But what did you make of the barnstorming tour across Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan of Vice President Harris

alongside former Congresswoman Liz Cheney? You know, that was striking, really. Actually, I was watching the segment earlier with Liz Cheney and Kamala Harris on the stage. And Liz Cheney said something that I think more people, more voters should reflect upon. That she and her husband were thinking of their five children when it came to Donald Trump. And they were thinking of the peaceful transition to power. And when you think and slide back into now what you were just talking about, you know, the vice presidential candidate protecting the presidential candidate in the Republican side of the ticket, protecting them from what? For protecting him from being himself. times, again, speaking to multiple groups, again, doing phony McDonald's sales and everything like that, which was a genius move in terms of, you know, political theater. But he couldn't get a job at McDonald's if he were an average citizen because he has a felony record. He couldn't get

a job as a school teacher, as a felon. He couldn't get a job as any major corporation in America. He'd be disqualified from being the CEO because he's a convicted felon. And also a federal judge in New York called him an adjudicated rapist. So where I am mentally is I'm wondering about the country and I'm wondering about why more voters don't reflect Liz Cheney when they go to the polls and think about their children and grandchildren and what kind of a country we're going to hand off to future voters. This is what we're confronted with. A man who is a convicted felon, a recidivist in terms of being a liar, lies all day long, and he might win. It's incredible to me. Incredible.

You know, Caddy K, it's Willie was talking about the situation that J.D. Vance is in. I mean, if you actually, though, listen to things that J.D. Vance has said before being on the ticket, they're even more radical talking about how conservatives, how Republicans need to be far more ruthless in the application of power. But but look, look at J.D. Vance over the past several weeks. First, the press is asking him a very simple question. Joe Biden win in 2020. And he starts by going, how many, you know, kind of tap dancing around. And then they ask him again at the next time he goes, well, blah, blah, blah, Facebook, blah, blah, blah, Hunter Biden's laptop. And then finally, he breaks down weeks later. Did Joe Biden win the election? No. Right. So here we have, again, this march to election denialism right out in the open.

And now we have it again. Why is Donald Trump? Why is Donald Trump going out there saying that he's going to use the military against his political opponents? And his answer is Nancy Pelosi's taxes. Right. We know that we're going to get to where at the end he's he's going to say because they deserve it, because they deserve military tribunals. As Donald Trump has said, Liz Ch going to use the military against the, quote, enemy within, against his political opponents? And J.D. Vance says, let me quote here, because he's unfiltered, he speaks from the heart. The authoritarian means what the authoritarian says. Yeah. In the debates with Tim Walz,

J.D. Vance kind of used this sort of almost like magic trip form of words. He has a facility with kind of saying something that sounds like it makes sense, but doesn't actually correlate with what he has said in the past or necessarily believes. And I think he's now got to the very end of the campaign and the road has run out and he's having to put himself very firmly in positions, whether because Donald Trump has said to him, listen, you've got to come out on the election or you've got to come out and back me up on enemies within and how they are going to be treated or whether because that is what J.D. Vance believes. It's hard to know with that with the senator because his positions have changed over the years. But he has found himself in this position at the end of the campaign. And I think that is where the Trump campaign is closing. They are closing hard on this message of we had it a week ago.

It was closing hard on migrants. Now it is closing hard on enemies within and how they are going to be treated. And we'll see what the next two weeks give out. But either they feel this is how they reach the base that seems to be largely male that they are bringing into their tent at the moment, or they want to send some kind of signal. I don't know quite who they think they're winning over like this because it feels to me like a very base play that doesn't persuade anybody

that is there left to persuade. I just it's a strange play. The immigration play was dark and and there were and lots of it was lies. But you could kind of understand where the campaign was going just from a strategy point of view. I guess this is just what Donald Trump believes and he wants to say it. Yeah. Charlie Sykes to Katty's point. That's what people in the Trump campaign have said. It's all base plays right now. Nothing persuadable. They do feel like they've made some inroads with men, particularly young men, and their sort of tech bro alliances, Elon Musk among them, is being helpful. But a lot of this is also just what

Donald Trump wants to talk about. And to his aides' frustration, who want him to stay focused on immigration, as dark and as fact-challenged as that may be, they want him there. They want him on the economy. But he's consumed with the enemy within, and he's still consumed with the 2020 election. And I thought that was interesting. In a moment of candor yesterday, he acknowledged he has not yet seen any evidence of voter fraud this time around. But Charlie, I think we can all rest assured he's going to change his tune in the days ahead. Oh, yeah. To to to that point, you know, in a in a minute, there is no way that Donald Trump is ever going to concede that he was defeated in this election.

There will be no gracious acknowledgement of the results. No lie will be too outrageous or too extreme for him to push. I think that we know that. But yeah, what you're seeing, though, is this unfiltered Donald Trump, which is very interesting because this is Donald Trump. This is the id, not the disciplined Donald Trump. And, you know, normally in a political campaign, including his 2016 campaign, you know, candidates try to clean up their act in the final weeks of the campaign. They try to present their best self, their most plausible presidential self. Donald Trump is not doing that, whether he's exhausted or he just doesn't care or whether or not he's just in this sort of, you know, Trumpian bubble where he feels the need to to double down. But it is an extraordinary closing argument. One of the things that he did over the last couple of days was to base to to argue that he was a better president than George Washington. He was a better president than Abraham Lincoln. This is a guy who is kind of out there. And again, this goes back to what someone like Liz Cheney is saying is like people conservatism is not about being a cult of personality.

It is not about this blind loyalty. It is actually need you need to be reality based. And the reality is this convicted felon would not be considered for any office of trust in this country. And are we seriously going to elect him as president? And one of the, I had a chance to talk with her, but with on stage and afterwards, after the event, and one of the questions from the audience was a former teacher who just talked about how exhausted he was by the toxicity of all of this. And the need to create role models, you know, the image that the president gives to young people, but also what kind of a role model America will be as a shining city on a hill if two weeks from

today we elect him as president of the United States and how that will look to the rest of the world that looks to us. Charlie Sykes, thank you very much. We appreciate it, Charlie. And coming up, NBC's Janice Mackey-Frayer joins us with a look at each presidential candidate's stance on issues relating to China and who the Chinese government might prefer to see in the White House. Morning Joe will be right back. Now, hey, I know I'm old as I get it. America, I'm tired. I'm slowing down. Reality is I can't step down and let who Kamala run.

Have you seen her as Veep? Get out of here. My priorities in twenty twenty four. Number one is I'm not the guy who sent a violent clown brigade to kill Nancy Pelosi. So all I can say is a vote for me is a vote for four more years of holding fascism at bay or as long as this ticker keeps pumping a minimal amount of blood for consciousness. And if you can't tell this is an AI-generated voice, then lots of luck in your senior year. Oh, boy, that was The Daily Show actually providing a bit of a service, having some fun with AI voice generation. It's pretty clear in that instance.

The video is not a real ad from President Joe Biden, but deepfake technology is making it tougher to discern satire from disinformation. Joining us now, NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Delaney. And Ken, how big of a risk do deepfakes pose in the upcoming election, especially in the final days? And is anything can anything be done to combat the problem? Hey, good morning, Mika. Good morning, guys. Yeah, that's right. Officials are increasingly concerned about the use of deep fakes as the election

approaches, particularly to fool people about the time and place of voting, where and when they can vote. There's a new public service ad out today that tries to raise awareness about that problem. Take a look. It's a nightmare scenario for election security officials, and it's already happened once. It's important that you save your vote for the November election. That was an artificial intelligence-generated

deepfake of President Biden's voice. Sent to 50,000 Democratic voters before New Hampshire's primary in January, the political consultant behind it charged with felonies. Experts fear more of that is coming, and they say the best antidote is public awareness. This election, bad actors are going to use AI to trick you into not voting.

NBC News got an exclusive early look at a new public service ad out today, featuring a group of celebrities designed to highlight the threat of deepfake attempts at voter suppression. Don't use fake phone calls, videos or messages to try to change when, how or where you vote. The bogus warning could appear to be coming from a trusted source. A fake message saying voting has been extended or your polling location has closed or changed due to an emergency.

Don't fall for it. The ad features actors and television personalities, including Rosario Dawson, Chris Rock, Laura Dern, Michael Douglas, Amy Schumer, and Jonathan Scott. Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor is part of Represent Us, the nonpartisan group that produced the ad, which is airing on YouTube. JOSHUA GRAM LYNN, CEO, Deepfake, What we can do is make people aware that this is the new spam that tries to deceive them and to make sure that they don't fall for that deception. JOHN YANG, CEO, Deepfake, Joshua Gram Lynn is the group's CEO. JOSHUA GRAM LYNN, CEO, Deepfake, It's almost impossible to tell what's a deepfake and what's

not when you're flicking through your phone on a busy night. Just changing a few votes in one district could tip the whole election. JOHN YANG, CEO, Deepfake, The ad seeking to show viewers just how easy it is to produce flicking through your phone on a busy night. Just changing a few votes in one district could tip the whole election. The ad seeking to show viewers just how easy it is to produce convincing fake video. Voting is your right. Don't let anyone take it from you. I love you, Amy. I'm so sorry.

I'm not even American. Experts are urging Americans to get information about voting only from official sources. And they say if something seems off, it probably is. So sorry. You know, this is a nightmare scenario for election officials that something like this happens right on election day. And it's not really clear who within the government is going to call it out. But this ad is an attempt to inoculate the public, raise awareness, get them to see the ways in which people will try

to influence them falsely. Willie? And experts say the best defense is common sense. If something sounds strange, off, check it out, look into it before you take it to the bank or share it with other people. NBC's Ken Delaney and fascinating look at the deep fakes. Ken, thanks so much. America's relationship with China will be a challenge for whoever is the next American president. Joining us now live from Beijing, NBC News correspondent Janice Mackey-Frayer. Janice recently discussed next month's U.S. presidential election with a university professor in China who advises the government there. Janice, what did you learn? Well, we know this is the one foreign policy issue that Democrats and Republicans can agree on,

is that China poses this threat to the United States and everything from technology and trade to fentanyl and geopolitical clout. And while the threat is a perennial campaign point, we looked at recent speeches and rallies that show that the Harris and Trump campaigns are both now ramping up their discussion on China. Kamala Harris has criticized Trump for selling out to China and giving up American jobs, especially in the auto sector, while Donald Trump has said that if he returns to the White House, China wouldn't dare provoke him because Xi Jinping knows he is, quote, crazy. For China, there's actually little difference between the two candidates when it comes to the policies that shape and affect U.S.-China relations, being as afraid as they are. Beijing is never going to admit to having a favorite candidate because they don't want to be accused of interference.

But the leadership here does traditionally prefer the incumbent party to ensure what they call policy continuity. I spoke with Jia Qingguo of Peking University. He's an advisor to China's government. Here's what he's saying about China preferring Harris. We can work with each other, but with Trump there is a lot of uncertainties. And also his previous behavior of performance gave us a lot of warnings about what's going to happen in a negative way. But we already have four years of experience with Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is a very unique character. You know, he's not a normal politician. He's not even a normal businessman.

He's highly unpredictable, and can be very emotional. And also, he may take measures that would create huge problems between China and the U.S. Chinese social media actually gives a different view. Trump supporters are dominant there, mainly because they're less concerned with his policies than his style and the fact that tariffs and his past tendency to alienate regional allies may work to lower America's standing and generally work in China's favor. And there's actually a joke that his name translates loosely as Trump builds the nation, the nation being China, that a second Trump presidency would make China great again. And that's not necessarily the thinking of the political establishment here who

prefer the continuity that could come with the Harris administration, even if that continuity is not the direction that China always wants it to go. So it's not so much wanting the lesser of two evils, per se, but preferring the more predictable option for Beijing in order to craft its playbook. Mika. NBC's Janice Mackey-Frayer, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Gene, it is obviously hard to tell as you sort through everything where autocrats in China or autocrats in Russia want to go. I actually think we do know that, you know, Vladimir Putin obviously wants Donald Trump, even though he has said in the past Kamala Harris. But one thing's for sure. And you know this because you're London bureau chief for some time. Our our closest allies, whether they be in Britain or France or Germany or across Poland, all across Europe,

very concerned about the possibility of a second Trump term, very concerned that he would weaken NATO, that he would strengthen Russia, that he would destroy trade. I mean, it's the consequences for Europe, obviously grave if Donald Trump is elected again. And that would, of course, blow back on United States consumers, wouldn't it? Absolutely. I would say the concern overseas goes beyond very concerned to freaked out. a horrible alternative, a horrible development for our allies if Donald Trump is elected president again, because he is an unreliable ally. He has proven that in his four years. And it is, this is such a moment in the world. I mean, Trump keeps nattering on about how World War Three is coming. And while that is absurd, we do have these raging conflicts going on in the Middle East,

in Ukraine, potentially in the South China Sea. And this is a moment when more than ever, the free nations of the world need confident, competent U.S. leadership because the United States is the only country that can lead in that way. And with Donald Trump, the one guarantee is that we would not get such leadership. The world would not get such leadership. And that is just incredibly dangerous. It would be dangerous at any time. It's particularly dangerous right now. Yeah, obviously what happens at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue matters more than with any other capital

in the world. And it's why the world is so fascinated by this election. There are literally hundreds of journalists coming over from the UK to cover the next two weeks of this campaign. When I was back there touring around the UK, the level of interest in the election was very high. And it was particularly around things like Ukraine, whether Donald Trump will pull out of NATO, which we don't know, whether he would undermine Article 5 of NATO, whether there would be tariffs again on America's allies that would hurt trade relations between the two countries. People are fairly specific. And I think you have to divide it up a little bit. There are countries in Asia, and I'm sure Janice knows this well from her conversations,

where they're making more accommodations. There are some countries in Asia, India, for example, that may even welcome a Trump presidency. There's that kind of transactional bond between Narendra Modi and Donald Trump. But certainly when it comes to America's oldest allies, and particularly with the war in Ukraine, there is an enormous amount of concern. I had a conversation recently with a European diplomat. I said, OK, name me one good thing that would happen if Donald Trump is reelected. And there was a kind of pause and then a kind of embarrassed laugh. And he couldn't really think of anything.

All right, Katty, thank you. And still ahead on Morning Joe, we'll continue to debunk a major focus for the Trump campaign. And that is gender affirming care for prisoners. It has spent millions of dollars on political ads that are based on a lie. That's straight ahead on Morning Joe.