Preorder it on this website, sirescallbook. Com, or by scanning the qr code on your screen. I will also be doing a special event with a very brilliant writer i admire, and that event will only be available for folks who preorder the book here in the u. S. It will be a great conversation and i would love for you to join. Also, i will admit, because i work in the attention business, you will be hearing a lot more about this book in the months to come. I promise. That is all in on this thursday night. Alex wagner tonight starts right now. Good evening, alex. I mean, you wrote a book. [ laughter ] listen, i am writing a book, too. I am not done with my book, and i am preselling qr codes with the preorder thing, and your book is going to be in every airport bookstore, on the best seller wall, and it is so awesome, and i know i'm going to read it and just feel so defeated. No, no, no, no! you got it. Run through the tape. I'm cheering you on in whatever milestone. It sounds amazing and so brilliant and i can't wait to read it. Congratulations in advance. I'm preordering. Thank you. All right, thank you for joining me this evening and happy election day to all to celebrate. I know, november 5th is still 54 days away, but today, voters started casting the first ballots of the 2024 election. Yesterday, absentee ballots went out in the state of alabama, and today we are seeing local news reports that people are already turning those ballots in. So, we are off to the races, people. Next week, wisconsin starts mailing out its absentee ballots and pennsylvania, minnesota, south dakota, and virginia all start in prison early voting. Slowly but surely, the rest of the states will follow, and what that means for this race, is that the window to change voters' minds is closing. Today, donald trump announced that he will not have a second debate with vice president kamala harris. As everyone saw two nights ago, we had a monumental victory over comrade kamala harris in the presidential debate. Harris, though, said that she and trump owe it to the voters to have another debate. Now, trump is explaining why he doesn't want another debate by saying, when a prizefighter loses a fight, the first words out of his mouth are, i want a rematch and trump claims that polls clearly show that i won the debate. For the record, though, one nationally post debate poll we have tells a very different story. According to morton consult before the debate, harris was really leading nationally by three points, within the margin of error. On the day of they debate, harris' lead widened to four points, and after the debate, harris' lead widened to five points. But, yes, donald trump says he doesn't need a debate because of how clearly he won the first and second ones. We have done two debates, and because they were successful, there will be no third debate. [ cheers and applause ] it's too late, anyway. The voting has already begun. And on at least one of those points, trump is right. The voting has already begun. It is about to begin in some of the states that will decide the election, like pennsylvania, which again, starts its early voting next week. So, without any more debates on the horizon, the question for the harris campaign is, how do you reach those voters before as trump put it it is too late? well, one way is for ads. Today, the harris campaign announced in the 24 hours after the debate, harris had her best fundraising day since the launch of her campaign. The campaign says it raised $47 million in 24 hours. That could help bolster the $370 million that the harris campaign has already committed in tv and digital ad buys that are going to be running from labor day until election day. Those ads will keep the memory of harris' victory on a debate stage very much alive. The harris campaign today announced it is going to release a series of ads highlighting footage from that debate, to get harris' performance in front of as many voters as possible. Here is the latest one of those ads, which the campaign released a few hours ago. I want to turn to the issue of abortion. For 52 years, they have trying to get roe v wade into the states. I did a great service in doing it. It took courage to do it, and the supreme court had great courage in doing it. I have talked with women around our country. You want to talk about, this is what people wanted? pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term, suffering from a miscarriage, being denied care in an emergency room, because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she is bleeding out in a car in the parking lot? she didn't want that, her husband didn't want that. It 12 or 13yearold survivor of incest being forced to carry a pregnancy to term? they don't want that! i think the american people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, should not be made by the government. I am kamala harris and i approve this message. Beyond the ads, the harris campaign is planning to meet swing state voters by doubling down on retail politics. Today, harris' running mate, tim walz, was in michigan. Second gentleman doug emhoff did events in alabama and arizona, and vice president harris herself had two rallies in north carolina. I know, you might be thinking, north carolina? democrats have not won north carolina in a presidential election since barack obama in 2008, and they hadn't won it before then since jimmy carter in 1976. But, the harris campaign is making a big bet that north carolina is in play this year. According to quinnipiac polling in this week, harris is needing trumped by north carolina by three points, that is within the margin of error, but still, three points, north carolina! an official with the harris campaign told nbc news that the harris campaign has set up 26 field offices across north carolina, and that since harris became the nominee, more than 20,000 north carolinians have signed up to volunteer for the campaign. So, again, i know we are 54 days out from november 5th, but the first ballots of the 2024 election were cast today. This is a marathon, but it is also a sprint. It's time to turn the page. [ cheers and applause ] we are ready for a new generation of leadership [ cheers and applause ] that is optimistic optimistic about what we can do for our country, together. I will always put country above party, from the courthouse, to the white house, i have always fought for the people. Always fought for the people. North carolina, we have 54 days until election day. 54 days! and with your help, we will win! we will win. Joining me now is michael tyler, the communications director for the harriswalz campaign. Thank you for joining me. I know it is very, very busy and i appreciate your time in advance. Let me first just ask about the second debate with donald trump, for vice president harris, what donald trump is calling the third debate. Are you surprised that it is a firm no from the trump campaign, given that trump himself acknowledges that the loser often wants a rematch? and do you think it is a firm no? well, thank you so much for having me this evening. I'm not quite certain it is a firm no. Donald trump also said for the first debate with the vice president, that he was happy with unmuted microphones, but his team overruled him, so we will see if that happens again. At the vice president has made her position clear, she thinks that the american people deserve to see, once again, what they saw on the debate stage on tuesday night, which is a very clear choice in this election. If so, whether or not that happens, whether trump ultimately agrees to do so, we are going to make sure, as you were discussion, that from now until the election, we bring that same split screen to the voters where they are, on the ground, and on the airwaves. We are going to make sure every day between now and november 5th, we understand the very clear choice in this election between the vice president, who is fighting for them, who is going to stand up to provide an economy where people have the opportunity to actually get ahead instead of just get by, she is going to contrast that with donald trump's disastrous economic policy. On the issue of abortion we were talking about, we are going to run that ad, to make sure they understand that donald trump is the one responsible for the horror playing out in terms of states with trump abortion bans in this country, and she is the leader who can get us out of this mess and restore roe, she is going to make sure on every single issue, the american people fundamentally understand the choice in this election. I want to go back to a lot of that, but just because you opened the door to maybe this not being a firm no on a second debate with trump, are you still negotiating with the trump campaign on the terms of a debate, or have those negotiations ended? no, listen, we are open to having conversations about a second debate in october. We think the american people deserve to see that. We had a very clear choice on the stage on tuesday night, and we think that if donald trump is willing to do so, that they should have another opportunity to do that. We are entertaining offers, we are having those conversations, we very much look forward to debating donald trump again in the month of october. We believe the american people deserve to see that before everybody has the opportunity to cast their ballots on november 5th. Michael, you bring up the abortion add that we just played on the air, and i wonder if you could talk a little bit about how the campaign is seeing that issue, in terms of driving turnout? and also, what you have been hearing from constituents about the things donald trump said on that stage on tuesday night? yeah, i think what a lot of voters heard donald trump say is what he has been saying out at the maga rallies for months now, but he hasn't necessarily said it in front of a mainstream audience, this is a guy who probably takes credit for the role that he played in overturning roe v wade, appointing the majority of the justices that overturned roe with the dobbs decision, somebody who takes credit for these trump abortion bans that are playing out in over 20 states across the country. The impact that is having beyond just abortion, right, the threat that we have now to fertility treatment in states like alabama, which you mentioned early voting is starting today. What they saw on the other side was the vice president, who made very, very clear, a, who was responsible in donald trump, but b, how we get out of this, electing her and making sure we restore roe so that women can make their own choices about their bodies moving forward. This is a fundamental issue of freedom in america. So, what we are hearing and what we are seeing from voters across the country is that this is not a partisan issue, this is regardless of ideology, you see women across the country understanding this is a fundamental freedom. Our dials that we were running during the debate, this is one of the most powerful moments among undecided voters in swing states. So, this will continue to be a resident issue with voters and we want to make sure what they saw, that they continue to see the exchange that took place on the debate stage on tuesday. I'm sure you are! let me ask you, two events in north carolina, some people are scratching their heads, and i am sure there are some democrats worried about an ambitious map. What you say about people who are a little weary of going beyond the blue wall states, and the strategy behind having not one, but two events featuring the vice president today in north carolina? no, listen, we have been very clear about our path to victory in the beginning of this campaign. Including the blue wall states, michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, but also the sunbelt states come out west, nevada and arizona, and out we east, georgia and north carolina. And i think that is why the vice president travel coming off of this debate is reflective of that. She is in charlotte, greenville today, she's going to pennsylvania, johnstown, wilkes barre, and we are making sure that when we go to these battleground states, we are making sure that we touch every single part of the state, right? tomorrow, we are not simply spending time in philadelphia and pittsburgh, which we travel too often and will continue to do so, but we are making sure that we are tapping into other parts of the state that democrats haven't traditionally campaigned in, the same thing with georgia and the bus tour. We are proud this is the first democratic campaign in 38 years since bill clinton to campaign in southeast georgia. We are going to do more of that tomorrow, we will keep doing it in the weeks to come because this is a margin of error race. That was the case before the debate and that will be the case after the debate. For us, margin of error really comes down to margin of effort. Are you going to see vice president harris, governor walz, this campaign apparatus kick into high gear to make sure that we communicate with every single other that will communicate the pathway to 270 electoral votes and that is across all of our battleground states. Margin of error being turned into margin of effort. Okay, michael tyler, communication director for the harriswalz campaign, thank you so much for your time, sir, appreciate it. Thanks for having me. We have a lot more coming up tonight, including the one issue that could decide the election according to the new york times pulling expert. Stay tuned to find out what it is. Plus, how kamala harris can the fight and win that battle of inches that will be fought over the next 54 days. We will get thoughts from two democratic strategists, coming up next. Up next. and i'm keeping the weight off. Wegovy helps you lose weight and keep it off. I'm reducing my risk. 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