Jobs. There is very little out there about what she will unveil, specifically today. And so were going to have to wait and see what she says when she takes the stage, which is just a few minutes from now. Dont go anywhere. Heres what shes already announced, broadly speaking. Theres a Child Tax Credit, a corporate tax hike, an elimination of federal taxes on tips. Incentives for housing, incentives for building, money to start new businesses, and fines for Price Gouging along with an elimination of some medical debt. All of this, along with her performance at the debate have brought her closer, yes, closer to Donald Trumps polling on the economy. In fact, the financial times found that those who watched the debate said she would do better on the economy than trump. Thats one poll. Theres a new Fox News Poll that shows her within five points of the former president on the economy, a lot better than the 15point Deficit President biden had against trump back in march. So what does Vp Kamala Harris really need to say today . And who specifically does she really need to talk to . Joining us now, Nbc News white House Correspondent Mike Memoli. Why have we so little detail, mike, On What shes going to say . For the last economic speech, we got detail. Usually a policy briefing, background briefing, heres where this came from, here are the details. Were not seeing that. The Way they have gone about previewing the speech, its less about the specific details, but the values that inspire what she wants to talk about. This is about her not necessarily being wedded to any particular ideology, theyre trying to use what we saw in our nbc poll this weekend, becoming an advantage for her, she is the change candidate, taking a lead over Donald Trump on that score. Also the generic democrat beats Donald Trump, and if we dont get too specific, people are going to like you. I have heard from voters directly, undecided, genuinely undecided voters who say that they want to hear from her, a specific policy that they believe is going to help them. So im confused about why no specifics so far . Maybe she will give us more specifics in the address, and they do want to frame it, though, as her being pragmatic and focusing on manufacturing, a big issue in Western Pennsylvania. And we saw President Biden doing this before he dropped out of the race, when he gave a big speech in scranton to talk about the backgrounds of the two candidates. Everything ultimately comes down to a choice. Shes going to talk about her Middle Class upbringing, talking about putting before the voters, which side are you fighting for. Shell say Donald Trump is fighting for billionaires and she is inspired in her Policy Outlook by her upbringing, her mothers story. Shes supposed to talk at 3 15. Shes generally like past President S on time. So were going to keep our eyes on that. Dont go anywhere. Were going to bring in former Chief Spokesperson for Vice President harris, and cohost of msnbcs the weekend, Symone Sanderstownsend, national Affairs Correspondent for the nation, john nichols, former senior Policy Adviser at the white house, and senior director of economic policy brendon duke, and also with me is democratic strategist, and Chief Of Staff for senator fetterman, adam , what does she need to say for those on the fence to go out and vote for her . I think what you said on the top, its just right. She needs to communicate the values that she represents, that she is bringing to the policy debate. Shes talking about cutting taxes for 100 Million americans, continuing the start up Boom we have seen under the biden harris administration, and then this new manufacturing idea. I think the key thing, the contrast with trump is talking about manufacturing, and a Sales Tax on Working Families with the giant tariffs, whereas Vice President harris is pitching raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to pay for investments, which is a hugely important contrast. Simone, what do you think . I think that and the Way i have talked to a bunch of my former colleagues and the folks that work for the Harris Walz campaign now, and they have echoed what Mike Memoli said. Were going to break this down in buckets that people care about and what is accessible to them. I talk to folks, shes going to reiterate about groceries, look, shes going to say and make the case about lowering rent for folks, lowering Prescription Drugs, lowering the cost of groceries. Shes going to speak in a Way that, you know, voters can understand so they know that she not only has a plan, but she understands their plight, and frankly, as i have been traveling around, talking to voters, we have a special coming out on sunday on msnbc at 9 00 p. M. every single conversation we have had with black women voters, whether they be senior black women, millennial black women, gen z, the economy comes up. They talk about how the cost of living is high, they refer to it as how rent is expensive. One woman talked about how she just got her masters. Out of the 20 people in the class, five got a job. Its very expensive. This is something, frankly, that does speak to voters. I have heard that people want to hear policies. When folks say, i dont know Vice President harris, what they are really saying is i dont know what her values are. I dont know much about her specifically. I want to know what shes going to do for us, fight for us. And a speech like this, in a forum, could be just what the voters are looking for. How about in Western Pennsylvania, specifically. Outside of pittsburgh. Adam, you know the area well. You were Chief Of Staff for John Fetterman who spoke to the communities in a Way that other people coming out of the state had not done so. Do they want to hear a Life Story and a message of i know how to fight for you or do they want to hear specifics, not just a Child Tax Credit but like, you know, heres how im going to get your she said housing costs, but are there other things out there she hasnt addressed, not Child Tax Credits, not housing costs, Grocery Prices, that she can convince those in Western Pennsylvania to come out and vote for her . Yeah, you know, i think its a mix. I think theres specifics that people want to see. Housing costs are an issue in Western Pennsylvania, just like they are issued in many parts of the country, cost of food, cost of Child Care, you know, those are pretty universal problems, and big problems in Western Pennsylvania. The Harris Walz campaign has been doing a good job in spending a lot of time and paying attention to Western Pennsylvania. A big part of how democrats win in pennsylvania is not just to drive up turnout in Philadelphia And Pittsburgh but also to keep trumps margins down in rural areas like Erie County in Western Pennsylvania, so theyre doing a good job of that. To simones point, people are looking for values, voters are a little bit funny sometimes, you know, every poll shows voters saying they hate negative advertising, but when you do negative ads, they work quite well. I think theres a similar dynamic here, and voters say they want specifics but what they want is to get to know her and get to know her thinking. Her repeated emphasis that shes not going to be bound by specific ideology, but driven by practicality, and what works best to deliver for Middle Class families is an important part of showing voters who she is, and what kind of decisions she will make as president. John, when we talk about contrasting with Donald Trump, theres a couple of things that i think are worth noting when it comes to Donald Trumps economic policies, just some things he promised in the past, promises that were not kept. There was the carrier, Heating And Cooling plant, back in 2015, 2016. He went after them so hard saying you cant move your plant out of the united states. Carrier didnt move it out of the united states. It was in indianapolis, for a couple of years after Donald Trump took office, but then, i believe in 2018 cut 500 jobs and moved them to mexico. There was a 10 Billion Hightech Campus being built by Fox Con in your Home State of wisconsin. Back then trump called the project by the taiwanese company, the eighth wonder of the world, but the plans for the factory never materialized. The jobs didnt materialize. You know, Thats Kind of an open wound in wisconsin. Theres some other things as well. Do voters remember that stuff . Are they holding Donald Trump accountable for that stuff . They will Kamala Harris talks about it. Memory and politics is pretty short. Things move fast and people get hit with so much that theyre often influenced by the narrative of the campaign theyre in, rather than long memories of the things from three, four, five years ago. For harris, its critical to talk about these things, to make the contrast, to say that Donald Trump promised you this and he let you down in lordstown, ohio. He let you down in racine, wisconsin, he let you down in indianapolis. This is something that Shawn Fain, head of the United Auto Workers has done a lot, and he makes it a critical part of his speeches and his message. I think theres another thing about this speech, however, i think this is the speech where you will hear Kamala Harris deliver a much more populist message. I think at the heart of this speech, and ive seen, you know, some little bits and pieces, same as everybody else, at the heart of the speech will be a contrast between Donald Trump as the highrise billionaire, and Kamala Harris as the daughter of the Cancer Researcher who had to struggle to buy a house, and also a reference to the difference between Donald Trump sitting in the suite, high up in the highrise and the people who wire the building, the people who do the Work Mopping the floors. I think youre going to hear much more of a message that identifies with specific workers, perhaps even with their unions. And that is a very smart and necessary thing for Kamala Harris. Its the wait to really connect with folks is to start to mention actual jobs, not just actual places, but actual jobs that people do. Yeah, are there Union Workers that are still convincible . Theres, you know, a lot of leadership, and quite a few that vote Kamala Harris already, vote for democrats, but there are quite a number of Union Workers that like Donald Trump. Can they be convinced by a speech Kamala Harris makes here in pittsburgh today, john . They cant be convinced by one speech. They can be convinced by many speeches delivered over a series of weeks. They can be convince Bid Advertising that backs that message up, and frankly, they can be convinced by the unions themselves. One of the most important things is internal education within a union, where the union, you know, puts out paperwork, where local, you know, President S and treasurers work the floor of a Manufacturing Plant. Come up to workers and say, hey, lets talk about this race. What are you concerned about . I can tell you a quick story of a current senator, Sherrod Brown in ohio. Sherrod brown often goes to the lunch rooms of Manufacturing Plants, sits at the table with the workers and lets the workers go around the table and tell them what they are upset about, often what theyre upset with democrats about, and then brown starts to talk to them. He listens and then talks. That connection is how you move voters, and yes, you can absolutely move Union Members who may be leaning toward trump toward a vote for Kamala Harris. Simone, you mentioned a moment ago that you spoke with a number of black women. I want to play a little bit of sound from the suburbs of pennsylvania, some of the conversations you were having with those voters about the economy. What do the young black women think . I dont want to speak for everyone, but i do think our generation, its hard to focus On Whats going to happen 40, 50 years from now, and all our generation sees Student Loans issues getting jobs, things like that, where obviously that ebbs and flows over time, no matter whos in the white house. But its just hard to, i feel like, get our generation to see the longterm effects of not being or using your political voice through voting or getting out there and just spreading whatever word you feel is best, that you believe in. Theres a growing sense of nihilism from our generation that essentially feels frustrated because we see the seasonal as broken. A lot of us are in a moment, like alexis said, getting crushed by Student Loans. Inflation is ridiculous at the moment. A lot of my classmates, i just got my masters. A lot of classmates are looking for jobs. Only four of us out of 20 got jobs. First off, i have never done a Voter Panel where i was served champagne, kudos to you on that. Do you see the black vote as being an issue for Kamala Harris . Not black women, but black men . Look, i think democrats would be remiss if they assumed black women, black vote, voters of Color Or Base voters Writ Large are going to vote for democrats in this election. That conversation happened in blue bell, pennsylvania, Montgomery County, a key suburb in the Swing State of pennsylvania. Democrats netted 40,000 more votes in Montgomery County from 2016 to 2020, and that made the difference in Joe Biden winning in 2020 against trump, and its going to make a difference for Kamala Harris, i believe, in the state as well. What we have heard from black voters Writ Large is the fact that they care about the issues, since the switches they have referred to the top of the ticket, they want to hear more from Kamala Harris about who she is, and what is she going to do. We spoke to a number of young voters, millennial voters who say they dont know if theyre going to vote. And Melissa Murray and i asked, does this mean youre considering voting for Donald Trump. If we do vote, it would be for Kamala Harris. We dont know right now if were going to cast a ballot for her. There were voters who said enthusiastically they are going to vote. One woman said she would vote for a Celery Stick over Donald Trump. These next weeks are going to be critical, a speech like this, yes, it is happening in Western Pennsylvania and the pittsburgh area, it is going to speak to a large swath of voters. Traditionally swing voters we think of. White moderate republican voters, but its going to speak to black voters, and base democratic voters who Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are going to need to come out to support them, and frankly, i think the Vice President gets that. The stuff i was getting from the campaign asked if they want to send out to the press, the Media Apparatus folks, they had highlights about their communities of color and black voters specifically. You can learn a lot about what they give you, and what they focus on. Brendan, let me ask you about another issue. This is the gap between progressives and more moderates, and maybe even moderate republicans that Kamala Harris is trying to convince. Is there a Way to bridge that gap . Is there a proposal economically that she can put forth that will make progressives feel good but will also make, you know, moderate independents feel good about voting for her . I dont think its a single proposal, what shes putting together takes from the progressive side and takes from the more moderate side. Shes talking about a deduction for startups, the Child Tax Credit, and talking about universal prek and paid leave. I think the Manufacturing Credit shes going to roll out, which we have read about in the press, that could do a big job there in that its about competing in the 21st century, which i think brings together moderates who care about businesses, succeeding, doing well in competition withmanufacturing, and that Tax Credit could do the job of bringing together the moderate and progressive sides of the party. What about this proposal of Donald Trump, if you were going to build something in mexico, and try to sell it here in the united states, hes going to levee a 200 tariff on the product . Well, look, Donald Trump doesnt understand tariffs, and laurie wallock, the great longterm expert on the issues and a brilliant activist for many many years has made that point again and again and again. Trump talks about tariffs, but its clear that he struggles with understanding how they work. I think he also, remember, coming out of a background as a developer, not as a manufacturer, has very little understanding of how manufacturing works, whether its good or bad, one of the realities of manufacturing in the united states is that many pieces and parts come from mexico. And so when you put a car together, again, whether you like this or not, this is one of the complexities of where manufacturing is at, that car may well have many many pieces for mexico. How do you do that . How do you put a 200 tariff on something thats in a system, in a Supply Chain. The fact of the matter is that we do need to do a lot to renew american manufacturing. And some of that does relate to tariffs. Some of that relates to trade policy. There is a great deal that needs to be done. But on issues like this, id be much more inclined to listen to someone like Shawn Fain of the uaw, than Donald Trump for the actual practicalities about how you make sure that that Supply Chain and that structure benefits you as workers. The last thing ill say on this is that one thing you want to hear people talking about at this point are the industries