>> let's be hopeful. make great memories today. "inside politics with john king" starts right now. problesident obama insists s on top of the ebola crisis. >> all the discussions i've had thus far with experts, a travel ban is less effective than the measures that we are currently instituting. as election day nears, republicans say a bungled federal response is the example of amateur white house management. >> we're seeing failed leadership comes from the congressmen, from president obama. the battle for the senate is tight and tense. we drive across california and iowa as the campaigns hunt for

every last vote. and hillary clinton tests her appeal in kentucky. >> let's put another crack in that glass ceiling and elect this incredible young woman to the united states senate. >> mitch mcconnell is not impre impressed. >> there's not a dime's worth of difference between a clinton democrat and obama democrat. >> the biggest story sourced by the biggest reporters, now. welcome to "inside politics," i'm john king. with us maf reston of the "los angeles times" jonathan martin of "the new york times" and malik ka henderson of "the washington post." i'm just back from a 1,200 mile drive across kansas, missouri and iowa. just about everyone talking about ebola. hardly anyone who doesn't work in politics is talking about the huge midterm election now 16 days away, that's right, two weeks from tuesday. president obama named an ebola czar on friday after days in

which the white house insisted he was on top of things. maggie haberman, what are we learning about our president? he has a problem at the white house, he brings in john podesta, a trusted friend. now ron klain, again, a washington insider, former chief of staff to vice president biden. even some of his friends are saying why don't you go outside and get fresh perspective. >> even some of his friends are critici critici criticizing. we've seen this before. he waits until criticism builds and reaches a crisis point. double word there. appoints the czar he resisted appointing. there's a second issue with ron klain who is widely respected among political operatives. he is not a health care professional. so that has been a lot of the criticism of this. i am somebody who we were talking about this before, ebola is being talked about among

voters in certain places. there are not such evidence that it's as deadly as say the flu yet. right? or a number of other things. >> not even close. >> right. so i think the appointment of ron klain goes to the fact that once again you have a white house responding to a p.r. issue as much as anything else. that's what it tells you. >> the question is, malika henderson, the president is doing this, trusted insider, if he picks up a phone, the cabinet secretary on the other end hears from ron klain, they hear it's the president, do something. in terms of moving the wheels of government, effective. the problem is in the country. the fear is being stoked, i spent a lot of time listening to talk radio driving across the heartland, wow. is the president out of touch with the people when he has a washington answer? >> in some ways, yes. i was at a party last night with a bunch of doctors. what they're concerned about, are the hospitals ready? if you look at the folks who have been infected with ebola,

these are nurses, people on the front lines. that's where dr. klain's lack of experience comes in. he doesn't know how a hospital operates and what might have gone wrong with this ebola scare and what to do going forward. >> it's such a politically fraught issue not just for the president but officials at every level, local, state, governor perry is having to deal with this in texas. everyone is looking to him, whether he's given the right leadership response. it's something that's difficult to control. the white house would have come out earlier and done more re-assuring and tried to give people more information which they then did do more of this week. i was just in colorado this week and there is sheer panic about this, frontier airlines is based there. of course, everyone is talking about it. there's just -- you know, nobody is reading about anything else. >> the other thing we've seen, too, as we learned about this white house, we saw a similar

story, you saw bobby jindal picked up on this, the president is so mad that this happened. there clearly were mistakes made by the cdc. as somebody who saw tom frieden in new york, where he was the health commissioner, that's become the mantra, the president is so angry that an agency let him down. the response is brings in somebody who understands the levers of government but not the health care response. >> they're saying the president can be mad at another agency but who hired the heads of those agencies? the president is proving once again that he can't manage the government but he can't pick good people to manage the government. listen to mitt romney trying to make that point. >> it's apparently not running the cdc right. you ask yourself what is it going to take to have a president who focuses on the interest of the american people? >> if voters are asking questions about the competence of government heading into an

election, that's not good news for democrats. >> this is a gift wrap issue for the gop for two reasons. the first one is competence, the fact is that this is one more example that they can cite to point out president obama has not run a competent federal government. it's a pretty visceral issue, a fatal disease, coming to american soil. but the second issue is, is a larger question of a world coming undone. the backdrop of events to which this election is playing out. whether it's beheadings, whether it's ebola. you know, the events taking place with vladimir putin. for republicans, they simply have to point and say competence and chaos. and that's a pretty compelling message in a year that structurally is good for them anyway. >> we've seen democrats trying to deal with this. do you agree with the president? the president says no travel ban. kay hagan, originally she was

with the president saying that's not necessary. then on friday she says a temporary travel ban is a prudent step. i believe he should do so immediately, days after she said he shouldn't do it at all. democrats are leaning that way. something else that makes democrats nervous? >> yes, michelle nunn, same thing. something else that makes democrats nervous. this idea that president obama is not sufficiently engaged, that he's too cool about things. so they are bringing the heat, really, frankly, to obama. they are on the side of where most americans are in terms of travel ban. >> it's overwhelming. it's a no-brainer politically. >> it's a no brainer politically. it is a brainer in terms of not doing it if you actually read what it would do. it would arguably make the disease worse. >> where are the people in the administration making that point? that's the question of leadership. if you want to tell the american people, i understand your fears,

your reflex reaction to i atravel ban, the president himself says he gets that. >> right. >> he's not philosophically opposed but says it's unnecessary. where are they rolling out the experts to convince -- >> that's been a problem. >> you're seeing democratic groups, outside groups trying to get the upper hand on the issue by pointing to the cuts that the cdc over the last decade or so. but that issue doesn't seem to be catching quite as much fire as, you know, just sheer panic about ebola and people wanting more re-assurance. >> to your point about sheer panic, "a," this is something that's easy for people to understand. everybody has seen outbreak or some version of it where you have a vast-spreading disease. they don't understand how it's spread which goes back to your point about not enough information being offered up. this is an unsettlinged electorate. people are unsure of what will be a motivator or a peace of weight on this side of the scale that's going to drive you away

from your incumbent. >> if you listen to talk radio, it's like listening to an issue of "homeland." and next, the formula democrats hope keeps a bad year from turning to disaster. charlie crist, we knew the republican turned democrat liked his tan. also turns out he prefers to debate with a hidden fan which was a deal breaker for his debate opponent. >> governor crist asked to have a fan, a small fan placed underneath his podium. the rules of the debate that i was shown by the scott campaign say that there should be no fan. somehow there is a fan there and for that reason, ladies and gentlemen, i am being told that governor scott will not join us for this debate.

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once there was a girl who even in her laundry room. with downy unstopables for long-lasting scent. and infusions for softness. she created her own mix, match, magic. downy, wash in the wow. welcome back. i got out of the studio and thankfully out of this suit to hit the road this past week to get a firsthand look at three of the senate race which is will help determine if democrats seize control of the senate. i was in colorado, corey gardner against mark udall there. first i went to colorado springs, el paso county area. one of the key questions, will the evangelicals so key to republicans, will they vote? it's an open question. also if you move up in colorado, you come up to the denver area py went up to golden. one of the big questions here, early voting. every coloradan gets a mail

ballot, they can vote early. democrats are hoping the early voting helps them overcome the republican momentum in the state there. over to kansas. what a fascinating race here. pat roberts running against an independent. now republicans are saying this one is starting to come home but i'm not so sure. in haze, i met a small businessman, tyler henman, his family runs a bowling alley. he's never voted anything but republican for federal office. this is his bolding alley here. he goes into the last two weeks saying i'm not sure, i might vote for greg orman. i sat down with four sweet ladies at the russell senior center. all four hands went up when i said who voted for pat roberts six years ago? who will vote for him in two weeks? only one. these two say i might vote for greg orman. this one not going to vote at all, i don't like either candidate. missouri, had barbecue, jonathan

martin wanted me to mention that. into iowa, a blue state president obama carried it twice. the rain has a slight lead. the key for the democrats here, i started covering politics a long time ago. everyone had a clipboard when they went door to door. now they carry ipods, hand touch to do the input. democrats hoping early voting helps them to success there. and maeve reston, let's start there. republicans will win on election day, democrats know that. the people who vote on election day because it's a midterm year, can the democrats outhustle them in the 16 to -- the last week or so, 25 days before the election, can they win with the early voting and the mail voting? >> they did in 2012, didn't they? right. democrats have had unprecedented ground game. they are pouring more resources into it. $60 million this year into the hotly contested senate races. i was out in colorado this week. literally the first day people were getting their ballots in the mail the door knockers were

saying have you gotten your ballot, are you going to turn it in in the next 24 hours. they're making a huge push in those states. because as soon as they clear those people who have turned in their ballots off the rolls, they can focus on sporadic voters and targets they need to get to to boost their margins in what has been a terrible year for them. >> the republicans as we know did kick the democrats butts, using technology, taking advantage of early voting. the mail ballots went out. you cairn show up and vote early starting tomorrow. in iowa, the obama campaign beat the romney campaign hands down. look at these numbers. the republicans are saying we're a little behind. this is as of friday. 80,000 democrat ballots. republicans are making the case maybe that the not matching the democrats but they're doing much better. >> yes, the question is can a good ground game committee democrats certainly have, overcome the structural factors

that are working for the republicans? it's kind of like in football terms. yes, if you can get them to the 30 yard line you can win with a field goal. john, you have to be at the 30 first. that's the problem for democrats. the best ground game in the world can gnnot overcome the challenges they have in some of the states. i am so fascinated by colorado. this will be the best test of can that ground game overcome the challenges they are facing, the wind blowing in their face. that's one to watch. alaska and arkansas, tougher states for democrats. talk to the folks there, everything is riding upon that ground game. it's their last best hope. >> colorado you mention you have the evangelical base for the republicans, a growing latino population for the democrats. but they aren't sure they're going to vote. early voting is one weapon. we saw hillary clinton in a race most democrats think is slipping away.

the allison grimes campaign insist they can beat mitch mcconnell in kentucky. they're hoping this from hillary clinton can help. >> it's unbelievable that in this day and time someone would be telling the women of kentucky they don't deserve equal pay for equal work? if there is only one reason that will motivate you to go vote in 20 days, put that at the top of the list. >> look, i think in all of these races, the one factor we have left out, 2008 and 2012 were presidential years. it was different in terms top of the ticket. number one. number two, campaign quality matters. allison grimes has been hit repeatedly as the perception that she's too robotic. the fact that the dscc pulled out of ads there. >> good timing. >> the day befoi think it's a t challenge. i think where you're seeing hillary clinton go in large

measure is about where they think they can be of help. in some cases it is about solidarity with women candidates. you're going to see her doing that a lot regardless of whether it's a gender gap that can be surmounted. >> in colorado, this is where the gender gap politics have been the biggest in the country. in a debate recently as someone asked mark udall to explain why some people are calling him senator uterus. he was dinged by the denver post in running a single issue campaign. they were citing an amazing statistic, that somewhere close to two-thirds of the voters in colorado know what corey gardner's position is on abortion. that message has broken through. it will be interesting to see what happens. >> it's broken through but if you look at what voters want to talk about, it's not abortion and contraception. it's the economy. the folks who have run the most successful campaign around women's issues are talking about equal pay. >> yes. >> in these last weeks we'll see

hillary clinton out there in new hampshire, for instance, she's going to be there in that last weekend rallying the crowds there. >> the issue with abortion, it never -- very often not the issue that women bring up. it's way at the bottom of the scale. when you talk about moderate republican women, a lot of them say that is a disqualifier for someone like corey gardner. that's what they're going for. >> can i touch real fast on what maggie said, candidate quality matters. it's so true. part of the reason corey gardner is in the place where he is right now, he's one of the best candidates in the cycle. >> yes. he's not todd aiken either. >> it was easier four years ago for democrats to beat ken. because they had a weak republican. flash floored to kansas, south dakota and georgia. why are republicans having problems? they have candidate problems there. the challenge, again, is candidates. >> we did not mention the president while he was a huge boost to democrats in various

states in '08 and 2012, he is a drag this year. he just is. he is the issue. these various crises to your point about ebola, that's what that relates to. >> republicans think they have better candidates this year. 16 days to go. it matters. you might not think it matters but it does matter. reporters show from their notebooks, hillary clinton working on what sounds like a 2016 stump speech.

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let's go around the inside politics table. get you out ahead of the big politic news just ahead. nia-malika henderson. >> he has a campaign chairman, his superpac raised $3 million. ready for hillary was able to raise $2 million. the question for him, very unlikely he can win the nomination, the question is how does he fit in? look for him to challenge for that evangelical vote. he can also flex his medical knowledge in the next few days. >> his name certainly came up as i travelled across the country. >> georgia, you'll have the possibility of a runoff, the same in louisiana, and way out in alaska, keep in mind there's a lot of rural precincts that

could be counted late into the evening, east coast time. that's possible on a wednesday morning we could wake up and still not know who controls the senate. by the way, i talked to a lot of folks over the weekend, increasingly certain georgia will go to a runoff, a january runoff. >> january 5th. >> lawyers and reporters working overtime. >> hillary clinton this week is back out on campaign trail again. she's been hitting it very hard for a lot of women candidates. on friday she helps martha coakley in boston in massachusetts and goes on to help gina romando. that's the one to watch. watch and see what hillary clinton's words are as she is helping her up there. >> the great state of rhode island. >> speaking of the clintons, the bill clinton will be in louisiana this week for mary landrieu, a tight race that everyone thinks will go to a runoff. where he can help her is with

black voters in louisiana. she's got to consolidate those voters and turn them out. she'll get virtually all of them both sides would say. it's a matter of getting them to the polls and bill clinton may be able to work his magic. >> the big dog is having fun down there. he gets to keep campaigning if there's a runoff. i'll close with the illegal immigration issue. we've known for some time it is a problem for republicans. the anger at the grass roots level is growing. not receding. i was struck in conversations in colorado, in kansas and in iowa, just pure frustration, belief among conservative republicans that this problem is getting worse. what does that tell you? is tells you there's no prospect for compromised legislation during the final two years of the obama presidency. it also tells you this issue will spill over into 2016 and watch this, if the president uses his executive power as promised, republicans will be pushing the grass roots for confrontation, not compromise. an issue we thought after 2012

republicans would try to deal with will be with us into 2016 and beyond. \s "state of the union with candy crowley" starts right now. politics catches ebola fever. should we call a doctor or a czar? today, from texas, our exclusive with senator ted cruz on a mission to shut down travel from west africa. >> when you have an active and growing epidemic, the first thing you want to do is contain it. then, an airline cleans a plane, confusion on a caribbean cruise and how come one guy with a clipboard is in street clothes? fear fiction and fact with anthony fauci from the national institutes of health. and -- >> we're stepping up all of our efforts. >> the response so far has bee