good morning, we're nine days to the midterm election and control of the senate hinges on eight or nine senate races that are dead heats entering the final week. up in new hampshire jeanne shaheen democratic incumbent, former massachusetts governor scott brown is trying to be strong on the focus of ebola. >> we don't need people fear mongering about this issue, we don't people who don't have medical expertise trying to get people concerned about what we've got to do to respond. >> she calls it fear mongering. i call it rational fear as well as the citizens of new hampshire and this country have a rational fear that this is real. >> another big race in iowa, joanie ernst is the republican candidate and bruce bray the democrat. she had a team about cast rating hogs as a child and closing back on that farm. >> it's a mess, dirty, noisy, and it stinks. not this lot. i'm talking about the one in

washington. too many typical politicians hogging, wasting, and full-up -- >> that is worth a laugh. in north carolina a big race here, kay hagan trying to hold onto this seat, republican to be tillis is closing in. hillary clinton stressing gender politics. >> reach out particularly to every single woman you know because women's rights are like the canary in the mine. you don't protect women's rights here at home and around the world, everybody's rights are at risk. and there is a concerted effort right now to turn that clock back. >> welcome to "inside politics," i'm john king. thanks for shag your sunday morning. with us to share reporting and inside molly ball, manu raju, and robert costa of "the washington post." president obama will be very

busy on the campaign trail this week, just not in any of these states that matter in this year's biggest battle, that's for control of the united states president. the president's handling of the ebola scare front and center and manu raju, let's start with you. scott brown is doing this in new hampshire he thinks it works for tom tillis in north carolina. is this across the country or isolated races? >> it's across the country. the republicans are trying to nationalize this election, they believe the way the president's numbers are sinking in the key states the way the gender gap is sinking because of the president's numbers, that's going to turn control of the senate and maybe one or two points in their direction, some of these key races and they can bring their base out to the polls and you look at the polls nationally, there really is no issue that is driving this electorate the way 2010 did with oba obamacare in 2006 with iraq. it looks like obama could be the biggest issue come election day. if that's the case the

republicans can win back the senate. >> does it matter you have several governors and a couple of democrats wrong them, saying what the federal government is doing isn't strong enough. we have to have tougher quarantines and tougher travel restrictions. >> ma knew is right there's not a single issue but a sense of amorphous fear, the country is out of ceil and argument from the republicans bringing up ebola saying the federal government has been too little too late in its response, that it's been reactive and the president has not taken the threat seriously enough. when you have democratic governors backing up the argument, we have to do something because we don't feel we can trust the white house and the cdc that argument makes people more afraid and makes people feel more on top of the other crises that things are out of control.

>> the president invited the nurse released from the nih to the white house for a hug. he embraces this nurse, she's ebola free now. are democrats going to embrace the president's approach or is the safest thing in the last week to be away? >> i think this is interesting. democrats are bringing this up on the trail admittedly not as much as republicans tying this to the start of republican cost-cutting has led the cdc, led government agencies not so be as prepared. i've heard from democratic sources they're planning to process this in the next couple of days that the politicalization we're seeing now is an issue they might be able to win on. i'm got convinced that's true but it will be interesting to see how they approach it. >> the president's role he is going to be traveling, mostly in blue states, the governor's race in wisconsin and maine, not in any key bathle grounds, not in arkansas, iowa and new hampshire but is he trying to turn out the

vote. president on the radio in georgia. michelle nunn, no one thought a democrat could be in contention in georgia late but guess what? she is. here's the president trying to help. >> that michelle nunn wins, that means that democrats keep control of the senate, and that means that we can keep on doing some good work. >> the question is, robert, does that help or does it hurt? can republicans say see, he's admitting that michelle nunn is a vote for obama? >> michelle nunn has run a good campaign for the democrats. the demographics in georgia are changing aenif african americans turn out strong, perdue has run a sloppy campaign near the end talking too much about outsourcing, almost like a mitt romney candidate. republicans were supposed to have a wave at this moment but it seems to be just a tie so the president strategically is going to some of the states where african-american turnout could be a big help and republicans are hurt not having a governoring agenda. where is the contract to

america, the pledge to america, they're coasting hoping to ride a wave. i haven't seen the wave starting to develop and no real policy ideas coming out of the right. >> the challenge for democrats they need those african-american voters to come out and georgia, louisiana and arkansas, but at the same time those are the voters that typically like the president, typically like the president's policies but white voters poll say white male voters do not like the president in some of the bathle ground states so his role in those states is really a difficult balancing act for democrats to deal with. >> you heard the president on the radio there, watch that in the week ahead. does he do that more in georgia and north carolina, does he do it in louisiana, states where the african-american vote does matter. look at this as well, the georgia democratic party, a mailer from the georgia democratic party essentially tying the events in ferguson to the senate election. some republicans complained that one went too far. >> it's important to note this

is not the only local report. there was another flyer in maryland. i was speaking to the congressional black caucus, they have to paint this election in dire consequence if you want to see caafrican-american voters across the past they tie it to trayvon martin and the idea that if senate control is lost that could lead to impeachment for barack obama for the president. they're taking it that far trying to make this as important critically mentally for black voters as a presidential year election. >> what are we looking at the wild cards into the final week? you're going back out to doll kohl, a state where that to me is a metaphor state if the democrats lose that one it tells me they're going to lose because you have an obama coalition, a good organization. if the democrats lose a close one, we usually wait, we have so many close races, eight or nine in the margin of error. history says when most break late most of them tend to break for one party. >> they break in the same direction. the fact that we are talking

right now about colorado, iowa, and new hampshire, tells you how bad things are for democrats because those are all states obama won. new hampshire especially did not think was going to be a real race and now it's close although shaheen is consistently ahead. democrats are on the defensive and democrats hoped we'd be talking about how close things were in arkansas and alaska and louisiana and those are states they look like strong underdogs. some of the late wild cards haven't panned out. i'm not as convinced there's a real race in south dakota. that fizzled. kansas is still very tight and that remains a big wild card but the real wild cards are the blue states where democrats did not think they'd have to spend as much time and money. >> i agree with you on south dakota. georgia we talked about, no one thought that would be on the table in the final week and manu, you and i picked up jitters out of kentucky. there was a big question when democrats went in with money were they doing that to keep

them happy? we hate mitch mcconnell so you got to spend money even if you're going to lose. i sensed a little bit of jitters in the republican committee maybe that one was tight. >> partly to satisfy the donors because mcconnell is very unpopular in kentucky and you really never know what's going to happen on election day. this could be an anti-incumbent year, not just an anti-democratic year, that's why you're seeing a lot of republican governors in tough races, mcconnell as a 30-year veteran could see the end of his career come election day if it th they don't get their voters to the polls. mcconnell is consistently ahead but narrowly. one poll last week had him up only by one point but there are other polls have him up mid single digits. republicans believe they can win in a conservative state in a republican year but you never know, given this electorate and given the fact that you have a long-term incumbent on the ballot. >> just natural jitters from the republicans, because the stakes are so high or legitimate jitters that they may lose a

couple red states and lose their chances? >> i think it's legitimate. kentucky is a key example. all year we heard about the mcconnell machine going to turn out republican votes. mcconnell's negative numbers in kentucky have been so hard and so high for so long that it's been very hard for him to really get beyond his negative profile in the state. i think kansas is another upset opportunity. pat roberts, we keep hearing he revamped his campaign, a stronger candidate but still pat roberts. he doesn't have much of an organization and hasn't had much popularity in the state over the year. >> robert costas wrote a great ad, pat roberts still pat roberts. elizabeth warren and hillary clinton both in demand as democrats look to gin up turnout in the big races but are they allies or maybe competitors? first michelle obama takes this week's politicians say the darnedest things with a confession about getting some big names wrong. >> no, i got it wrong. couple of times, but i sort of

laughed at myself because i thought well people should follow me home because talk to malia and sasha, i never call them the right names. it's like who are you? i call barack bo. it never works out really well. amam rich.

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welcome back. if you have a big 2014 race in your state you're not ohm getting bombarded by the tv ads, odds are you're getting an early 2016 preview, the big names in both parties in high demand. look at the past week among democrats, vice president biden, hillary clinton, senator amy klobuchar from minnesota, bernie sanders from vermont and elizabeth warren on the campaign

trail helping themselves but on the republican side plenty of travel, paul ryan, ted cruz, rick perry, mike huckabee out there to help 2014 candidates maybe also to help themselves. molly ball i start with you and elizabeth warren. lot of people think is she maneuvering around for 2016 in she talked to dploria borger, this seems pretty clear. >> i am not running for president. i am not running for president. i am not running for president. >> got it? you got it, right? i am not running for president. pretty clear, end of discussion. file that one away, except, molly ball, here's what she said to "people" magazine. i don't think so. if there's any lesson i learned in the last five years don't be so sure what lies ahead, there are amazing doors that could be opened. ding, ding, ding, ding. >> she keeps saying it and we have to -- she keeps saying she's not.

even that quote the earth could cough in and the zombie apocalypse could happen and i could be the only one left so we have to leave that door open. i think she's clear about she's not running at this point. there's a lot of enthusiasm for her in the democratic base, but at this point, hillary clinton has the overwhelming support of the overwhelming amount of democrats and i know we want a democratic primary, i personally would love to have something to cover that is not a boring slog and a coronation. at this point it doesn't look like she wants to do it, or there's a space for her to do it. some people want it. >> so wanda summers, why is it the same event in massachusetts and elizabeth warren is on the stage, hillary clinton, martha kochley finds herself surprising to democrats again in a close race at end of the line. why isn't there a thought of elizabeth warren and hillary clinton together.

you see elizabeth warren with a candidate, hillary clinton with the candidate, why not? >> i'm not in the business of making ads for politics. i don't know much about their personal issues. i'm not thinking they have warm and fuzzy feelings for one another. i think there's enthusiasm for elizabeth warren if she ran she'd be welcome for people who are in the in the hillary camp. perhaps you can get the photo opp with them. >> hillary clinton is on the trail not having photo opps with elizabeth warren she is testing the economic message, listen to her talking about how her husband's economic record, her support while she was in the senate for raising the minimum wage, she says government does have a role in boosting your paycheck. >> my husband gave working families a raise in the 1990s. i voted to raise the minimum wage and guess what? millions of jobs were created. don't let anybody tell you that you know, it's corporations and

businesses that create jobs. >> a little reminiscent there of mitt romney saying corporations are people, too. her staff tried to clean that up saying what she meant was constant tax breaks for businesses and companies don't create jobs, government can work the levers. it's interesting to get a snapshot of how she'll make her economic case. >> doesn't matter elizabeth warren is not running because hillary clinton clearly feels the heat from the progressive left, she's talking to elizabeth warren's base right now, she sees the massachusetts senator as a potential threat and realizes she has to move left and it it has to start now. >> give her no space. >> yes, and it's because the democratic party is moving this sort of populist economic message that direction they've been moving since the last several years under obama and hillary has been a centrist, her husband trying to position himself as a centrist democrat. she has to show herself as sensitive to the concerns within the party who believe that the

president and believe her politics are not in line with that more progressive populist economic message >> this is what elizabeth warren wants, she wants democrats talking about these things. she loves it when she sees hillary bashing the banks the way she does so as long as that point of view is being represented in the primary i don't think warren feels like she needs to get in. >> she'll stay in the senate, maybe dream of being treasury secretary. another 2016 candidate who had a most interesting week is the new jersey governor chris christie, he was out there everywhere. last night in iowa he was slamming president obama's leadership on ebola and other issues and listen to him here, molly mentioned she doesn't want to see a coronation. emergency chris christie standing on a stage with ted cruz, marco rubio and rand paul, saying sorry, been there, done that. >> i am convinced that the next president of the united states is going to be a governor, and it needs to be. we have had the experiment of a legislator who hasser in run

anything, getting on-the-job training in the white house. it has not been pretty. >> can he sell that to republican voters essentially, you know, cruz and rubio and paul to a degree or ahead of christie when it comes to the grassroots but can he make the case that we tried a freshman senator for eight years. >> rand paul's immediate response? have you thought about jimmy carter? that was what rand paul said when he heard christine romal c comment. christie is trying to make a gubernatorial argument. i went to a football game in camden in new jersey. this guy for all the problems with the bridge is a political challenge. i think cocome back, we're seeing it now. >> that's the big hurdle for the three senators to clear, to prove that they can actually govern and run a government that's something that of course you're hearing the criticism come out early and they're going to have to show that look, washington experience could be a long time governor is not necessary to be president. >> nine days to fund and we move

quickly to 2016, molly, if she doesn't have a good challenger maybe we can invite hillary clinton to the republican deb e debates. up next our reporters share some important nuggets, and so many close races, that would be the lawyers.

let's go around the "inside

politics" table ask our great reporters to help get you out ahead of the curve on the political news to come. molly ball? >> i was in iowa reporting on the senate rice there. election day isn't election day in a lot of these states. iowa has one of the longest early voting periods started in september and traditionally a strength for the democrats in 2012, even in 201when they were getting blown out, democrats had tens of thousands more early votes just in terms of which party returned more ballots and the republicans, this past week fort first time in history, republicans returned more early votes than democrats in iowa. this is a big danger sign. democrats are saying oh, those are just those people who would have voted on election day anyway. if past trends are anything like this year and the past two elections, republicans have had 9%, won election day by 9%, so for them to be leading in the early vote it's a big trouble sign for democrats. we're seeing that in some of the other states that have early voting, i'll be looking where we're going election day.

>> thanks. manu? >> both sides are already laying group groundwork for recount battlings in the close states. they look at what happened in 2008 in minnesota when al franken and norm coleman went for months and al franken won after a court battle. here in washington, both party committees are talking to lawyers on the ground, already planning to send people into those close states like potentially alaska or colorado or iowa, if they go down to the wire to have people ready to fight because this is an election day that could last for potentially months. >> so the greatest winners of all, the lawyers. manu, thanks. >> i'll be spending the next week how gender plays a role in the 2014 election. i saw this interesting poll that shows most women last month prefer a republican-controlled house to a democratic-controlled house. i'll watch that trend in close states like in colorado, where certainly reproductive choice issues and women have been a battleground in iowa, also

looking to see whether or not republicans are able to close the diversity gap in the house and i think that's an important story as we look forward to 2016 as well. >> robert? >> most of the 2016 republican presidential contenders are not on the ballot this year, jeb bush, chris christie, rand paul, ted cruz, but one is, governor scott walker of wisconsin, and his race has suddenly become one of the hottest contests in the country. this week president owe ba will will go to milwaukee, democrats really think they have an opportunity there if they can get the turnout in the state's biggest city to put a democrat, mary burke other the top and take out one of the top candidates for the gop in the next cycle. >> love that race, the marquee george's race in the country. most of the attention is on the big senate races but also worth watching in the final week some key finding decisions in the house. republicans start with 233, democrats are trying to keep them under 240. democrats think there's a slight chance they could pick up a republican-held seat in colorado and feeling better about protecting two democratic held

seats in new hampshire that are competitive into the final stretch. republicans trying to get over 40, closer to 250, now spending late in massachusetts in the sixth congressional district in florida and the 26th, yes, the senate gets most of the attention but some fun house chess to play as well. that's it for "inside politics." thanks thanks for sharing your sunday morning. "state of the union" with candy crowley starts now. after a manhattan doctor from new guinea returns from illinois, new york, new jersey and illinois trump federal regulations with their own regulations. today dr. tony fauci on whether the states are on to something the feds should have been and an exclusive with the chair of a key house committee who blasts the central government response as bumbling. >> i think we all know that the system is not yet refined