clearly, he thinks so. i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. you know, three months ago, none of us knew the names george floyd or jacob blake. now that floyd was killed and blake became paralyzed at the hands of police, the country has entered a period of grief, reflection, racial reconciliation, and, in some instances, violence. where the incidents of alleged police misconduct occurred in minnesota and wisconsin bears added significance. both states were decided by slim margins in 2016, which has only heightened the political stakes of the aftermath. the trump campaign struggling to rebound in the face of national and swing state data showing joe biden, with a clear lead, has sought to capitalize on the situation. in republican national convention speech wednesday night, vice president mike pence warned, you won't be safe in joe biden's america. that same day, former vice president biden released a video on twitter saying this -- >> you know, as i said after george floyd's murder,

protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary, but burning down communities is not protest, it's needless violence. so let's unite and heal, do justice, end the violence. >> senator kamala harris echoed her running mate and condemned violent protests, accusing donald trump of stoking it for political benefit. finally came president trump in his acceptance speech. >> the republican party condemns the rioting, looting, arson and violence we have seen in democrat-run cities all, like kenosha, minneapolis, portland, chicago, and new york, and many others -- democrat-run. if the democrat party wants to stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters, and flag-burners, that is up to them, but i, as your president, will not be a part of it. >> so, what impact is all of this having on the election?

there's too little data for a definitive conclusion, but some evidence suggests that in minnesota and wisconsin, where the incidents involving floyd and blake occurred, it is having some impact. consider first that in a cbs/ugov nationwide survey -- nationwide survey -- a plurality of americans, 44%, said recent attention given to issues of discrimination is too much. additionally, according to my next guest's political polling average, joe biden's margin over donald trump is not much higher in minnesota than it is in michigan or pennsylvania, even though clinton won minnesota in 2016 by 1.5 percentage points, compared to her performance in michigan or pennsylvania, where she lost both states by less than a percentage point. biden leads trump by six in minnesota, wisconsin, and pennsylvania, seven in michigan. what does it mean? perhaps that the violence and looting that followed the death of george floyd is helping trump.

it's too soon to tell if there will be a similar fallout in wisconsin. but here are some things to consider. this video, recorded at 2:14 a.m. wednesday morning, captured by an isthmus newspaper reporter in a papa john's pizzeria on university avenue in madison, wisconsin. >> are they trying to get trump reelected? seriously! i've got a family to support. i've got a [ bleep ] kids to feed. >> these people don't represent our movement! >> well, i'm sorry, but they're part -- they're with you. >> might that be the sentiment of more than one resident of the badger state? as "the new york times" reported on thursday, in kenosha county, where the president won by fewer than 250 votes in 2016, those who already supported mr. trump said in interviews that the events of the past few days have simply reinforced their conviction that he is the man for the job. but some voters who were less sure of their choice said the chaos in their city and the

inability of elected leaders to stop it were currently nudging them toward the republicans. the 2016 margin in wisconsin was just 22,748 votes. that's nearly 10,000 fewer than were obtained by third-party candidate jill stein. while biden has been leading in wisconsin, his margin was shrinking before the shooting of blake. consider this, that according to a marquette law school poll, biden's lead was down between june and august among wisconsin likely voters. at the same time, perceptions of black lives matter were worsening. and there's been significant decline in support for protesters. yes, the country is still in the midst of a pandemic, but the trump campaign has been downplaying that. and from all indications, going to be playing up law and order as a path to victory. meanwhile, the biden campaign seems confident that the

election will be won or lost, based on trump's mishandling, they say, of the virus. i want to know what you think. go to my website this hour, smerconish.com, and answer this week's survey question. which will have a greater impact on the election outcome? covid or civil unrest? joining me now is harry enten, cnn senior political writer and analyst covering politics with a focus on poll numbers and electoral trends. harry is also the author of this cnn.com piece titled "why democrats are worried about kenosha." harry, why are democrats worried about kenosha? >> i think that your numbers illustrate why they're worried about kenosha, and that is because biden's lead in wisconsin has shrunk over the last two months at the same time the protests have become less popular and at the same time black lives matter have become less popular. and the other thing i'll note, right, is if you're ahead, you want the least amount of variables involved that could potentially slim your lead, while if you're donald trump,

you want the most amount of chaos, potentially, out there so that you can shrink your deficit. so, the numbers right now still indicate that joe biden is ahead. but obviously, the events over the last two months have not exactly been helpful to the former vice president's campaign. >> harry, i don want to paint with too broad of a brush. there are electoral differences between minnesota and wisconsin. will you speak to some of the differences that you think are significant? >> yeah. i mean, first off, as you noted, you know, obviously, hillary clinton won in minnesota four years ago. she lost in wisconsin. but more than that, you know, if you just look at the geography and the bases within each state, right? obviously, in the state of minnesota, you have this huge metropolitan area in minneapolis/st. paul that is sort of this base for democratic votes. you don't really have that in wisconsin. you have milwaukee, which isn't as big of a metropolitan area as minneapolis/st. paul, and democrats are quite reliant on the big votes coming out of madison, but you have seen this great degradation of the more

rural base in wisconsin, so i think minnesota is the safer bet for democrats. but obviously, the difference between minnesota and wisconsin, if you look at the polling data, has shrunk over the last four years. >> to be clear, you'd rather be joe biden than donald trump with regard to these numbers, true? >> absolutely true! i mean, you'd much rather be ahead than behind, and joe biden's still up by five or six points, and if you break it down by the crosshairs, joe biden is doing better among white voters without a college degree than hillary clinton four years ago, and of course, they make up the plurality, or in fact, the majority of voters in both wisconsin and minnesota. so no doubt you'd rather be joe biden than donald trump, but joe biden two months ago than the joe biden of today. >> okay. well said, harry. when i look at the minnesota data versus the wisconsin data or the pennsylvania data, again, or the michigan data, recognizing that there are differences of these states, and i'm lumping them into the, you know, battleground, upper

midwest category, what i do note -- and relying, i should say, in some polling that i know you're not always comfortable in citing, but it appears that the biden margin is smaller in minnesota than in those other states. and the only conclusion i can draw is that it is attributable to some of the reaction to the post george floyd violence and looting. do you think that's a fair assessment for me to make? >> i mean, it's certainly a fair assessment. i don't know if it's a true assessment, right? i mean, there are larger political trends that are at play here, right? you know, obviously, minnesota did move significantly to the right in the 2016 election, and i think it's sort of catching up to wisconsin, michigan, and pennsylvania, these other states that have large populations of white voters without a college degree. but i think there's no doubt that the joe biden campaign is worried about the events over the last few months, in part because of the poll numbers that we've been citing throughout this segment, but also in part because of common sense and the fact that they're ahead.

so, i think that's a fair assessment. we'll obviously see if it's a true assessment over the next few months. >> final thought, if i may. so, you've got the trump campaign saying, hey, i'm the thin-blue line, holding all of you suburbites back from what you're seeing on your telling screen. the biden campaign says, i think quite reasonably, wait, this is illogical. we're not in office. joe's not in office. you are blaming your successor for a situation that's unfolding on your watch. your response? >> i mean, yeah, that's true. donald trump is the incumbent. the buck stops there. and the fact is, donald trump's approval rating on the protests is not high. it's simply not. his net approval rating is in the minus 20s. and so, you know, obviously, that's what biden's going to try and do. he's going to try and pin it on trump. but the one thing i will note is that donald trump wants the next few months to be about crime, because that is the issue where he is best on, while joe biden wants it to be on the wider question about leadership and

also on the protests, because that's where voters trust him most. >> i think that the piece that you just published at cnn.com is great and has a lot of good data, and i encourage people to go and to read it. thank you, harry. >> thank you, my friend. >> what are your thoughts? sweet me @smerconish, or go to my facebook page. i will read some throughout the course of the program. this comes from facebook. what do we have? "joe came out late on condemning violence and not strong enough in condemnation. that's the reality to swing voters." well, walt, i will say, that's the perception, i think, among some swing voters. fact-check me on this. i think it was july 28 that joe came out hard on the violent protesters. so, you know, he said it, but i think that the trump campaign ignores the fact that he has said these things, instead tries to label him as one who's an advocate of defunding the police, even though he hasn't said that either. and so, people go to their respective media outlets and believe what they want to believe as to what joe has or

hasn't said. i encourage you to do your own research and figure out what each of these candidates is saying. i want to remind you to answer the survey question at smerconish.com right now. which is going to have a greater impact on the election outcome? will it be covid or will it be civil unrest? up ahead, when president trump's rally crowd in new hampshire was asked to wear masks last night, they booed. well, it may be hard to blame them when they had just seen the rnc finale at the white house, undistanced, unmasked. will the gop's more relaxed approach to the pandemic prove politically potent? and a 17-year-old from illinois went to the kenosha riots armed with an assault rifle and now stands charged with shooting three protesters, killing two of them. what were those circumstances? does he have any hope of a defense? here's what he told an interviewer before the shootings. >> we're protecting from the

citizens, and i just got pepper-sprayed by a person in the crowd. so, nonlethal, but you just respond. >> we don't have nonlethal. >> so, you guys are full and ready to defend the property? >> yes, we are.

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only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd. it is my vision so my plan includes preservision. the images from president trump's acceptance speech thursday night were jarring, in a country that's in its fifth month of a pandemic, where already more than 180,000 people have died. you saw more than 1,500 people sitting shoulder to shoulder on the south lawn, most without masks, at a time when the nation has been practicing social distancing and many are obligated by law to wear masks in public settings. it was arguably one of the largest planned event gatherings

that we've seen since the pandemic began, and it came at the white house. then last night, the president held a campaign rally in new hampshire that also looked rather prepandemic. and when a public address announcement encouraged people to wear masks, they booed. >> ladies and gentlemen, in accordance with new hampshire executive order 63, please wear your masks. [ booing ] >> the lack of social distancing, it seems to me deliberate, a campaign strategy. the differences in attitudes toward the virus as between the two political parties and their activists is impacting the race as we enter the final stage. the democrats had a largely remote zoom convention. republicans were significantly in person, albeit distanced in the mellon auditorium. the differing approaches can also be seen in retail politicking. the republicans are registering

voters. the democrats are doing so sporadical sporadically. and as detailed recently by politico, republicans are going door to door. democrats largely aren't. politico reported earlier this month that the trump campaign knocked on a million doors in a single week at a time when the biden campaign knocked on none. "biden and the democratic national committee aren't sending volunteers or staffers to talk with voters at home and don't anticipate doing anything more than dropping off literature, unless the crisis abaits." the campaign of the democratic national committee think they can compensate for the lack of in-person canvassing with phone calls, texts, new forms of digital organizing and virtual meet-ups with voters." how might all of this affect the outcome? joining me now is the democratic senator from the great state of delaware, that would be chris coons, who has earned the nickname the biden whisperer. so, senator coons, start whispering as to whether you think this is a deliberate

strategy by the trump campaign. they want to draw this contrast. >> well, michael, a lot of donald trump's record as president and a lot of his success as a candidate in 2016 we can attribute to his attitude. there are tens of millions of americans who find his conduct, his comments on twitter, his racially insensitive remarks over his time in office as off-putting, jarring, or even offensive, but amongst his base, amongst those who have supported him all along the way, they respond to his brash, his aggressive response, and that's being reflected in how our two candidates -- joe biden running for the presidency in my party, the democrat candidate, and donald trump, how he's running for re-election. that ending speech, that long, rambling, largely unfocused speech in front of the white house, in front of a very large crowd, crammed in together, very few, if any, masks to be seen,

was in no small part a message about attitude, about a chin forward, i'm not changing my tone. is there some pandemic going on? let's talk about violence and law and order. his tone was as bellicose, as aggressive as it's ever been. we're not going to see any change in donald trump, his campaign tactics or his approach towards what democrats think is one of our most important challenges, unifying our country and healing and getting through this pandemic. >> senator, the imagery from thursday night is really a rorschach test, is it not? i mean, i know that chris coons looks at that video and is aghast at people sitting shoulder to shoulder, no less on the south lawn of the white house. i assume that his base looks at that and says, well, hell, yeah! covid is in the rearview mirror. is it being used to motivate that base, i guess is my question, and are you worried

about how it's played with whatever swing voters might be left in this country? >> michael, here's the way in which i think that visual and that message is jarring to millions of americans. there's nearly 6 million americans who have been infected with covid. there is 180,000 who have died. if you think about the deeply important family moments of the last six months, the weddings that have been canceled or moved entirely to being virtual, the loved ones who have passed away, who have been mourned without an in-person funeral -- there are millions and millions of americans for whom that reality show, that broadcast from in front of the white house is in direct contrast to their reality, and they know that the law and that public health and that respect for their families and their loved ones requires social distancing, masking. and joe biden is unafraid to say, if i'm president, we're all going to wear masks. donald trump's speech focused on promises made and promises kept. and one of the most important

promises he made as a candidate that he has utterly failed to keep is to keep the american people safe and healthy. he talked over and over about how he was going to replace the affordable care act with a new approach to health care that was lower cost, more accessible, higher quality. and yet, he continues to sue in the supreme court of the united states to take in the middle of a pa away what's left of the affordable care act -- pre-existing condition protection for 130 million americans. that supreme court argument, as you know, michael, has just been scheduled for the week after the election. so, maybe that visual speaks to some key elements of his base, that attitude of the pandemic is past us. but for 6 million americans, not only is the pandemic not past, but for millions of american families, the wreckage to their jobs, to their family, and to these important sacred moments in life -- funerals and weddings that they had to forego -- that was insulting. >> quick final question, if i

may. i'm looking at front page of today's "the new york times," where above the fold, it says, "biden gears up to hit the trail in swing states." has the trump approach that you and i have just discussed forced vice president biden to now get out and do otherwise would not be doing? >> no, it hasn't forced him to make a change. let's look at two critical moments. after george floyd was brutally murdered, it was joe biden who got on a plane and went to houston and visited with george floyd's family privately in a small group meeting before the funeral. in the days after some of the largest protests in washington -- i'll remind you, it was donald trump who teargassed an entire crowd of peaceful demonstrators to walk across lafayette square and use a church as a backdrop. it was joe biden who asked if a prominent local pastor, the reverend dr. sylvester beamon, would convene a group of pastors

and community activists, and joe went to one of our most prominent local churches to kneel, to pray, to listen. that happened now months ago. joe is someone who has always, when the moment calls for it, seen the significance of going and being with the people of our country. >> okay. >> but in a way that is safe, socially distanced, and follows the directions of scientists. >> senator coons, thank you, as always. appreciate you being here. >> thank you, michael. great to be on with you. >> let's see what you're saying on my twitter and facebook pages. where does this come from, katherine? twitter. "perception is reality. biden looks weak. trump looks strong. words don't matter. talk is cheap. people decide based on what they see, not on what they hear. perception is reality." well, bionicmonkey, i guess you're looking at the rorschach test and you're seeing weakness. vice president biden's supporters are looking at it and they're seeing science and they're seeing caution. but man, there it is in one skill frame, you know.

it's joe socially distant, speaking to a handful of folks at a time at a delaware auditorium, and it's trump who is in new hampshire with 1,000 people who when told they should put on a mask, they all boo. and not much room in between. don't forget to answer this week's survey question at smerconish.com. i know how senator coons will be voting. which will have a greater impact on election outcome, covid or civil unrest? still to come, every election, we are told that this is the most consequential race ever! it will make or break america as we know it. is this your different? is 2020 actually the most important election in our nation's history? and this teenage gunman charged with killing two protesters in kenosha, wisconsin. why do lawyers for him think that he can claim he was acting in self-defense? we're going to break down the video in a moment. wayfair has everything outdoor from grills to play sets and more one of a kind finds.

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a 17-year-old from illinois stands charged in wisconsin with six counts, including first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first degree intentional homicide. prior to the shooting, kyle rittenhouse happened to be interviewed by "the daily caller." >> some people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business. and part of my job is to also help people. if there's somebody hurt, i'm running into harm's way. that's why i have my rifle. i need to protect myself. >> he claims he was seeking to protect property. his defense lawyers have called this a classic case of self-defense. as a matter of fact, one of the attorneys tweeted last night, "kyle rittenhouse will be acquitted. he will become a symbol of the heroic individual american who at certain times in history must say "don't tread on me." the visual investigations unit of "the new york times" has analyzed seven live streams that captured the chaotic events

resulting in two deaths. i warn you, we're going to show some of the disturbing video to explain all of this. joining me now is haley willis, a visual investigations reporter at the "times" team that is assembled the footage from multiple sources. by the way, haley, i'm a big fan of these visual investigations. so, please keep them going. what do you find significant about the events that precede the first shooting? >> right. so, as you say, we analyzed a lot of live streams, a lot of stand-alone videos, hours of footage, and there's a lot of footage that captures mr. rittenhouse prior to the shooting. so, as you just showed, we see "the daily caller" interview, as well as several other interviews with him early on, where he claims to be protecting property at this car dealership/auto shop. and he spends most of the time prior to the shooting around this one area. we see him there with this group of armed men, and they are

protecting this dealership. and about 15 minutes prior to the shooting, in that location, we actually see them have an interaction with police. and so, what that looks like is police officers coming up to this group. they actually thank them for their work. they say, we really appreciate you guys, we really do. they give them water. and during that time, kyle is speaking to them directly, and he's armed with his ar-15-style rifle during this interaction with police. about five minutes after that -- >> in that time -- >> yeah? >> yeah, i'm sorry. i was going to say, is it also true that prior to the first shooting with which he was involved, he renders some form of assistance, medical assistance, to certain of the protesters? >> so, we never see him actually rendering medical aid, but we do see him offering medical aid many times to injured protesters who are walking by. he claims he's an emt. he's asking if anyone needs medical. and at one point, he does leave this car dealership to walk

around and ask protesters if they need medical aid. and that's also a very interesting interaction, because people seem to recognize him. they claim he had previously pointed a gun at him, and it looks like there's a lot of antagonism toward him when he's offering people medical aid and people seem afraid that he's doing this while carrying his weapon. >> in the first shooting instance with which we think he was involved, there's a gunshot that was not his, and then the evidence you've assembled suggests that someone lunges toward him. he responds by shooting, hitting the person in the head, and killing them. is that a fair summation? >> yes. that's correct. so, what we know is that there is eight shots in the first shooting, and four of them are a result of mr. rittenhouse. the first shot was not shot by him. we haven't identified that gunman yet, but we see them in the footage. we see the flash from the muzzle of their handgun. and what we believe is happening

is that mr. rittenhouse turns around when he hears it. he sees the first victim. this is not the person who shot but the first victim who is attempting to lunge at him, and that's when he shoots four times and hits that person. >> i told my radio audience this week that that in and of itself seems like a law school exam that i had in criminal law, where you then try and view it from the different perspectives. when his lawyers say classic self-defense, perhaps they are suggesting that the lunger thought that it was rittenhouse who fired that shot, now lunges toward him, and rittenhouse has to defend himself. let me get to the second shooting. this is captured on video. we're going to roll it, and then i'll ask you some questions. here he is headed down the street. you can see he's got the ar-15 in hand. he's about to trip. somebody takes a swing at him. then you'll see him fall. on the ground.

there he is. there's a man he shot in the chest. there's someone he shot in the arm. there's a handgun in the hand of the individual he shot in the arm. what do you find significant, haley, in this? >> right. so, this is captured pretty immediately after the first shooting, when he's fleeing the scene. several people start chasing him, saying "stop him, he's the shooter!" and he trips and falls to the ground. we see three people kind of rush him and attempt to -- one person kind of attempts to kick him and runs off. he fires two shots then and misses that person. the person who's shot in the chest appears to be almost attempting to disarm him, and that's when the third shot is fired by mr. rittenhouse, and he shoots that man in the chest. and unfortunately, he is now dead. the third person never gets his hands on mr. rittenhouse, but he runs up to him, and we do know he's holding a handgun, and that's when this fourth shot is fired and he hits this man in the arm. so, there's a lot of chaos in

this scene, but it is very -- it's clear that this other person is armed, that mr. rittenhouse is armed, and that he's firing four shots in the moment. >> and finally, rittenhouse gets on his feet. we've got film footage then of him walking toward law enforcement. frankly, they seem -- here's a guy with an ar-15. he's got his hands up, to some extent. they seem thoroughly disinterested in what it is he has to say. your thoughts? >> i think this is kind of one of the key moments of this. we see mr. rittenhouse walking away from the scene with his hands up, perhaps attempting to surrender himself. people are shooting from the side, "he's the shooter!" and the police do drive right by him. also noting, the police have been at this intersection the entire time of the shootings and have not moved, have not attempted to apprehend the shooter, have not attempted to go provide medical aid until this moment. and so, i think what's important

about this moment is that it speaks to the serious questions that this raises. of course, this is a complex incident. there is altercations from many people. several people appear to be armed. but it raises serious questions about why a 17-year-old kid was armed with an ar-15-style rifle and had interacted with police prior and there were no questions asked, and later, why police made no attempt to apprehend him after the shooting. >> haley, well done. thank you again for being here. i appreciate your work. >> thank you so much for having me, michael. let's check in on your tweets and facebook comments. from facebook, i think. what do we have, katherine? "unfortunately, nobody cares about the full details. they just want justice right away and will come up with their own perception of what it is." guess what, i totally agree with that. i totally agree with that. and i want to say something about the floyd case, the blake case, and the rittenhouse case, which is that i think it's incumbent upon all of us, especially people in the media, to try and present all of the detail so that there isn't a

rush to judgment, so that if any of these cases end up contrary to the court of public opinion, there isn't unnecessary mayhem because people never understood to begin with what all the attendant circumstances were. that's my view. don't ferlgt to answer this week's survey question at smerconish.com. which will have a greater impact on election outcome? will it be covid or will it be civil unrest? still to come, both president trump and joe biden, they agree on one thing, 2020 is the most consequential election ever! basically, people say it every year. well, is 2020 the most important election in the history of the country? here's what lbj told us was at stake back in '64. >> we must either love each other or we must die. >> vote for president johnson on november 3rd. the stakes are too high for you to stay home. hi, i'm pat and i'm 75 years old.

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did you know that 2020's the most important election of our lifetimes, if not ever? if you don't believe me, both candidates told us so at their recent conventions. >> this is an important election, the most consequential. this is a life-changing election. this will determine what america's going to look like for a long, long time. >> this is the most important election in the history of our country. this election will decide whether we save the american dream or whether we allow a socialist agenda to demolish our cherished destiny. >> only problem is, americans have been told that in nearly every election. take a listen to just a sampling. >> honestly, i believe this may be the most important election of our lifetimes. >> barbara bush said this is the most important election of my lifetime. now, that's saying something, because her husband was a

president, and so was her son! >> i think this is the most important election since 1860. >> this election is the most important election of our lifetime. >> this is the most important election of our lifetime. >> we are in the first national election in the 21st century in the united states in what will be, i am convinced, one of the most important elections we're likely to see for the next 50 years. >> this is the most important election you've ever been part of, no matter how old or how young you are. the very character of our nation is on the ballot. >> so, is this one double most important, or should we never believe the hype? joining me now to discuss is larry sabato, director of the center for politics at the university of virginia, where he is a professor of politics. by the way, dr. sabato is arguably the most important guest that i've ever had on this

program. dr. sabato, what do you make of all this? why does it get said every four years? >> well, first, this is the most important show i've ever been on, most important appearance i've ever had. >> that's true! by the way, that happens to be true. >> absolutely. yes, of course it's true. look, it's double true, triple true, quadruple true for 2020. we always believe it's true. why? because our political leaders and our parties tell us it's true every four years. that was a brilliant little cut over the years. the only one who qualified it -- you have to give him credit -- is dick cheney. he said, this could be one of the most important elections for the next 50 years. so, he cut american history down to 50 years. but why do they do it? because they're trying to excite people and increase voter turnout and enthusiasm. perfectly reasonable. but those who pay attention and listen to this every four years do get a little bit cynical.

>> so, what's the serious answer? if i were to ask you with your vast knowledge, historically speaking, give me the top two or three list, and also give me something from the modern era. >> sure. well, of course, being at thomas jefferson university, i'm going to start with the election of 1800, when jefferson defeated john adams. the reason that was a critical election is because it set the precedent for an incumbent president being defeated for re-election and leaving office peacefully. 1860 i think is absolutely the most important election in american history because it led to the civil war and eventually the abolition of slavery. but this century, i pick two, 1932, franklin roosevelt's election opened up a nearly 50-year period of activist government, and that ended in 1980 with the next most important election, with ronald reagan began a 30-year --

approximately, 30-year period of retrenchment, of conservative government that reversed some of the trends that we saw during the roosevelt era. >> so, where does 2020 fall, according to you? >> i think it's the most important election of our lifetimes. i really do. look, i don't know whether it's the most important election of our lifetime but i'm going to say that because i want to maximize turnout. now, the truth is, we don't know. michael, we don't know. remember, back in 2000, we're both old enough to remember every jot and tittle of that one -- bush/gore, bush/gore. everyone said ahead of the election, oh, this is so boring. i really don't see the difference. they're both gray. it makes no difference. what happened? 9/11. the war in afghanistan. the war in iraq. loads of other things. it turned out to be one of the most consequential elections, certainly of my lifetime but everybody thought it was a bore prior to the tie in florida.

>> i think your observation's a great one, that we really don't know until we've run the election and seen what resulted, i.e., 1860, to know whether it was the most consequential. so, this is a subject you and i, hopefully, can revisit down the road. dr. sabato, that was excellent. thank you so much. >> thank you, michael. enjoyed it. still to come, your best and worst tweets and facebook comments, and we'll give you the final results of the survey question at smerconish.com. you can go and vote right now. which will have a greater impact on election outcome, covid or civil unrest?

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time to see how you responded to the survey question this week at smerconish.com. which would have a greater impact on election outcome. will it be covid or civil unrest? here is what the survey results show. 59% say covid. essentially a 60/40 with a whopping i'll call it 20,000 who've already voted. maybe a little confirmation bias. maybe you're saying, well, that's what's most important to me, but time will tell. katherine, what came in during the course of the program? from social media here we go -- all the tweets you put up are pro-trump. you call yourself fair, bias is more like it. since when did you decide to help trump get elected? shame. now, i guess my reading of your tweet just confirmed, what? i leave that to you. next. trump is the president. why is the media creating a story about unrest helping

trump? trump is the cause of unrest? beth, i went into the data that shows there's been to some extent a change in some battleground states. pay attention, minnesota. pay attention to wisconsin. i get your observation. i made it earlier. it's unfolding on his watch. therefore, how can he lay it off on joe biden? he's saying it's going to get worse if it's joe instead of him providing this thin blue line. one more if i have time for it. i think that i do. it's amazing how people can bend a situation to excuse this boy then bend the situation another way to excuse the cops so that no matter what it's the victims fault. eleanor, let me encourage everybody to do this, you've got to absorb yourself in the facts of each one of these cases before rendering a judgment. because they are not what they initially appear to be sometimes. you look at -- i'll give you three quickies if i've got time. look at the george floyd case.

shoechb should never have the knee on the man's neck much less for nine minutes. but where floyd said six or seven times i can't breathe before they put him in the squad car and had a boat load feint nil in his system, there might be a causation defense there. blake, you don't shoot a man in the back. you don't shoot a man in the back. but if he had a knife in the car or on him, that might change the standard as to whether deadly force was appropriate. and in the ritenhouse case a 17-year-old legally shouldn't have an ar-15. if he had a reasonable fear he was about to be kill who had lunged at him, maybe he was authorized to use it. don't rush to judgment. then we don't have a reaction that's outsourced when these cases end in a way we don't anticipate. thanks for watching. see you next week. what happens when 2 million people

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this morning we are remembering chadwick boseman. he's played some giants on screen, including a superhero. we'll tell you how his roles left their mark on a generation of movie fans. a man in las vegas may be the first patient in the u.s. to have contracted coronavirus twice. what this means in the fight to control the pandemic. and president trump makes his first comments about