your business can shine all week long. they're really heroes. so the idea that we're being a little bit draconian. there are other ways to protect. >> defending the doctors who go overseas to fight ebola. why many are taking aim at new quarantines. >> we've taken this action and i absolutely have no second thoughts about it. >> the new jersey governor standing by his quarantine decision. and today, a new mandate from another state. poll position. new polls out today show how tight the race is in key states with nine days to go until election day. and abraham lincoln, the great manipulator of the media. new insight today into the president's testy relationship with the press.

hello, everyone. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." good to be with you this afternoon. we begin with florida, which is implementing a new policy for health care workers returning from ebola-stricken countries. they must admit to twice daily health evaluations for 21 days. governor rick scott says four people have come back to florida from the outbreak zone already. new jersey governor chris christie defended his state's mandatory quarantine order just back from the region. >> the fact of the matter is that we -- i don't believe, when you're dealing with something as serious as this that we can count on a voluntary system. this is government's job. if anything else, the government's job is to protect the safety and health of our citizens. and so, we've taken this action and i absolutely have no second thoughts about it. >> meanwhile, the fiancee of dr. craig spencer is out of the hospital where she was quarantined.

she returned home where she will stay until november 14th. she is showing no symptoms. and joining us now, that's where dr. spencer is being treated in isolation. sarah, good afternoon. let's start with how he's doing. >> good afternoon. the news today is mixed. dr. spencer's illness is progressing. he's moved on to the next stage, which includes gastrointestinal symptoms. while this is concerning, it is not unexpected. the new york health commissioner said yesterday it is likely he's going to get worse before he gets better. and we've seen with these cases of ebola treated in the u.s., this is an illness filled with ups and downs. now for dr. spencer, of course, started with that 103-degree fever a day after he'd been out and about in the city. health officials working to ensure the public they are safe. >> dr. spencer was not sick at the time he was going around. and we keep saying it over and over again, chuck.

you have to come into direct contact with body fluids. so the risk to the general public is vanishingly small. >> and that is really the key point that officials want people to remember as we learn more about this case. that only by coming into contact with an infected person's bodily fluids can another person become infected with ebola. we're also learning more about dr. spencer's treatment. we'll told within hours of admitting to the hospital, he was given an antiviral therapy. the hospital has yet to identify that therapy. he also received a blood serum transfusion from nancy writebol. she says she was happy to give it to him and that she is praying for dr. spencer's recovery. francis? >> and tell us about that nurse who was quarantined after she arrived and her response to how she was treated when she got here. >> yeah, she has written a first-person essay criticizing the way her case was handled and

calling on the u.s. to provide humane and organized treatment for health care workers returning from this exhausting, physically and mentally exhausting work. now, when she arrived to newark, there was mass confusion, very little information. she was questioned for several hours, not given any explanation, given just a granola bar and water after traveling for two days to return to the u.s. she also said that while one of those touchless fever scanners registered an elevated temperature, a more accurate oral thermometer said she did not have an elevated temperature at all. her treatment, of course, is raising concerns with humanitarian groups, also with her organization, doctors without borders who say, quite frankly, they are confused by these new mandatory quarantine laws. they are seeking clarification. and they already had some guidelines in place for volunteers returning from these affected regions, which included a 21-day self-monitoring period and, of course, the instruction to immediately alert authorities

if they developed any symptoms, any fever, or anything like that, francis. >> she's scared for the other health care workers returning back like her, they'll find the frenzy of disorganization, what she calls fear in the quarantine. thank you so much. samantha power, u.s. ambassador to the united nations is in guinea, one of the three countries struggling. she hopes more resources can be deployed to help curb the outbreak. she spoke with nbc senior white house correspondent chris jansing exclusively about the american response and reaction to the virus. >> the international response to ebola needs to be taken to a wholly different scale than it is right now. people in this country have fear, fear of the unknown, fear of ebola. ebola is a horrible epidemic and it's why president obama is leading the world in trying to ensure that we can stop it in

its tracks. >> power will also visit sierra leone and liberia. tough questions for the obama administration as it tries to stop ebola from spreading state side. how does it protect americans without going too far? nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker joins me now. kristen, good afternoon. and let's start with where does the travel ban debate stand today? >> well, there's a heated debate. and you have top health officials slamming the mandatory quarantine that was put in place in new york and new jersey and illinois. take a listen. >> go with the science. that is what we're trying to do here in our government. go with the science. >> now, governor chris christie stood by that mandatory quarantine as you played at the top of the show, francis. the debate going on here behind the scenes is what would a mandatory quarantine actually accomplish? and cdc officials, officials here with the obama

administration say the concern is that it would disincentivize health care workers from going to the ebola zone to try to stomp out this disease. and that's really the key to dealing with this crisis. having health care workers volunteer and go overseas and deal with this issue just to put this a into some perspective. the goal is to create 50 more treatment centers. to do that, they need about 1,000 more volunteers just to set up those treatment centers alone. at this point, they're far short of that number. if you put in a mandatory quarantine, the concern is that you will have fewer and fewer people raising their hands. and this comes on the heels of that nurse who was speaking out. that health care worker who you heard about who is criticizing the process and says it wasn't clear that she was held in the airport for seven hours. the flip to this is you have a state like florida which has implemented stiffer restrictions two times, requiring people coming from the ebola zone are

monitored twice daily for their temperature and health status. that's part of the discussion going on behind the scenes. is that a better track to take than a mandatory 21-day quarantine? definitely, there are conversations ongoing here. but white house officials echoing what you heard, which is they're trying to let the science guide their decisions. >> the top doctor called it draconian rules in that sense. kristen walker, thank you so much. >> thanks. now to more political headlines, attorney general eric holder made a surprise appearance as the opening speaker to the human rights campaign dinner last night in washington. he highlighted the justice department's recent work to provide full federal benefits to same-sex couples. >> as we continue to extend full federal recognition to legal marriages now taking place in a growing number of states. in fact, i'm pleased to announce this evening that in just the past few days, the federal government has been able to

provide all federal benefits associated with marriage to same-sex spouses in six more states. >> and never to be outdone, former president bill clinton was the keynote speaker. and he couldn't pass up the opportunity to mention a certain 2016 hopeful. >> i kind of wanted to ask you to think about what the hrc means. i love the hrc. the initials are great. >> the hrc. and speaking of 2016, new jersey governor chris christie gave a fiery speech last night at terry branstad's birthday bash. and now, down to the wire. just nine days left until election day. and the latest nbc marist poll out today shows it'll be a close one with candidates neck and neck in several key states.

and we're talking about down to the wire here, especially with some of this swinging in the gop's direction. so let's get started with what the take home is from these new poll numbers. >> well, the polls show tight numbers in these states. but the momentum does seem to be with republicans in all of these cases. they've either closed the gap or gotten a little bit of a lead in the key states. part of that is that democrats are still leading with women in all five of these states but lost a little bit of their advantage there. and you're also seeing republicans gaining ground in some cases with independents. these will be very, very close contests. democrats are saying they -- these poll numbers aren't reflecting they have a better ground game. they say they have a point or two that isn't showing up in these numbers because they're better at getting their folks out to the polls. however, republicans have an advantage in almost all of these states on the question of momentum. and intensity of their gop voters. >> absolutely.

seems the gop is starting to get this clear path towards winning the majority here when it comes to that. let's talk about the bigger surprises that struck you. >> well, i think, the big surprise, the big close we saw earlier this month was we saw independent greg orman in coukas with a ten-point lead. now up to just a one-point lead. i think that was sort of a little bit expected in the fact that kansas voters are starting to get to know him better and his negatives have gone up. and you have seen the gop cavalry come in to back roberts. orman has to outrun that momentum now sort of behind roberts, the republican there. >> yeah. what happened with that? would you say behind it? what's behind the money? the backing here? and what's considered the most expensive race here in all the dollars being backed? >> well, i think you're seeing the momentum behind roberts again because he'd not been working hard even going into his primary. he hadn't been doing the work to

shore up his voters. orman has a big advantage, he's leading with 34% in independents in that contest. but he's losing ground among independents and republicans who had been toying with the idea, you know, am i tired of the incumbent? ready for somebody new? orman, i don't think, has totally made the case he's going to represent the conservatives in this very red state and caucus with republicans once he reaches the senate. >> looking ahead, what kind of polling changes can we expect to see now that it is coming down to the wire in the next weeke o so. >> well, the races are mostly set. there could be some small surprises here and there. voters know who these candidates are and it's reflected in the favorability ratings. in north carolina, in arkansas, aren't particularly popular with voters, and i think that's going to continue as these negative ads continue to air going into election day. what it comes down to is which voters, which side can tell their voters, this fight is worth fighting.

please show up to the polls. >> what a different scene from 2012. we appreciate your time and perspective as always. thank you. >> thank you. time to bring in somesore news now. the u.s. marines officially ended their operations in afghanistan today. the moment was marked with a formal ceremony turning over a large base in the south to afghan forces. british troops also ended their combat operation in the country relinquishing the nearby camp. the timing of the american and british withdrawal had not been announced for security reasons. voters in ukraine are overhauling their legislature today by electing a new parliament. it's the first parliamentary election since the pro-russian leader was ousted. the election is not being held in areas controlled by separatist rebels in the eastern part of the country. around 36 million people have registered to vote. and that was the crowd singing

"o canada" last night in ottawa. the night began with a moment of silence for the two canadian soldiers killed in ottawa and quebec last week. time to take a look at the weather on this sunday. crisp fall weather here in the northeast before other parts of the country higher than normal temperatures. alex wallace is here with a forecast. hi, alex. >> well, good sunday to you, francis. as we track yet another system moving its way into the northwest. one moved through, brought power outage issues, this one could do the same with more rain and strong winds. and this will be for the early week to midweek time frame. here's some of the rainfall totals we could see through tuesday morning, at least, some spots that could see 2 to 3 inches of the wet stuff. meanwhile, while that's going on, in the middle of the country, we've got warmth that's been building here through the weekend and that'll continue through the early week shifting its way a little bit farther east. temperatures, 10 to 20 degrees above average out there, the

northern plains back down to the southern plains. look at these temps for the day. 84 in kansas city, that's 21 degrees above average out there for you. now by tomorrow or monday, we shave off a little bit of the edge of the warmth. but still, well above average. and, of course, we've been dealing with the heat can with temps near 90. that continues for today. moving into tomorrow, as well. 87 around san antonio. it's not just here, the southeast, you'll be in on the warmth, as well. 10 to 15 degrees above average. we keep that going as we get to work. still ahead, fighting isis. recent reports suggest the terror group may now have low-grade chemical weapons. does this change the strategy against them? i'll ask a u.s. congressman next. s like my homemade. it's our slow simmered vegetables and tender white meat chicken. apology accepted. i'm watching you soup people. make it progresso or make it yourself [ inhales deeply ] [ sighs ]

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it is looking at risk in different areas.

that high end you can protect against, we're good at it. these small scale self-motivated lone wolves. it's much, much harder. and we don't have the resources to cover all of them. and we don't have enough people in government who are doing counterterrorism who understand 15 to 29-year-olds. they're disengaged in voting. this is also the group which is likely to be most violent. >> that was the former director of the national counterterrorism center for the bush and obama administrations this morning on "meet the press." anxiety growing over last week's tragic shooting deaths of two canadian soldiers by lone wolf attackers. for reaction from the hill, let's bring in democratic congressman from california. always good to see you and have your perspective. >> thanks, francis. >> you heard the comments. is that, in fact, the case? do we have enough resources here to protect us? >> well, i think michael's right on point. we do have a lot of resources devoted to this. but it's very hard problem to stop. if someone radicalizes on their own over the internet, they don't reach out to others,

there's no foreign contact finding those people, identifying those people, preventing those people from the acts of violence is extraordinarily tough. and i think in some of these cases, you have a blurring of the line between terrorism and just random acts of homicide by people who are mentally ill, have drug problems. so that, you know, expands the scope of those that may commit these acts. >> sure, we've had that discussion. the blurred line, fine line of mental illness. and somebody out there who do want to commit acts of terrorism here. and let's talk about the intel. last month, officials intercepted chatter of a possible terror plot in canada. yet, despite those warnings, they weren't able to -- we've seen the value of this kind of intel over and over again. what went wrong there? and what can we learn from it? >> well, it's hard to say that there was a fault with the intelligence agencies here. it's possible, certainly, that they could have scrutinized at least one of these individuals better than they did. but the reality is that as good

as the intelligence gets, it's never going to stop these things completely. and every time you have one of these acts of terrorism, it's not always going to be the case that we should've seen this coming. frankly, some of these things are just not going to be preventable or predictable. you know, we do have to continue to try to do a better job. we have to do a lot of outreach in the community so that people on the margins like this, people who are candidates for this kind of extremism and violence can be identified by their family, by their church, by their mosque. whatever the case may be. there's a role certainly the community can play here. we have to, i think, be cognizant of the fact we're not going to be able to stop these acts completely any more than we can stop random acts of murder that have plagued us for quite a long time. >> you're saying, you know, it's hard to decipher in that sense. when it comes to lone wolf attacks, then you have on the other side attacks where there is a direct connection, how can

you differentiate that and how can you make a difference in response? >> well, i think we have to look at what are the most significant threats to the country and the most significant threats in my point of view are the larger scale attacks, the things that could really harm great numbers of people or could devastate our economy, like we saw in 9/11. and we made a lot of progress in degrading that kind of threat, the threat that we used to see and still to some degree see from core al qaeda or franchises like aqap that want to bring down our aircraft. that would be much more terrifying to the country, much more destructive to the country. but those are somewhat more distant threats, frankly, than these home grown lone wolves. and so we want to try to deal with these twin problems. but i think we also want to be realistic about how much we can do without so invading the privacy of the american people that we undermine what we're trying to accomplish. >> well, you touched on it. and let's go back to the much larger threat in turning

overseas to isis. there are new reports that isis is using chlorine gas in attacks last month near baghdad. if that is the case, and they have low grade chemical weapons, does that change things? is that a game changer as far as our strategy in how we confront them? >> it's probably not a game changer in terms of our strategy. i hope that it will certainly stiffen the will of the international community to take action to join us. nations like turkey that are sitting on the sidelines. but in terms of whether that means the americans should introduce boots on the ground, i don't think we should. it doesn't change that. in terms of where we prioritize our air strikes, how long it will take us to train up the iraqi forces, the kurdish forces. probably not in the category at all of game changer. this weapon that isis may be using and, in fact, we see the regime of assad dropping barrel oils of chlorine gas is just adding to the catalog of horrors that they are committeeing.

it is not probably as lethal a weapon as isis uses just in the conventional weaponry. more able to kill people with conventional weapons than would chlorine. yet, it is a terrifying weapon. >> wish we had more time as always to cover so much more, but we appreciate your perspective and your time as always. congressman adam schiff, thank you. next, one of the poorest states in the nation has some of the wealthiest congressmen. can you guess where it is? we'll bring you that just ahead. [ male announcer ] some come here to build something smarter. ♪ some come here to build something stronger. others come to build something faster... something safer... something greener. something the whole world can share. people come to boeing to do many different things. but it's always about the very thing we do best. ♪

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>> she's 96% for obama, 100% for herself. >> tom tillis sinking north carolina's future. >> it is an ugly fight in the tar heel state. kay hagan's battle against tom tillis is shaping up to be the most expensive campaign in history. and the "washington post" says tillis is the number one target of attack ads. $26 million have already hit the air. hagan, on the other hand, ranks eighth with about $13.5 million in ads attacking her. and a new list of the wealthiest lawmakers in washington comes to us from roll call and the richest is a familiar name. it's darrell issa. his net worth, more than $357 million. and you'll have to go west to virginia. their average net worth comes to about $23.5 million as they represent the third poorest state in the country. and those are your number ones.

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welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." good to be with you. the new york doctor being treated for ebola has received blood from a survivor. missionary nancy writebol donated plasma to craig spencer on saturday. it's meant to boost the immune system. spencer was diagnosed we bith ea earlier this week after arriving from guinea where he was working with an aid group. his doctors say he's entered the next phase of the disease. patients often get worse before they improve and get better. spencer's case raised alarm bells about returning aid workers who may become sick after their arrival back in the united states. new york, new jersey and illinois now require health care workers who have had contact we b with ebola patients to remain quarantined. an executive order mandating a three-week monitoring period for travelers. the first person subjected to

the new jersey order is a nurse, casey hickoks. she says she was treated like a carolina when she landed at newark airport. and now some health experts are worried that policy might discourage others from helping out. >> we have to be careful that there are unintended consequences. the best way to stop this epidemic is to help the people in west africa. we do that by sending people over there not only from the usa and other places. we need to treat them returning people with respect. >> president and ceo of international humanitarian aid group. thank you for being with us, doctor. let's start with this, is the doctor right, especially when he uses draconian rules? does the mandatory quarantine order worry you? >> well, it does worry me because i think as the doctor said, what we really need to do is to make sure we're doing

everything possible to stop the chain of transmission, go where the source of this infection is. and make sure that we're doing what we can to incentivize health workers here in america as well as around the world to get to west africa so that we can make a difference in stopping this epidemic at the source. >> sure, and that's why the controversy is there and the debate continues on and saying this might deter those health care workers from going to that source. what policy would you recommend that protects the public and ensures the people who have volunteered that they're not going to be alienated? >> well, first of all, i think we have to make sure our policies are being based on science and not on fear. clearly, the most effective way of stopping this epidemic is making sure that we're going to the source and doing what we need from prevention as well as treatment and that we have enough health care workers. we also have to make sure that we're doing what we can to protect the american public from

the chances of spread here in this country. but we know the science. we know that people, this is not something that is airborne. this is not something that's easily contagious. and that people have to be in very close contact with somebody who is symptomatic. looks at making sure we have policies that are grounded in the science. we know the incubation period. we know that somebody has to be symptomatic to spread it. and we know it takes close personal contact with body fluids of an infected symptomatic individual. that's what we need to do to ground our policies in that science. >> well, let's consider the alternatives here as far as other options. what about the idea that returning aid workers should be put up in hotels rather than hospitals if they're not sick for that time period. >> well, i think, whether it's hotels, whether it's homes, you know, i think the point is are we making sure that we're

treating our health care workers who have gone and done a really wonderful things. as many people have said, they're real heroes. so are we making sure that when they come back we're looking at ways to keep the public safe? but at the same time, respecting their dignity and not making -- not being a disincentive and not penalizing them for doing what is a pretty heroic activity. >> we've heard that term heroes. other than you calling them that, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. ambassador power also called them heroes. have enough lessons been learned since the first dallas case there? we heard the comparison from dallas to new york and how new york responded just the way they should. what's your take away? >> well, obviously, this is something that we've not dealt with before this kind of spread of ebola. you know, there has never been an outbreak as serious as this in the past.

we know a lot about the science. and i think we're learning how to put responses in place so that as you said, new york was much better prepared than dallas. that said, what we have to make sure that we're not going too far in the direction of focusing on activities that would be a disincentive making sure we have people in place to treat this infection at the source so we can do what will be the most effective in stemming the tide of ebola in west africa. but also, making sure that we aren't increasing the risk this can become more widespread than it is. >> well, something that other states and even the white house. that administration is considering. dr. helene gayle, thank you. for your time. >> my pleasure. the search for a motive remains unclear today in the deadly high school shooting in washington state. four students remain

hospitalized at this hour. three in critical condition. but we are learning more about the young teacher who may have tried to stop the attack. nbc's halle jackson joins me now from the site of friday's shooting. thank you for being with us this morning. tell us about this teacher who reportedly tried to stop it. >> sure, she's a social studies teacher. and she was in the cafeteria when this shooting happened friday morning. she apparently ran toward the gunman to try to stop him. as you can imagine, there's been a lot of attention paid to her, called a hero teacher. she's asked her union president to address the media for her. and listen to what he had to say. >> i kind of get the feeling that let's get to normalcy as soon as possible is what this teacher would like to do. doesn't feel like a hero. feels like she tried to protect kids. >> reporter: you know, you talk about a return to normalcy. but for students and staff members and really the whole community here, that may take a

while. you can see the memorial actually here. it's been growing by the hour. people began delivering flowers and balloons yesterday morning, and we've been seeing that consistently. in fact, over my camera man's shoulder here, i can see more people showing up again today just to try to pay their respects to show some way of supporting the community that is hurting here, francis. >> i can imagine so many thoughts and prayers, too, with the victims. how are they doing as far as their conditions? >> okay. so there's four victims. two 14-year-old girls. they are both in critical condition at a local hospital. and two other victims, a 15-year-old in critical condition and intensive care. and a 14-year-old is in serious but improving condition. you can see, actually, names. their names are on balloons, flowers, candles here as people say, hey, pull through this. we're supporting you, we're here for you and want to see you make it. authorities have not released the name of the female student who was killed on friday, francis. >> halle jackson for us in

maryville, washington. thank you. with nine days to go until the midterms, we'll take a look at one race in america's heartland that some say could decide everything. that's ahead. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics. the setting is perfect. you know what? plenty of guys have this issue, not just getting an erection, but keeping it. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and you only take it when you need it.

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make sure you always know what's coming - and are ready for it. make it matter. we are just nine days away from the midterm elections. control for congress is up for grabs, and it could all come down to one senate race in the heartland of kansas between independent candidate greg orman and republican senator pat roberts. our new nbc news marist poll released this morning has it virtually tied. to break it all down for us, let's go to kshb reporter in kansas city, missouri. we thank you for being with us. i know you're getting all revved up as everybody else watching this race because it is kind of crazy if you think about it. and we're mentioning here that this race is virtually tied, independent greg orman's lead has shrunk nine points in a few weeks in the latest poll. what is going on here? what happened? where do we stand out? and is it just, you know, matter of the dollars being pumped into

this race? >> the dollars are definitely a part of it. when chad taylor dropped out of this race a few weeks ago, we saw the surge picking up a lot of that support. and pat robertson and the republicans have been slowly chipping away at that support over the last couple of weeks. and outside money in particular has a ton to do with this. we've just passed the $10 million mark just in outside money being spent in this race. it's already the most expensive senate race in kansas history. and we've still got nine days to go and a lot of advertisements still to air. >> and a lot that can happen in those nine days. as you and i both know. as much -- much have been made over kansas governor economic policies and how it's hurt the economy in kansas. is senator roberts paying for that? are there other issues here that we need to factor in? >> those aren't pat roberts' biggest problems. it's interesting, you have two republicans here running on opposite messages. isn't everything in kansas going great, trying to get reelected on a really positive message

about how things are going well in kansas is what he's saying. and pat roberts is warning if they remain in control of the senate and the white house, it's going to be the end of the world. he's running a much different message. his biggest problem came up in the primary against milton wolf when he was getting hammered on the residency issues. the idea he spends more of his time in virginia than he does in kansas. and he's never cleaned that up. and that left him really exposed and open to greg orman who gets the benefit of the doubt from a lot of people because he has an "i" behind his name and not a "d." in a state that has nearly two to one registration advantage. >> well, if you think about it. and what makes it so fascinating. really, until lately, just unthinkable to think that a republican incumbent here could lose this, you know, in a solidly red state. as you know very well and have reported on. and with so many close races

here, control over congress really could come down to this race here. which also as we talked about, the millions of outside spending coming into this race and what the koch brothers are pumping into it, too. the impact on the ground with the voters and how that's resinating? >> well, i mean, you cannot turn on your television without seeing all of these outside groups playing in. some of the americans for prosperity. the koch brothers affiliated groups are involved. but, really, kansas voters aren't used to seeing this kind of thing. we haven't had a competitive senate race in quite some time. and kansas hasn't sent anyone other than a republican to the senate since before world war ii. this is a little bit of a different animal. part of the reason it's getting so much attention because it has been nationalized. if this weren't an issue of control of the senate hinging so narrowly on one or two senate races, you might not see that much attention to this. and pat roberts might have a bigger problem because his

entire campaign message is don't send harry reid back as majority leader. if this was not such a close national race, he might be in bigger trouble than he is now. >> i have to ask you and as far as the other people there in kansas, is there time to watch the world series and pay attention to that when it comes to the close races politically? it's just like what are you going to watch? what are you going to spend your time? and can the royals really pull it off? >> i can assure you, people are making time for the world series. it's almost the other way around. there's very little oxygen for anything in this town that is not kansas city royals related. and by the way, both campaigns are buying campaign ads as are some of those -- during the air of the world series. if you want eyeballs, there's no better way to get attention in this town than have something to do with the royals. may or may not be related to why i'm wearing a blue tie. >> maybe not. and maybe hopefully people aren't going bathroom beer runs. >> you run that risk. but it's -- the world series --

>> it's the world series. >> like a 70 share here. so huge numbers of people in the kansas city market are watching. you can't cast a bigger net than that. >> we'll be watching. thank you so much for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> there in kansas city, missouri. long before facebook and twitter, one american president figured out a way to make media social. ahead, how abraham lincoln master minded the tool and twisted it to his advantage. plus this -- >> i need ashamed for the rest of us. this isn't how we should be treating our military members. and the fact that we permit this to go on is an outrage. >> strong words. so what practices is senator elizabeth warren referring to? patrick murphy's interview with her coming up at the top of the hour on "taking the hill." callahan's? ehh, i mean get away, like, away away. road trip?

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just nine days a left until the midterm elections.

mitt romney is campaigning hard for republicans. msnbc's ronan farrow talked about him about his place in today's gop. >> in general, how do you envision your role in public life now? are you the bill clinton of the gop? >> a lot of people helped me during my race and came out and really worked their hearts out to help me. and these were two of the people that supported me and endorsed me early on. i feel a responsibility to go out and help those people that helped me. they made a difference for me. i hope i can make some kind of difference for them. >> for more on ronan's interview with mitt romney, make sure to watch ronan farrow daily tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern. a new book that reveals how one of america's most iconic presidents mastered the media during a volatile time. abraham lincoln expert exposes lincoln's media savvy and a new holds barred approach dealing with the press, including shutting down newspapers that were disloyal.

"lincoln and the power of the press" is the latest examination of the 16th president. and joining us now in studio. so fascinating to hear and read the fact that he -- pampered, battled and manipulated three of the most powerful publications at the time. "new york times," "new york herald," "new york tribune." it was fascinating how he was able to mold the press during that time. >> you know, every politician who wanted to be successful had to have newspapers on their side. and fought newspapers that were opposed to them. and the difference then is newspapers were clearly pro democratic or pro republican on the news pages as well as the editorial pages. sometimes the editors were running for office themselves at the same time. >> well, it's interesting, harold. you wrote a long practice taught lincoln while his piercing voice could carry only a few hundred feet, newspapers could spread his words to the entire country. so where do you rank lincoln as far as presidents dealing with the media today? what if he had a smartphone? what if he had an iphone 6 and

could tweet and he could facebook and all of that? how would that work? >> first of all, to get some plastic surgery to get himself ready for the visual revolution. he would've mastered any media. he was so far in advance in terms of getting newspapers to do his bidding when necessary. and also to communicate through the press through what he calls public letters. going around. >> how did he do that? it's our job as journalists to be skeptical when it comes to things. you've got to prove it to us. we're wanting for information. how did he maneuver his way around that? >> well, he wrote editorials anonymously. he gave editors who were friendly patronage jobs. if an editor was a good guy, he became the postmaster of chicago. >> can you imagine in this day in age -- >> exactly. in 1864 when lincoln ran for reelection, the editor of the "new york times" was also the chairman of the national republican committee. >> well, imagine that. and here's the thing, too.

president lincoln shut down papers jailed editors who favored secession of the southern states. that could never happen now. so, again, how did he master that then? >> well, it was uncomfortable. and he hid behind the post office department, the war department, the military. but remember, there was a rebellion going on and lincoln believed that there was a fine line between descent and treason. newspaper editors who crossed the line could be shut down. and if the government didn't do it, mobs often did it. we're talking about not only marquee newspapers like the chicago times and the new york world, but 200 smaller newspapers. >> smaller ones. >> that discouraged enlistment, opposed the emancipation proclamation. >> what we read in our history books. remarkably, several new periodicals open for the business and the confederacy

during the war and remained in operation at least for a time. a new confederate press association also came into existence even as union forces progressively destroyed the telegraph lines vital for their transmission. how did lincoln battle the press operation in that sense? >> well, that was one way, the military shut down the telegraphs. the telegraph operations. also, took control of so many printing presses. and, i'm sorry, so many paper mills in the south that newspapers had a really hard time publishing. in fact, some confederate newspapers began publishing on scraps of paper. they said one day the paper would be the size of a table cloth. >> right. >> the next day a hankerchief. sort of a valiant struggle to keep the press alive. >> is there a press and government codependency that you see happening today? >> not like it was in 1860s. they were truly one in the same political/press machine.

i think we moved away from it a little bit. some would disagree. >> fascinating. thank you so much for this perspective and maybe you'll, you know, dig up more good stuff when it comes to expertise in president lincoln. >> hope so. thank you. >> thank you. and thank you for being with us on this sunday. that does it for today's edition of "weekends with alex witt." alex will be back next week. and up next; patrick murphy's exclusive interview on taking the hill. rive? oh sure, i'll be right back. thanks. leather, running boards... carmax quality certified, low, no-haggle price, 5-day money back guarantee ... that's great... and, a roof rack for the kayak! we don't have a kayak. we could get a kayak. ready to roll? yes, we are. with more than 35,000 cars nationwide, carmax has the perfect car for...everybody. carmax. start here. and for many, it's a struggle to keep your a1c down.

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i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement questions. so ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. now you and your ameripise advisor.... can get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. welcome into "taking the hill." i'm patrick murphy. in a moment, i'll bring you my exclusive interview with senator elizabeth warren. but first, a milestone for the u.s. military. combat operations in afghanistan were turned over today to afghan forces. while, there are still some 24,000 american troops still in afghanistan, both