michelle obama campaigning with dan malloy. he's neck and neck with the same man who challenged him four years ago. the first lady today also hit the trail for the democrat running for governor of rhode island. that is also another close race. the president will head there later tonight. but right now, he's in the air on the way to stump in maine. with a presidency that's not exactly flying high. two points above his all-time low. we know obama's not on the ballot. his name alone is bringing republicans to the polls. nearly 60% of registered gop voters say they're going simply to the polls on tuesday to express their disappointment with the president. now, compare that to just 43% of democrats who say their vote will be in support of president obama and his policies. conventional thinking would say president obama is a drag on democrats, but our steve kornacki has another take on all of this. we'll talk to him in a few moments. but first, let's start with the stump. ron allen at the white house.

and ron, the president has more campaign events this week through election day, really than he's had the entire midterm election cycle. no one seems to be calling him the campaigner in chief anymore. >> well, they're trying to emphasize the positive. saying that the president is going to places that he can make a difference. they're saying he's going to make a big push to try to turn out the democratic base. his supporters who voted for him over the years who can make a difference in some of these key senate races that will swing the ambulance of power and that chamber, but of course. haas not going to those states. it is all about governor races. here's what josh earnest said about this earlier this week. >> we are finding that governors are playing an important role in implementing federal law. and so whether it's raising the minimum wage or expanding medicaid that there are as important role that governors are playing in furthering the kinds of policies that the

president advocates. the outcomes of these statewide campaigns are significant, as well, and are worthy of the president's attention and in some cases, they do have significant consequences for the successful implementations of the policies the president has worked hard to pass. >> all of that is certainly true. the other issue, of course, that obama's going to -- president obama's going to hit when he gets to maine coincidentally is ebola. as you know, that's where the nurse has been quarantined or at least state officials are trying to quarantine her. president obama has been very outspoken against these sort of mandatory policies saying nothing should be done that inhibits aid workers from going to fight ebola on the front lines there in west africa which is the administration's view. that, of course, will come up in the press there. he's there and in rhode island later tonight. and the final stop in all of this is pennsylvania over the weekend. >> thank you so much for that report. for more on the midterms, let's

head to steve kornacki at the election boards. it's great to have you on the show. is there a state where the president's campaigning will actually help democrats on tuesday? >> well, and it's great to be here. let's take a look at the board. we have a state called up here and this is wisconsin, the site of one of the most intense ferocious governor races in the country. let's remind you where the race stands now, scott walker, elected first in 2010, survives the recall in 2012, possible 2016 presidential candidate. this is big for democrats. they can stop a republican presidential candidate in his tracks if they can beat him here. now, the most recent poll you've seen this week put walker ahead by seven points in this race, 50% to 43%. good position to be in, you would think. but look at the average of all the polls because polls, there's a lot of noise. but p when you do the averages, you can do a lot of consistent reading. the average of all polls put

walker ahead of burke, his democratic challenger. and walker's been making a lot of news. complaining he hasn't gotten enough money from national republican groups. he's clearly sending signals he's nervous about the outcome. you'd say he's slightly in the lead of mary burke. which raises the question that you just brought up there, the president was in wisconsin this week. and this is something we're not seeing in battleground states where the democratic candidate brings in the president. why is mary burke doing that? well, to explain that, let's take a look at the map of wisconsin. and you're looking at the 2012 presidential race in wisconsin. paul ryan from wisconsin was on the republican ticket, did not lift the republicans to victory. to tell the story of why president obama is so important in this race, this is where you have to look. in this corner of the state, in these two counties. right here on the right, this blue county is milwaukee county. basically, the city of milwaukee. there's a large minority population in milwaukee versus right outside of it here.

the red county. this is another gigantic suburban county, almost all white. the quintessential white flight county, a lot of white residents who left milwaukee, left the city a generation or two ago. these are two of the biggest counties in the state. let's take a closer look at how they voted. take a closer look at those two counties. in milwaukee county now in 2012, president obama won big. he won by 178,000 votes. >> wow. >> take a look next door. mitt romney wins this thing by 84,000 votes. these are lopsided. here's the story, 178 and 84. go to 2010 when scott walker first got elected governor. take a look at milwaukee county. it's an 81,000 vote plurality for the democrat there. obama 178, the democrat here only winning it by 81. look, it's the same number basically. it's 82,000. when you compare what happened in 2010 and 2012, this is what

you see. they got the same margin. in the midterm year, the off year, they got 81,000, 84,000 in the presidential year. on the democratic side, though, their life blood county. they more than doubled it between 2010 and 2012. to the calculation that the democrats are making here is we have nothing left to lose in the suburbs. whether obama's here, or not, whether there's a backlash against obama or not, we're getting killed in the county. but the more we can get this 81 -- before you can get that to 177, the more you have a chase to win. this is a rare state where they're saying the backlash is already baked in. we've got to drive up that turnout in milwaukee. and that's why president obama wasn't just in wisconsin, he was in milwaukee this week. >> that's remarkable stuff. i haven't seen anyone break those numbers down. come over to this table. watch your step. there's a stair there. nicely done. one of the other things i would think about wisconsin, and correct me if i'm wrong here, it's a pretty polarized electorate. people are pretty set

politically. it's just a matter of which side turns out. talk to us about other states that will be critical in this election. arkansas and alaska, for example, have a larger persuadable voter population and other ones that really is just about getting your base out. >> yeah. wisconsin's the classic example. and the county i just showed you there is the suburban county. the story of american politics in the last generation really has been the suburbs. the metropolitan areas getting more and more democratic, more and more liberal. this is like right outside milwaukee is the exception to every rule you've learned about american politics for the last generation. it is getting, if anything, more republican. you don't see that in other places. where you find more of the swing voters. here's a state i think to pay closer attention to is new hampshire. the democratic incumbent running against scott brown. new hampshire's one of these states, a generation ago, a generation ago, new hampshire was one of the most republican states in the country. george bush sr. carried it by 30 points in 1988.

in 2012, president obama was carrying this thing by double digits. a state completely remade politically. but there is no other state that voted for barack obama twice that in between, in 2010 in that republican year went more to the republicans than new hampshire. there was a senate race in new hampshire in 2010 for an open seat and the republicans won it by 25 points. so new hampshire is filled -- this is a state that's very much in transition and filled with a lot of voters who kind of politically have gone both ways. >> and new hampshire voters are sort of like your friend who will want to disagree with whatever you want to order for dinner. if you're like, how about sushi, they say no. but if you order burgers, they would say no to that. and you saw that when they rejected the pick on president obama. >> it's a food analogy, but when obama won iowa, they said, not so fast and went to clinton. and it was one of the biggest shifts, which was interesting.

i want your thoughts on alaska. >> this is a race. the democratic incumbent being challenged by dan sullivan and the republican. the republican theory on this race has been very simple all year. and frankly, democrats to be honest get a few drinks in them, they'll tell you the same theory. he won this race in 2008 by 3,700 votes. took two weeks for a winner to be declared. now, what happened in that race in 2008. two things, that was the obama wave of 2008. he obviously didn't carry alaska, but he did better there than most democrats are going to do. this is the high water mark. and then his opponent, ted stevens, the republican incumbent in 2008 was indicted and convicted of corruption charges. >> that's a challenge. >> which if you talk to steven's people which were later overturned. >> right. in terms of the electoral impact, convicted of federal corruption charges a week before the election, it doesn't get much worse than that. and yet, with all of that going against him, only lost that race by 3,700 votes.

they say, look, 2014, better climate for us. second of all, our candidates not going to get -- however, the most recent polling, and polling is tougher in alaska than any other state. but the most recent polling shows he's a lot closer in this thing than people realize. this is one, and the other quick x factor on this is a lot of mail-in voting. fishermen, crab season in alaska, they're not due until november 15th. counted until november 19th. might be a while in alaska. >> it's the african-american vote. and whether they're going to turn out. and jeremy peters in the "new york times" today has a story about how democrats are scaring african-american voters trying to get them to come to the polls and vote. now, this isn't anything new to me. i've been writing about this since basically last year. and with great intensity about the need for african-americans to come out and vote. talk about the politics behind that. why? i mean, as you showed in your map about milwaukee county and

why the president went specifically there to campaign in a state where, you know, actually in local races where the president isn't even wanted anywhere. why is african-american vote so important? >> yeah. so that story we told about milwaukee, about milwaukee county, that story, versions of it are playing out around the country. i'll give you another example of georgia. we're talking about the georgia senate race and the democrats having a chance there. it's fulton county, atlanta, and right around atlanta, there's about a three-county area there, about 33% of all of the democratic votes in the state come from. and there's a heavy african-american and growing hispanic populations in this area right around metro atlanta. this is the interesting fact about georgia. the population in georgia since the year 2000 has gone up by about 1.5 million. the population in this region, by more than a million. 80%. 80% of that new population is nonwhite. so if you're the democrats and you're looking at georgia, you're saying, this is the ball game for us.

this is our future if we can get it out in 2014. >> fascinating stuff to end on. it was announced this morning that the longest serving mayor of boston thomas menino passed away with the battle of cancer. really quickly, how will this man be remembered? >> quick story. i met tom when i lived in boston and i'm not alone. there was a poll that was taken in 2008. he still had five years left as mayor. and as of 2008, more than 50% of the people lived in boston had personally met the mayor. you don't see this anymore. so that was tom menino. >> that says it all. no one breaks down these races better than you do. thanks for being with us. >> sure. exposing isis' achilles heel. and later, it's all about the benjamins this cycle. who tops the list of influential billionaires? is it possible to get money out of the midterms? and there's a gold rush ahead as the cycle rolls on. it's thursday, october 30th. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality

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the fight against isis raging on in the syrian border town as a key u.s. ally in the region tries to turn the tide. turkey is letting a steady stream of kurdish fighters cross through its borders and join that fight. they are hoping to make gains against isis fighters. u.s. air strikes alone haven't been able to accomplish. now, this year, isis rose from an obscure group to, some say, now the preeminent terror organization in the world. and in the latest issue of harper's magazine, james harkin takes us through that time line interviewing isis fighters, their detractors and those

allegiances are up for grabs. isis rose quickly. could it disintegrate just as fast. james harkin is with us now from the london newsroom. good day to you. two things jump out in this article. one, you report isis has a fundamentally different reputation because it targets journalists much more directly and deathly ways than many other groups. and two, you trace people who have gone from being in the free syrian army to then joining isis to then becoming isis critics. why are those two points important? >> well, what i was trying to do with the article, really, was to go back and revisit my reporting over three years. i was speaking to the same free syrian army people i've been speaking to many months and years and going back to the same areas and finding that some of them were not fighting isis and some of them were with isis. it even got to kobani to the front line, to the people currently and very bravely fighting against isis. and i suppose if there's one

thing i would extract from that reporting and took me six weeks down there to do is this, if you want to find out what isis is, really, its mission is different. it's a constructive mission. in other words, it doesn't really care about international terrorism. its job is to try to rebuild a state or caliphate. and what that speaks to, i think, if you want to understand the reasons for the popular support is that people in syria are tired, and they're drawn to an idea which is basically about delivering services and providing an elementary rule of law. and whatever you think of isis' bizarre approach to law, it is a kind of law. and people say that to me over and over again. we simply want sort of a peaceful approach to law and order. and that's what this dreadfully medieval interpretation of this provides. >> are they able to actually have that rule of law? what is life like for citizens living right now in isis-controlled territory? >> well, i mean, over and over,

these rebel fighters who weren't even sympathetic to isis were saying, i have friends, they're able to start businesses, they're able to, you know, travel to the mosque and know when they come back, they won't be stolen from. this speaks to an elementary sense where there was a dissent into chaos in northern syria. if you want to suunderstand syr and isis, you have to understand it as a reaction to chaos. some of which were sponsored by us. some of which were sponsored by other countries. and then this group came along and said enough of the chaos. incredibly brutal medieval system of law. and this system of law even with our bombing in places like kobani still works and some are attracted to it. >> and james, feels like we're going to be talking about isis for years to come. but a lot of that depends on how many people they're able to recruit and once they recruit these people if they actually want to stay a part of isis. give us a sense in terms of the

talks that you've had with some of these fighters. once they join, are they happy to be there? does it seem like it's sustainable like they're going to stay there for a while? >> i think we have to talk about two different things. in many ways, i felt their sympathies were up for grabs. sometimes they were joining isis because they had better weapons. it was a more efficient operation, and in a sense, i think in some ways, strangely, it'll be easier to separate the syrians and iraqis and people in the region than these bizarre psychologically troubled individuals who arrive from europe and america to join and sort of go there for the license of being able to shoot weapons and cut people's heads off and do whatever they want in syria. that second thing is our problem. the first problem, i think, in some ways might be easier to solve. if we -- if someone can provide an elementary rule of law in northern syria, i think the other reasons you'd be attracted to isis in terms of their interpretation of the koran, that can be quickly eradicated or bypassed.

>> and your reporting does show why there's a fundamental different organization and threat. thank you so much. and up next, who knew a bike ride, yes, a bike ride, you see it right there could cause so much controversy today. also, with just five days to the midterms, you're going to meet the congressman on the cycle trying to make your voices loud as all of those big money donors. that's straight ahead. you'rbam!ean. charmin ultra strong cleans so much better it meets even the highest standards of clean. with a soft duraclean texture, charmin ultra strong is 4 times stronger. and you can use up to 4x less. charmin ultra strong. having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn't there and the next second... boom!

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and i like to do. since we've moved here, this is our trail. >> are you afraid with the police around? >> i'm not afraid. >> have you heard from your lawyer? >> i sure haven't. we're waiting to hear from the state of maine to see what they want to do. i hope we can continue negotiations and work this out amicably. >> stephanie gosk with the latest from the canadian border town of ft. kent, maine. >> reporter: hey, guys. it was something of a unique morning here in ft. kent. casey hickox says she goes on a bike ride with her boyfriend, but this was not their usual bike ride. they were pursued pretty closely by the state trooper that's been here for the last few days, as well as a herd of media hoping to get some kind of comment. when she returned, she did answer a couple of our questions. and we asked her why she took this bike ride. and she said, listen, we woke up this morning and decided we were going to go. but it is still definitely a statement on her part. leaving her home when the state of maine has asked her if she

would just stay inside. interestingly today, the governor of maine issued a statement saying that after lengthy negotiations, they haven't reached any agreement with casey. he went on to say that the state of maine is ready to comply with the cdc guidelines for people who come back from western africa with, quote, some risk. and that she would fall in this category. among the things that she would be allowed to do within these guidelines is ride her bike. back to you guys. >> stephanie gosk. thank you so much for that report. and turning back now to politics. whether you're watching the nightly news or a repeat of "seinfeld," chances are you could not escape hearing about the elections. that's because a flood of campaign ads consumes most commercial breaks. nearly 3 million have aired so far this election cycle and we still have five days to go. and those ads don't come cheap. overall spending has already topped $1 billion with a "b," people. that money has to come from somewhere. and here's a hint. it is not from people like you

or me. so is there any hope, a sliver of hope to get the average joe back in the game? there's a new bill floating around in congress aimed to give campaign donors a bigger voice in the process. the bill was introduced by congressman john sarbanes from outside the beltway in maryland. it's described as a bipartisan bill. but as of now, there's only one republican. thank you so much for being with us. >> thanks so much for having me. >> i want to focus on this number one. one republican signing on. because when you look at polling, you see that republican voters and democratic voters want this to change. they do not want big money dominating campaign cycles. so what has to happen to get more republicans on board with this? >> i think what's going to happen is you're going to have republican constituents across the country in these districts

where republican members of congress consistently saying this is an important issue for us. as you pointed out, the polling indicates that across the political spectrum whether it's democrats, independents or republicans, people are feeling left out. they feel the government works for somebody else, that it works for big money and special interests, and that the voices of everyday citizens are being left behind. that's a universal feeling. it's a deep sentiment. it's broad and it's growing every single day. i think this narrative of taking our government back from special interest is something that's going to resinate across the political spectrum. and i think you will see in the future more republican members of congress hearing that message and getting behind reform like this. >> congressman, this bill's a fantastic idea, we've covered on the show a lot. you're right to say, most people when asked would rather voters had a bigger say than billionaires or even corporations, right. but beyond this being a good idea, we all know members of congress, they can slap their name on anything.

very few bills move. those that do have to be a priority. and don't you think as we look here towards tuesday and the midterms, don't we need more people running specifically on this issue? i can think back to when paul wellstone and john mccain and russ feingold made cleaning up washington and changing the money system their number one issue. they went there with that brief. otherwise, yeah, you mention it. a lot of folks incumbents. they don't really bring these type of bills to the floor. >> i think you're seeing more and more candidates that are running on this issue. and a lot of them are discovering that this is sort of the sound check on the microphone when they stand in front of an audience. if they don't start by talking about the influence that big money is having on politics and on governing, then eyes glaze over. but if they start there, people say, hey, this guy knows how i feel, and maybe i should listen to the rest of what he needs to say. so i think you're going to increasingly see candidates grab hold of this. i do think it's important that we focus not just on the impact that big money has on the

outcome of elections, but what happens with governing. next tuesday night and on wednesday morning and the days thereafter, you're going to have a lot of pundits asking the question did big money have an effect. was big money successful in impacting the outcome of the elections? but the real story is, that big money wins regardless of the outcome of the elections because whether you're a democrat or republican candidate, if you're getting a lot of money from special interests, then when it comes time to govern in washington, human nature says you're going to lean in that direction. >> congressman, is there a local model for the legislation that you're trying to get past? for instance, here in new york city, there's a campaign finance law. and 49 of the 51 candidates who won participated in the local campaign finance program. so what, if any, model did you use for the legislation you've devised? >> well, new york city's a great example that i wanted to try to test drive what my bill says in

my own district. actually, in the third district. we started something called the my voice campaign, which is to empower everyday citizens to say my voice does count. and we set out to see if we could hit the threshold in the government by the people act for qualifying for public funding, which is to raise $50,000 from at least 1,000 small donors. we're going to do that by the end of this cycle and show that it's possible to build this kind of infrastructure that would allow you to access public financing under the model we've created and to start giving a voice back to every day citizens who feel so left out. >> congressman, let me ask you about that. your bill focuses, and i think it's extremely important, focusing on the money that candidates themselves are raising. but we know outside money is starting to become -- come in in larger dollar amounts and be more important to races than even what the candidates are raising themselves. can we fundamentally shift the

balance here without a constitutional amendment that says money is not speech? >> well, of course, the constitutional amendment is a very tough road. that's part of the containment strategy which is putting limits on the amount of money that's spent in campaigns. this supreme court obviously has no interest in doing that. that's why we want to turn to the empowerment strategy, which is really competing for influence, but doing it on behalf of small donors. the other thing is, if you build out a small donor network, you can't totally solve for the problem of a super pac coming after you. but you can partially solve for it because if that super pac comes for you, you've got a place to turn. you can say to the $25 and $50 donors, i need your help. you're basically left defenseless. i think it makes sense to bring every day citizens into this because they'll have your back in the face of those super pacs. >> it is such a problem.

and so refreshing to have a politician speaking out about this. thank you so much for being with us. and up next, meet the billionaires that all of that money is coming from. and still ahead, gold fever takes over "the cycle" with discovery's number one show "gold rush." >> new ways to pull gold out of the ground. >> bigger, badder machines. big dreams. >> i'm setting a 2,000 ounce goal for us. we asked people a question how much money do you think you'll need when you retire?

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as we just discussed, this year's midterms will be the most expensive ever at almost $4 billion, and that's more than what was spent in all the congressional races and the presidential election in 2000 combined. let that sink in for a minute. so who is doing all of this bankrolling? the brookings institutions of darrell west has a few ideas. he recently put on a list of

america's most influential political billionaires. koch brothers top the list. that's not really a shock to anyone, i don't think. next comes michael bloomberg and then climate change activist tom styer. he dives even deeper into what he calls the wealthification of politics and what makes up the other percent of us. reflections on the upper crust. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. nice to be with you. >> so one of the things you explore and i saw the study, as well, is the fact that the average citizens preferences have little to no impact on legislative outcomes. meanwhile, the wealthiest among us, their preferences have a lot of impact on what our legislators are actually doing. what's going on here? >> it's a huge problem. the 2014 elections are becoming the battle of the billionaires. as you point out, the koch brothers are spending an enormous amount of money, it's estimated they're going to put

$290 million in this. there are other billionaires who are spending tens of millions of dollars. and the real problem is a lot of this billionaire money is coming in the form of dark money that's not disclosed. there was a study that suggested more than half of the broadcast ads that are going to air this year come from groups that do not fully disclose their funders. >> you know, daryl, we're talking about money, big money in national politics, but billionaires are involved in state and local races. why are folks such as the koch brothers involved in local races? >> local and state races are a great opportunity for billionaires to shape the process because there's often a lot less competition. if you dump $5 million or $10 million into a small or medium sized state, that's a huge expenditure. also, at the local level, we know that the news media have had a lot of problems coming out of the financial crisis. most newspapers have really

downsized. so there's a lot less scrutiny of the big money coming into state and local politics. >> yeah. and you have nearly 500 billionaires that are well into their 80s, which means their empires will be passed down to the kids and grand kids. many have different interests and different political agenda. harold simmons is a good example. he passed away in december. in 2012, he gave $18 million to defeat president obama. the president was, quote, the most dangerous american alive because he would eliminate free enterprise in this country. now that empire's been passed down to his two daughters who have supported a lot of progressive issues, including the campaigns of hillary clinton and barack obama. so what impact is that going to have? >> well, there are a lot of conservatives who don't think we have a problem of big money in politics. they're not worried about disclosure. they're clearly not worried about the koch brothers spending a lot of money to support republicans. as you point out, some of this billionaire money is going to pass to children who are much more liberal. they're more liberal on social

issues. they tend to be a little more sympathetic to environmental causes. so i think in five to ten years, conservatives may actually rue some of their current positions when they see billionaires dump money into the political process. >> it's an excellent book, it's an important book, darrell west. thank you so much. >> thank you. and the election music isn't the only music selection today. it's our last baseball report of the year as the giants won the world series last night in a game you had to see to believe. >> into right field. will make the catch, tagging and scoring sandoval. >> the giants scored first, then the kansas city royals pulled even in the bottom of the second and that started a chain of events which made this seventh and deciding game an instant classic. giants' manager went to the bullpen and in the third with a man on first and no one out, it looked like kansas city was ready to take the lead. >> here's one up the middle.

panic! what a play! gets one! and safe at first! unbelievable diving play by -- >> at first, the runner at first was called safe, but the replay showed he was out. the first world series replay overturn. then the giants moved ahead on the hit by d.h. mike morris. >> broken bat base hit into right, pence will go to third. >> in the bottom of the fifth, the giants called on their ace on only two day's rest after shutting out the royals on sunday in a complete game. he threw 117 pitches. he mowed the royals down, but there was one scare. alex gordon, a single to left center which the giants turned into a man on third. >> a mistake in the outfield! and he will hold there with two outs representing the tying run! >> bumgarner versus salvador perez. >> the 2-2.

popped up! sandoval! in foul territory! giants win! >> so for the third time in five years, the giants rule baseball and madison bumgarner is now the king of the pitching hill. >> great reporting. >> thank you. >> "the cycle" continues after this. congrats to san francisco. ♪ the little things that you do for me ♪ [ male announcer ] the little things we do... can make a big difference. every time you use dawn, you're using a brand that supports wildlife rescue efforts. experts trust dawn... because it's tough on grease yet gentle. ♪ you by my side makes the little things so good ♪ ♪ be a part of the bigger picture. ♪ and your kindness makes ♪ the little things that you do for me ♪ go to facebook.com dawnsaveswildlife. this is charlie. his long day of doing it himself starts with back pain... and a choice. take 4 advil in a day or just 2 aleve for all day relief.

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the discovery channel's number one rated show "gold rush" is back for the fifth season. 20-year-old miner already made a mint mining. he set his sights on 2,000 ounces of gold worth more than $2.5 million. but it won't be easy. >> we're going to haul all this pay out of here, stockpile it and hopefully it'll -- every hour we're not doing it, is an hour we don't get back. we've got to go for it. if we need the plant run 24/7, we'll do what it takes to make that happen. >> well, you can catch parker and his fellow miners every friday night at 9:00/8:00 central on the discovery channel. and right here at the table now. welcome, parker. >> thanks for having me. >> i have to ask you this question to start off. what is a millennial? you're only 20 years old. in the 21st century doing, in a

job and fascinated by something from the 19th century. >> um. it's not -- for me, it's not that big of a deal. because i grew up doing this. like i grew up with my grandpa, he's 94 now. >> wow. >> he was running a gold mine from about 1970 on, and so i grew up doing it. and it's like riding a bike for me or fishing. in alaska, a lot of kids grow up doing what they do, you know, as a business and a lot of my friends own fishing boats or whatever it is. and i run a gold mine. >> but you enjoy it. you like it, you get a thrill out of it? >> yeah. >> it's not something passed down to you. you also love it? >> i'm a bit of an equipment geek. it works out perfect for that. >> what's it like, though, being a 20-year-old millionaire in alaska? does everyone want to be your best friend? >> well, millionaire, just because we found $1 million worth of gold -- >> where's your bank statement? >> far from it. >> i want to see the bank statement. >> but life is probably changed a bit for you, no?

>> yeah. it's weird. well, i'm here. things like this are kind of strange. yeah. with the show involved, it's definitely a completely different element. you know, normally gold mining is a really private thing. you don't talk about how much gold you're finding or how you're doing or anything like that. and with gold rush involved, it's all out there on the table. and, yeah, it's strange. >> so you're obviously good at this, been very successful, even with your tender years. is it more of a question of luck or skill, though? what is that balance? what goes into being a good gold miner? >> yeah, there's very little luck. you can happen upon some good ground and get lucky, but, you know, over the long-term, if you're good at what you're doing -- the guys that are good -- >> what does that mean? >> just like being efficient and moving dirt, you know. and knowing how to basically all we do is move dirt, right? moving dirt from point "a" to point "b." there's a lot of things that go

into that picking ground you're going to mine. we have about 5 square miles of ground to mine, right. >> how do you know where to go? >> exactly. that's the question. >> you don't know -- >> you can throw a dart at a board or do a lot of testing d and, you know, kind of go at it a little bit more scientific. and that's what we try to do. but those are the things -- >> i don't think you'd be good at that. >> well, from what i've read, the key is finding the gold. not so much moving the dirt as it is getting the gold itself. >> well, yeah, but it's just a function of moving the dirt, right? >> well, this is a chicken egg, moving the dirt. >> like last season. last season we found 1,000 ounces of gold. but to do that, we had to move over 600,000 yards of dirt. >> whoa. >> right? >> that is a lot of dirt. >> it's like a dump truck that holds 20 yards. that's a hell of a lot of dirt, right? >> yeah, that's a ton. maybe not literally a ton. i don't know what i'm talking

about. >> 900,000 tons. >> i'll refer to it with poetic license as a ton. you got some folks who go out t other states and really adventure owsley find gold in other places. would you ever consider doing that or this really all about the fact that you've learned about how to do this in your state of alaska and that's where you do it best. >> most states are pretty safe, i think. there has to be gold in the ground for us to go there. todd hoffman. >> condition number one. >> todd hoffman doesn't need gold in the ground, because he went to south america and went broke. >> that is a miner burn. >> that is a bit of a miner burn. >> how much does your profit depend on what it's currently selling for? >> yeah, in, like, 20% on a gold price over a thousand ounces is over $200,000. so that's a big deal for us. >> pay dirt. >> ari, really?

>> that's minher -- >> i apologize. >> i'm sorry. go on. >> please proceed. >> we pay attention to that a lot and i try to follow it, but what is there that we can really do? i try to sell it when the price was good, but -- >> it doesn't really change. >> you're looking at it, but it can't really change what you're doing. >> the price of gold went up 30% we would approach next year different three than if it goes down 20%, right? it definitely affects how i'm going to go into a season versus how much we'll spend. >> i bet people think you find the big gold blocks that we're used to seeing and what you get are little pebbles. >> tiny little flakes. >> what's the biggest nugget you've ever found? >> and how stupid do you think we are right now don't answer that, actually. >> that's a good question. that is a -- honestly, that is a

good question. >> and what is going on? >> tell us more about the nuggets. >> the biggest nugget. i forgot where we were at. >> so the mine we're at with tony beats up in the klondike is all small gold, like, real fine dust and back home with my grandpa we would find a lot of big nuggets. we would find -- i've seen -- i think the biggest one we've find. >> like these. >> that would be a one-ounce nugget. >> what would that be worth. >> on the spot market probably about $1200, but you could sell it for $2,000 or $3,000. >> is alaska the best mining. >> i don't know. >> where is the best dirt? >> i don't know. >> the best dirt is wherever i'm digging. >>. >> i don't know either, jonathan. >> you have the patience of job with us today. >> thank you so much. >> up next, abby's road leads us

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we're now just a few day away from the 2014 midterm elections. who would have guessed that when just two years ago it seemed the gop was crushed by the obama machine. the midterms are often a good barometer with where we're at with the country and they're not good reading right now for the democrats. the majority of americans saying they can't trust the government when it comes to handeling the biggest problems and there's more of them by three to one blame president obama and the democrats rather than republicans in congress.

the reality is most republicans have the upper hand simply because they are not democrats. the lesser of two evils is politics 2014, but there's one race that every republican and democrat should be watching closely, because it shows that campaigns do matter. i'm talking about the senate race in colorado between incumbent senator mark udall and cory gardner. it was once a red state, but today it's classified as purple, a swing state that many suggest is trending blue. president obama easily won the centennial state two times. so for someone like cory gardner a republican running against the incumbent, he was the underdog, but as of right now almost every poll gives gardner the advantage. just days before the election he is almost four points ahead. what has he done right? here is why i think why he's ahead and why i think he will win tuesday night. he realized he was wrong to have

supported it because the implications that it could have. he not only admitted he was wrong, he called for the birth control pill to be made available over the counter. both huge risks for a republican during the middle of the campaign. unfortunately for udall's camp this was their main line of attack, painting the republican congressman as totally out of the mainstream and right in line with the narrative that the gop is waging a war on women. and for whatever reason udall decided to stick with the strategy even the congressman evolved and after the denver post came out and endorsed gardner. he's focus soddy much of his campaign on abortion and birth control, he's been nicknamed and i'm not kidding, mark uterus. >> gardner sponsored a bill to make abortion a felony, including cases of rape and incest. gardner chafrm oned an eight-year crusade to outlaw birth control here in colorado. >> gardner's response to this says udall's camp wants to divide people and they want nasty, political rhetoric and

they don't want solutions because it hurts their ability to campaign. byron york from the washington examiner recently spent quality time with the congressman on the campaign trail and his takeaway was this. the fact thagarder in seems to have turned back the democratic attack is referred to as his sunny disposition on any specific policy proposal. gardner's campaign appearances are positive in their tone probably because he's that way in person, too. cory gardner's recipe for success regardless of what happens tuesday night has been pretty simple, be optimistic and have a willing business to be differently and focus on what you can bring to the table and not simply how bad the alternative is. the democrats are still talking about how their ground game will prove the polls wrong and maybe that will happen and my money is on the new sounding republican cory gardner. i'll see you next week, and we'll see if i'm right. that does it for "the cycle." "now" with alex wagner starts

now. in five days the gop could find itself faced with an excruciating choice, to govern or not to govern? it's thursday, october 30th and this is "now". >> candidates are making their closing arguments. ♪ ♪ >> with five days to go before election day. >> democrats tightening up for republican leading races. >> minority voices could prove pivotal. >> democratic leading races. >> for republicans it's about trying to broaden the appeal of the party. >> the republican party writes off african-americans. >> writes off hispanics and i'm very proud of our party and i'm very proud of what we've been doing. >> under chairman prince reeb us. >> we might not know which party has the majority until after election. >> they're preparing for recount scenarios. >> there might not be some