possibility of election overtime. tomorrow, mark and i will both be on the road. i'm going to utah. it's going to be fun. for me here in new york and mark up in wisconsin, we say to you, sayonara. >> "hardball" with chris matthews is next. mutual destruction? let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. morning in america, this is not. with a week to go and national polls tightening, hillary clinton and donald trump are unloading on each other. the latest "washington post"/abc news poll released today shows trump at 46%, hillary clinton at 45%. trump's gained two points this last week in this poll, while clinton has lost three points. several other recent polls show clinton ahead. both candidates have problems

with enthusiasm right now. 53% of trump voters are very enthusiastic about voting for him. just 43% of clinton voters say the same about her. four years ago, president obama and mitt romney were both at 60% in voter enthusiasm. in the final stretch of the campaign, both clinton and trump are trying to drive up each other's negatives. in other words, this is what scorched earth looks like. today, trump tweeted, look at the way crooked hillary is handling the e-mail case and the total mess she is in. she's unfit to be president. bad judgment. over the past few days, trump has knocked her as a liar, a threat to our democracy, even a threat to world piece. let's watch him. >> she is a terrible example for my son and for the children in this country. hillary clinton is a dishonest person. i will continue to address and expose the criminal corruption of hillary clinton and its threat to the survival of our

democracy. this is the biggest scandal since watergate. the investigation will last for years. the trial will probably start, nothing will get done. >> her election would mire our government and our country in a constitutional crisis that we cannot afford. putin can't stand her. doesn't respect her. it's a nuclear country. we'll end up in world war iii over syria with her, believe me. >> for her part, clinton has also gone after trump as a threat to world peace, as well as calling him putin's puppet. today she called trump a bully, who picks on women and doesn't see them as a full human being. let's watch. >> he sure has spent a lot of time demeaning, degrading, insulting, and assaulting women. he calls women ugly, disgusting, nasty all the time.

he calls women pigs! rates bodies on a scale from one to ten. grabbing women, mistreating women, and i have to tell you, since that tape came out, 12 women have come forward to say what he said on that tape is what he did to me. i guess the bottom line is, he thinks belittling women makes him a bigger man. and i don't think there's a woman anywhere who doesn't know what that feels like. he doesn't see us as full human beings. >> well, joining me right now is ruth marcus, "washington post" columnist and deputy editorial page editor. hugh hewitt, the host of "the hugh hewitt show" on the salem radio network, and perry bacon, senior political reporter for nbc news. i have to start with ruth, because why is hillary back down to that again? it's a little bit old. but is this just the nature of the last week, it's going to be scorched earth? i'm going to throw the dirtiest stuff that i've got against you and you're going to throw the

dirtiest stuff you've got against me. and they both claim the other will start world war iii. >> first off, thank you for seeing me as a full woman. of course, women make up 53% of the electorate in the last election. the gender gap with trump is huge. he's given her this amazing opening. all of the things he's said in the past, in this tape, in the way he's responded to it. and of course she's going to prosecute that case against him. it's the thing that makes most sense, and especially as things get tighter, what's she -- i mean, as trump might say about african-americans, what's she got to lose at this point? >> yeah. even though she said, when they go low, we go high. they're both going low. >> right now, when they go low, they -- when one campaign goes low, the other campaign goes to wherever they think it needs to go to win. >> it seems now they're all pushing the pressure points. they're choking each other. they say, torre sihe other side incapable of being a decent

president. both world war iiis. >> the boston big dig, that's a tunnel we're in right now. >> the tip o'neill part was very good. >> but very messy. lower and lower and lower, adventure in the saddle. what the fbi does or does not do. if they find a smoking gun, i think they ought to bring it out. i don't think it's possible, actually -- >> how about if they don't? >> i don't think it's possible to get through the classified night -- >> on thursday, friday night, can they say, we've gone through all the material and we didn't find anything? >> no. he's done that once and now he'll be gun shy. you can't exonerate with classified material. you have to inform congress. but if they find a june 23rd smoking gun, you remember the smoking gun, if they find that, i think they have to bring that out. i don't know if you folks agree with me that. >> but you don't think they can clear her? >> i don't think it's possible to get the information. >> i think they owe it to us to

contain the suppositions and the guesswork. i think all of this guesswork that was provoked on friday has to be restrained at some point to what they actually know. because, trump's -- i'll make the argument with you. trump's out there saying he's guilty of an egregious crime, worse than watergate, based on what the fbi reported on friday. >> i think the fbi said, we're doing some sort of investigation looking into it. i do expect if comey can say something conclusive, he'll do so. i don't know if he can. there's a lot of e-mails here. >> there's 500 e-mails that say, would you remember to pick up bread on the way home? wouldn't it be nice to say that's all it is? >> or if they're all duplicate of e-mails that have already been obtained in the investigation, he can probably say, these e-mails, there's not any new messages here. i do think, interestingly, today, for right now, at least, hillary, it seems like the fbi story, she's not talking about it anymore. it looks like the democrats sort of brushback against comey did work to some extent. i think it has sort of silenced, it has sort of moved the issues along where hillary's back on, trump isn't qualified, as opposed to --

>> let's take a look at her. i think, as i was discussing with ruth at the beginning, i think hillary decided this last week for women voters. here she is, she brought out alicia machado. donald trump, let's start with him. he warned that electing hillary clinton would lead to world war iii. clinton says that about trump's temperament. but she also attacked him, too, for his comments about putin. let's watch. >> we've seen in this campaign that donald trump loses his cool at the slightest provocation. imagine him in the oval office facing a real crisis. imagine his advisers afraid to tell him what he doesn't want to hear. racing against his legendarily short attention span to lay out life and death choices, too complex to be reduced to a single tweet. imagine him plunging us into a war because somebody got under his very thin skin. michael morial, who ran the cia

and grew up a few short miles from here, says that putin the manipulating donald. he knows he can use flattery to get into donald's head to make donald the kremlin's puppet, and it seems to be working. >> it's hard to keep track of the innuendo. one, he's the puppet and the other, he's going to start a war with putin. which is it, love or hatred? >> help start with a nuclear war with somebody. >> who would we fight a nuclear war, except the russians? >> you could imagine all sorts of people. >> i honestly can't. >> i think one thing that's important to say tonight -- >> we shouldn't fight a war with anybody, nuclear, least of all. >> but he does have legendarily thin skin. and the kinds of allegations hays making against secretary clinton, that she's the most corrupt, that this is like watergate, that that's absolutely certain that she'll spend her presidency on trial, is just not at all support -- i'm looking at hugh, because i know he's going to jump in.

>> he knows the trials are coming. >> it's not supported by the evidence. >> the piece in the "wall street journal" reports that deputy mccabe is blowing back at department of justice official trying to shut down the clinton foundation investigation, saying, are you telling me to shut down a validly predicated investigation? we haven't seen language like that since watergate. today donald trump talked about obamacare in pennsylvania, which was an enormous relief to republicans everywhere. >> why'd he do it? >> because it's hitting people right where they live, in their pocketbook. >> is this battle done? some of them may be voting for third or fourth and they may be soft on hillary or soft on trump. they're trying to erase that with guts stuff. stuff that affects a person who doesn't watch programs like this, doesn't watch "meet the press," but they have a jobs, kids, and bills to play.

so you hit them on health care, which is something that affects you when you get older and when you vote a lot. all old people vote. and that's up with of the way to get to them. hillary's talking about to the woman who's working hard, doesn't have time to watch this kind of programming. she cares about how women are treated in the workplace. so -- >> i would argue -- the other person would be a terrible president and a terrible person. they're making very good arguments. the other person is evil, essentially. hillary clinton is saying donald trump is corrupt and terrible and treats women badly. trump is saying hillary is a liar and a cheater, cheats in terms of politics. >> does that help the undecided voter? >> i'm not sure. they also want to turn out the base. i think there is a little bit of, for hillary, particularly, make sure the base, women, latinos, african-americans, are really realize that donald trump is what she's been saying he is. >> okay, introducing hillary

clinton today to make your point, perry, in florida, was alicia machado, the former miss universe who trump knocked after gaining weight when she had the crown. let's listen to what she had to say today. >> he made fun of me and i didn't know how to respond. he told me that i looked ugly and that i was massive. he even called me names. he said to me, miss piggy, miss housekeeping, miss eating machine. soon, it became a joke. alicia machado was a fat miss universe. it was really painful for me. he was cruel. it's clear, it's really clear, that he does not respect woman. >> just to get it straight, she's miss venezuela, she's not here, so she's speaking in a

second language. i mean, i'm not as good at a second language, in any of the languages. but that's interesting, her passion is clear, though. >> her passion is clear, and for the clinton campaign, she's a twofer. she's speaking to all women, you know, every woman who ever felt a little overweight and felt dissed by a man and she's speaking to hispanic voters. that is a powerful message. >> this is not new stuff. this is a story that broke how many weeks ago? how many weeks ago when we started talking about this? >> it is a trap for donald trump. they want him to go all you ssee sam. i can't believe he'll fall into the same trap. >> and attack her, you mean? >> and attack her. i can't believe he'll do that. >> yosemite sam is known for what in the cartoons? >> shooting up the whole room and going after bugs. >> you can't believe that -- >> so you think this is hillary pulling his chain? >> absolutely! and to try to change the subject from the e-mails. >> this is hillary -- >> that's smart. >> trump's numbers have been the lowest when the allegations

about women and groping have been in the news. this is -- >> all right, let's have fun. you're all pros. perry, if you're secretary clinton, what do you want to be the topic of the last week? >> donald trump groping. >> what about you? >> nuclear war. >> but they both talk about nuclear war. >> you don't mind her starting a war with assad -- >> she had a four-minute response in the last debate. you only have four minutes from push the button to irretrievable warhead. that is what she wants to sell at the end of this. barry goldwater, 1964, daisy. >> we once had a charming candidate named barry goldwater, a libertarian who everybody liked. he was a little unsteady on that issue. but people liked the guy. the likability factor is definitely in trouble right now. >> here's my worry. what is the -- remember that documentary about nuclear war and it was called "the day

after," i think. what is the landscape of america going to look like the day after, after a campaign where we can't decide whether the ending is going to be nuclear war or groping women. >> watch the show tonight. i have a whole thing for that. it was jason robarts, "the day after." i know movies. ruth marcus, hugh hewitt, and perry -- what do you want the topic to be if you're for clinton? >> i'm not sure people are going to be totally convinced by additional women, so i think you've got to go for war. >> i think they're both accusing each other of blowing up the universe, which is an amazing -- how do you go beyond that? coming up, the state of the race with one week to go, polls are tightening and nerves are fraying, as we've been saying. what do both sides see tonight when they look at the map. a fascinating look at our country and all the little different pockets of it and how you can figure this race will evolve the last week. plus, is russia interfering with our presidential election? i think they say da over there in russia? anyway, if so, what's putin

trying to get out of it. what's he up to? we'll have new reporting on what russia's up to and it's troubling stuff. and some comic relief in what otherwise has been a dark campaign. take a look at this clever new advertising on television for a county commissioner down in texas whose wife wants him re-elected so he'll get out of the house. >> we've got room to put 2,700 people in our jail and it costs us about $103 a day. >> jerogerald really doesn't ha any hobbies. please re-elect gerald. please. >> anyway, the candidate and his wife are both going to be with us life. we'll also take a look at the commercial. finally, my election diary for tonight, november 1st, with one week to go. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. look at all these purchases you made with your airline credit card. hold on...you only got double miles on stuff you bought from that airline? let me show you something better. the capital one venture card.

with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase... not just...(dismissively) airline purchases. every purchase. everywhere. every day. no really! double miles on all of them! what's in your wallet? g new cars. you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. now in kids chewables. new battleground polling out right now as we head into the home stretch. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard.

starting in pennsylvania, where a new poll from franklin and marshall college has hillary up 11 points. i've said it's the firewall, clinton, 49, trump, 38. clinton's gaining. next in north carolina, where a new align poll has the race tied. clinton, 44, trump, 44. the real clear average politics has clinton up by two. now to virginia, where clinton leads in two new polls. an emerson college poll gives clinton a four-point lead over trump. and a virginia poll shows clinton up by six. the real clear average in virginia has clinton leading by about five. she's got to win that state and she will. we'll be right back. been impacted will be fully refunded. second, we'll proactively send you a confirmation for any new checking, savings, or credit card account you open. third, we've eliminated product sales goals for our retail bankers. to ensure your interests are put first.

we're taking action. we're renewing our commitment to you. want a great way to help our children thrive? then be sure to vote yes on proposition 55. prop 55 doesn't raise taxes on anyone. instead, it simply maintains the current tax rate on the wealthiest californians to prevent education cuts that would hurt our kids. no wonder prop 55 is endorsed by the california pta, teachers and educators. because all of us want to help our children thrive.

it's time to vote yes on proposition 55. it's time to vote yes he's the drug company big shot who raised the price of a lifesaving pill by five thousand percent. said he wished he'd raised it more. prop sixty-one targets drug company price-gouging to save lives. the drug price relief act will save californians nearly a billion dollars a year. join the california nurses association and aarp and vote yes on sixty-one. the drug giants won't like it. and he'll hate it. welcome back to "hardball." well, the country may be politically divided right now, but if you look at a map where democrats and republicans turn out to vote, like this "new york times" map of the 2012 results, look at that by zip code. the country looks strikingly red. the country, geographically, running across as red.

that's because you'll find a lot of blue on the coast, near the water, where candidates were made up of big population centers, big cities. geographically, the country, however, is more red than blue. it doesn't tell the real political picture for 2016. both clinton and trump see opportunities in plays that traditionally play in the opposite direction than their party, in their route to 270 electoral votes. the first two battleground states to close next tuesday night will be north carolina and ohio, that's at 7:30 eastern time. let's take a look at this. al, the interesting thing is that in north carolina, where i went to grad school, hillary clinton has the chance to expand on barack obama's 2012 losing performance, in a place like the research triangle, the suburbs of raleigh, where there's a large concentration of college-educated voters. but places in youngstown, ohio, trump thinks he can win there. robert costa is a political correspondent with "the washington post," al card ninis republican strategist. robert, what can you tell from trump's battle positions to next

week, where he's headed, where he thinks he needs to win to get to 270? >> chris, i'm here in milwaukee tonight, trump's up in the northwest corner of wisconsin, because he's playing in states like michigan, wisconsin, new mexico, because the pathway to victory, to 270, may be more difficult in states like ohio, north carolina, in pennsylvania, the traditional battlegrounds. so he has to expand the map. has to try for the blue. >> well, does he account on winning anywhere yet? to get to 270, i would argue, he has to win ohio first, iowa first, iowa, ohio, florida, and then begin to build moving north through north carolina. how do you see it? how does he begin to build that 270? >> it's a tricky equation, and if you talk to the trump campaign last week, a blue state seemed out of reach. what they're banking on, and it's a shaky bet, perhaps, is that this fbi news for secretary clinton could generate record turnout or at least strong turnout in traditional republican areas. areas trump has been struggling in. and their gamble is, if trump

could get the traditional gop turnout, plus some unusual bad luck support, for working class areas, maybe he could patch together a coalition. it's a stretch, but that's how they see it. >> okay, so wisconsin or michigan in exchange for not winning pennsylvania. is that the thinking? >> that's partly the thinking, but they've got a lot of other vulnerabilities on this map. they could lose utah to independent candidate, evan mcmullen, so they'll have to pick up a wisconsin or a new mexico. forget about pennsylvania. that's going to be very tough on its own, because of philadelphia. >> yeah, i know. well, if they lose utah, who knows what's going on. anyway, that's too strange. anyway, thank you, robert costa, out there with the trump campaign. i want to ask you, when you look at this map, there are interesting places to focus on early in the evening next tuesday night. one is the research triangle of chapel hill and durham, and raleigh. that part could maybe shift this to hillary, north carolina. >> well, they're working on both things, right? turnout and location. and they're trying to get very specific regarding location and

turnout. you know, you could see trump getting florida, ohio, north carolina, and getting to about 230, 240. the problem is, once you get into states with more than 15% minority voting population, like colorado, new mexico, virginia to some extent, then that's a challenge. and so, he's better off, sometimes, thinking about, as you said, michigan, wisconsin, than he is colorado or new mexico, because the states with heavy minority populations are harder to move the numbers. dealing with -- >> i agree completely. >> dealing with blue collar, white disenfranchised voters, that's a better bet for him. >> so he's going after ohio and youngstown. you have a lot of people who have lost factory jobs, reagan democrats. it's so interesting. how do you see this whole thing? in terms of spotlighting where you have to go? it's a geographic fight? >> here's the problem. the problem is trump is running out of places to compete and win. pennsylvania is moving away from him, as we just saw in that last

poll, places like north carolina are starting to move, you know, virginia's really kind of off the map -- >> we never thought he would get virginia. but he's going around to the midwest, where he's looking at wisconsin and michigan. >> yeah, look, i'm from michigan, there's no way he's going to win michigan. michigan is -- >> so you think he's hopeless? >> michigan is a blue state. >> you think he's hopeless? >> i do think -- i think the avenues are shutting down. and you've got so many early votes, you were talking about north carolina a minute ago. 1.6 million people have already voted in north carolina. he's got a tough road ahead. >> let's talk about what he can do. because everything can happen in a week. things can change. >> although, if you've got a million votes already in the bag, that have already -- >> things can happen. they keep happening. anyway, at 8:00 eastern next tuesday night when the polls close, we'll have the battleground states of florida and pennsylvania. trump's focusing on central florida, one of the fastest growing communities in the country there. specifically, the villages, a retirement community where trump is polling particularly well. and in my home state of pennsylvania, hillary clinton is targeting the suburbs of philly, of course, chester county, which has the highest concentration of college-educated voters in the

state. clinton says she will outperform obama's 2012 result in that region, which would ensure her a victory tonight. let's talk about philly. i know it well. in the last election, 2012, barack obama got 60%. in delaware and in montgomery, he got 54% in the other two counties. the numbers are huge. already! that's obama. hillary will do at least as well. >> the challenge with pennsylvania, urban pennsylvania is growing so much larger. and rural pence is getting to be a smaller part of the equation. and specifically in suburban philadelphia, where republicans have always had a shot, that's not, that's not the deal for trump. those are educated white women who are more going to hillary. his challenge in pennsylvania, how that map looks there. that's why i'm telling you, he's better off in some other midwestern states. he's doing well in iowa, but he's got to pick that and a couple other states. pennsylvania's a little bit too far. >> we used to call them eisenhower republicans. moderate republicans in pennsylvania. they knew what they are. pat toomey could still win, but they don't like trump.

i'm not sure. your thoughts? >> they don't like trump. and then if you look at states like indiana, where they still have evan bayh who's competitive. >> you think bayh can win? >> i think he has a chance to win. >> the trend has been terrible. >> can you say things honestly? from like a 30-point lead to a nothing lead. >> it's a republican state and he's a democrat who's won in a republican state. the democrats are playing there. but you showed that map earlier. look at those big red splotches. the truth is, there's nobody living in those states. milwaukee is bigger than wyoming. >> name me a democrat that's going to lose a close race for the senate. >> a democrat who's going to lose a close race for the senate. >> nevada's going to be tough. >> but that's harry reid's seat. that's tough. >> no one, a democrat, is going to lose in a close race? >> thank you all. up next, new reporting on

russia, the fbi and the presidential election. is moscow meddling in our elections purposefully? and for what? what are they up to? to cause trouble or get donald trump elected? what is the mission for moscow. this is "hardball," the place for politics.

[baby talk] [child giggling] child: look, ma. no hands. children: "i", "j", "k"... [bicycle bell rings]

[indistinct chatter] [telephone rings] man: hello? [boing] [laughter] man: you may kiss the bride. [applause] woman: ahh. [indistinct conversation] announcer: a full life measured in seats starts with the right ones early on. car crashes are a leading killer of children 1 to 13. learn how to prevent deaths and injuries by using the right car seat for your child's age and size. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. welcome back to "hardball." the fbi's investigation into russia's involvement in our election continues. according to law enforcement officials who spoke with "the

new york times." but they also said that the bureau has not found a clear link between donald trump and the kremlin itself to date. quote, no evidence has emerged that would link him or anyone else in his business or political circle directly to russia's business operations. they also report that intelligence officials say the fbi believes russia's hacking was, quote, aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing mr. trump. to that point, russia's meddling is consistent with their bigger goal of discrediting our democratic system in order to diminish the honor and prestige of what america stands for. that's what i believe. jackson was on to something when he wrote, i believe put is motivated with an on session with the so-called former soviet republics along russia's borders. quote, putin is trying to deliver to the american political elite what he believes is a dose of his own medicine. he's attempting to ignite with the help, unwitting or otherwise, of donald trump, a

u.s. color revolution. i'm joined by cynthia mcfadden. russia, what are they doing in our election? >> well, i think that the reporting you just cited is very much on par with what we know from senior current u.s. intelligence officials who tell us the same thing. you have to go back a little bit here and understand that before donald trump was even the nominee, once hillary clinton announced, intelligence sources tell us, putin decided he was going to try to mess with the u.s. election. why? because back in september of 2011, when his party took power again and he became president, he felt that hillary clinton and the obama administration dissed him and he wanted to get even in some way so he decided that they would mess with this election. >> what about a guy who would ride around on a horse with a

shirt off. there's something about the guy that says, i'm macho man. i have to take on the other country because i'm from a lesser country, i have to fight with them. and they have a reputation for having democracy, the country that really started democracy in the world, i'm going to rip that apart. is that the way you see it, too, or not? >> yeah. well, let's always remember that putin is a former kgb agent. he views the world as a zero sum game. what's good for russia is bad for the u.s. and what's good for the u.s. is bad for russia. i think that's part of the manipulation that's going on here. >> great to have you on. please come back again, cynthia mcfadden. i'm joined by our roundtable, simon marks, april ryan, i missed her for a while there, white house correspondent with american urban radio networks and sam stein is political reporter and editor with the "huffington post." sam, i want you to start here. just try to put it together for a person that i don't think we all know, but what's putin up to? >> i don't think we all know. i don't think we all know. >> he's up to something in our election. >> there are certain things that we, i think --

>> wikileaks! >> -- confidently determine is that russian actors have hacked the dnc. >> why not the rnc? >> the podesta e-mails. the theory i've heard is why not the rnc is twofold. one is that they prefer trump, because he is more favorably predisposed to putin. the other, a more complex theory, is that if you want to disrupt american democracy, it doesn't make sense to hack both sides, because you engender anger back at russia, but if you can go at one side and then pit two sides against each other, then you start undermining the basic core functions of democracy. you start undermining trust in the system. you actually, and you've seen it in public polls, you can engender some sympathy within a political party towards russia, which you've seen after all that's happened. republicans have sort of come around a little bit more, predisposed, favorably, towards putin. so that's the more complex theory. but it's very evident that they've only gone after one side in this election, and that's the democrats. >> you know what's interesting? we are a very nationalistic country, and i love it. it's a bad word.

let's say pretat patriotic coun. yet the conservatives who back trump don't seem to mind that russia's getting their nose in this thing, for some reason. that's unusual. >> no, what it is, is the fact that they are minding the fact that they're getting involved, but they like the fact that donald trump could be winning. that's what they like. but you have to remember, not only is donald trump possibly winning, vladimir putin is winning, as well. because the mind-set, it's about the mind-set in the wikileaks. it's about the mind-set. we are keeping russia on the forefront here in this country. so therefore, he's winning. but when it comes to the actual election, and the election process itself, he's not able to go into the polls and change things. i mean, every state, everybody locale might be different. i mean, like, for -- take, for example, maryland. we had the paper balance. i voted sunday, and in other states, they have different things. he's not able to necessarily go into each state and do something -- >> i voted on that too. so we're together. let me ask you about this, the

whole thing of russia, and getting involved, do they have something left? they have a week to go. they seem to know what they're escalating. you know, this thing, they just seem to know, we'll drop a little here, a little there. it seems to me, they know they're digging a fireworks display. we'll save the big one at the end. do you think they're smart enough to do that? >> they may well have a choreographed display for the finish. it's perfectly possible. i think this goes all the way back to the year 2000. hanging chads, florida, bush/gore. vladimir putin was personally fascinated -- >> he liked that five-week screwup. >> he found that an extraordinary display on the part of a country that professed to export his version of democracy, not just worldwide, but specifically to russia. and from that point on, this has been part of vladimir putin's playbook, not just in terms of discrediting american democracy in the minds of americans, but discrediting american democracy in the minds of russians. . and saying, these people think they're a world power. i'm trying to rebuild moscow as

a major focus of the world -- >> is this a way to justify tyranny? that he wins every time, because he said, look, you think they're better than us. they're no better than us. everything other there is crooked, screwed up, insanity. and by the way, don't blame me. in other words, i'm not leaving this job. i'm going to be here for 50 years. so don't talk democracy to me. like netanyahu, he ain't never leaving. these guys say, don't tell me how much better it is in other democratic countries, they're just as bad as we are. >> i don't think i could put it better than that. >> maybe if you had an english acce accent. >> i do think there are broad geopolitical ramifications for this. you can't go into ukraine and say, you need to be democratic. you can, but it hurts the case when you say, you need to adopt democratic systems of governance, and on the flip side -- >> could somebody beat putin in an election? >> not now. >> i was just wondering. despite the consensus of the u.s. intelligence community, trump has gone out of his way to deny russia's involvement in these cyberattacks.

it was the subject of a heated exchange with hillary clinton in the third debate. let's watch that. >> we have 17, 17 intelligence agencies, civilian and military, who have all concluded that these espionage attacks, these cyberattacks, come from the highest levels of the kremlin, and they are designed to influence our election. i find that deeply disturbing and i think it's -- >> she has no idea whether it's russia, china, or anybody else. >> i am not quoting myself. i am quoting 17 -- >> hillary, you have no idea. >> -- 17 -- do you doubt 17 military -- >> our country has no idea. >> -- military and civilian agencies. >> yeah, i doubt it. >> he would rather believe vladimir putin than the military and civilian intelligence professionals, who are sworn to protect us. >> well, it was once said, never argue with somebody whose job depends on not being convinced. if donald trump admitted all of this stuff was coming from

russia, he would be admitting that russia is on his side and he can't admit that. >> but his own running mate, mike pence, takes a much tougher view of this. >> what's he say? does he admit that the russians are helping? >> in the vice presidential debate, he was much tougher on russian, both in terms of -- >> has he said that they were helping? >> he has certainly not denied that they were helping at that point. almost reaganesque in his approach. that sews more -- >> what do you mean, reaganesque? >> reaganesque in terms of returning to much more of a tough stance. >> i thought the most interesting statement out of all of this was actually marco rubio where he said, he wasn't going to talk about the wikileaks disclosures, because he felt like it was an intrusion by a foreign power and he said, keep in mind, the shoe could be on the other foot. i think we need to step back here, and it's very clear that russia is intervening and that they are helping donald trump. whether they're doing it deliberately to help him or to screw with democracy, is another question. >> and this kind of leads into, if donald trump were president, what would happen? how would the relationship between putin and donald trump work for the world body, as well

as here. and i'm going to say this. he's going to try -- donald trump, if he is elected president, will try to pick up where george bush left off with putin and george bush wound up being disillusioned, as well. >> donald trump and hillary clinton are holding dueling rallies right now. there you see right now, hillary clinton on the left. she's in florida while trump is in eau claire, wisconsin. eau claire. like the eclair. the roundtable is staying with us and up next, they'll tell me something i don't know. look at this together. ♪ i found a better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor. i'm happy. it's medicare open enrollment. have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. ♪

trust number one doctor recommended dulcolax constipated? use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax, designed for dependable relief i'm not a customer, but i'm calling about that credit scorecard. give it. sure! it's free for everyone. oh! well that's nice! and checking your score won't hurt your credit. oh! i'm so proud of you. well thank you. free at at discover.com/creditscorecard, even if you're not a customer. hillary clinton: far too many families today don't earn what they need and don't have the opportunities they deserve. i believe families deserve quality education for their kids, childcare they can trust and afford, equal pay for women, and jobs they can really live on. people ask me what will be different if i'm president? well kids and families have been the passion of my life and they will be the heart of my presidency. i'm hillary clinton and i approve this message.

this is a message for any democratic voter who have already cast their ballots for hillary clinton and who are having a bad case of buyer's remorse. in other words, you want to change your vote.

wisconsin is one of several states where you can change your early ballot if you think you've made a mistake. so if you live here or in michigan or pennsylvania or minnesota, those four places, you can change your vote to donald trump or make america great again, okay? >> well, that's telling me something i didn't know. you can change your vote in those states. we're back with the "hardball" roundtable. sam, tell me something i don't know. >> speaking of wisconsin, it's a critical state that is going underappreciated. it is one of the key pathways to victory for donald trump. tomorrow, the gold standard poll in the state, marquette law school, not marquette university, marquette law school will come out and tell us some interesting numbers. last time they polled, this is what you didn't know, they showed clinton up 7, but that poll dropped right during the billy bush tape. the first night of that polling, they had trump up one, but then the bottom fell out. >> how long does that tape endure? yep?

>> a little history leading into today. leading up to 2000, al gore used to call himself the underdog when he was going up against george w. bush, around halloween, at the halloween party that he had. >> i remember that. >> yes, he wore the underdog costume. well, today, this morning, i talked to tim kaine, democratic vice presidential candidate, and he said the word "underdog" for the clinton/kaine ticket. >> spin. >> it might be. it might be good spin, though! >> all right? >> if you are an international reporter based in one of the world's great capitals, you usually can beg and cajole the state department to give you an interview with an american ambassador and they won't do it. today, the most dangerous place in europe or asian capitals is between an american ambassador and an open microphone. they are all falling over themselves to get on the air and try to allay concerns about what's going to happen as a result of the outcome of the election and what the impact of this election may be on

international policy on -- >> they're calming the people in their countries, right? >> every day. >> so fascinating. and that's official policy? >> i don't know if it's official policy, but i can tell you it's happening in lots of places. >> thank you. david corn, good to have you -- >> david corn? i'm sam stein. >> you're not. >> trick or treat! >> i was a little insulted by that. >> don't blame me. i do rely on the prompter. his name is sam stein. he the bears no resemblance to david corn. coming up, it's called the best campaign out of the year. a wife urging voters to re-elect her husband just to get him out of the house. this is getting close to home. there they are. they're live and they'll explain this ad to us. they're coming here. this is "hardball," the place for politics. de-along. [dad] alright, buddy, don't forget anything! [kid] i won't, dad... [captain rod] happy tuesday morning! captain rod here. it's pretty hairy out on the interstate.traffic is literally crawling, but there is some movement on the eastside overpass. getting word of another collision. [burke] it happened. december 14th, 2015. and we covered it.

talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ so dad slayed the problemt with puffs plus lotion, instead. with lotion to soothe and softness to please. a nose in need deserves puffs, indeed. ♪ well, if you want to sing out, sing out ♪ ♪ and if you want to be free, be free ♪ ♪ 'cause there's a million things to be ♪ ♪ you know that there are ♪ and if you want to be me, be me ♪ ♪ and if you want to be you, be you ♪ ♪ 'cause there's a million things to do ♪ ♪ you know that there are ♪ as ai can embrace a worldber, full of surprising moments.

the new marriott portfolio of hotels now has 30 brands in over 110 countries. so no matter where you go, you are here. join or link accounts today. with just a week to go now before the election, be sure to follow "hardball" online. follow the show on twitter and instagram and like us on facebook. you'll get direct access to interviews, videos, and behind the scenes photos as we cover the final days of this presidential campaign. i'll be right back. what comes to mind? whatever it is, aarpadvantages.com can help you save both along the way. so when you get there, you can enjoy yourself all the more. for less.

g new cars. you're smart. you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar.

ready for a treat? we're back. in a year filled with stark partisan divide and bitter political bickering there have been just a few moments of levity. here's one from texas republican gerald doherty and his wife sharlynn. >> it costs us about $103 a day. >> gerald really doesn't have any hobbies. >> last year's tax rate was 4.169. >> all he wants to do is fix

things. >> we've got this 18-wheeler parked in this neighborhood, fumes all over the place. but it's not a code violation. you know, i think i like helping around the house here. >> please re-elect gerald. please. >> well, the daugherty's ad is going viral with more than 3 million views on youtube alone. he's up for election at county commissioner of travis county, a typically democratic county that includes the liberal city of austin. joining me are the stars of the ad, charlny and gerald daugherty. i have to tell you, i think you're too evocative of what goes on in american married life after a certain time. you've heard all the stories. my wife says, will you please put down the book so i don't have to hear that again. but all these statistics coming from your husband. does he really talk like that at home? >> he does. that was slightly exaggerated, but not much.

he's got all those facts and figures. >> gerald, are you that bad? are you that bad a wonk where you actually do go into these numbers? i think i disagree with you. this is "hardball." let's have a fight. i like the idea of mass transportation. you've reduced it to per seat, per dollar and you say the -- what do you call it, the cost benefit doesn't work out for you when it comes to mass transit. your thinking on that? >> well, i mean, the math just doesn't work, chris. i mean, unless you have super high densities in areas, and we don't have a lot of high density in the south. >> you don't have a lot of smog? you don't have smog and dirty air because of too many cars on the street and too much traffic? you don't have that problem down there? >> you don't have near as much smog as you had because the automobile is so much cleaner today. but it's a different subject. i mean, if you really want to talk about is mass transit cost effective, especially if you're talking about rail, just doesn't

compute. >> wow. so back to you, charlyn. why do you want to get your husband re-elected, you want him out of the house? is he really that boring? you want him to go to work in the morning, come back at 6:00 or 7:00? >> he's not boring at all. but he loves what he does. and i really do not consider him a politician. i consider him a public servant. he cares about the people in this community, and he wants to do the right thing. so i want him to have the opportunity to continue to be commissioner. >> jefrgerald, what's the trick being a moderate, maybe an eisenhower moderate, he took texas? >> what you have to have is the likability factor. you have to show people that most of the things a county commissioner does is really not partisan. what people in this community, across this country want is p

people to work together. >> how are you with trump? >> how am i with trump? >> you vote for him? >> i haven't voted yet. >> will you? >> will i? i'll let you know next tuesday because i'm going to wait until next tuesday to vote. hey, this is a tough election. >> you're an undecided voter. you telling me as an elected official you're an undecided voter? >> yeah, i am an undecided voter right now. >> charlyn? are you undecided? >> well, i think -- this is my honest opinion. i don't think either of our choi choice s bode well for all of te people in this nation. i think the negativity, the negative rhetoric for this campaign has been really disheartening and i think that's one reason this ad caught on because it was positive and

uplifting. >> i'm going to let you off the hook because you're not running for office but i do hold your husband gerald daugherty, nice irish name, still undecided a week out from the election. thank you for coming on. you're both a delight. when we return my election diary for tonight. ♪ at walgreens, you're free- free to seize the savings on medicare part d. from one-dollar copays on select plans to rewards points on all prescriptions, it's easy to save big at walgreens. ♪

just stop by walgreens. ♪ then sit back and enjoy the savings. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. ltry align probiotic.n your digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. get 24/7 digestive support, with align. the #1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. now in kids chewables.

teachers, firefighters and nurss support prop 51. prop 51 repairs older schools and removes dangerous lead paint and pipes ensuring classrooms are safe for all students. for safe schools vote yes on 51.

teachers, nurses and firefightes support prop 51. prop 51 will upgrade libraries, science labs, and classroom technology and relieve school overcrowding creating more opportunity . . . and better learning for students help students succeed vote yes on 51. election diary tuesday november 1st. the u.s. presidential election now demolishing its way through one last week has assumed the look of a war-torn city.

buildings smashed, whole floors of rooms exposed, whole buildings waiting for the next rocket to hit only waiting for more rubble to fall and choke the streets. think of the demolition of this country so far, how much so much of what was solid and standing is now shaken and broken. trump tower is a wartime bunker, hillary's headquarters in brooklyn the same. the clinton foundation is a night and day bombing target. now the fbi has come before the firing squad. the battle over who will rule this graveyard is far from over. we've got another week for the payloads to drop, the bombshells of bad news, the screech of incoming to land on just about everything in what's become a war of mutual destruction that's unveiled a pair of candidates united by the height of their public disapproval rating, 59%, both of them, and climbing. we end this tuesday before election day with hillary clinton warning us that trump has just the temperament to blow

the world sky high and trump saying that hillary will cause world war iii in syria. when they go low, we go high. not quite. but sadly it's come with this week to go up two candidates yelling bombs away knowing we all have to live in a country that looks so much better before this started. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> he has shown us who he is. let us on tuesday show him who we are. >> one week to go. >> we must win on november 8th. we must win. >> polls tighten as early voting continues. >> i already voted here in jamesville for our nominee. >> tonight what we know about where this race stands with seven days to go. plus, the fallout from the trump