avenatti tweeting this is a limited ruling and he believes when he appeals it, he will ultimately win. that battle continues, and we'll keep covering it. but we are out of time on the beat tonight. i'll see you back here live 6:00 p.m. eastern. hardball with chris mathews is up next. /s >> it's all about him. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris mathews in washington. president trump is refusing to take a back seat in the run up to the midterm elections. the news tonight, as it will be through midterm election night itself, is trump-trump-trump, that's the way he wants it. the question is, how will voters react? calculated, there's no such thing as overexposure, trump's apparent goal now is to dominate the national news, signalling that for better or worse, come november, it's all about trump.

in the first 15 days of october, catch this. the president has held eight rallies. that's one more than one every other nate, conducted six major interviews and made him available to answer questions on at least 20 other occasions. and while the president is traditionally opted for favorable platforms like fox, to spread his message, he ventured outside his comfort zone last night appearing on "60 minutes." showing he can stand up to tough questions from a real journalist, leslie stahl. here's how trump, when challenged, declined to single out the russians for their 2016 attack on the integrity of our elections. >> do you believe that the russians interfered in the 2016 campaign -- election? >> they meddled, but i think china meddled, too -- >> why do you say china meddled, too? why don't you just say the russians meddled? >> because i think china meddled also. and i think, frankly, china --

>> this is amazing. you're diverting the whole russian thing -- >> i'm not doing anything. i'm saying russia, but i'm also saying china. >> she's challenging him. of course, the intelligence community concluded russia, not china, was responsible for interfering in 2016. another revealing exchange between the president and leslie stahl, he explains why he mocked dr. christine blasey ford who accused judge kavanaugh of sexual assault. ultimately, though, he said his ridiculing behavior didn't matter because, as he said, this is so trump. we won. let's watch this. >> you mimicked professor blasey ford. you mimicked her. >> had i not made that speech, we would not have won. i was just saying she didn't seem to know anything and in trying to destroy a life of a man who has been extraordinary. >> why did you have to make fun of her? >> i didn't really make fun -- >> they were laughing.

>> the person that we're talking about didn't know the year, the time, the place. i think she was treated with great respect, i'll be honest. >> but do you think you treated her with great respect is that he i think so, yeah, i did. >> but you seemed to be saying that she lied. >> you know what, i'm not going to get into it because we won. it doesn't matter. >> we won. well, throughout the interview, the president was showcased that same street fighter attitude going so far as to say to leslie stahl, i'm president, and you're not. take a look. >> when i say obama did it, you don't want to talk about it. >> no -- >> whenever i say i did it, r -- >> you did it for a time. >> i'm just telling you that you treated me much differently on the subject -- >> i disagree. i don't want to have that fight with you. i want to have another fight with you. >> it's okay. i'm president, and you're not. >> i'm taking my bat and going home. anyway, it's clear the president is counting on the fact that his

a plo approval rating is substantially higher than his own republican party which is true. by keeping such a high profile his bet is republicans can run strong in seven states in key races november. joining me susan page washington bureau chief usa today, eddie g gaudet. i want to start with you as a journalist and, howard, of course, and get over this. i think u.s.ly stall is fantastic. and what i really liked, she clearly came prepared. she worked with producers. she had follow-ups. she knew trump's counters and she countered that. she had a suri rebuttal at every point to keep asking a question. when he pulled out the china card, she said wait a minute, that's just a diversion. >> and she got a great interview. and he engaged in a serious way. don't you think he deserves, the president deserves some kudos for agreeing to an interview that he knew would be tough with leslie stahl, and engaging on

all the issues that she raised? both sides made a very strong illuminating interview. >> i didn't sense, howard, she had an attitude, just a journalist with questions. >> susan said trump was willing to agree with this, the president agreed to it. that leslie stahl was well prepared. shows the confidence that i detect in talking to white house aides. i spent a lot of time talking to a bunch of them over the last few days. they may be overinterpreting the kavanaugh victory. >> yeah. >> i think donald trump views that as an empowering moment. like a pacman eating a smaller pac person there. it's given him the sense that having won that, having won that cultural moment, which he in effect did, however fairly or unfairly, that he's on a roll, his -- >> we'll talk about that. let me just -- >> he may be over interpreting that. >> before i talk, do you think trump won the kavanaugh thing?

if that's giving him his hubris, maybe it's two edges to that sword. your thoughts. >> we won't know whether or not he won i think until the midterm elections. it seems to me the process was rigged. that the -- mitch mcconnell had in some ways set the stage. grassley and the judiciary committee set the stage. the process was broken from the beginning. so i think howard is right, that they're over interpreting the kavanaugh results if they think it actually reflects the kind of political capital they might have out there in the electorate. >> we'll just pause this and i'll pose this. i'm going to say this. i think trump's doubling down on the red states and he's also, whether he likes it or not, doubling down against himself in the blue states. i think everything he talks about, gender and women and harassment, all this stuff, women have only one vote when they go in that voting booth. they're going to vote for yes,

keep this crap going that trump represents, or stop it. that's pretty crude, but that's the only vote you get. yes or no. they go in and vote women in suburbs around philly. wait, i got one vote here, i'm voting for her. that's my hunch. out in the red states, north dakota, missouri even, certainly montana, even arizona, texas and tennessee of course. those states i think he's doubling down on the anger of men, the more patriarchal states. i think it will help them out there. but i think he's doubling down his problems in the burbs. the more he does this red hot look at me, it's all about me, the more he does that the burb votes against him. >> i'm not sure he has the ability to come vindicate support among women who are college educated -- >> he's shut out. why doesn't he go hide for a while? let voters decide locally. >> you know why? republican voters in these red

states were not revved up and now they're revved up, kavanaugh helped, trump getting out there helps. i think that has helped these senators, these republican challengers to democratic incumbents in the ten states that -- >> i'm not sure it's good for him. the purple states -- midwest, he's got big problems in the midwest. >> all right, okay. the conventional wisdom right now is that the dems are going to do really well in the house, but yet the republicans are going to keep the senate. it hasn't happened since 1970. >> conventional wisdom, 30, 40 seats -- >> i'm the conventional wisdom. i agree on the house side. what i was about to say, i'm not sure, if you look at the numbers closely on the senate side, most est these rac-- of these races you're talking about -- >> it's close in nevada, it's close in florida, it's close in missouri. kloss in indiana. it's not so close in north dakota, it's not so close any more in texas. >> i agree with that.

but i do think missouri is an interesting one to watch. the fact that claire mccaskill is neck and neck there -- >> she's a fighter. >> -- i cthink is important. with this amount of time left, trump is great for his own brand. he's not necessarily great for these other people because they're not trump. they don't have -- they just are left with the meanness. they're not there with the charisma. >> he's carry an an umbrella. very nice. on two occasions during the "60 minutes" interview, the president trump defended himself by insisting he wasn't a baby. first here's trump's response when he said he loved kim jong-un. >> he presides over a cruel kingdom of repression, gulogs, starvation, a reports he had his half brother assassinated, slave labor, public executions. this is a guy you love? >> i'm not a baby. i know all these things. >> why do you love that guy? >> look, look.

i get along with i am had, okay? >> you said you love him. >> okay, that's just a figure of speech. >> that's great, it is great. like brother and sister. it is real argument and real journalism. then he said it again when asked about distrust inside the white house. >> i don't trust everybody in the white house. i'll be honest with you. >> you go to a meeting, do you have to wonder, is he wearing a wire or -- >> not so much a wire. i'm usually guarded. and i think i'm guarded anyway. but i'm not saying i trust everybody in the white house. i'm not a baby. it's a tough business. >> what do you make of that statement, professor? it's the argument you have in your house over thanksgiving dinner. it's real and she's asking all the questions most of us have. >> he is not a baby. has someone called him a baby? that's my question. is this a charge he's -- >> what is he defending on the baby charge? go ahead, professor i am not a baby, who said you were?

>> yeah, i think it it has something to do with -- i may have. it has something to do with the bob woodward book with regards to how he has been described as someone needing adults in the room. i think it has something to do with a long-standing rhetorical position that he usually takes when he wants to -- it's actually an insult for him. when you look at his record, he's constantly calling people babies. remember that big balloon, blow up of a baby that was floating around during his visit to england, to london. so i think he sees it as in some ways a kind of, i kind of characterization of the fact that he's immature, that he is not really capable intellectually of handling the office. and so he's responding to this standard -- standard characterization of who he is. but i also want to say with regards to korea -- north korea, it shows he's deeply transactional. trump, trump's business

transactions, he's always dealt with shady people. the bottom line isn't about the character of the people he's dealing w. his bottom line is achieving what he wants to achieve. so he has no interest whether or not he's dealing with morally corrupt people at all. so this is really clear to me. >> it's an 8-year-old playing monopoly. leslie stahl also asked questions about reports his secretary of defense james mattis had to explain ho him the importance of nato. >> is it true general mattis said to you, the reason for nato and the reason for all these alliances is to prevent world war 3? >> no, it's not true. i like general mattis. i think i know more about it than he does. and i know more about it from the standpoint of fairness. that i can tell you. >> and here's the president responding when asked if mattis was leaving. >> what about general mattis, is he going to leave? >> well, i don't know. he hasn't told me. we have a good relationship with him. >> do you want him to?

>> i think he is -- he's sort of a democrat to tell you the truth. general mattis is a good guy. we get along very well. he may leave. at some point everybody leaves. >> it's all about reasserting a stature, status. i'm not a baby, i'm the president. i don't think this has ever been said in the history of the american presidency, a president speaking to a journalist saying, i'm president and you're not. i mean, that's like they always say in the army, if you have to say it's an order, you're already in trouble because the officer -- the officer gives the order. you don't have to keep saying, hey, i'm the boss. >> but he does. i mean, i don't know if he has to keep saying it, but he does keep saying it. he keeps asserting he's the person with power. i think that's why he loves rallies. he goes to rallies and there's no one talking back to him. everybody is cheering him. >> one speaker. howard? >> first of all, i must say professor glaude is a master of understatement when he says that donald trump is deeply transactional with people like

kim jong-un. i hope you appreciate the compliment, sir. because it's worse than that. i mean, kim jong-un is a thug. vladimir putin is a thug. these are people who, in the tradition of the american presidency, presidents would have the moral authority to denounce. >> why does he like them? >> he likes them because -- >> they're doing something for him. >> they're doing something for him. and i must say people who support donald trump love that about him, but he's the most infantile character we have ever -- >> he is not a baby. >> he's not a baby. >> he says he's not. nixon's not a crook -- it is extraordinary stuff and i have to give credit to our colleague at the highest level, colleague, that's leslie stahl, to get the president to actually be -- put his dukes up. get those dukes up and say all this crazy stuff for the record. that's what journalists do. they don't win the argument, they get the truth out. thank you, susan page, thank you eddie glaude. thank you howard. president trump saysed the saudi

keng didn't have any knowledge of the killing of jamal khashoggi. there is new reporting today that suggests that may not be the case. wait till you hear this pretzel bend the president goes into to defend this guy. 22 days until the midterm, two weeks from norm. they're struggling in the midwest. they're having real problems in the part of the country from scranton to osh kosh that won the election last time. pay attention. the part of the country that gave trump the victory is turned against the republican party. we'll see what happens in two years. anyway, donald trump has made elizabeth warren's claim of native american ancestry the butt of his jokes. poke a hahn tas. she just took a dna test, an expert found for it. turns out she has some indian blood or native american blood and they're going way back to her 6th or 10 generations ago. is that going to end this argument? fine, let me finish tonight with trump watch. you're watching "hardball" where the action is. just a second, we also have the mendez mediation. brian is going to take the lead just follow his-

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in florida and georgia today, president trump and first lady melania trump visited some of the hardest hit areas by hurricane michael. relief agencies are putting out maximum effort. here he is. >> we are doing more than anybody would have ever done, and probably there hasn't been hits like this, certainly not very often. they say 50 years ago there was one that had this kind of power 50 years ago. that's a long time. but we're helping the people and we will always help the people. >> so far, at least 19 deaths are blamed on the storm, michael. with dozens more still unaccounted for and 300,000 homes and businesses still without power in those two states of florida and georgia. and we'll be right back. place, the xfinity xfi gateway.

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of the alleged killing of jamal khashoggi, according to three people with knowledge of the situation, get this. saudi arabia's government is now discussing a plan to admit that khashoggi was killed after entering the saudi consulate in istanbul. one of the three sources said he was told by those close to the saudi leadership that the kingdom will claim now that rogue operatives killed khashoggi during an interrogation or a redemption attempt -- rendition attempt that went horribly awry. they were trying to interview the guy or take him back to saudi. anyway, a spokeswoman for the saudi embassy in washington did not immediately responsible to a request for comment from us. we first caught a glimpse of this new strategy when president trump twisted himself into a pretzel defending the saudi king. catch this. >> we are going to leave nothing uncovered. with that being said, the king firmly denied any knowledge of it. he didn't really know, maybe --

i don't want to get into his mind, but it sound today me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. who knows. we're going to try getting to the bottom of it very soon. but his was a flat denial. >> only today president trump was asked about the reports of the new saudi narrative. let's watch. >> i heard that report, but nobody knows it is an official report. so far the rumor, rumor report coming out. >> it's not a rumor. democrat chris murphy, senate from up there, tweeted, been hearing the ridiculous rogue killers theory was where the saudis would go with this. absolutely extraordinary they were able to enlist the president of the united states as their p.r. agent to float this. earlier today, turkish investigators were finally granted access to the consulate in istanbul to begin their joint investigation with the saudis. after the cleaners were seen entering the consulate, there we go, to clean up whatever mess there was, it's been over a week since jamal khashoggi went into

that saudi consulate. never to be seen or heard from again. by the way, his girlfriend, his fiance was waiting outside. she left to go in, stood outside waiting for him to come out. that's a fact. we're joined by former white house senior director and former state department senior advisor and democratic congressman eric swalwell from california. let me start with the congressman, because i do that here. what do you make of the fact that the president of the united states is bending himself like a pretzel to go along with the latest horrible ridiculous excuse for killing and dismembering an american, basically an american journalist? >> he has no moral compass. he likes people who are like him. i just described to you the saudis. the first place he went overseas, they have invested in his hotels. they come over here and stay here. also, they have convinced him to kick out qatar and support the blockade that they put on qatar. this is just a continuum of --

>> it's not political. why do you think the crown prince who is so sophisticate and had so western loving seems to get hip approval from the western press? why did he think he could get away with this? >> because he sees a permissive operating environment in the world. the united states for many have always been the moral authority in the world. this president has extinguished that beacon with the russians killing in great britain, with kim jong-un killing in southeast arab a. now it's open season for leaders to conduct these killings. >> we used to be the standard. >> he's made it blatant that he actually loves and adores a man who leads his people by putting them in gulogs and repressing them and killing his family members. these are strong signals to the rest of the world what the united states will tolerate. >> do you believe the crown prince -- >> i think they were absolutely waiting for an opportunity to get away with murder, and this is it. >> they hated this journalist so much, they feared him so much.

>> yes. >> they're willing to kill him, dismember him, remove him from that consulate in broad daylight. >> right. i am glad you called him a journalist and not what you're saying, a dissident. he's doing his job enforcing transparency on his government. that's not what the saudis like. the saudis started putting people in prison for rumor mongering. this week -- >> this is not the first time the president has given credence to an individual's denial as part of a pattern with the president. let's watch. >> i have president putin. he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would be. i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. >> mr. president, is an accused child molester better than a democrat? is an accused -- >> well, he denies it. look, he denies it. if you look at what, what is really going on and you look at all the things that have happened over the last 48 hours,

he totally denies it. he says it didn't happen. >> says he's innocent, and i think you have to remember that. he said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent. >> congressman, remember morgan freeman's character in sha shank, he said none of us did it. the prisons are filled. why does he believe deniers of guilt? >> the central park 5 didn't do t proven they didn't do it. all the people donald trump believes tends to be the certain type. older white men who run autocratic countries or dictator ships. >> they're also dealing with him. >> right, they're dealing with him and he likes that. frankly i think he would enjoy running the united states the way that mbs has been able to run his country. >> sorry, go ahead. >> where he doesn't have to actually take into consideration anybody else's opinion, where he's able to appoint his family members to run things. >> let's talk about the roman offs here. the president appointed his son-in-law the vice roy for the

middle east. good for him if he can pull it off. the saudis are a big part of that. they're going to underwrite, redraw somewhere back to the 67 green line, with trading -- i'm all for something like that. who wouldn't? but is that why he's afraid to attack the saudis, because they're going to be the ones to ask you port the "frontline" states where they go along with it? >> i think it's all about the money. it is all about the money with donald trump. >> the buying of our guns? >> he can translate what they are doing to jobs, so he can tell the american people don't screw up this relationship. >> because raytheon won't like it. >> the military complex is hurting right now. we're not selling coal to the saudis. selling weapons so they can run our operation sz what's happening. >> according to the washington post, jared kushner who i mentioned is now under intense scrutiny for his close ties to the crown prince of saudi arabia. the washington post reports despite the public outcry, kushner has already signalled he has no intention of turning his back on the crown prince. one senior u.s. intelligence

official told the washington post kushner has come under the power of simplistic dominance in the middle east. i think this president is acting like a royal and he gives his daughter incredible power. she says i'm the first daughter. i don't work here. i have power that comes through my relationship with my father. and this young son-in-law, he gets the power to decide our middle east policy, apparently he won't turn his back on the saudis so the president won't. >> and the people who are on the other side running things the same way actually have spent a very long time examining middle east politics and u.s. politics. they have had an intellectual curiosity in saudi arabia -- >> who? >> the saudis, how to manipulate the world for their benefit. >> unfortunately we have come to match them. just like they're a royal family, trump is acting like a royal family. >> right, without any intellectual depth or understanding. the president of the united states is bought hook, line and sinker. >> jared is important and unfortunately right. >> they are a kingdom, we are not. if we don't want it to be this way, congress can stop this from being this way.

let's see what a republican congress or new -- >> the first thing you do is end this what's it called, uh to be -- autocracy. you have to stop trump. just 22 days out from the midterm, three weeks from tomorrow, early voting already underway. vote if you can early. i believe in early voting in case you don't make it election day. we're going to look at who is up and who is down in key western states. the concerns have always owned the south, dixiecrats. they own the cowboy part of the country. in the midwest they're touchy about jobs and trade and stuff. they switch back and forth. you have to figure out who they're mad at most right now and right now they're mad at trump. this is "hardball" where the action is. (vo) this is not a video game.

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for ohio, i'll never forget. i said, the polls have closed in ohio. donald trump has won the state of ohio. we won ohio by so much, that it took one second before they called it, okay? we won by a lot. it's a great place. and, by the way, have i produced? look at what's coming into ohio now. have we produced? i produced and you produced. >> that was president trump of course campaigning this past friday night in ohio bragging ba

his election victory two years ago. with this fall's midterm now just three weeks off, president trump has been hitting the campaign trail for republicans across the midwest, hoping to stave off embarrassing losses in states that he carried two years ago. the washington post reports trump's luster may have worn off, leaving republican candidates flat. a number of republicans running for governor, wisconsin, pennsylvania, ohio, including several who hitched their wagon to trump's political movement are behind in polls by double digits. in fact, the real clear average polls in each of the states i mentioned shows the democratic incumbents, tammy baldwin of wisconsin, debbie of michigan, sharon brown of ohio, bob case i of minnesota all surging ahead of the republican opponents. well ahead of them. for more i'm joined by charlie sykes, contributing editor -- charlie, help us out here. i have intuitive thoughts about this like you do. what can you tell us about the

people you talk to? bobby casey is not going to get beat. the president said at the rally the other day, it's too bad he kicked away a lifelong career in the house. he's gone. nobody is going to beat sharon brown and debbie, don't talk about that race. baldwin is going to win. why is the midwest went down or trump all the way, liked him, to the point of giving him the election, turned him off? >> well, i think we're seeing the limits of the transferability of trumpian appeal. look, these are not red states. these are either blue states or they are purple states. and this is kind of the reverse. when trump makes the election about himself, it is kind of the reverse of your previous conversation because, you know, yeah, that might motivate voters in tennessee and texas to turnout, but in states like pennsylvania and michigan and ohio and wisconsin, the key to those states is, are democrats going to turn out in big numbers?

they generally don't in off-year elections. it looks like they are in this year's election. is he going to be able to capture that trumpian magic? and it certainly does not look like it. of course, look, this is the backbone, as you point out, this is the backbone of the trumpian electoral college victory. you know, he's not president without pennsylvania, michigan, ohio, wisconsin. and so whatever happens elsewhere in the country, what happens in 2018, you know, ought to be watched very, very closely for omens for 2020. >> i've been talking to audiences. i think what people agree with is this. the american voter is not a greedy voter. what the american voter wants, especially in older people who will vote -- and they vote a lot -- they want social security so they can have a retirement without poverty, which is the greatest anti-poverty program in history, social security. they paid in, they deserve to get it out, a couple thousand a month. they deserve better care. that's what they paid from the time they were 15, their first

job, till 15, they've been paying it under law. medical care through 65. guys don't live as long as their wives, but they live long enough u. they need health care. they paid and they deserve it. medicaid, let's deserve t it's not just for poor people. it's for people who have long term care situations, alzheimer's. okay. they want a job for their children close enough they can drive home once in a while and say hi. that's all they want. democrats like casey, like brown, like debbie understand that. they don't talk about this a vanguard social stuff, they talk basic economics and trump does, too. he won't touch entitlements and he produces jobs. so it's interesting that that's why you would vote for a bobby ca casey and also vote for a trump. interesting, your thoughts. >> exactly right. that was the magic of 2016 from the trump campaign point of view. he took some of those themes the democrats have been running on. he played against type for the

republicans. had he not pledge todd to defenl those, he would not have won. trumpism has evolved, i think, cuts against all of that. his populist appeal, you know, is limited especially with the tax cut bill. so, again, some of the issues that are working so strongly in his favor -- >> i agree. >> -- in his favor in the red states are exactly the issues hurting him in the industrial midwest. >> if there hadn't been a kavanaugh episode from the beginning to the end, all the way through dr. ford, blasey ford, if that hadn't happened, would he be better off or worse from today? trump. >> i think he would be worse off today. it's hard to say how it's going to play out in the midwest. there's no question about it, republicans, you falk to republicans, conservatives, they feel there is new energy. he feels he's on a roll. whether it's true or not we don't know. these are mirror images, that

are going to galvanize republican conservative turnout is going to galvanize -- democratic turnout in the philadelphia suburbs. >> i'm with you. it doubles down in both directions. i think women in the burbs keep up with these issues of harassment and sexual assault are totally turned off by the messages coming from the white house. thank you so much, charlie sykes. >> yes. >> you're one of the smart ones, sir. up next, senator elizabeth warren takes a dna test to prove her native american ancestry such as it is. trump's response, who cares? let's talk about whether she was right to go in and double down on the fact here that she did have some native american background. pretty far back, but it's there. you're watching "hardball." e e is now in session. and... adjourned. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it.

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elizabeth warren. oh, i hope she runs. i hope she runs. then we can finally get down to the fact as to whether or not she has indian blood. >> welcome back to "hardball." we're getting there. that was president trump last week mocking senator warren's statement that she has native american ancestry. well, earlier today, believe it or not, warren released the results of a dna test indicating that she has native american blood in her family tree dating back 6 to 10 generations. that's pretty far back. ten generations means that if 1,000 of her ancestors were sitting in this room right now, all thousand of them, one might be native american. warren's political opponents have accused her of using a native american ancestry to gain an unfair advantage in her career. for example, the boston globe reports today, quote, she had her ethnicity changed from white to native american at the university of pennsylvania law school where she taught from

1987 to 1995 and harvard law school where she was a tenured faculty member in 1995. she classified herself as native american. in georgia today, surveying the hurricane damage, president trump dismissed the news of her new dna testing. >> senator warren released some of her dna results that show a strong likelihood she does have native american roots. >> how much, 1/1,000? do you owe her an apology? >> absolutely not. she owes the country an apology. >> anyway, that brings in tonight's round table. he soberly shows the country an apology? come on. ashley porter, the washington post, co-founder and democratic strategist, rnc surrogate, former john mccain advisor. i have to do it. i'm giving you the opening tee here. go for it. is she off the problem or still in the problem coming out with the testing? >> she compounded the problem in my opinion. it was a clumsy 2020 test, not a dna test that she failed

miserably. >> explain. >> well, the fact of the matter is -- >> wait a minute, she didn't get one of those spit thing? she did do the spit thing. >> when anyone puts that little box, mine is hispanic. people aren't looking that. i think it is an insult. i think the cherokee tribe today denounced her. when people put native american, in our minds as the people the the president honoring when he referred to her as pocahontas, it's an insult to people. >> it's a question. >> the point i was referring to the event where the president was really with native americans. this wasn't a question of whether she has less than the average european in the united states. it's a drop, less than a drop of native american blood. she was calling -- she was lying and misrepresenting herself as a native american. if you all on this set, chris, you were just talking earlier, put hispanic or african-american, i think you'd be insulting people and people wouldn't believe it --

>> let me ask you this. i want to get the percentage -- that's the problem with percentages. i think most people are proud of their ancestry even if it's a little bit. if i was a little american indian, i'd talk about it. she did say at the time she first talked about it was 6 to 10 generations ago. the problem of course is what she said, how she identified herself at penn law school. >> correct. >> that's the problem. >> here's what we know. we know that she said she has native american ancestry and she does. we also know she's being transparent in having taken this test and released it. both of which, by the way, donald trump is neither transparent, he won't release his tax returns and he doesn't tell the truth about almost anything. and the boston globe looked into whether she received any racial preference and in fact she did not. and so -- >> she's not native american. >> what the trump people are doing and what adolfo is supporting them in doing, these little racial code words that they throw out there and these little racial triggers that they do to their base because this is really not about --

>> we're calling somebody what she is. misrepresenting her heritage. >> adolfo, you led off. let me go to ashley. is there any way to track in the future -- can he still say pocahontas and get a chuckle out of his crowd probably. is it going to have a ring to it if she's clear, i have ancestry, let's move on. >> he absolutely can. that's the problem for her. this is the issue when she was running for senate. the idea by releasing this dna test and ancestry is somehow going to prevent donald trump from either doing the culturally sensitive thing or not claiming the moral high ground on telling the truth is absurd. this is a president who has not released his tax returns yet, but had no problem demanding proof from president obama for his birth certificate, school transcripts, asking senator warren, moving the goal post. he is going to move the goal post-up until she's outs of the race. >> here's something today. david purdue, not the chicken

guy, reportedly snatched a cell phone from a college student who was questioning him about voter suppression in georgia. part of it was captured on video. this is always a problem for politicians, what you can see. let's watch. >> so, how can you endorse a candidate -- >> no, no. that's still my property. >> you wanted a picture, you wanted a picture. >> give me my phone back, senator. thanks. that's u.s. senator david purdue just snatched my phone because he won't answer a question. >> purdue's office is calling it a misunderstanding saying the senator thought he was being asked to take a selfie with the student. i don't know what i think about this one. ashley, the kid -- i don't know, he was obnoxious or what was going on. the senator made a big mistake politically grabbing a phone from somebody. bottom line in public life today, you have to put up with a lot of crap. that's part of it and he wasn't doing it. your thoughts? >> i think that's probably right. the lesson there, watching the video it's unclear if his

explanation of the selfie is unclear. >> ashley, come on. >> like the redemption? >> you have to be aware if you're a politician or anyone in public life, anything you say or do will be caught on video camera. it will be on social media. >> and you'll look like the bad buy. >> you should be prepared for that. >> this is the life he's chosen. politicians are running to the camera all the time. they shouldn't be surprised when someone sticks a camera or microphone in their face. that's what reporters do every sickle day and they should be either prepared for it or able to deal with it. >> why do guys have to use godfather language? that is "the godfather" language. this is the life you have chosen. you took it straight from the godfather. >> this is, of course, a 5-minute story, but we're going to comment on it, the fact of the matter is i don't think you sign up for harassment. and i think -- >> no, let me finish for a second. if i may. >> i think emotions are running high after the kavanaugh thing.

i think what you've seen with senator cruz, with senator -- >> i agree with you about cruz. >> that type of thing. i don't think this young man was just asking a question. -- >> adolfo, you're right, you made the point. cruz won that exchange, when people mob flashed him at the restaurant, he pulled the smart move. he left because that made him the victim and he's probably going to pull up a number of points because it's going to look good. those people at the restaurant were wrong. maxine waters is wrong about telling people to do that. it's wrong. you know what? there's a way to handle it. >> and eric holder. >> george allen is still paying for the response he had. and he wasn't an evil guy, it looked bad. this is "hardball." adolfo, enough. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c.

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we're back with "hardball" round table. ashley is first. tell me something i don't know. >> we have to hear about an angry frustrated president. he's in a good mood. he got kavanaugh on the high court. he's on the campaign trail, he is talking to reporters. we're seeing happy trump unleashed. >> is he waiting for justice ginsburg to retire so he can get another pick in there? >> he's looking for more picks. >> gori days. >> people close to clinton and close to hillary clinton who look at the field and think if

joe biden doesn't win -- if hillary clinton can get back in -- >> what about this vaudeville act, is that to -- i've heard theories. >> we're seeing her race in profile a little bit. i don't know if it's by design right now. i know there are people close to her that are whispering in her ear you might be able to do this if joe biden doesn't run. >> she will be the older candidate. anything is possible. go ahead. >> you've been doing the mid terms, you know, the close races. the real sleeper is going to be new jersey. and i think bob menendez is going to be in much more trouble than people think. story came out -- >> the times endorsed the republican finally get around to, you think? >> i think so. let me tell you why. quickly on this, bob menendez has said women have to be believed. he said that today. said it on the senate floor. the women have to be believed. how about the women who accused him of sexual misconduct or relationship under age? >> we'll see the power of party politics. if he wins it's the party. >> that's true.

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trump watch monday, october 15, 2018. president trump's decision to make this midterm election about him, about donald trump, merely doubles down on the country's geographic reality. i've been predicting that the democrats will pick up 30 to 40 seats in the house of

representatives this november. that's more than the white house, which is 29. and a lot more than what they need to win control of the house. 23. they'll win these 30 to 40 house seats in the suburbs where people, including women, read newspapers and keep up with life in the big cities. again, trump putting himself out there in every medium that will show him will rev up the number. again, thanks to suburban women for the high 30s for the simple reason it will force a basic decision on women voters, which is, vote republican and you're voting for trump. vote for trump, and you're voting for all the crap that's been going on from stormy, to kavanaugh, to the latest coming from the white house. you're voting for all of it, period. at the same time trump's decision to put his face out there everywhere will help the republicans in the western and southern states. starting in north dakota, heading down through arizona, and texas, tennessee, missouri, these red state voters will be pulled out to vote for trump's candidates. the red states will be doubling

down on red on this president and those who back him. as they say in real estate, what matters in 2018 politics will be location, location, location. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. all-in with chris hayes starts right now. /s >> tonight on "all in." >> i just spoke with the king of saudi arabia. >> donald trump investigates. >> the king firmly denied any knowledge of it. >> and presents an alternate theory of the death of a washington post columnist. >> it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. >> tonight, multiple reports that the kingdom of saudi arabia is also floating the president's theory. plus. >> i will give you a million dollar if you take the test that shows you're an indian. >> elizabeth warren calls president trump's million dollars bluff. >> the president likes to call my mom a liar. >> then 22 days out, why