me. i'm looking forward to it. i'm also in it los angeles, i'll be at politi-con this weekend, doing a panel on saturday for the midterms. always stop by if you're in the l.a. area to see, lawrence o'donnell, joy reid, jacob soboroff and many others. politi-con this saturday in l.a. that's our show. "hardball" is up next. a killing in istanbul. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. it's been over two weeks since turkish officials saw a saudi hit squad tortured and say and dismembered jamal khashoggi inside the saudi consulate in istanbul. it's been roughly a week since turkish authoritiies said they have an audio recording and video showing the gruesome

death. tonight nbc news is reporting that u.s. intelligence agencies investigating the killing of khashoggi believe it's inconceivable that the saudi crown prince, mohammed bin salman had no knowledge of it. and the saudi arabian royal government vehemently denies all of this. despite all of that mounting evidence, secretary of state mike pompeo said today the dos would give the saudis more time to come up with an explanation. let's watch. >> is i told president trump this morning we ought to give them a few more days to complete that so we, do, have a complete understanding of facts surrounding that, which point we can make decisions how, if it the united states should respond to the incidents surrounding mr. khashoggi. >> and late today, president trump en route to a campaign event, finally acknowledged that khashoggi was killed. >> do you believe jamal khashoggi is dead? >> it certainly looks that way to me. it's very sad. certainly looks that way. >> when it came to the crown

prince's involvement, however, "the new york times" notes the president was uncharacteristically guarded and disciplined. declining repeated requests to discuss the chain of events that led to mr. akhashoggi's disappearance or the crown prince's role. according to the "washington post" the trump administration is working with the saudi royal family to find a, "mutually agreement explanation for the death of khashoggi that will avoid implicating crown prince mohammed bin salman. "the new york times" is reporting that jared kushner, the president's son-in-law, has been urging the president to stand by the crown prince, arguing that the outrage will pass. sadly, while cakhashoggi's voic may have been perm nernanently silenced, his words live on in the last column he wrote for the "washington post." in the column he wrote almost prophetically, "arab governments have been giving free rein to

continue silencing the media at an increasing rate. the arab world is facing its own version of an iron curtain imposed not by external actors but domestic forces vying for power." i'm joined by heidi presbla, nbc news national political correspondent. robert costa, "washington post" national political reporter. ben rhoderhodes. thank you, all. i want to start with robert. what is the president up to in this strange, displain pled sile of his? >> you have the secretary of the treasury removing himself from that conference next week. you still have an administrat n administration, a president, reluctant to take action on human rights. wanting to preserve that relationship. seeing it in purely transactional terms. >> why does he feel that he has to either condemn the action, or take sides and defending it? why doesn't he just say this was horrible, this is terrible, and then deal with the transactional

aspe specspects of our economic relationships as they have been with some sort of tweaking? why does he feel he have to be on their side so much? this idea that somehow they're innocent seems to be indefensible. to say that, join in the cover-up? why would he want to do that? >> part of the president's caution, chris, is because he's not getting any pressure from his own party, which controls congress. weeks ahead of the midterm elections. they're standing by him. usually, the republican party pretty hawkish on human rights. traditional mainstream foreign policy. gop types would urge action. not so much right now. you have senator bob corker, other senator lindsey graham saying a few words. it's trump in command. that tells you so much about the republican party and foreign policy today. >> over the past two years, president trump has railed against other traditional allies of the u.s. over a range fof issues from defense to trade. let's watch him about other people. >> what's your biggest competitor, the biggest foe, globally right now? >> well, i think we have a lot

of foes. think the european union is a foe. what they do to us in trade. ultimately, germany will have almost 70% of their country controlled by russia with natural gas. so you tell me, is that appropriate? i mean, complaining about this from the time i got in. should have never been allowed to have happened. but germany is totally controlled by russia. canada has treated us very badly. so i have nato, i have the uk, which is in somewhat turmoil. and i have putin. fra frankly, putin may be the easiest of them all. who would think? >> wonderful. however, when it comeses to the killing of jamal khashoggi and the royal family over there in saudi arabia, the president's support has been unequivocal. watch this. >> we are going to leave nothing uncovered. with that being said, the king firmly denied any knowledge of

it. >> saudis are investigating themselves, essentially. what do you think -- >> no, they're just -- they're great, very talented people. they're not investigating themselves. these are all talented people. i'm not giving cover at all.udi arab arabia's been a very important ally of ours in the middle east. >> ben rhodes, thank you, once upon a time, not too many years ago, this country had moral authority in the world. with we tried to position ourselves as the bad guy, believed in freedoms and human rights generally, going back to jimmy carter, going back to roosevelt. we tried to be the country that was for the good guys and looked out for the underdogs a lot of the time. this seems to be a clear-cut case we defend a journalist who apparently was killed, according to the president, was killed but seem like we're taking the side of the victim here and his interests against the killer. >> yeah, chris, i mean, we've become essentially the trump administration a co-conspirator in the cover-up. i mean, at this point, a normal

administration, not just obama, but any traditional american administration, would be working with those very same allies that you showed trump criticizing. the european union, canada, to figure out what are the consequences that we're going to impose on saudi arabia? let's face it, we don't need to know much more than we already know. the man went into the saudi consulate and never came out. decisions like this, to send hit squads into other countries to kill journalists, do not get made in the saudi system without mohammed bin salman, power behind the throne, knowing about that. what we're seeing here, chris, is really the continuation of a profound realignment of american foreign policy under donald trump. where we longer speak up for democracy and human rights. we no longer speak up for journalists. instead, we call them the enemy of the state and we're giving a green light not just to this saudi regime, but to any regime around the world who wants to harm dissidents, harm journalists. the most powerful democracy in

the world is no longer on their side. i think we can't imagine the message that that's sending to people and governments around the world and just how much that's shifting the workings of the global order that the united states has led since the end of world war ii. >> ben, you were the spokesman for foreign policy for the previous government -- previous administration. white house. do you really believe, i'm not going to put words in your mouth, but i think i just heard them, that the signal was sent by this president to the world and to the bad guys of the world including the saudi family that we hate journalists to the point where whatever you're going to do with them is fine with us. >> well, look, we've been saying for many months that we're concerned that the rhetoric he uses at home against journalists could have a chilling effect abroad. particularly with governments who are willing to do horrific things to squelch dissent. the saudis undertook this operation knowing that it wouldn't just silence jamal khashoggi. it was so brazen that they want the message to go out to any saudi journalist or dissident in any country in the world that

this could happen to you. the chilling thing is the saudis might not mind the attention this is getting because it's getting that message across. and if you take that and on top of that, you have a u.s. president who seems more concerned at protecting mohammed bin salman and protecting the saudi government after this action, then that message is only come pounded. and there are plenty of other governments around the world who would do harm to journalists, who would do harm to dissidents who will take comfort in the fact that the united states is no longer figuring out what consequences we can impose on a country like saudi arabia after they do this, we're figuring out how to get them through this. >> heidi, i don't mind going to general quarters on this where i usually go. i think it has to do with his family, jared, his son-in-law, he's been his vice when it comes to dealings with the arab world. i think he feels somehow he's in bed with this royal family over there, that his sort of romanoff phony family and their family seen to be locked together.

jared, this crown prince, and his crown prince, seem to be in bed together mipolitically. >> we don't know, unlike every president before him, prior, going back to nixon, actually disclosed his financial interests. from what we do know, the saudis have definitely invested in him. from what we do know, during the campaign, he opened at least eight companies in saudi arabia. is this because of some kind of a direct financial connection or a broader pattern of affinity he's shown toward these types of autocratic leaders? >> that's the word i'm interested in. they see, the saudi royal family, especially this young prince, princely prince, seems to think of jared as something like him in the united states. the son-in-law. the crown prince. they seem to have built that relationship as if it's two royal families interlocking, if you will. hooking up, if you will. and it seems to me this president looks at it the same way in reverse. >> you can definitely draw a

line back to the fact that the very first visit by a foreign visit by this president was to saudi arabia and the fingerprints of jared kushner on that. and now the question is, i think -- >> look, there they are together. >> we've already seen -- >> buddies. >> -- that this is not going to be an investigation. they've already had too much time. they've had pompeo come over there and not make demands, for example. listening to the tape and whatnot. and so the question, has the united states already allowed the crown prince to argue a plausible deniability that no matter what comes out of this investigation, he didn't know about it? they've already had one of the executioners killed -- alleged executioners killed in a car crash. there's your -- >> which executioner? >> one of the men who allegedly took part in the execution of jamal khashoggi was killed in a car accident now. >> when was this? >> just within the past day. >> okay. you report -- you wanted to jump in here, robert costa. >> put aside for a moment this romanoffs illusion you're making. based on my conversations with white house officials, chris, it's really about pompeo, the

secretary of state, playing his own chess game in the middle east thinking you got to go after iran, saudi arabia is crucial, how the u.s. is positioning himself with iran. the president with his transactional view of foreign policy, about money, the arms deals, the oil. >> yeah. >> jared, with respect to mr. kushner, based on conversations with white house officials, more of a side player here. partly because he seems a little bit hot, a little bit hot because of his relationship with mohammed bin salman. >> i know, he may be covering up for this or leading the cover-up. isn't the son-in-law, jared, the one who's supposed to put this grand treaty together, something like the old green line with some changes, but doesn't protect the arab rights in j jerusal jerusalem? aren't they looking for the saudis to underwrite that deal? wasn't that the plan led by the crown prince? >> that was the plan, but actions speak louder than any kind of plan. who went to saudi arabia? who's gone to turkey? the secretary of state. not jared kushner. >> okay. why didn't the secretary of

state ask to hear the recordings that the turkish government and its official newspapers have been putting out with all the hard, i mean, really horrifying details about the torture and dismemberment of khashoggi? why didn't he ask if he could listen to that tape while he was there? >> that's why the midterms matter. congress needs to ask these kind of tough questions. maybe under subpoena, invite the secretary of state to capitol hill. senator corker is asking questions but a lot of republicans right now aren't asking the questions you're asking. >> they're sitting here talking about sports or something. i don't know what they're having such a great time about. this is this week. and the aftermath of an unbelievable torture and murder, a dismemberment, and this guy's the chief suspect and pompeo is having, i don't know, tea with the guy. i don't know what's going on. thank you, heidi. thank you for your great reporting. robert, ben rhodes, thank you. coming up, voting in america is a constitutional right. that right is under assault. former attorney general loretta lynch is coming to me right here to talk about that next. plus, the trump fact with only 19 days to go until the

midterm elections, president trump hits the campaign trail for rallies in three close senate races. montana, arizona, and nevada. he knows where to go. all very close states in the battle for the senate. but will trump's big presence nationwide hurt overall? and the man in charge of the russia investigation speaks out in a rare interview. rod rosenstein defends the integrity of the mueller investigation and his role in overseeing it. why isspking out now right before the election? could it be that mueller is about to report right after the election? finally let me finish tonight with why it's so important for you, the person looking at me right now, to vote. you have to vote. it's your constitutional right and i would say duty, especially if you know what's going on, as you do. and this is "hardball" where the action is. he action is. (music throughout)

♪ my love has come along, applebee's new neighborhood pastas. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. four zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. and now we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. at fidelity, those zeros really add up. ♪ so maybe i'll win, saved by zero ♪ with only 19 days to go now, everyone's laser focused on the midterm elections, but underneath that surface, some democrats already have their

sights set on 2020. president trump has made it clear he plans on running for re-election and has mused about something he calls his dream opponents, including joe biden, john kerry, michael bloomberg. while most democrats avoid the topic, one potential 2020 candidate is clearly testing the waters. here he goes. >> i was thinking the other day, because i'm considering running in 2020, that i've always had the accent over my "a" in my name. >> right. >> that i bet if i did that on the sign that that would be the first time that anybody has run for president with the accent and accent over a letter -- >> oh, wow. so let's talk about that little nugget you just slipped in there. i'll be running, on tuesday i'll be running for president of the united states. >> i did not say -- >> what do you think you would do differently in going up against donald trump? >> well, i would say two things, first of all, if i decided to run, i don't think that you're

going to beat drup onald trump trying to be donald trump. it's the folks who have have been hopeful and optimistic and painted a strong vision for the future, especially as democrats, have prevailed. you think about in the modern era, kennedy or carter when he ran, represented a break from scandal. >> it right. >> or clinton when he ran or, of course, maybe the best example, barack obama in 2008. >> we'll be right back. >> we'llk but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz, the first and only treatment of its kind offering people with moderate to severe psoriasis a chance at 100% clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of people quickly saw a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms.

serious allergic reactions can occur. ready for a chance at 100% clear skin? ask your doctor about taltz. we've hadfor a long time.is in san francisco and half-measures haven't fixed it. homelessness doesn't just hurt homeless people. it hurts all of us. that's why we're all voting "yes" on c. the plan is paid for by corporations that just got a massive tax break. it's time for them to give back by helping all of us to fix our homeless crisis. with more affordable housing... expanded mental-health services... clean restrooms and safe shelters. vote "yes" on c. it helps all of us. you can do things like change your settings, learn tips and tricks, troubleshoot,

and even manage your account. finding your xfinity username or wifi password, restarting your equipment, or paying your bill is easier than ever with x1. x1 help. another reason to love x1. say "teach me more" into your voice remote to get started. welcome back to "hardball." voting in this country is every citizen's right, of course, not a privilege like getting a driver's license. it's a right. and that principle was clear in the 15th amendment ratified after the civil war. that, "the right of citizens of the united states to vote shall not be denied or abridged. on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." nearly 100 years later was franchise was reinforced by the voting rights act intended to

ensure e quaqual access to the s in 1965. today, however, that right is again under assault. rather than expand access to the polls, many in republican-controlled state and local governments are trying to restrict it by making it harder to register, passing voter i.d. laws, and closing polling locations. here's how former vice president joe biden summed it up early today. >> do you believe that voter suppression is under way? >> absolutely. somewhere in the order of 77 in the last couple years pieces of legislation introduced to state legislatures to restrict the right to vote. we should have automatic registration. there is no, no evidence in all the studies done of widespread voter fraud, of that being a central problem in american electoral process. just not true. >> in georgia, it's reported more than 53,000 voter registration applications are on hold. >> that's right. 70% of those are african-americans. surprise, surprise. >> well, a few seeking to d

disenfranchise voters ready admitted their true intentions, some have been surprisingly honest. back in 2012, just 6 years ago, the republican leader of the pennsylvania house, mike terzi, made it clear that voter i.d. was intended to suppress the vote for then-president obama. here he goes. >> voter i.d., which is going to allow governor romney to win the state of pennsylvania, done. >> pretty clear. in 2013, pennsylvania's republican party chair, robert gleeson, admitted that voter i.d. cut into president obama's margins. >> do you think all the attention drawn to voter i.d. affected last year's elections? >> yeah, i think a little bit. i think we probably had a better election. think about this. we cut obama by 5%. which was big. you know, a lot of people lost sight of that. he won. he beat mccain by 10%. he only beat romney by 5%. i think probably voter i.d. had helped a bit in that. >> i'm joined by former attorney

general loretta lynch who served under president obama. general, it's great to have you on. just an honor, generally, but there you saw it. amazingly, these republicans pop up out of the grass and say, we do it to screw the african-american voter, help our side. >> yes. >> they just say it. >> yes, it's nothing new. that's the thing. i'm glad you started with the 15th amendment because this is an historical issue. it's a current issue. excuse me. and just, it's only history because it happened to somebody else. not because it could never happen again. that's what's happening now. see the transfer of power when people begin to vote, voices are heard. we see people not wanting to have that happen. you saw from the time of the voting rights act, african-american registration and turnout increasing. slowly. we had to bring lawsuits. this was still not an automatic thing, it was not an easy thing an p and by 2010, '11, '12, '13, you had all this parity and things began to change. once shelby county was decided and preclearance was moved away,

states went right back to their old systems. >> a lot of cases, deep south places where you had a large african-american population, going back to the cotton culture, and these whites were afraid that the blacks would take over local government. but you see in these big states like pennsylvania, the blacks are not going to take over state government. they're going to have to have really good candidates to do it. it seems like they do it for partisan reasons, say we're going to screw this group of voters. i'll get you some water here. you all right? they seem to be doing it for pure -- the race is the key because african-americans tend these days to be democrats. but this new pattern just seems to be blatantly partisan. just thinking -- look at -- tell me what you think is going on in it georgia right now. >> look, what's happening in georgia is similar to what you just played in pennsylvania. there's an exciting candidate for governor. and she's coming close. she's gotten state wiwide appea because of her previous work in the state legislature. she's a known quantity. she's already crossed that barrier of appealing to people from all sides. but the issue is always registration and turnout.

and i think there, her opponent has also said that she can get people to turn out and register, she's got a great shot. this is always -- >> he's the guy in charge of registration. >> yes. >> he's the secretary of state. and he's setting these rules and purging voters and pointing, like, 50,000-some off the list and saying these are conditional now and the applications will be in doubt. >> they will be. always been about power. it's always been about who gets to control the life of this country. and who gets to determine how we all live our lives. that's what it's always been about. and so the more people you have coming into the electorate, the more you dilute the current power structure. that's why it's not just in the south. that's why it's not just in it rural areas. that's why it is, in fact, anywhere you have people who do not like the demographic changes that we are seeing in this country. >> what i worry about, we even play this on the story, because we have obviously a big proportion of african-american viewers. i'm proud of that as h erell.

i wonder sometimes if we scare people by saying, well, i don't want to go to the polling booth, i don't want to cause trouble, blah, blah, blah. i don't want the intimidation factor. how do you tell a person, go out there, this is one time of your life to be pushy. don't let anybody get in your way. you have a right to vote. >> this is absolutely the time to be pushy. this is not just a right but a birthright. this is something every american is entitled to by virtue of being here and being a citizen. frankly, people in power who have taken an oath to uphold this constitution set himsethems up and try to restrict it is disgra disgraceful. that's the problem we're seeing here as well. you're right. so say you don't want to intimidate people is great, but, look, these laws are designed to intimidate. restricting early voting is designed to intimidate. the voter i.d. laws are designed to scare people -- >> what about long lines? >> -- away from the process. >> that's a subtle one. >> that's a subtle one. >> four-hour lines already in some of the early voting situations. they just get an african-american neighborhood, and, okay, let's limit the number of booths here. >> limit the numbers of booth

and also they'll threaten to close the polls so you fear that your vote won't be counted, you actually can't get into the voting booth. so i got to tell you, you know, people, particularly minority people in this country, have been through a lot worse. we can get to -- we can stand on a line. we can sign up. and register to vote. so these are intimidation tactics. they're really designed to suppress interests. >> say it loud. i grew up in philadelphia as a young adult, frank rizzo made his message clear to african-americans up there. they didn't like him. they outvoted white people. they got out there -- >> that could happen again. that could happen again. not just minorities, though. look at the impact of the voter suppression tactics going on in this country, primarily minorities, people who traditionally have been d disenfranchi disenfranchised. also young people. look at what's happening on college campuses and the way in which the college vote is also being suppressed. >> general, look at the camera, tell people what to do this voting season. make your pitch. >> listen, you've got to come

out and you can't be intimidated. this is not just our country. it's our right. it's our birthright. so what i want everyone to do is find a way to get to the registration area, to the polling area, make your voice heard. >> thank you so much. it's an nhonor to have you on. >> thank you. >> by the way, that was former u.s. attorney general loretta link. up next, a closer look at some of the states where voting rights are now under attack like georgia. state officials shouldn't get to choose, by the way, who gets to vote. the voters get to decide who runs the country. not the other way around. some are trying very hard to do that, do just that, pick the voters they like. this is "hardball" where the action is. l" where the action is.

how much horse power does this thing got? doing great dad! looking good babe! are you filming. at booking.com, we can't guarantee you'll be any good at that water jet thingy... but we can guarantee the best price on a hotel, like this one.

or any home, boat, treehouse, yurt, whatever. get the best price on homes, hotels and so much more. booking.com, booking.yeah oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer,

multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (vo) ask your healthcare provider if ozempic® is right for you.

welcome back to "hardball." less than three weeks to go until the elections, voting rights remain under attack at a lot of states. last week the u.s. supreme court upheld a north dakota state voter i.d. law which could negatively affect the state's native american voters. in georgia, secretary of state brian kemp, also the republican candidate for governor, hmm, put tens of thousands of voter registrations on hold, which is his term, which the "associated press" found disproportionately affects african-american voters. and on monday in jefferson county, georgia, dozens of african-american senior citizens headed to the polls in the first day of in-person early voting were ordered off the bus.

the "atlanta journal constitution" reported the decision came directly from county administrator adam brett who told the outlet, "jefferson county administration felt uncomfortable with allowing senior center patrons to leave the facility in a bus with an unknown third party." how scary. i'm joined by judith brown, co-director of the advancement project and old friend of the show. jason johnson, politics editor of theroot.com. natasha brown, co-founder of black votes matter. she was on that bus in georgia. what do you think was up that day? they got all those voters off the bus. why did that happen? who did it? >> you know, it was the county administrator but i think it speaks to particularly when we speak about rural communities, there are folks who have uncheck bed power and have power so long they feel like they have the rights to make decisions to use the power in an abusive way to have the right to make decisions for other people that actually interferes into their vote. the county administrator

actually made the call to tell the director of the center that the people of the bus had to get off. and that's quite frankly, he made a unilateral decision based on the fact he didn't know who the people were. well, we had spent two hours with that community, so at the end of the day, the people had made that decision. that was not his call. >> well, you know, you know the history. we'll get to it in a minute. it seems to me that i've spent most of my life understanding polling operations in politics. you go to the voters in their homes. you go to their community centers. you go to their churches. you pel them oull them out, get polls so your side wins. that's what politics is all about. getting people to the voting booths. did this person, administrator of the county, did this person know, adam brett, know the people on the bus were african-american? did he know they potentially were going to vote democrat? what was his motive? >> absolutely. he actually says, if you look in this statement, and when we went to talk to him, because he actually went back to talk to

him on yesterday, what he said is because the organizer that was in the community we were wokking wiwok i working with happened to bay affiliated with the democratic party, he felt this was a partisan event. it wasn't a partisan event. she was a democrat and connected with other pieces, once again that was not his call. that was certainly an issue of voter suppression. who is he to make a choice of grown able-bodied adults, where they are to go and associate with? >> latosha, you strike me as a very aggressive person which i applaud. should people who get in these situations next time when they feel there's some muscle coming at them from authority figures, and they really wonder should they be more pushy than your people were, should they just say, out of our face, we're going? is that possible in these situations to con frofront powe? >> you have to have a delicate balance.

in rural communities, in te terms -- oftentimes people who have the political power have the economic power and there's usually repercussions particularly in rural communitiecommunity . you have to walk a delicate balan balance. many of the voters, many of the seniors have already voted. >> good. >> there was a delicate balance in being able to make sure you do no harm, first, you do no harm, one, we recognize to figure out what was happening, also give the opportunity that we are recognizing that in these rural communities, there can be a repercussions. >> yeah, i understand -- you're telling me. you know what i don't know. you're teaching me. because you know, a white guy like me isn't used to that treatment. i haven't been bothered about voting my whole life. nobody's ever got in my face. nobody ever stopped me. but you've been there. and you know that they can get even, right? >> absolutely. i think that's why it's really important for us to recognize that there is a spectrum of voter suppression. oftentimes people will question where that was voter suppression

or not because it didn't look like a poll tax or doesn't look like we're asking how many jelly beans. but there's a spectrum of voter suppression tactics and actually anything that interferes from a person's choice to be able to go freely to vote, that in itself meets the very definition of voter suppression. >> it seems like, judith, there is a -- not just a specter, but there's a line all the way back to the days of when reconstruction, the republican party sold that out in 1876 and went back to jim crow where they've come up with reading this in greek or the number of jelly beans in this bowl. or all these incredible crappy ways to screw a person. >> right, or laws like they have in florida where you can't vote if you had a -- you were convicted of a felony put into the florida constitution in 1868. and so, yes, there's a spectrum. what's happening in georgia is that -- that legislature, the secretary of state, and local officials, what tair tryi ining do is make it harder to get on

the rolls. hard toer to vote. easier to get off. we're seeing everything from difficulty registering to kicking people off the rolls. then as latosha said, the things in the middle, the intimidation that happens, when police are at the polling place, where poll workers are turning people away and not giving them their rights. >> that's right. >> then these act of intimidation that are subtle. >> what about this exact match thing? >> oh, yeah. >> you have a hyphen, say you get married, my wife left out the hyphen. it's two names. middle name and last name. if you go by the middle and last name as your formal surname. >> right. >> don't have it in some form, your checkbook or somewhere, they'll deny you to vote. >> you don't know until you show up at the booth. we talked about the fact how many marbles are in a jar, how many bubbles come out of a bar of soap. >> is that true? >> these were true things done during jim crow basically saying if you write your own name wrong in our opinion, that's a literacy test. you've literally got literacy tests going on in georgia.

that's not just all. you have larger bureaucratic problems. in arizona where the department of -- >> by the way, during this blasey ford thing, we're all over the place. i called her dr. ford. some feminists would say you have to say blasey ford though there's no hyphen. we haven't figured -- >> every time i go to the polls, there's confusion about which name to look it up under. if i'm in georgia, feorget abou it. >> tell me what you prefer. one word. what do you tell, what do you tell, because this is your expertise, what do you tell people who come in the deep south areas where there's trouble, there in could be trouble anywhere, yoin get when to the polls and somebody starts messing with you. you waited if line, get to the place. they have glasses with chains holding their glasses. very local and traditional. there seems to be a problem with your name. what do you tell them? >> do not leave. you keep asking, the judge at the place, the election judge. ultimately, there's a ballot of last resort and that's called a

provisional ballot. we don't want you to use it first because it's the one that gets counted last. but we do want you to fight for that right. you can also call 1-866-our-vote which is the -- >> a modest stake -- >> that's right. that's right. start talking. poll workers make mistakes also. >> bring every form of documentation you can. the university provided all the kids with an energy bill, how much they paid in tuition to bay the bills so they could prove where they live. bring your documentation, i.d.s, bring your diver's license and oath other people. a lot f o this comes from the fact you have voting organizations in the dmv almost working together to keep you from voting. if you have your documents, you can fight for it. >> this is not the department of motor vehicles. >> right. >> it's not a privilege. it's a right. push. thank you, judith, thank you, jason. it's nice to meet you, latosha, brown, go for it. up next -- i think you already are. coming up, president trump is hitting the road again for

midterm campaign blitzing across three battleground states. he's smart, actually. he figured out three states where it's really close. montana, arizona, nevada. you're watching "hardball." l. everybody wants a new, different, better world. here's to the people who do what it takes to build it... to keep it running. the people who understand no matter what the question, the obstacle or the challenge, there's only one answer... let's do the work. (engine starts, hums) it's the details that make the difference. let's do the work. only botox® cosmetic is fda approved to temporarily make frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better. it's a quick 10 minute treatment given by a doctor to reduce those lines. there's only one botox® cosmetic. ask for it by name.

the effects of botox® cosmetic, may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyelid and eyebrow drooping and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. the details make a difference. the man makes them matter. find a doctor at botoxcosmetic.com/men traffic and roads... a mess, honestlyrents going up,le. friends and family moving out of state, millions of californians live near or below the poverty line. politicians like gavin newsom talk about change, but they've done nothing. sky-high gas and food prices. homelessness.

gavin newsom, it happened on your watch. so, yeah. it is time for a change. time for someone new. warning, california. a handful of billionaires have spent over $70 million on campaigns to undermine our public schools. and electing a former wall street banker named marshall tuck to superintendent of public instruction is all a part of the billionaires' plan to take money away from neighborhood public schools and give it to their corporate charter schools. that's why tony thurmond is the only candidate endorsed by classroom teachers for superintendent of public instruction. because keeping our kids safe and improving our neighborhood public schools is always tony's top priority.

back to "hardball." with 19 days now until the midterms, president trump is hitting the road again for a campaign swing this time out west. he's going to hold three back-to-back rallies in states like, well, montana, followed by arizona, then nevada. he's smart. he's going to where it's close. each state is a highly competitive race for the senate. all part of our "hardball" ten, in fact, they could help determine, they will determine who wins this senate control come november. in montana, the real clear politics average right now has incumbent jon tester with a three-point lead. that ain't much for an incumbent over matt rosendale. arizona, the average shows a tied race now, dead tie between mcsally and sinema.

nevada, incumbent dean heller with a two-point edge every j k jacky. donna brazile is former chair of the dnc, co-author of "colored girls who consider politics." john brabender is a republican strategist. some of the people who come on these shows drove a car for somebody five years ago. you're another -- >> he actually has -- >> you're a true democratic strategist. >> i am. >> let me ask you about this race, is there any shift in the wind this week, once we've gotten past the kavanaugh week, is it going back to what it was? is there a norm, a direction heading into the next 2 1/2 weeks? >> john and i were talking before, is the bump going to hold? we don't have the data yet. as of right now, there's a sense it might be a sugar high. democrats literally could not be more excited to vote in november. it's unclear -- >> you think the dems still have the rush in their direction? >> at this point, yes.

we'll wait and see when more data comes back. >> donna, thank you for coming on. >> thank you. >> donald trump decided to be the biggest face in a midterm election since richard nixon in '74. >> that's right. >> going back before that to probably fdr. i've never seen a bigger presence. is that good for the ds or good for the rs? >> that is good for the democ t democrats and here's why. he's very unpopular. he's underwater with indpech s independents. he also excites the base on the left. i think donald trump is trying to go up against a historical tide that often spells doom for the party and in power. he's going to the states like montana where he carried by 20 points to try to rally the faithful. >> yeah, well, okay, don, i think it's a red state/blue state thing. i think the blue states will go blue, the red states will double down on trump. >> i think it's different in the house than the senate. first of all, i would disagree with you, i think this is similar to how 1994 was 2 repub

era. >> as far as motivating people. i see democrats wake up every day, turn on their tv, they see. the house, we're going to lose seats. no doubt. matter s how many. in the senate, we can actually pick up seats because we have states like indiana and west virginia which are -- >> don't tell me joe donley's going to lose. >> i tell you what -- >> is would break my heart. >> if i make one prediction of a race that's tightened the most since the kavanaugh vote, would tell you it was indiana. >> yeah. i think he's got a chance. anyway, what do you think's going on? you buy that? democrats win the house, republicans win the senate? >> absolutely, there are two different -- >> absolutely, just like that. i like that. just absolutely. okay. >> at this point, there are two different maps going on right now. democrats have the edge in it the house. republicans have the edge in the senate. >> i say 30-40 in the house. democrats. what do you say? >> i agree with that. i'd say in the senate that the republicans pick up two seats. >> you might be right. >> i say 35 in the house. >> good call. >> i think it's going to be a race to the finish line in the

senate. but democrats are going to pick up at least ten gubernatorial seats. >> okay. what do you think? >> as of right now -- >> you know, you're a reporter. >> as of right now democrats flip the house, republicans -- >> how much? 29's average. >> i'd say somewhere around the average. >> okay. we're getting into low 30 as our average here today. anyway, i think, pick up one or two in the senate, republicans. finally with so much focus on the midterm elections we can't forget that special counsel robert mueller's investigation is still looming over the trump administration. in a very, very rare interview with t"the wall street journal" today, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein defended his role in overseeing the mueller probe. in fact, he's the overseer of this thing. rosenstein said, "i committed, i would ensure the investigation was appropriate and independent and reached the right result. whatever it may be, i believe i have been faithful to that." in rosenstein's interview with

the "ap" trump said "we have a witch hunt now going on. i handle it very well and there was no collusion." donna, you're first. what's going on with rosenstein, is he fighting for his job? >> i think he's making a similar statement he did this summer when they released that long list of indictments. he's trying to tell the american people that, you know what, this investigation is fair. it's thorough. and the person who's conducting it is a man of integrity. i think he's just trying to lay the groundwork for what we're going to hear right after the election. >> when is the giuliani report coming out? that's going -- no, really. he's going to write a report matching mueller's, we're told. >> what rudy is there for is to editorialize on whatever report comes. seriously, say, look, from a former prosecutor -- >> he's hiding out to -- >> this interview was suspect in the sense that has you know, house committees have been trying to get him to come in and speak. doesn't do that. all of a sudden now he's granted interviews which is not what somebody from the justice department in the middle of an investigation -- >> pelosi said at harvard yesterday, she's going to

protect that document when it comes over, it's going to matter. >> she's doing the right thing because this goes to the heart of our democracy. it goes to what we need to learn from 2016. the special counsel has kept his lips closed. his mouth closed. we need to know what is happening. >> we all want to be there when the titanic hits the iceberg. >> amen. >> the roundtable is sticking with us. up next, these three will tell me something i don't know. you're watching "hardball." "har. that's actually pretty. surprised? it's called always discreet boutique. it looks and fits like my underwear. i know what you're thinking. how can something this pretty protect? hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel for incredible protection. so i feel protected and pretty. always discreet boutique. new color. new size. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can...

breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart. . with 19 days now to go to the midterm elections, about two

and a half weeks, msnbc wants to know what you're thinking, are you excited about potential change, opinions on the candidates running? i'm sure you do. if you have something to say about the midterms share it with us on election confessions.com. like there's something wrong with you. check out what other voters are saying too. we'll be right back. hello. uh, no i need it right now. yeah... success is a numbers game. and you're not going to win if you keep telling yourself to wait. the more often that you choose courage, the more likely you'll succeed. the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. download audible. and listen for a change.

you may be at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia, download audible. - a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that can disrupt your life for weeks. in severe cases, pneumococcal pneumonia can put you in the hospital. it may take weeks to recover making you miss out on the things you enjoy most. just one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia. it's not a yearly shot. prevnar 13® is approved for adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. don't get prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine.

the most common side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. prevention begins with prevnar 13®. ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13®. back with the hardball round table. tell me something i don't know. president donald trump this morning tweeted his endorsement of virginia congressman dave brat. he shocked the political world in 2014 when he took out aaron canter in that primary. it may happen to him again. he's now running against abigail spanburger who raised $3.5 million last quarter. his polling was really dangerous over the summer and this is a race to watch. >> who's more vulnerable, him or comstock? >> comstock based on the numbers. there's a lot of talk about nancy pelosi and her future.

but one thing people need to know, she's raised a whopping $121 million for the democrats, half the money the democratic congressional campaign committee has brought in to date. she's recruited a diverse set of candidates, she's raising money and she's back in her team. >> should she be reelected? >> i believe so. that's my view. i'm not a member. i don't have a vote. my ex-boss eleanor holmes nor t ton, i hope she will support nancy pelosi. >> we heard donald trump said people would get tired of us winning. among republicans that's coming true. after kavanaugh actually became a supreme court justice we saw the peak happen and drop a little bit with enthusiasm. we're looking at early numbers of early voting, absentee ballots and so forth, the republicans have to get energized over something, wi wig is something -- >> one republican candidate that will -- name one. >> here's what you have to

understand. >> okay. >> just because you voted for trump doesn't mean you're pro-republican. >> thank you, thank you. the midwest is going the other way this time. thank you alaina schneider, donna brazil, and john brayblender. - i love my grandma. - anncr: as you grow older, your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide.

- she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. [grunting noise] i'll take that. 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. ensure max protein. in two great flavors.

ensure max protein. you're in the business of helping people. we're in the business of helping you. 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.

let me finish tonight with a call to vote. a couple points on that. one, get prepared if you're

going to be out of town on election day, like i will be up in new york to join the msnbc team up there. you should find out when you can vote early or vote absentee. don't let the day slip through your fingers. the second point, remember how beld you felt when you didn't vote, you were either trapped on election day with too much to do or had to go out of town and hadn't voted beforehand. there are few things easier to do than vote and few things as important. if you have any doubt about that, remember the election of 2016, it was only a few votes in places like pennsylvania, wisconsin and michigan that decided the election in the electoral college. that made donald trump president. people who watch "hardball" faithfully are voters. not the kind of people who take their vote for granted, for the basic reason they don't take being american for granted. you get involved in the issues,

why, if you're not going to vote on election day. why do you care if you aren't one of those people that's deciding which of these people gets to do it? thanks for being us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in." >> this election is a life and death struggle with a left wing movement, which wants to radicalize america. >> 19 days until election day. >> become radicalized. >> republicans follow their leader. >> amar -- is working to infiltrate congress. >> the widespread campaigns of fear and hatred in the first national election of the trump era. >> left wing mobs paid to riot in the streets. >> restarting its family separation policy. >> we're looking at a lot of things. >> what we know about two