hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. tonight we are 58 hours away from the first tuesday poll openings and both parties crafting their closing messages. for the president and his republicans, it is migrants and money. >> america now has the best economy in the history of our country. highest jobs, the best jobs, the best employment number ever, the best unemployment numbers ever. you saw these car aadvanavacara tough young people. very tough. criminals in some cases. >> while democrats are talking

health care and hope. >> i want a leader who stands up for other people's health care even if they've got health care. >> we're for lowering health care costs. >> we can either focus on the president's hate, his bigotry, his nativism, or stay focused on the future. >> we have to make it clear that we democrats choose hope over fear. >> but your vote is bigger than the names on the ballot, remember that. propositions on everything from marijuana to medicaid expansion could make drastic changes in everyday life across america. if you don't like things out there, you have the chance to change the vote. the candidates have been out in full force for hours today, making their final pitches to voters all over the nation. here's a live look at pensacola, florida, where president trump is on his second rally of the day, stumping for republican candidate ron desantis, locked

in a race with andrew gillum. i have a team of reporters and superstar guests with the latest in developments and analysis. first, i want to give you a quick look of where we stand right now. as of today, almost 33 million votes, i love this number, have been counted, as early and absentee nationwide, according to nbc news. that blows away the past number of early ballots cast during the 2014 midterms, which was a little more than 21 million. that's what every american should do, get out there and vote. let's get you right to our nbc road warriors spread out across the country covering these hot, hot races. nbc's vaughn hillyard is in phoenix, arizona, covering one of the country's closest senate races. what are voters telling you, vaughn, besides the fact that they're going to vote for a woman? >> reporter: that's the only

hospitalizati option in this race, stephanie. it's martha mcsally running against kyrsten sinema. when you look at the numbers in this state, there's 1.3 million republicans, 1.1 million democratss, and then there's 1.2 million independents. over the last 24 hours we've been talking to voters here, outside the arizona state university football game. it was interesting, republicans and independents, a great number of them are telling us that they intend to vote for the democrat, kyrsten sinema. i'm going to introduce you to two of them. the first you'll here from, susan, is a republican and the second, dennis, is an independent. who did you vote for? >> sinema.

>> reporter: why? >> i believe in the democrat party's agenda much more than the republicans. the republican party is not the same as it used to be. >> reporter: you considered yourself republican, consider yourself independent now. how did that happen? why is that the case? >> the republicans have lost their way. the republican party is a joke as far as i'm concerned. they want to repeal health care but they don't have any replacement for it. they talk about that too. they have no immigration strategy except to create fear in people. >> reporter: martha mcsally, stephanie, has a heck of a resume. she is the first female fighter pilot in this country. but she in this campaign has made the decisive decision to stand with donald trump. here on the campaign trail, she also joined mike pence on the trail as well as don junior two days ago. she voted back in may 2017 for that house health care essentially repeal bill that would have weakened protection for those with preexisting conditions. she's stood firmly behind this administration, which as you heard from those two, prompts

them to go and vote for kyrsten sinema. i want to play you one other sound bite from a republican who said that her standing with donald trump is the very reason that is leading her to vote for martha mcsally. >> who am i voting for? >> reporter: in the senate race. mcsally or sinema? >> mcsally. >> reporter: why? >> because i'm voting republican. >> reporter: do you support the president? >> i do, yes. >> reporter: and in your mind is she an extension of that? >> yes. >> reporter: the rhetoric has been very heated and things have been tense. do you think there's more that the white house or the republican party could do to bring that down? >> oh, yeah. yeah. better communication, probably. >> reporter: that's not going to stop you from voting, though, for ma thrtha mcsally or supporg the president? >> correct. >> reporter: the question is, stephanie, how many individuals is kyrsten sinema, who is trying to run as almost the john mccain candidate, able to pull over from martha mcsally.

donald trump won by just three percentage points back in 2016, stephanie. >> let's head to vegas. steve patterson, democrats have a chance there to take back the senate if they flip the seat. talk to me about how tense it is on the ground. >> reporter: stephanie, good evening from the strip. in a state where you might even be able to say that "tense" is a bit of an understatement. that's because this race for senate is razor thin bean democrat jackie rosen and republican incumbent dean heller. as we've been saying for a long time, heller is the only gop senator running for reelections in a state that went for hillary clinton in 2016. that means that this is a prime target for the democrats, which means you better believe this is a huge day for getting out the vote. we spent the day with the culinary union here in nevada, that's 57,000 members strong, all supporting rosen. more than 200 went out

canvassing every corner of vegas. we went from neighborhood to neighborhood to neighborhood. and they were whipped up, as you mentioned, by the support of one jimmy kimmel who said he's been supporting his friend rosen for a long time, but also says he's here for the democrats' cornerstone argument in this state, which is health care. here is what he's saying about why he's here and what he believes in. >> we know the story with your son. does that play a big role in sort of why you're here, preexisting conditions and health care seem to be a big topic this year. can you talk a little bit about that? >> the idea that americans would be unable to get health insurance because of a preexisting condition makes absolutely no sense to me and i think it makes absolutely no sense to most of america. i think it makes sense to most republicans. the idea that these people, like dean hemmer, for instance, are claiming to be protecting that, and doing the exact opposite, and people are accepting that, is nonsensical to me. and i wanted to come here to do

whatever i can do to put a point on that, because that's not what's going on. they don't care about your health conditions, they don't care about lifetime caps. and jackie rosen does. and so that's why i'm here to support jackie. >> reporter: also important to know that early voting wrapped up last night. the early returns look good for the democrats. they built a sizable firewall here in clark county, the state's largest county. but it's very early. in vegas here, it's anybody's game. back to you, steph. >> all right, i'm going to bring my panel in, an excellent one. former democratic congressman steve israel of new york, also the former chair of the dccc. my dear friend steve schmidt flew in just for you, former republican strategist. the special correspondent for "vanity fair." congressman, president trump has

been campaigning nonstop. he's been on an absolute media blitz. last week i would have said he's dominating all the attention. but democrats, whether it's the obama or oprah effect, democrats have picked up steam. are you happy with how they've done? >> president trump has been the best recruiter, fundraiser, candidate that the democratic party has ever had. we want him out more. here's why. when i chaired the dccc, i understood that intensity comes in waves. the first wave of intensity was with democrats. after kavanaugh and as a result of the caravan, it is true that the second wave of intensity was with republicans, they began to reach parity with democrats. the third wave of intensity is breaking now and that is with independents. independents reserve judgment, they come to their conclusions pretty much in the last weekend. what you're seeing now, stephanie, is that independents are breaking intensely for democrats, because of the

fearmongering, the caravan, the president's statements, the vitriol, the virulence, that backfires with moderate suburban voters. i'll go out on a limb and say the democrats will pick up in the mid-30s in the house of representatives. this has backfired on president trump and the republicans. >> bill, what do you say, do you agree? >> this is a referendum on trump. it will either be a repudiation of trumpism or a validation of it. there's no in between. donald trump closes this election with his most audacious and brazen lie yet. the made-up invasion of america from a caravan, as he calls it, of migrants and refugees a thousand miles away who are coming north. he has deployed active duty assets of the united states military, taking them out of their training cycle. there has never been a president

who has abused the u.s. military for a partisan purpose like he has, for a show, for a stunt. >> does that change anyone's vote? >> i think it changes independent votes who are sick of the incitement, the intimations of violence, in a week where cnn gets a bomb sent to it, he follows on by saying, well, violence in the country is as a result and causal to criticism of me. and let me just say something about the military here, last. these units that have been deployed over and over and over and over again for 16 years of war in iraq and afghanistan, these men and women in these units, how many thanksgivings have they missed, how many christmases, how many birthdays, how many thanksgiving football games and christmas pageants and anniversaries, to be down there on that border doing nonsense for this stunt? and i think that it is one of the many reasons why after two years of donald trump on the stage, it will be repudiated. >> then take me into this sort of steve bannon/donald trump

strategy game. if this migrant caravan invasion is a huge mistake, who is it working for in terms of, who is going to support this? because even if every person on that caravan made their way into the united states and took jobs and went to school and went to the hospital, that's not actually going to impact many of our lives. why would they decide to do this? >> it's a bad strategy, stephanie. it's just a terrible strategy. i don't understand why he's doing it. he's gambling, it's a big mistake. i think it's going to backfire big time. his best asset in my opinion is the economy. and he's not talking about it. he mentioned it today for the first time in weeks. i think it was very clear now, steve schmidt is, as usual, absolutely correct. this is a referendum on donald trump. the american people have said okay, the gloves are off, we know who this guy is now, it's not a mystery anymore. maybe it was a mystery two years ago. we know exactly who it is and

now we want a check on his behavior. at least the house of representatives going to the democrats is going to give us a start on a check on his behavior. and that's what the american people want. >> okay. we heard weeks ago that it was going to be all about kavanaugh and the caravan and that did help sort of create this red wave. why? how can the president capitalize on fear when he's in office? if you're not the guy in office, that's you saying to america, look at the bad things that are happening to you, i'm going to change it. this guy runs the show. >> american politics has degenerated to a point where there's very little persuasion left in the business. it's about incitement. he's the inciter in chief. he incites as a tribal leader would, his faction, pitting them against the other tribe. he's come to the conclusion that in the tightly divided country that we have, that his stoking of a cold civil war, his reinvention of the republican party as a white

ethno-nationalist party, david duke and these white nationalist elements, he has remade the republican party, the party that historically came into being talking about free soil and free men has become a party of identity, the white identity during these two years of trump. and so his entire message is about incitement. it's about fear. it's trying to tell them that your way of life, your country, it's being stolen from you. he scapegoats. he incites. he alleges conspiracy. and he puts himself into the position as the avenger of the protector. the problem is, though there are 35% of the country that have great fidelity to him and are lock, stock, and barrel sold on all the bs, it's not enough. there are more people in opposition. and those people include all the democrats, a majority of the independents, and a very substantial share of republican

voters, chiefly women in suburbs. >> but congressman, he's not going to lose his base, the 35% base loves him. but what he's done is pick up corporate america and rich people who don't have signs in front of their houses saying go trump, but when they quietly go to the ballot box when no one can see him, they will vet fote him. and they didn't vote for him last time. >> no president's party has picked up seats in a midterm election since 1865 with three exceptions. so it's always a referendum on the president. the president's party always loses seats. but here was the miscalculation. they believed that by playing the fear card, by inciting, as steve schmidt says, by inciting voters, that independent and moderate voters would break for them, that they would retain their base and pick up those independents. it backfired. the president has held steady with republican voters. he was at about 89% with republican voters on inauguration day. he's at 88% now. he's gone from 12% of support

from democrats down to 6%. the biggest erosion that this president has experienced is with independent voters. and that's why you're seeing this intensity, this energy moving to democrats now. they have abandoned this president and they have committed to democrats. >> coming into the final weekend, all these senate races are starting to tighten back up in the democrats' favor, the kavanaugh effect dissipating, as we've seen trump's behavior over the last two weeks. >> i'm lucky that you gentlemen are sticking around for the hour. this is an important evening. i'm glad you're tuned in. up next, hurricane maria. you remember it. it forced tens of thousands of puerto ricans to flee the island and move to the mainland. you know what the mainland is? u.s. of a., right here. they'll have an impact on the election, especially in florida, better known as the sunshine state. plenty of time to enjoy your ride. (bicycle bell sound) ♪ ♪ (bicycle bell sound)

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which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. ...well almost anything. leave no room behind with xfi pods. simple. easy. awesome. click or visit a retail store today. welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. with just three days left until the midterms, tens of thousands of puerto ricans who fled 0 to florida in the wake of hurricane maria last year, are getting ready to vote on the mainland. these new arrivals could potentially swing this year's election in a different election. nbc correspondent trymaine lee went to florida to speak to organizers on the ground. ♪

[ applause ] >> we're pushing very hard to make sure that the 1.2 million puerto ricans that live in florida, we want to make sure that we show up, that we vote, and that we voice our petitions. >> we were in puerto rico when maria hit, the hurricane. it was bad over there, everything is devastated over there. we decided to move to florida to look for a better living. >> donald trump has undercounted the death toll, the incident, shortly after the hurricane. he's throwing paper towels into the crowd. how do you feel about the way the trump administration has responded? >> we feel bad about it. we are u.s. citizens and we need to be treated like ones. >> what about the idea that you have a young son and he gets to see his parents voting and participating? what do you think it will mean for him growing up in the state? >> i think it will be great for

him to see us go in voting. he will get what other children from puerto rico couldn't get, that information, that knowledge that he's having now. it's what we need. >> the mission of our organization is to build and increase latino political power. in the context of the history of florida, we have a cuban community that was the go-to community to get the latino vote. but we're seeing such an increase in the puerto rican influx that that dynamic is shifting, right? >> in terms of sheer numbers, how many puerto ricans of voting age and eligibility come into this area and how many have you been able to register? >> we've been receiving reports of influx since hurricane maria. the number is about 75,000. >> we've registered 27,000 right now. but 51% have been of puerto rican descent. >> the response of the trump administration in the wake of hurricane maria has been hostile

at best, the undercount of the dead. how does that resonate with puerto ricans in florida? >> the puerto rican community wants to be sure they're being treated as citizens, which they are. they're demanding that respect. the only way to demand that respect is through the vote because that's the only way our people will be heard. ♪ >> when people learn to vote here, we're going to be a really strong, powerful group to change the future of this country. those congressional seats can be influenced by a lot of puerto ricans. >> tremaine joins me now. tremaine, we talked about the huge amount of people voting early. we know 4 million votes have been cast in florida. any indication of the puerto rican vote thus far? >> so far it's not so clear. but what organizers on the ground say is that folks are enraged and energized. they're enraged about the disrespect they felt from donald trump, the undercount of the

dead. when i talk to people who survived maria and came to the mainland, they talked about what it was like to survive the storm and come here and be treated as a second class citizen when in fact they are from puerto rico, they are american citizens. organizers are hopeful they're able to carve out a new bloc of voters. puerto ricans are the fastest growing population in florida, it was always the conservative cubans, but now something new is happening. >> what are other issues that puerto ricans in florida have other than hurricane relief? they're building a new life here and aren't going back. >> the big one is affordable housing. they get here, willing and ready to work hard, but they need housing. and it's education. whether it's rural parts of the state or cities around orlando, tampa, miami, the kids are struggling. in order for them to patch together a better life for themselves, it's housing and education for their children.

>> tremai trymaine, thank you s. coming up, why the current economy might not. economy might not. be overshadowed by this week's election. the fda has approved an opioid ten times more powerful than fentanyl for wider use in health care settings. ignoring harsh criticism from its advisers that the new drug would lead to more deaths in the opioid crisis. a crisis that has claimed the lives of more than 49,000 americans last year alone. we're going to focus on this today, tomorrow, and until something changes. your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead? for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident.

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welcome back. i'm stephanie ruhle. you knew if i showed up on a saturday night, i would definitely be talking money. as voters get ready for midterm elections on tuesday, republicans are hoping a strong economy will carry them to victory in a series of crucial house and senate races across the country. two-thirds, this is really important, two-thirds of americans consider the economy and jobs a very important issue, a more important issue than hot button things like immigration or gun policy. and while president trump and

the gop are happy to take credit for a historically low unemployment rate and they call it a booming economy, a recent poll from gallup shows 64% of voters say they have not seen an increase in their take-home pay. where is the disconnect? let's start with worker pay. wages are just starting to rise after years of stagnation, up 3.1% over the last year. but here's the issue. cost of living issues are eating that up. much like the criticism of the obama-era economy, it is not a booming economy for everyone. republicans promised their tax cuts would mean raises and more money trickling down to the middle class. instead companies are using those tax windfalls to finance stock buybacks that only benefit shareholders. and the new middle class tax cut doesn't exist, it's nowhere to be seen. more than half of americans polled, 51%, say the tax cuts

have not helped them financially. republicans and president trump should be focusing on the economy. if you look at his big, beautiful data. but instead, it's this. >> the democrats want to invite caravan after caravan of illegal aliens to flood into your communities, depleting our resources and overwhelming our nation. we don't want that. the choice in this election could not be more simple. a republican congress means more jobs and less crime. a democrat congress means more crime and less jobs. very simple, right? >> all right. joining our panel, a management ceo and cnbc contributor. josh, i have to go to you first. if you look at the jobs numbers, the gdp, that's what you would

think the republicans and trump would be all over. but to me, trump's economy looks a lot like the obama recovery. in the obama financial recovery, the big portion of america who didn't recover during the crisis, they were mad. that gave rise to the dissatisfied trump voter. those people's lives haven't improved at all. >> yeah, well, look, i think the economy is very good, and i also agree it's a continuation of what we've been experiencing for years prior. i find it shocking that he's not talking about the economy. but maybe one reason is what you said, that audience is not of the shareholder class. the shareholder class has disproportionately benefitted. i think 80% of the stock market is owned by 20% of people. and then when you think about some of the things that are now going to start to hit from wage inflation to layoffs at plants because the global supply chain has been disrupted, you've got this litany of things that keep

it from being a situation where the, quote unquote, trump voter is in all his or her glory. jin it's just not the case at this moment. >> does it mean he's picked up the shareholder class as a part of his base? he serves his base with the immigration -- >> he won't say it out loud. >> exactly. with the immigration war, inciting fear on the campaign trail. but he's picked up the shareholder class, all of those people who made a lot more money in their portfolios and they're not saying that they're voting for trump but they could vote for him this time. >> well, i think when you look at the shareholder class as a class, the demographics of that class would suggest, when we look at the totality of the polling, that they're not single issue voters. they're not simply responding to the dow jones average. there are other issues. trump is atritting support from college educated women in the suburbs who are very much part

of that class. trump, when he goes to these rallies, the reality is, is the economic crisis in 2008, '12, '16, also in '20, but this election also, is what these voters see as politics defined by a lateral line with the people above that line, the shareholder class, that there's one set of rules for them, there's a different set of rules for everybody else. the people below the line, what they're saddled with on that tax cut are deficits approaching $1 trillion a year, interest rates rising, gas prices rising, the dislocation of jobs because of technological disruption continues uninterrupted. for -- >> steve, what you're plying us with are facts.

president trump is an extraordinary salesman. while president trump stood on that campaign trail railing against goldman sachs and then he surrounded himself by former goldman sachs partners in the white house, so while steve might be right, consumer confidence, business confidence, big and small, are up, and president trump sells a great story to these people. >> he certainly does. he also says he's going to drain the swamp and the swamp has never been more murky. i think josh is right, there are elements of the economy that are doing better, that are stronger. of course if you're talking about debt and deficits, he's just exploded them. if you're talking about income inequali inequality, he could be doing every speech, about the caravan

and fear. >> it's zero is the number, it may be -- >> don't forget about the dance party we're having for foxconn for never building the plant they were going to build. >> and the tax cut he was going to pass even though congress was in recess. >> to that exact point, if the economy is what the president should talk up, he's making it up, saying that, oh, there's a middle class tax cut coming when

congress isn't even in session. even after this election, there is no means to pay for a middle class tax cut. if the president had wanted to give corporations a smaller tax cut, he could have fed them and a middle class tax cut. at this point you know that's not happening, just like they're not in talks with china before tuesday on a trade deal. that was a flat-out lie that by 10:00 a.m. yesterday, you saw white house officials saying, oh, no, we're not familiar with that. >> this is the president who said he would eliminate the national debt and he added $1.5 trillion to it. i personally think he will be losing the shareholder class. he had the shareholder class in 2017. the shareholder class is uninterested in him at the moment. >> why? because they got what they wanted? >> they got what they wanted, 35% down to 21%, they got that, thank you very much. the stock market in 2018 has done basically nothing. it reached a high in january, it reached another small little high in august or something, and now it's absolutely flat.

>> small business confidence is soaring. i don't think he's lost them. >> what has the small business owner gotten from him? >> deregulation. >> some medium sized banks have gotten reregulation. but small businesses have not gotten the kind of -- >> the majority of small businesses in america are owned by aging white men, let's just put that on the table. >> he may have already had them. >> this confidence is soaring, continues to soar. even though now their hiring costs are going to go up, even though their funding costs are going up. >> the tariffs are going up. >> i don't think he's laus thos. >> that's a different audience than the shareholder class. wall street has no interest in this guy. some hedge fund managers may like him, some private equity guys may like him because the cost of equity is so cheap, although it is increasing. wall street says, our clients got the tax cut they wanted, 35 to 21. beyond that, the stock price

reflected that going into 2018, and in 2018, it's done nothing, we're done with this guy, he's an embarrassment to us, he doesn't know what he's doing on tariffs and i think they're just saying the heck with it. >> i think he's lost all those people. >> if he stokes a trade war going into '19 and '20, when you look at the cancellations and soybean orders that are gone as these markets go away, the reason he can't stop talking about immigration and these other issues is because he is george wallace with a queens accent. that's what he cares about. he doesn't care about the economy. you think he cares about economic growth for working class people? this is a guy who went to pittsburgh and talked about in pittsburgh about how well he was treated or not. >> steve, people having money in their pockets matters more to voters than immigration does. >> well, maybe. >> it doesn't stir up the same emotions. >> it doesn't stir up the same

emotions. >> 42% of the country doesn't have $400 available for an emergency. >> we're going into a midterm election. i think you really have to localize it. if you are living on the iron range in northern minnesota in a congressional district that's competitive, you love president trump because he gave you tariffs on imported steel. but if you're living to the twin cities and you're a soy farmer, you're voting against president trump in this midterm because of what's happened to soy. so i think you really have to not talk about a macro economy but the impact of a localized economy in these midterm elections. >> we have to leave it there. we'll remind our audience, for workers out there, there are more companies that use aluminum and steel than companies who produce aluminum and steel. if you want to think about workers, there's a whole lot more in the first camp. next, evangelical christians. we'll tell you why younger

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now. because it will be a lot easier if they are, a lot better. >> that's one of the biggest questions just three days ahead of the midterms. will evangelicals show up and who will they show up for. back in 2016, donald trump won an astounding 80% of the white evangelical vote, that's a record share. will they again? my guest is former speechwriter for president bush and a self described former evangelical republican. peter, the president isn't wrong, he's had huge support for the vevangelical community and he's backed it up, he's gotten them two supreme court judges and many federal judges. will they show up in droves again for him this thursday? >> unfortunately, i suspect a lot of them will, certainly the older evangelicals will. among younger evangelicals,

you're seeing a loosening, a detachment from the republican party. that will take a lot of years to play itself out. there's no question there's a generational divide. the strongest base that donald trump has in the republican party are white evangelicals. i wish that weren't the case because i think it is a tremendously discrediting thing for evangelicals. that has come at a tremendous cost, because i think donald trump embodies an anti-christian ethic, and i use that phrase carefully, not cavalierly. the core of donald trump is his crudity, the misogyny, the rank appeals to bigotry and the darkest impulses to the country, which are really antithetical to a christian ethic. the fact that white evangelical

christians are supporting him so enthusiastically, that will leave a crimson stain on them. >> last week in pittsburgh, could that have any impact on voters going forward? i want to share with you bari weiss, a pittsburgh native, an editor at "the new york times." >> they love the fact that the embassy was moved to jerusalem, a move i supported. i hope this week american jews have woken up to the price of that bargain. they have traded policies that they like for the values that have sustained the jewish people. and frankly this country, for forever. >> now, bari is talking about the jewish community, but making that same point you were making moments ago. is there a breaking point? >> yeah, bari wrote a beautiful column on what happened at the tree of life synagogue.

i think there will be a breaking point. it may not be this year and it may not be 2020. with younger evangelicals, something is happening. i had coffee with a 25-year-old white evangelical today, a conservative, he's not going to vote for trump, a lot of his friends are not going to do it. several things are happening. they're more liberal on certain issues, same-sex marriage, the environment, immigration. more than that, there's a real revulsion to the style and approach of a lot of the white evangelical leadership, franklin graham, jerry falwell jr., mike huckabee, those folks. and i think the younger evangelicals see that and can't believe they're speaking for the christian faith. this is a release capsule, but over time those younger evangelicals are going to loosen

their support. steve knows this better than i, but white evangelicals as a share of the population is getting smaller, today it's 15%. for the age cohort of 18 to 29, it's 8%. it's not only that younger evangelicals are weakening in their support for the republican party, but they're just becoming less of a factor in the electorate. >> i just wonder, if all of this rhetoric that we hear so often, how will this white evangelical community, how would they treat jesus today? peter, thank you so much. we mentioned young evangelical voters. there is an amazing piece in "the new york times" right now about how split they are and really confused with their establishment, with their upbringing, with their church, given the way they see the world in 2018. remember, for everyone, decency and civility must come first. up next, from marijuana to

medicaid expansion, we'll take a look at the some of the local issues. remember, what actually impacts our lives every day, there are national impacts. national impacts ♪ no, you goof. i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. nice. i know, right? ♪ [nose plays a jazzy saxophone tune] believe it. geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance. on the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. and now, the queen sleep number 360 c4 smart bed is only $1299. plus 24-month financing on all beds. only for a limited time.

welcome back, i'm stephanie ruhle, when voters head to the polls it will not just be about the candidates. in 37 states a total of 155 measures are on the ballot. in 15 states, redistricting,

voting requirements, ballot access, campaign finance and ethics will be decided. four states that went for trump in the general election will be voting on marijuana measures, two states, arkansas and missouri will vote on raising the minimum wage. in four rural typically red leaning states, idaho, montana, nebraska and utah, medicaid expansion will be on the ballot too. my panel back with me. steve schmidt, what ballot issues are you watching? >> well, i'm interested in all these marijuana initiatives and the degree to which they drive younger voters. . personally, i can't think of a stupider thing of this country to spend $60 billion a year on than the war on marijuana and the disproportionate incarcerations of african-americans versus privileged white college kids and down the line. these minimum wage initiatives have passed, even in republican states going back over the last couple of elections. medicaid expansion as you see in rural areas, hospitals being

shut down, all of these issues are driving turnout from a specific portion of the democratic electorate, that initiative mix should work pretty well from a turnout perspective from democrats in all of the states. >> fda approving an opioid stronger than fentanyl and we're still debating weed. think about that. what ballot issue do you think matters? >> the reason congress is so polarized is gerrymandering, there are four states that have referendum on fair districts that would take the politics out of fair districting. have independent commissions or fair standards that would create districts more toward the center that would incentivized compromised. four states will decide whether to pursue the reforms. >> aren't you worried about how the center from both parties is being hollowed out. >> of course it is. as politics becomes an incitement business, it pushes

politics to the right, to the left. my old boss, arnold schwarzenegger is very involved in all of these initiatives, redistricting reform. if you live in a country where the politicians pick the voters, as opposed to the voters picking the politicians, you get what you get here. >> will anything change that? >> well, yes, if you draw these district lines fairly, you know, the congressman when he was the chairperson at the dccc, and if you're at these committees an important part of the job of the committee in a redistricting year is to draw the lines in a way that advantages your party. the science and technology that's involved in this is just extraordinary. it's important to understand because it blows apart the middle of the electorate. >> but your average voter, even your super educated voter doesn't really pay attention to this like an elected official would s would. >> that's the problem. most members of congress don't fear a general election opponent, they fear a primary

from the far right, the far left. that ends when you have fair districts. we're going to see this tuesday. will voters in these four states decide to end this engineering of partisan districts and give the power back to people. >> tuesday, the most important thing everyone watching can do is vote. pick up your friend, pick up a neighborhood, pick up your mother, father, sister, everyone must vote. congressman steve, thank you so much for joining me on this very important night. that wraps us up this hour. i'm stephanie ruhle, catch me every weekday morning at 9:00 a.m. then again at 1:00 with my partner, ali velshi. a special weekend edition with the last word with lawrence o'donnell. you're going to be excited, captain sully sullenberger will be here. be here. (mom vo) it's easy to shrink into your own little world. especially these days. (dad) i think it's here. (mom vo) especially at this age. (big sister) where are we going?

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this tuesday might be the most important election of our lifetime. >> a blue wave equals a crime wave. >> donald trump's trying to scare us about ourselves, just not going to work. >> they got a lot of rough people in those caravans. they are not angels. >> we democrats, we choose hope over fear and decency and common sense and goodwill can win out over bad. >> we are not powerless. every single one of us has the same power at the polls. >> i'm just asking you to go and vote like you n