>> reporter: in the meantime, he said, he's trying to be the kind of parent he wasn't with his own children, but is now, for rachel. >> i believe it's my destiny to raise them. i intend to do that, you know, with god's help. welcome to "kasie dc." we're live every sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern. tonight we're joining you from 30 rockefeller center in new york city on the eve of the midterms. i spent the last week all over the country in tennessee, iowa, wisconsin and missouri. some of the hardest fought ground across the midterm map. joining me tonight, a first class group of reporters and analysts to explain as best they can the remarkable week ahead for us and the races in play. first, it's an exciting night

here at "kasie dc." if you've watched the show over the last year, we live and breathe the midterm elections. at this time tuesday, the first polls will be close. at this hour, the president is to speak in tennessee. we've never known more about our politics and in some ways never known less about what's about to happen. people everywhere will try to see within the outcome just how tribal our politics are. and wonder whether candidates campaign as themselves without the shadow of the president hanging over them. it comes with converging forces. a controversial president who has transformed his party and who is watching his popularity rise after confirming his second supreme court justice. a booming economy. but with massive growing debt and storm clouds on the horizon. already nearly 35 million people have voted. in some major counties in texas, they're showing up at pace nearly even with the 2016

presidential election. in some places like georgia and north dakota, there are shadows of doubt surrounding the most american of activities. voting. we also have brand-new polling from nbc news and "the wall street journal" showing 59% of americans want serious change to the direction the president has been leading the country. and 40% a plurality say their vote is intended to show opposition. and yet in the wake of the 2016 elections, no one can be sure just who is going to cast a ballot and who is going to stay home. if you need further proof that we are on the brink of electio s, reporters are standing on tractors. vaughn hillyard, call your mom with that. with me, white house reporter jonathan lemere, nbc news contributor dave wasserman. and in washington, correspondent for pbs news hour contributor yamiche alsindor.

thank you for being here to kick off what's going to be an historic week. dave wasserman, you live and breathe specifically races in the house of representatives which is going to be our big story on tuesday night. whether or not democrats will take control. and if so, how wide that is margin going to be? and my first question for you is, make us a little smarter. what are you looking for right now that perhaps we've missed in all of this? >> i think fundamentally a couple things have happened in the last month or so. we've seen the enthusiasm gap narrow for democrats as republicans have come home. surprise, it turns out that

these cultural touchstones like the migrant caravan and the kavanaugh fight are better suited for motivating the trump base than tax cuts, which fell flat in a lot of the special elections earlier this year. but at the same time, republicans are really freaking out about independent voters. they think that they're going for democrats by as big a margin as perhaps they would for them in 2006 or how they went for republicans in 2010 the last two times the house flipped control. and we're seeing a lot of these races in middle class suburbs. in addition to the upscale suburbs finally start to break towards democrats. places like the detroit suburbs. des moines, iowa. the outer suburbs of chicago where districts are suddenly in more jeopardy. >> jonathan lemire, you'll be with president trump in the final stretch of the campaign. how would you say that the white house is feeling right now about how the president has handled the last couple of weeks and the outcome they may be headed for. >> i'll be with part of the press pool tomorrow travel with the prot air force one as he completes the campaign blitz. ohio, indiana and missouri tomorrow. he, today said what the white house has been privately saying for a while. they feel pretty good about the senate. they feel the republicans will be able to keep that. they might even pick up a seat or two is their hope and expectation.

they're distancing themselves. the president has started to distance themselves from the result they expect to get in the house. >> he told us two weeks ago, we asked if he'd bear any responsibility if the republicans were to lose the house. would he take that moment like president obama did and said it was a shellacking. he made it clear he would not. that was not going to be his move whatsoever. and then today he sort of suggested. and the campaign travel schedule has borne this out. he's been barnstorming a handful of governors races but there's a growing resignation in the west ring fd for the president himself suggesting that we'll do okay in the house but really the senate has been my game. that's where i think we'll do well.

expect him if the republicans hang on to that chamber, he will be happy to take all the credit. >> the strategy that he's running in the senate states has the complete opposite impact in des moines and chicago and all these places. yamish what role do, you know, the turnout among women and minorities in particular play here? what are we seeing in some of those numbers that could suggest that, you know, this may be a blue wave for democrats or are we potentially seeing the opposite? >> well, right now it's really all about turnout. i've been doing stories in west virginia in orange county in california and in florida. all the democrats that i talk to say they're pushing hard for young people to come out, for people of color to come out. in florida for those newly arrived puerto ricans who came after hurricane maria to come out and vote for democrats. they are hoping that if we see a large number of people turning out and we see large numbers in places like georgia, that will mean democrats are doing well. i have spoken to pollsters who

haven't seen the evidence of the blue wave because a lot of people voting early are also republicans. there's this idea that, yes, there's a lot of people who say they prefer democrats, like the poll you just put up. they prefer democrats to be in control of the house but this idea that the people most reliably to turn out are still older voters, still white voters in a lot place ofs. in a place like florida, the people voting early are usually older retired people and that's making that person nervous. >> our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows democrats with a seven-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. that's a slight improvement from nine weeks ago when they had a nine-point advantaging. top republicans have been telling us all year that the generic needs to be at democrats plus four to democrats plus six for republicans to have any chance of holding on to the house. meanwhile, a new poll from "the washington post" and abc news shows that 78% of voters say health care is an important issue for them when it comes to their vote. according to that poll, the

economy reducing divisions between people and groups, immigration, taxes and border security will also loom large in voters' minds come tuesday. as i mentioned before, i spent my week in different states across the country asking voters and candidates what matters to them. take a look. what's your top issue in the midterm elections? >> health care coverage. >> corruption. health care is another big one. >> health care is huge. that's huge. >> the top issue is health care. >> what's the issue top of mind for you? >> well, the immigration for one thing. >> i think right now that's the hot-button is immigration. >> immigration.

>> government accountability. >> is it immigration or health care? >> i think overwhelmingly, it's health care. >> so you saw there a little bit of a split between -- i want to -- we didn't tell our viewers who or which party any of those voters came from, but i have to say that even among republicans, and you saw republican candidate there david young of iowa. when i asked him the top issue, he did not say immigration, which, if you listen to the president, you might expect a republican candidate to say. instead he pivoted away and said government accountability. that said perhaps the corruption message is breaking through a little bit for democrats. but i have to say, health care seemed to cross party lines as an issue of concern. >> yeah, absolutely. you found this in your travels. but we spend, with all due respect to this network, we spend a lot of time talking about trump's latest tweets. that's not what democratic candidates have gained traction on this cycle. they've gained traction on talking about pre-existing conditions and the republican efforts to repeal the aca. there's an added element of tariffs, too. on trade, david young, that republican congressman, has been at odds with president trump on tariffs. in a district that produces a lot of corn, soybeans and pork. and yet, all democrats have to do is say that he's voted with president trump x percent of the time, over 90% of the time and

those democratic candidates are tending to break through. right now it looks like he's going to lose. >> jonathan lemire, jump in. >> but yet that's not what we're hearing from the white house. the president has made it clear that immigration is his closing argument. he feels like that is what carried him over the finish line in 2016. he thinks that can happen now for the republicans in 2018. and it's day after day of just throwing stuff up against the wall. the latest sort of dramatic

escalation of this hard-line immigration policy, whether it's suggesting he might send 15,000 troops to the border, whether it's describing the caravan as full of terrorists, you know, to perhaps even revoking birthright citizenship. day after day. that includes not just proposals but rhetoric. he promoted this ad this week with the guy convicted of killing two police officers in california. >> an ad that we're not going to show. >> it can only be described as racist. he promoted it on his twitter page. and the campaign it was put out on the web and then the campaign, donald trump's re-election campaign put out a version of itself as well for television broadcast. that's where he's doubled down on that concept. he believes that's going to push them over and maybe it will play in the senate. it's these red states, trump states where they're up for election. less so in the suburban house districts. >> have you seen it galvanize the suburban house districts? >> there's mixed evidence. we're seeing some comebacks and consolidation. some have been targets all year. downstate illinois, the iron range, lexington, kentucky, perhaps, but in northern maine, a district that trump broke through in in 2016 and carried that lone electoral college vote. he's still in trouble against a veteran named jerod golden. races are breaking in strange ways and i think that produces a wide range of possible outcomes, but i think the most likely outcome is democrats gaining the house. >> we've been trying to put our

fing or what is driving interest for candidates and voters. i was in tennessee and spoke with democratic senate candidate bredesen. he said this is what his voters care about most. what issue is most important to tennessee voters? immigration or health care? >> i think overwhelmingly, it's health care. you know, by the nature of my campaign, i've talked to a lot of people who voted for donald trump. he won the state by 26 points. and the number of times that health care comes up in discussions compared to immigration, it has to be 50 to 1. >> and then there's republican scott walker who is asking wisconsin voters to give him a third term as governor. listen to what he had to say when i asked him about immigration policy. >> the president is closing out the midterm campaign broadly

with an ad that features a mexican who he says killed americans. he ties it to democrats and the migrant caravan. do you think that tone at the close of this race is going to help your campaign? >> the focus for us here in wisconsin is on our message to the voters which is we've come a long way together. we've turned this state around. we've got more people working than ever before. put more money, more dollars into schools than before. we've tackled the problems with health care. we did it while still protecting people with pre-existing conditions. >> that was a remarkable exercise in not answering the question and pivot away to an issue that -- any issue other than immigration. >> i think the other thing that's really interesting there is it's also an exercise in taking credit for pre-existing conditions which was at one point a democratic rallying cry. they had to make sure people with pre-existing conditions, including people with diabetes or people who are just women don't have to pay more for health insurance. if i have to go back to my own reporting i think about an emt worker i spoke to. he's a republican living in west

virginia and is voting for the democratic candidate. and he told me as someone who literally works in an ambulance every day, he can't afford health care and knows only eight hours in a hospital would wreck his family for months. there are a lot of people that i talk to who said health care is such a personal thing for them and something they now think that democrats can just do better because of the affordable care act. it's now popular and people want these things covered. as a result you see even republicans like scott walker saying even though we don't like -- we don't want to talk about obamacare or affordable care act, we want to talk about this pre-existing conditions. we'll definitely protect that for you. >> i am just stunned at how the rhetoric on pre-existing conditions has changed since i first started covering republicans on repeal and replace obamacare. now it's immediately, i have a family with pre-existing conditions. it's been a remarkable switch for republicans. we're just getting started tonight. later we'll be joined by dnc chairman tom perez, congressman carbella, steve kornacki and jake sherman and so many more. plus we'll look at two pick-up opportunities for democrats. more on my interview with phil bredesen.

i asked him 20 straight questions about taylor swift, obviously. and jackie rosen tries to unseat dean heller in nevada. we're back after this. ♪ so this christmas, take care of the hands that take care of you. that's me in back in 1987, when i gave isotoner gloves to all my teammates. now i have a different set of teammates. my family. and they all want isotoner gloves for christmas because they keep getting better. there's smartouch. for selfies whenever, wherever. then there's four way stretch for flexibility. they even have smartdri. see? stays dry. so get isotoner gloves for the whole family. take care of the hands that take care of you. get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more.

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i'm vaughn hillyard in prescott, arizona. it was these steps where barry goldwater in 1964 announced his presidential bid. this was also a place, a county that donald trump won by 30 percentage points in 2016. and a place that martha mcsalley will need to rely on high voter turnout in order to pull out a victory on tuesday. she campaigned in prescott today and it's going to be these steps she campaigns tomorrow night in her last event before polls open on tuesday. >> vaughn hillyard there in prescott, arizona, covering a senate race getting its fair share of national attention. but it is nothing compared to what we've seen in texas. beto o'rourke and ted cruz have been criss-crossing the state ahead of election day. like in so many races across the country, the issue of immigration has been a constant source of tension. garrett haake has been all over the great state of texas covering ted cruz and beto o'rourke and joins me now live. garrett, i watched you on "meet the press" this morning answering chuck todd's question and i want to share with our viewers a little bit of the flavor that you offered from the ground in texas. everyone is just wondering, is

this beto thing a fad, an obsession that matters more in los angeles and new york, or does he really have a shot at winning in texas? >> well, i guess we'll know if it's a fad by wednesday morning but it certainly feels like a real thing on the ground. i've been calling this the beto paradox. it's keeping me awake at night. i cannot square what i see in the polls which say consistent lead for ted cruz across all the polling in this race with what i

see on the ground in terms of enthusiasm and energy for beto o'rourke. i don't want to overstate this but it really does feel like covering a presidential campaign. he'll have crowds in the high hundreds, low thousands at some of these events. a crowd in austin today of several thousand. and they really do treat him like a rock star. he has to be dragged back and forth sometimes from the car by an aide to make sure he can move through the crowd. that enthusiasm for a democrat in texas is just unheard of. i grew up down here. this is just not how these kinds of races are expected to play out. so i've been trying to figure

out sort of what they can do with this. how do they turn this enthusiasm in places like austin, in places like san antonio where i am right now into an actual voting advantage. and really today in austin was the first time that i heard o'rourke make a very explicit call to action from his supporters. here's what he told the crowd in austin this afternoon. >> over the next 54 hours, i'm asking you to give me every waking moment of your life. if you really want to win this, given what's at stake, given what's on the line, given the judgment of the people of the future, our kids, our grandkids, our conscience, let's make sure that when they look back on us they do so with pride. >> so placing the stakes of this race in pretty dramatic terms. the event here tonight he said utsa students ought to skip class tomorrow and tuesday if they need to to make sure they can do everything they can to get out the vote. there's no math for a regular democratic campaign to win in texas statewide just yet. demographics might change. o'rourke has to get a whole bunch of voters who have never voted before, who have never consistently come out in midterms to come to his cause or else this could be a short night in texas on tuesday. we don't know if that coalition exists yet. that's the bottom line. >> fascinating, garrett. i'm jealous you've gotten to spend so much time down there. we should let everyone know we're watching the president of the united states about to take the stage here in chattanooga,

tennessee, one of his final rallies ahead of tuesday's voting. i think that's lee greenwood who had been making some in-person appearances on the final stretch here. but, garrett, i also want to come back to you on another race that you were covering earlier on. that's that close senate contest. dean heller often considered the most vulnerable republican incumbent on defense this cycle. you spoke to, i understand, his opponent. what did you learn? >> yeah, this is like the opposite stylistic race from what we've seen here in texas. two candidates hughing very closely to the middle of the road to try to fight over the senate. i talked to jackie rosen. her win in 2016 from the house was her first political win of any kind. her first race of any kind. and now she's got really the hopes of the democratic party resting on her shoulders in that race. so the first question i asked her was, does she feel that pressure? if democrats are going to take back the senate, you have to

win. >> i have to win. i'm going to win. >> do you feel that pressure? >> i feel excited. and i'm going to tell you why. i have outraced senator heller for five quarters in a row. this last quarter, i outraised him by $5 million. >> what does that tell you? >> it tells me i have the momentum behind me. >> that political bravado doesn't come naturally for jacky rosen. a former computer programmer, synagogue president and a mom, her house race was her first political race ever. declaring for the senate the very next year, she was quickly given a derisive presidential nickname. >> a vote for wacky jacky is a vote to hand control of congress to nancy pelosi, cry inchuck schumer. >> you seem much less wacky than the president would have you believe. >> i like to think so. >> what has it been like to draw

the president's attention in that way? >> i try not to think about it. i try to keep my head down here in nevada and talk to people. >> some critics argue rosen may be doing too good of a job keeping her head down. her low-key style failing to ignite the democratic base. the democratic i've heard of you is that you're kind of boring. is this sort of like meat and potatoes politics what nevadans want? >> i think that's their narrative. anyone that knows me doesn't think that. i work hard. >> john rolsten says rosen herself doesn't have to fire up the liberal base. >> donald trump is on the ballot by proxy. they're energized to turn out. and dean heller has helped because he's taken every position under the sun. i'm repealing obamacare, for it, against it, for it before he was against it. that's helped energize people, too.

>> kasie, another contrast to this texas race. rosen has had every major democratic surgas possible out there helping her gin up that excitement. also that powerful culinary union driving votes for her in nevada. if either one of these two candidates wins on tuesday it will tell us a lot about what works for democrats in the age of donald trump. >> garrett haake, thank you so much. really appreciate your reporting tonight. we'll be watching beto o'rourke in texas. still to come, we'll talk about wild accusations in the georgia governors race. join rachel maddow and brian williams for special coverage of the midterms live tonight starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. we're back after this. what do you look for when you trade?

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security have been alerted. since then his office has offered no other evidence or corroborating evidence of this claim. the georgia democratic party released a full-throated denial of the claims. kemp's opponent, stacey abrams, also weighed in this morning. >> this is a desperate attempt on the part of my opponent to distract people from the fact that two different federal judges found him derelict of his duties and forced him to allow absentee ballots to be counted and he is desperate to turn the conversation away from his failures, from his refusal to honor his commitments and from the fact that he's part of a nationwide system of voter suppression that will not work in this election. >> this afternoon, kemp hit the stump in macon, georgia, where he welcomed one of his biggest supporters. president trump. and while neither made mention of the alleged hacking, the president used the opportunity to take aim at kemp's opponents. >> stacey abrams is one of the most extreme far left politicians in the entire country. you know that. she supports a socialist takeover of health care which means you will never be able to

see your doctor, just like the vets never got to see their doctor. you put stacey in there, and you're going to have georgia turn in to venezuela. i don't think the people of georgia like that. she wants to end the death penalty. for even the most vicious and ruthless killers. stacey abrams wants to turn your wonderful state into a giant sanctuary city for criminal aliens. and stacey abrams wants illegal aliens to vote. joining me is president and ceo of the national urban league and former mayor of new orleans. and in atlanta, the great, the one and only, my friend katy

tur. thank you for being here. i'm going to come back to you because i want your take on the first trump rally you've been to in a while. mark, we haven't touched yet on what's going to in georgia and the fact that brian kemp, the secretary of state, who has charged with overseeing his own election, has leveled this sort of last-minute charge without actually having anything out there to back it up. >> it's a cheap last-minute political stunt that people who feel they are going to lose pull in an election. and i think stacey abrams is right. he's trying to distract from the fact that he's been involved in just a conflict of interest from day one. he should have recused himself as secretary of state while he's a candidate for governor. he's tried to use his office to continue this awful scourge of

voter suppression. this is interesting. we were in georgia. the national urban league was working on getting out the vote and watch georgia and watch the millennial and gen-z vote. watch the votes of young women. this race is a race where there may be a realignment with voters who have not voted. there's always been a large number, particularly of african-americans, in georgia who are not registered. in atlanta who are not registered. and stacey abrams, i believe, has motivated them in a very special way. >> do you think the efforts that many say have been focused on suppressing the vote, brian kemp's office using this, you know, what had been outlawed, this technique of matching signatures and court had previously said he couldn't do that. it's resulted in some ballots being thrown out. do you think it's enough to

change the outcome of this race? >> i think those efforts are angering people all over the country. the idea that now we're connecting all of the dots since 2013. all of the efforts. sophisticated and crass and crude to, if you will, suppress the vote. what it is doing, it is motivating people to turn out. it's motivating people to vote. and i think that, for him, at this stage to say there was a hacking incident and not put the evidence out there is just a cheap last-minute desperate attempt. >> katy tur, you are in georgia on the product. what are you picking up on the ground in this race? this would be a pretty stunning display by stacey abrams if she pulls this out, as somebody who has run as an unapol jettic progressive democrat should be the first african-american woman elected as governor. and i also am curious, your take on what your -- what you saw at the trump rallies that you have been going to after having seen so many of them in 2016.

what's changed and what's the same? >> i'll get to the trump rally in a second. i will note, though, before we get anywhere that neither donald trump nor brian kemp brought up this investigation tonight in macon, georgia, which i thought was interesting since those allegations came out this morning. i also thought it was interesting this morning on brian kemp's twitter page, and it's basically been a milk toast get out the vote effort, not much opinion, not much in the way of controversial tweets. this morning he tweeted about the new black panther party saying that they support stacey abrams and claiming that people who want to kill white people and areanti-sematic support stacey abrams. when you talk to georgians on the whole you get the sense a lot of them feel this is a close race. there's a decimal point difference between brian kemp and stacey abrams right now. the expectation is that this is going to go into a run-off. that's why the other night at the rally that she did with president obama, it was all about going out and voting. the same thing when oprah took the stage.

going out and voting. honoring the legacy of those who came before you. the fight that they had to ensure, specifically that african-americans had the right to vote. john lewis was up on stage with stacey abrams on friday. and he talked about how he spilled blood on that bridge in selma. and he's not asking anyone to spill any blood. he's just asking them to go out and vote. so it's going to be about african-american turnout. whether they have problems at the polls. there's all those allegations and worries about voter suppression. but beyond that, it's going to come down to the female vote here in georgia. do women, maybe women who have supported republicans in the past, do they break from that and do they vote for stacey abrams? are they turned off by the immigration rhetoric, the hard-line rhetoric the republicans in general have been putting out there.

and it's notable that brian kemp who won the primary with an ad that talked about rounding up illegals in his own truck, words that he used, it's not an ad he's been running in the general election. it's something he's seemed to shy away from in the general. on to the trump rally, kasie, it's the first trump rally i've been to in two years. two years. and it felt honestly like i was walking back in time. like i had taken a time machine back to 2016. very little has changed. the voters, they sound exactly like they did in 2016. they are just as enthusiastic about donald trump as they were. donald trump took the stage and hit a lot of the same points. he went on an extended rift about the media and how we don't turn our cameras, even as cameras were actually being turned. he talked about the radical left and how the left is going to try and take your rights away and take your second amendment away. kasie, the playlist at the rally was exactly the same as it was in 2016. i heard tiny dancer on loop again. i heard backstreet boys "i want it that way" again. it's remarkable and goes to show you. 12,000 people showed up to this thing. it goes to show you that donald trump's message among those who like him is still very much resonating. and i think what you'll see on tuesday is we're going to find out, does this country, and depending on which way the votes go in each of the states, does this country look more like a

donald trump rally or does it look more like a president obama rally? i think that's going to be a real indicator, whatever way it breaks on tuesday. >> for sure. dave wasserman, it seems the question is, well, is -- for as much as we saw the excitement around president trump in 2016 and the rallies had the energy, whether or not the energy on the democratic side is exceeding what we're seeing there. >> yeah, that's right. look, in georgia, remember john

oshoff, remember the $40 million that democrats spent on that district? well, now it's stacey abrams at the top of the ballot. she may not win statewide. it's a very close race. but she may help carry a democrat over the top against karen handle in the northern atlanta suburbs because that's the type of place where she's overperforming relative to past democrats. >> and really quickly, you -- we were listening to garrett haake report on texas. what's your sense on whether beto has a chance here? >> i just crunched the numbers on texas' early voting. it's almost at 2016 levels. but the top two counties in texas reports -- the high -- the biggest 15 counties early voting stats. the top two counties on pace for 2016, dallas and travis counties which are both african-americans and left trending. but left trending white voters, especially in austin. the two bottom counties, hidalgo and cameron in the rio grande rallies, the most hispanic large counties. it doesn't suggest who is going to win this race, but it does suggest if beto is to win, he's going to need to overperform massively with suburban its because he can't necessarily count on the same enthusiasm. >> so potentially white progressives. thank you all so much for being on tonight. still to come, we're going to talk to republican congressman carlos kerbelo about a rare moment of unity in a time of incivility. "kasie dc" back after this. this week, there was a

breath of fresh air in what's been a toxic midterm election "kasie dc" back after this. today is the day you're going to get motivated... get stronger... get closer. start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs

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this week, there was a breath of fresh air in what's been a toxic midterm election season. last week carlos curbelo received a death threat from a 19-year-old constituent via twitter. the suspect was arrested the

next day. you may be surprised at what you're seeing on your screen right now. that's curbelo this week standing next to the man who threatened his life. the two held a news conference together during which curbelo said the young man had apologized. >> i'm grateful to him for being willing to not just learn a lesson himself but to stand with me here today. now it could possibly turn into something positive, an example of how this society can heal, can reconcile and a reminder that this type of speech really has no place in our society. >> joining me is congressman carlos curbelo who has asked the state to drop all the charges against that man. congressman, it's great to see you. thanks for being on the show. >> good evening from miami. good to be with you.

>> so that was the opposite scene of what i have heard so many times over and over and over again from you and your colleagues, which is that these threats have reached new levels over the course of the last couple of years. that's really a demonstration that perhaps we can move past that. how much hope do you have that this can be something that's broader or are politics destined to be stuck in this incivil place where people are threatening violence and each other's lives? >> kasie, i have a lot of hope because most of the people who are speaking in these terms, who are saying hateful things, are like this young man. like pierre alejandro. people who don't really mean it. there are just things going on in their lives. our culture has been so toxic, they feel it's okay to say these things. this young man, did he have any

intention of doing this or was he just seeking attention? they thought it was the latter. i said let me sit down with him and see if we can make this something positive. i didn't want this young man's, the rest of his life to be ruined with a felony charge. but i think it's an example hough we can start healing in this country, rather than dehumanizing, discarding the people who attack us who say mean and nasty things to us. let's try to have a conversation with them. >> how much responsibility do you think president trump bears for this change in our discourse for the worst? >> oh, he's certainly contributed to this. he has certainly contributed to this. but, kasie, it's a mistake to think that this is all his fault. we all have to look in the

mirror. that means all the politicians. that means members of the media. of course, it means every single american because we all contributed to what we're living in our country today. all these rallies i'm watching, whether it's trump or obama, i don't think this is good. i think we need more conversations, more dialogue in our country and fewer rallies. >> with all due respect, president trump's rhetoric is distinctly different from president obama's in this context. >> no question. no question. and i said that from the start that he certainly is responsible, in part, for all of this. but all of these rallies, whether they're trump's or anyone else's, all they do is highlight our differences. no one is out there saying how are we going to bring different people in this country together, republicans, democrats, independents, to sit at the table, compromise. no, we're not going to agree on every issue. of course not. but figure out where we can meet in the middle. that conversation isn't had at these rallies. these rallies are about putting other people down, dividing the country and turning out bases. and that's the kind of politics that has us in this mess. >> let me pick up on that because your race, one of the closest in the country, south florida. your district heavily hispanic, of course. the president's rhetoric in the final weeks of this race is to focus on the migrant caravan that he talks about. he paints it as a threat to this country.

is the way the president is closing this race, is that what is making your race harder in these final days? >> no, kasie, because my community knows me, and they know my record on immigration and they know how hard i've fought for immigration compromises in congress. now i regret what the president is doing. i think it's wrong. it's part of the divide and conquer strategy that he and other politicians have used for a long time. and in the short term, this, obviously, it worked out for him in 2016. it's worked out for others. but in the long term, if we continue dividing this country, if we continue portraying people who disagree with us as the enemy, we are all going to lose. my family came from a country where politics became violent, where people started dehumanizing each other. they lost their democracy and eventually they had to leave. and they made america home and thank god for this generous country. but, no, the president should not be out there trying to pit one group of americans against another. he should be trying to unite

this country. all of us have a responsibility in doing that, but responsibilit in doing that but especially the president, any president. >> what do you say to americans who are about to cast their ballots in this midterm election and they watched what you and your party have done and they say i have no evidence sending a republican back to washington will ultimately change the behavior of this president. what do you say to those voters? >> i think that every american has the right and the duty to choose the best candidate in every race, and for me, choosing the best candidate in every race this year means asking oneself who is going to help heal our politics? who is going to make sure republicans and democrats can work together? i was watching you and your colleagues on the nbc network this morning and the nbc "wall street journal" poll shows republicans, democrats, independents, one of the few

things they have in common is they want politicians to work together, to do their jobs, to get things done for the american people. so in every race, i think people should put party aside and figure out who is the candidate that is going to be able to achieve that for this country because that's what we desperately need. >> congressman carlos curbelo, thanks for that. "kasie d.c." returns live from new york after this. .d.pow dependability award for its midsize car-the chevy malibu. i forgot. chevy also won a j.d. power dependability award for its light-duty truck the chevy silverado. oh, and since the chevy equinox and traverse also won chevy is the only brand to earn the j.d. power dependability award across cars, trucks and suvs-three years in a row. phew. third time's the charm...

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so we've talked about some of the most important issues during this election cycle, health care, immigration, a apparently axes. a real ax to show the point she's making about axes taxes. democratic senator joe donnelly locked in a tight race in indiana actually put his ax to use in a recent campaign ad. >> for the most part, i'm an easy going guy but not when mike brawn keeps lying about my record. i split with my own party to support funding for trump's border wall.

>> that moment, of course, bears a striking resemblance to a fictional ad from a show you may have seen. >> resident salina myer thinks she can chop our prosperity, our dignity and stature around the world. well, someone is chopping back. >> yet another way in which real life is imitation and republican candidate for governor in georgia brian kemp who campaigned with president trump. >> i have one more charge for you. one more charge. as we leave you. keep working. keep chopping that wood. in the middle of a wheat field. when you've got news this big, it's not enough to just add it to the menu. where's the 'freak yeah!' in that? to celebrate a new sandwich with a taste so inspired,

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♪ chris-crossing the country ahead of the midterms, president trump is making a final push for a vote as new polling shows democrats with a small lead. plus, former president obama campaigns for the democrats running for governor in florida and georgia as president trump picks up his attacks on the two candidates. data shows the number of young voters casting their ballots early is soaring, futuring democrfuture i -- fuelling democrats' hopes of capturing the house. good morning, everyone. it's monday, november 5