at 3:00 for the all-day special coverage of tomorrow's midterm elections. thank you for watching. "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace starts right now. hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. in about 30 hours we'll know a lot more about the country's appetite for change. for the very first nim his short political career, donald trump represents the status quo and democrats represent change. with 54% of americans believing that the country is on the wrong track. that's a daunting number for any party in charge of everything. and a potentially perilous place to be politically with the nation on edge just one week after the deadliest massacre of jewish americans in this country's history. and the arrest of a florida man who targeted donald trump's critics with pipe bombs. adding to the gop's political baggage, a president who has chosen to douse the flames of xenophobia and fear of

immigration as a closing message. and one who lies with such reckless abandon, his own allies struggle to keep up. from "the washington post," president trump is painting an astonishing apocalyptic vision of america under democratic control in the campaign's final days. unleashing a torrent falsehoods and portraying his political opponents as desiring crime, squalor and poverty. the post also reports on the risks of owning the politics of division. the 2016 election confirmed a potential president could run and win after stoking racism. now in their closing days, the midterms are shaping up as a demonstration of whether the entire republican party can succeed by following his lead. but the post adds, quote, the stakes for the party's future are immense. republicans now are an overwhelmingly white party whereas democrats represent a multiethnic coalition. the problem for republicans is that the nation is moving swiftly in the direction of

democratic demographics. and as the leader of the republican party, trump has set the tone for what's been called a disgraceful display of race-baiting, dirty tricks and outright lies from many gop candidates. the republican gubernatorial candidate in georgia launched an unsubstantiated attack on his democratic opponent stacey karks brams. in what democrats said was an attempt to deflect attention just two days before a crucial midterm election, mr. kemp used his official position sunday to announce with scant evidence that the democrats were under investigation for allegedly trying to hack the state's voter registration files. stacey abrams responded this morning. >> it's a witch hunt created by someone who is abusing his power. friday, brian kemp was notified there was yet another flaw in the election security system. twice before he's accidentally released the information of 6 million georgians. this was about to happen again. instead of owning up to it,

taking responsibility and seeking a way to fix the flaw, he instead decided to blame democrats because he does that. he doesn't take accountability. doesn't take responsibility. what he does is find someone else to blame. >> here to break down the final frantic news on the last full day of campaigning, from "the washington post," national political reporter robert costa. heidi przybilla. with us on set, zerlina maxwell, now director of progressive programming for sirius xm. eli stokols, white house reporter for the "l.a. times" and eugene robinson, "washington post" columnist and associate editor. robert costa, let me start with you. the politics of projection of donald trump's real enthusiasm for taking these incredibly -- these were third rail issues for every republican who came before donald trump. he's grabbed both of them with both of his hands and others are following suit. how is it playing in the final

days? >> it plays on a large scale as president trump going to these rallies trying to motivate his base on the issue of immigration. using racially charged language, talking about conspiracy theories, hoping that that changes the dynamics in some of these senate races. in house races, a lot of skittishness among republican candidates running in the suburbs and elsewhere. >> robert costa, it's not working in florida. you've got the democrat, andrew gillum, at 50%. ron desantis, essentially, a mini me, someone who embodies all that donald trump stands for. now down seven points. i worked for a republican governor of florida. i haven't seen a democrat this far ahead in a statewide race in a long time. does the president see this as a referendum on his politics? >> the president does not. y president thinks he himself is still popular with his own base. he's reinforced with that message every time he goes to a rally. your message about florida is really important because the republican there running for governor, ron desantis, a

congressman, has been a mini-me of president trump and mini-ms across the country whether it's in pennsylvania with lou barleta or in florida. they are struggling to have president trump's presence and political capital on the campaign trail. >> let's keep up the mini-me analogy, heidi. another mini-me is brian kemp. but his -- his trumpism, i guess, is really a below the belt accusation which is more similar to trumpism in its projection. he is the acting secretary of state in georgia. he is in charge of the election. and if it's been hacked, it's been hacked on his watch, and he's responsible, not his opponent. >> that is the second day story, nicolle, which is the timing of this. and the timing is that it came, this accusation of hacking, after news reports were about to come out about their being an actual flaw in the voter registration system there, which has come under immense scrutiny in the past for having holes in

it. so the question is whether this is an actual hack. right now there's no evidence of it. he offered no evidence, and also pointedly said that nothing was obtained. nothing was, you know, leaked, if you have it. and so the question is whether this is an actual hack or as stacey abrams says it is a stunt, i guess she used the words witch punhunt. >> exactly. it's in the water. we'll be debating where the real witch hunts are until the end of time. there was a robocall in that state. voters pick up the phone and there's a recorded message. it's usually a get-out-the vote message. in this case, it was so inappropriate, so racist, we decided not to air it here. targeting stacey abrams and oprah winfrey. both campaigns denied any involvement and condemn the ad, but this is someone, a fringe group associated with kemp. this is one of, and it's hard to

prioritize or put them in order, but one of the dirtiest races in the country this cycle. >> we're seeing this as well in florida. racist robocalls that went out. and what happened in that time frame, gee. the polls -- just a couple of weeks ago showed ron desantis with a small lead and now it seems that gillum has opened a wide lead. i'm not sure the same will play in georgia. but we're definitely seeing this type of racial message being fanned all over. and i do think that what's going to happen here potentially is a split screen election that these racially charged messages, this focus on immigration could play well in some of these white sparsely populated rural races where they're -- that's the senate battleground this year but it could backfire in some of the races where the real vote is going to be decided by these more afluent, educated suburban swing districts. point in case, look at karen handle, the republican candidate who won in a special election

and is now under water there in georgia. >> there's no way to cut the tie between donald trump's race-baiting, racist ad pinned to the much to his twitter feed. so racist this network pulled it down and other networks have done the same. how do we -- all right. but you can draw a direct link between the tones set by the president and what's so bizarre, here's our statement. nbc aired this ad and then pulled it down. this was the network's statement. after further review, we recognize the insensitive nature of the ad and have decided to cease airing it across our properties as soon as possible. we've pulled that out of rotation, and others have done the same. but what has -- and i don't know if this is good or bad. racist dogwhistles used to be something that shadoey groups. now the head of the party. and no surprise that other members of the party, other

people running under the banner of trump republicans are doing the same. >> during the 2016 campaign, what donald trump did was normalize racism. he normalized overtly racist behavior. it's okay to be racist in public. it's okay to berate latino people who are speaking spanish in a deli in new york and tell them they need to go back to their country. black people and brown people since donald trump has been in the white house have experienced real actual racism. i wouldn't call it racially charged or racial. it's called racism. so if you talk to a person of color, we name it. we call it what it is. we don't beat around the bush and try to say that it's just racially charged. it's a racist conversation that we're having right now. he is not just pandering to his base but to the racists in his base. he is being explicit about it. he is being open about it. and i think as citizens of this country, and people who do not align with those views, it is our responsibility in this moment to call it what it is. and so that's why i think it's important to --

>> i agree. >> i said this last night. why do we call it race-baiting. it's racism. >> i remember when you said that. i just wrote a whole column for tomorrow wondering if there has been a more racist campaign since george wallace in 1968. and i can't think of one. >> me either. >> there hasn't been since then. and it's hard to compare it to wallace who was more circumspect in his bigotry than trump has been. >> how is this where we are? and how is this about race? how is this not a 90/10 issue. how are 90% of americans white, black, brown, men, women, how are 90% of americans not so upset about racism that they're not out marching and protesting all republicans? >> i do have one idea. >> i don't know. you know, i'm not -- i guess i'm not the guy to ask that because -- >> when did racism become like a, oh, it's a toss-up, racism. i don't know. >> it's very complex. but part of it is because the

privilege that you receive as a white person, right, you can walk around and not fear the police and that they're going to be violent towards you and there are privileges that come along with walking around with white skin. you can look it up. it's called the invisible backpack, if you wanted to do the academic reading on where white -- the idea of white privilege comes from. people are benefitting from a system that puts them at the top of the hierarchy. and so there's actually an academic that asked a group of white student ooze. >> i get the academics. why doesn't every mother, father, white person, black person -- i don't know anyone raising their child to believe in racism. >> it's not the -- >> i get the academics. why at an emotional level y is this a loser? >> because everyone is looking directly in front of them, dealing with their families, their jobs. and they don't necessarily want to have the uncomfortable conversation about the legacy of racism in the country. they don't want to talk about the fact that they may have gotten the promotion they didn't deserve or their kid got into a school because of legacy and they are opposed to affirmative

action which would help people historically marginalized get into that same school. it's complicated and, obviously, there's a lot of academics that can explain it better than i can. what it is, on the one hand, people are very uncomfortable talking about race and eugene and i both know that black people, we talk about it all the time because it's literally something we're experiencing in every single moment when we walk around. it's our lived experience. and because white americans don't necessarily have moments where, you know, they're like, was that race snift was that person treating me differencely becau -- differently because i'm black? you don't talk about it and have that dialogue the way we do. >> two other things i would mention. one, we had eight years of the first black president. that freaked a lot of people out. >> yes, it did. >> it just freaked some people out. and for whatever reason. second, president trump is -- has sort of activated a sense of white grievance and defined it

and sort of made that -- >> white pain. >> part of our societal discourse. you know, white people are being persecuted. and there are more people now, a lot more people now, than when he came on the political scene who believed that white people are being persecuted because of donald trump. >> eli, people close to the president have told me that the reason during the campaign, it took him -- i remember this tourted interview he did with jake tapper about david duke's endorsement. do you disavow? yeah, i disavow. what's the big whoop. this president is hard wired to not be offended by racists. and i think andrew gillum, the democrat running in florida, has articulated it the best. i'm not saying you're a racist. i'm saying the racists think you're a racist. does anyone around the president explain to the president that he is sort of patient zero for all of this? >> i think anybody who would be able to do that has long gone. nobody is trying to convince donald trump to change his mind or to see that maybe his

rhetoric is problematic. gene is right. he gave for the first time in a long time white people sort of the permission to talk about their pain and grievances and the permission to complain allowed about diverseifying country. >> i think part of it is, obviously, the economic circumstances with the last recession put a lot of white americans in the same bucket at black americans. black unemployment is the highest rate and still double white unemployment. that's still the reality. i would add the caveat it's a perceived grievance because it's still bad for a lot of americans of all colors. >> you hear the callousness. the president will always give himself a way out. a trap door of sorts and say i'm not being racist. i'm just saying that andrew gillum is not equipped to be president. i was at his rally last week in florida. he's done this at both rallies in florida. not equipped. he repeats the line several times to make sure that people get it. you hear what he's doing.

but a lot of other people also hear what he's doing and then he can step back and say i'm not being racist. i'm just saying he's not equipped to be governor of this state. you mentioned the interview with tapper. another moment, birtherism. you can draw a line from birtherism to all these behaviors. that was racist. these behaviors are racist. i don't think there should be any problem calling that what it is. but if you go back to the way at the end of the campaign he was going to disavow birtherism. he dragged us to his new hotel in washington. yet to open. and once all the network cameras were going live, he trotted out a bunch of veterans to sing his praises. then he came out flippantly said, yeah it was hillary's fault wis birtherism thing. i day vow it. let's go back to work. a totally disingenuous apology. >> is robert costa with us? >> yes, that was my interview with donald trump about birtherism, asking him, does he still believe as the republican nominee at that point in the campaign that president obama

was not born in the united states, and he would not really give an answer which led to that news conference. >> robert costa, your paper has a collection of stories reporting this out. you have pieces on the lies. you have reporting on the race. you have reporting, i think, a separate story on sort of this -- it's only been a week since 11 people were gunned down in a synagogue. what is your sense? what is sort of you and your colleagues, i think, have put down a marker and holding this president to account. what is your sense of whether anyone around the president has any discomfort with what he's going to the voters with tomorrow? >> there is discomfort that it could cost them the house, but they believe that institutional erosion has been so rampant in the trump era and that republicans have attacked the institutional credibility of the democrats, of the news organizations and others that are fact-checkers or bringers of reality to the political discourse that he can continue to go to his base and say, i alone can fix it. i alone have the answers.

i alone should be trusted on all of these issues. >> heidi przybilla, will he alone be the one to blame for pushing the economy out of the news cycle? push anything talk of jobs numbers or economic growth out of the conversation for the last three weeks and sort of equivocating on some of the violence that we've seen in the country, passing on calling the democrats that receive pipe bombs from someone who targeted many trump critics? do you think he alone deserves the blame for the tone of the message that dominated the headlines? >> there's one thing about trump. it's that he's very transparent. if you noticed earlier today, he was asked why he's doing this. he said, quote, it's effective. and i think that's where this comes down. he's made a cold calculation that the same playbook that worked in 2016 is going to work in 2018. but anecdotally, we're already seeing that's not necessarily the case. what you didn't have in 2016 was a fired up democratic

electorate. just look at georgia. look at the increase in voter registration. we saw over the 2014 midterm elections. 155% increase. and so this is not the same election. and it will be a referendum on tuesday. >> heidi przybilla, thank you so much. when we come back, a man thriving on what one writer calls political no man's land. john kasich joins the conversation. also, betting on beto. we'll go to one of the hottest senate races in the country. and staff shake-up. brand-new reporting on the president's plan for a, quote, massive shake-up. and what that may mean for the russia investigation. all those stories still coming up. ♪ let's do the thing that you do. let's clear a path. let's put down roots. let's build something. let's do the thing that you do.

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"look what she's accomplished... she authored the ban on assault weapons... pushed the desert protection act through congress, and steered billions of federal dollars to california projects such as subway construction and wildfire restoration." "she... played an important role in fighting off ...trump's efforts to kill the affordable care act." california news papers endorse dianne feinstein for us senate. california values senator dianne feinstein

i've never been a particularly partisan person. i've supported candidates from both sides. but at this moment, we must send a signal to republicans in washington that they have failed to lead, failed to find solutions and failed to bring us together. that's why i'm voting democratic. america is the greatest nation on earth. and for all our sakes, we must start becoming the united states of america once again. >> that was former new york city mayor michael bloomberg, a name to keep in mind the next time we do this whole election business in 2020. he might thereby. for now, he's focused on getting people like him who sit somewhere in the center of the two political parties to vote for democrats tomorrow. bloomberg is in good company. many former republicans like mike gersum, pete waner, george

will, rick wilson, david frum, james comey, bret stevens and jennifer ruben, all former staffers for republican presidents appointees for republican presidents or prominent conservatives are urging other republicans to vote for democrats. these never-trump republicans are in political no man'sland. something author george packer writes about in the new yorker. the never trumpers are a powerful voice in american politics. they have the authority apostasy but are shunned by conservative media and donors and have few friends in congress. they're scarcely more welcomed by the left which prefers arraigning them on old counts to recruiting them as allies. they're stranded in the no man's land of polarized politics. the middle where millions of voters have no voice on cable news. many never trumpers tired of being homeless will eventually join the democrats migrating in the opposite direction of the neocons of the '70s and '80s. joining our conversation, ohio

governor john kasich. >> are you a never trumper? >> no, i'm not a never anybody. well, there's -- >> you are wearing a blue tie. bloomberg had on a purple tie. >> i thought purple was red and blue together. >> yours is blue. >> i just put on a tie that i thought would look good. does it look good? luchbing to a ing listening to all this stuff you just read, my head is spinning. i think people want to say, who should i vote for? vote for the person you think is a unify are. >> donald trump is not a unifier. >> i early voted. i didn't vote for all republicans. i vote for people that are unifiers. people that have courage. i don't have to agree with them, but i want to have respect for them. i don't want them to spend their time engaging in vitriol. so to me, it's, i'm an american before i'm anything else. and so i don't like where things are today. and, you know, our leaders are not leading. so now it's a time where i really think is now is a time for people to take action where

they live and to create a synergy with others to drive change from the bottom up. i was talking to gene earlier in the green room about this. you think about the civil rights movement. it didn't come from the leaders. it came from the bottom up, from the faith community and people who thought, you know, who really felt that african-americans were being treated horribly. and they pitched in. or if you think about the end of the vietnam war. we'd still be fighting there if it wasn't for the fact that young people got involved and took matters into their own hands. so i'm a believer now that i -- the leaders are not leading so now we have to have us, the people who live in the neighborhoods to start bringing about change and sending a message to the top because you know we scare politicians. the citizens scare politicians. >> as they should. and they should be scared. are you uncomfortable with donald trump's open embrace of racist dog whistles and racism as a closing message? >> you're not serious when you ask me that question. >> because i want -- >> there's nobody that's been

more outspoken. i'm wondering where everybody else is. >> this is my question. >> peddling fear. >> why isn't this a 90/10 issue? why are people like, i don't know. i'm still going to vote -- >> what is there to support when the republican party has basically become a megaphone for racism? >> first of all, there's a lot of tribal. a lot of red and blue. you start offend talking about -- >> where is rob portman, paul ryan? >> call them up and ask them. i wish i had more people saying the things that, you know, talking about what i think is over the line. i think there should be an ethical line that you don't cross in politics. and peddling fear, you may win something in the short term but in's t the long term is just das our country and hurts us even more. why don't we just do it ourselves? why don't we just tell them we've had enough. i watch a lot of these ads. i expanded meds ca eed medicaid. we're covering 600,000 people.

people are on medicaid expansion. it's aloud single moms with kids to be able to go to work. now i look and everybody is for medicaid expansion. and we would every be against repealing something that didn't protect pre-existing conditions. and now, okay, what day is this? i'm glad they're coming around but i don't want them to go retro on us. >> so you're talking about policy. donald trump -- >> a word about the democrats, too. i don't know what their message is. i don't know -- >> well, they've been -- i've watched a lot of the ads. they air in the local market. they're running on health care. >> that's right. they are. they are. >> they have a message. there's this notion, we say democrats don't have a message. you may not like it, but they have a message. >> local candidates are articulating a message. that's correct. but i'd say that nationally, i don't quite know what it is. and i don't know what the republican message is beyond watch out for the caravan. so it's like people -- here's what i think is happening. we've got people on the right, on the left and we have all

these people in the middle which are an ocean of people. and they're numb. they don't know what to do. >> that was the -- >> so vote and let's organize. >> george packer wrote one of the best books predicting where we were going to wind up. and the point of that piece is, i don't know if you consider yourself a never trumper but people who were once affiliated with the republican party don't have -- don't have land to stand on. >> i wasn't supporting trump before all the rest of them decided they didn't support trump. >> you were there first? i didn't go to the convention. did i endorse him, unendorse him it was like watching a ping-pong match back and forth. we have a lot of problems in the country but when you're a populist, there's two kinds. a negative populist that feeds down on people who have trouble and a positive populist who says, yes, we have problem with the wage -- with an engiincome

inequality gap. we have problems because your kid can't get a good decent job and you have big debts. we should say, yes, but let's work together to fix it. not, you know, it's somebody coming into the country to take your job and -- i don't buy that stuff. >> let me ask you something, though. you are sort of -- you are wonky. are you afraid that trump has oblit waerated the climate in wh we can debate policy ideas. he told his supporters, don't believe what you see, what you hear. there are republicans out there lying about their positions on health care. are you -- >> i think policies matter. but it's not about policies today. it's about touching people's souls. how are you doing? how is it going for your family? how is it going with health care? how is your son or daughter doing? what's the problem in your neighborhood with drugs? that's what i learned on the presidential campaign trail. i was talking about, i balanced the budget and i did this and i got all these jobs created. but what really connected with people is when i took the time

to talk to them and with them. and to hear what they had to say. and so, you know, talking about balance. we have to get to health care and all that. but we have to keep in mind that we're doing this because i'm concerned about you. i am my brother and sister's keeper, whether i want to admit it or like it or not. and the other thing is, where my optimism is, people know what they're supposed to do. you know, c.s. lewis wrote a book about the fact is, it's natural for us to understand the difference between right and wrong. sometimes we do wrong and we make an excuse for it, but we know the difference. and that's why i'm hopeful about our country. i'm hopeful about the future here. but, you know, we have to call out things when we see them that are -- >> how are you going to do that? are you going to primary donald trump? >> right now, how do you think a primary would go? not great. >> so you'll run as an independent? >> all options are on the table. but i can tell you this. i don't think i'll be fading away. and i don't want to minimize or

diminish my voice. then the question gets to be, nrd to have a voice, does that mean i have to hold elected office? maybe i will. maybe i won't. i don't know what's going to happen, but all options are on the table. >> how do you have a serious policy debate with a president who has such a loud megaphone and is telling people he can just do a executive order and change the constitution on birthright citizenship or just give another 10% tax cut to people, even though -- >> that's not going to happen. >> i know, but you do you break in to someone's -- to the conversation when someone is sort of so cavalier about -- >> there's right and there's left and there's the big ocean in the middle. and how do we get to them? we get to them, i believe, on the basis of a certain ethic and morality that i do care about you. and by the way, i know you're worried about the caravan, but here's the thing. we're lucky we're not in the caravan. and maybe we are in the caravan. maybe we are people who feel

threatened in our own neighborhoods. these people that come from guatemala. these are moms that say they were going to rape my daughter or kill my son because he wouldn't be a drug mule. we have to deal with asylum. we have to -- one of the things we need to do. we try to solve everything at the border. why aren't we having a policy that helps us to fix things where the problem starts? so i believe the ultimate answer to getting to people is to touch their hearts. and groups like -- how about the cajun navy. they'll go anywhere over the country. i saw bohemian rhapsody. i'm going to tell you why. on saturday with my wife. in that wembley stadium when queen performed, you have to see it. there was the liberals and conservatives, the torrey and labor. black, white, young, old, rich, poor. and they were all clapping together and dancing together and hugging together. and it was a sea of humanity. and it was so great! >> your campaign just got a

theme song. we're going to keep this conversation going. go ahead. >> freddy mercury. >> i'm sorry, lights out. that's it. that's it. we're going to keep this conversation going. >> all right. >> it's a good one. thank you for spending time with us. when we come back, is beto o'rourke creating a new blue print for democrats to run in blue states, or is he coming up short in terms of campaign strategy? ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,

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"look what she's accomplished... she authored the ban on assault weapons... pushed the desert protection act through congress, and steered billions of federal dollars to california projects such as subway construction and wildfire restoration." "she... played an important role in fighting off ...trump's efforts to kill the affordable care act." california news papers endorse dianne feinstein for us senate. california values senator dianne feinstein

it's tough to remember a more exciting, more improbable race than the one going on in texas right now. who would have thought that on november 5th we'd be talking about a competitive senate contest in texas. here we are. and beto o'rourke has some real reasons to be optimistic this afternoon. polling has consistently had him down. if you talk to anyone from texas, democrat or republican, they'll tell you that there are beto signs in every corner of

that deep red state. and the most recent poll has him just three points down. combine that with some of the raw numbers we already have. turn out among young people there is up 447% over the last midterm election in 2014. in total, 5.8 million texans have already cast their votes. and if that's an indicator of overall turnout, both o'rourke and his opponent ted cruz like their chances. >> if you look at the dynamics, we've got numbers on our side. there are a lot more conservatives than there are liberals. what the o'rourke campaign has had on their side is intensity. the liberals who are in texas, are really, really mad. they hate president trump. that anger is dangerous. that anger is mobilizing. it means they're going to show up no matter what. they'll crawl over broken glass to show up. >> is that not a good thing? >> intensity is always potent. intensity turns people out in the polls. >> you working on the assumption the more people that show up,

the better your odds of winning? >> yeah. the more people that show up, the better we do. >> why? >> because the people who are fired up right now are fired up to do something great for this country. >> robert costa is back. eli, zerlina and gene are still at the table. i'm old enough to remember when ted cruz counted himself among the people who hated donald trump. >> that's exactly right. you think back to the 2016 republican national convention. a tense moment between senator cruz and then nominee trump following a brutal primary fight. now senator cruz is relying on president trump to rally that core trump voter in texas because there is an electrified democratic base in texas, in part because of the president's message on immigration, and the way congressman o'rourke has really stoked democratic voters in a state that's been pretty

latent over the decades. >> ted cruz is polarizing within the republican party. the republicans in texas who are fond of the bush family can't stand ted cruz. ted cruz and his supporters were never a fan of the bush family. but there's this thing with the way he rolled over and died when donald trump challenged him, humiliated him and humiliated his wife that really bothers male voters. >> yeah, and maybe you've seen those commercials that the film director richard linklighter directed and put on the air in texas. it's a grizzled old white guy sitting in a restaurant or cafe in texas and he's mocking ted cruz for that. i don't know if you've seen it but it's a very viral type of ad. and it's appealing to exactly those people who just look at ted cruz and don't think that he's really defended himself or stood up for texas. that he's capitulated. i get anecdotal evidence from texas from people that live in different parts of the state,

including waco where there are people who it's a university town. >> "friday night lights" town. >> people are fired up and a tochb beto signs there. the senator is right that numbers are on his side. there are a lot more registered republicans in texas than there are democrats. but the beto campaign, it does feel like the trump campaign felt at the end of 2016. you can feel an energy there. and i think people would not be all that wise to just sort of say -- >> write it off. >> the second most populous state in the country. the rate of voting is not so high that you can really predict what happens tomorrow. there's a lot of potential everywhere. there's potential -- if democrats really, really come out in an extraordinary way, that's a lot of votes. >> robert costa, there's something about the beto candidacy that reminds me of the schwarzenegger campaign.

i know it's different in more ways than it's the same, but something about -- california doesn't elect republicans anymore. but it was a special election. it was a special circumstance. he was a special candidate. he had a special message. beto othe policy, is a classic liberal if you will, but his message really is, he doesn't see red state america and blue state america. he's speaking to all of americans. there is something that seems to have transcended and met this moment. do people in that state, do you think the republicans are going to be watching this with white knuckles? >> there is certainly an anti-establishment veneer to the congressman's campaign in texas, but think of, for a second, put aside schwarzenegger and think of beto o'rourke connected to gillum in florida, stacey abrams in georgia. candidates who are progressive and running as out and out progressives, trying to change the way democrats run in the center. instead of running to the center, they're saying let's arouse the democratic voter who

may have often stayed home during midterm elections. this whole tuesday will be a test for that kind of model in the south. >> and zerlina, robert costa is right. has the better analogies here. and in florida, andrew gillum is ahead three points. georgia, all polling has it within the margin of error. and that we're even talking about a statewide race in texas the day before the election is remarkable. >> it's a race about authenticity. and i think the anecdote about ted cruz and his wife shows that he's not authentic. my mother does an impression of him being like you better lay off heidi. it was so ridiculous when he stood on tv and tried to be tough. and patently transparent to all of us that, you know, he was trying to play the tough guy and that he wasn't because he went on the convention stage and capitulated for donald trump. that's what people remember for the 2016 primary on the republican side. and beto is coming out and saying, i'm not going to run to the center. i'm not going to be republican light. i'm going to run on progressive values and policies because

those policies actually help people. and when you articulate that to constituencies, specifically ones that historically haven't been spoken to like young millennials of color and people of color, latino voters and say here's what i'm going to do for you and your family as all those other politicians that were moderates, they were not trying to make the world a little safer for you, trying to prevent discrimination that you deal with every day. speaking in an authentic way about how policies are going to be able to help marginalize communities. that gets them to turn out. and if democrats, you know, beyond tomorrow, understand that fundamentally, they'll do better in the future. >> they were -- >> it's because of the authentisity inspired people not just in texas but around the country to log on and donate money to that campaign and maybe we'll look back and say if he loses he should have done more to run a little more to the center, but i think that the anti pathy toward the president may be enough for some of those republican voters in those houston and dallas suburbs. >> and texas is a state, donald

trump underperformed there. he didn't do as well as other republicans in the state. the other three candidates costa mentioned, they are all good candidates. they are also excellent politicians that match this moment. robert costa, thank you for saving that segment for me and spending some time with us. no matter what happens tomorrow night, shake-ups are on the way for both congress and the white house. what that could mean for the russia investigation and trump's administration, next.

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i mean, we've done -- we've done record-setting work. i don't know that we get the credit for it, but that's okay. >> trump is right in the sense that administrations do see turnover after elections. his has already seen record-breaking number of exits. a 58% turnover rate, in fact. "the washington post" is reporting that the trump administration is preparing for a massive shake-up. some embattled officials, including attorney general jeff sessions are expected to be fired or actively pushed out by trump after months of bitter recriminations. others notably homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen may leave amid a recognition her relationship with the president has become too strained and more plan to take top rolls on trump's 2020 re-election campaign or seek lucrative jobs in the private sector after nearly two years in government. the panel is still here. who is hiring these people for lucrative jobs? trump always has a kernel, yes,

people leave after elections but not when 60% of your administration has already turned over. >> there's a brookings institute study on this that puts it in the 80s in terms of high-ranking senior staff. 80% already. less than two years into this presidency. and that is just shattering the old record which i think was 59% under reagan. the turnover is because donald trump is a difficult person to work for. he micromanages. if you are the dhs secretary, of course he's going to have his hands all up in your business and that is a problem. and he's going to be mad when he gets bad stories. he's going to tell you what to do. that's not a great working environment. same thing at the pentagon. i've heard rumbling that secretary mattis may be at some point looking for an exit early in 2019. i don't think the sending troops to the border for this political stunt helped with that relationship a whole lot. nor did the military parade. he's just a difficult person to work for because all of the reverse engineering that he requires through the government. >> what's amazing -- let me put

up other names. the post reports secretary mattis. these are other names in the post piece. wilbur ross, the commerce secretary, nick ayers, rod rosenstein, ryan zinke, he's ry >> interior. >> under investigation. >> but i guess what's remarkable is yes he's little, but he also had babies being put in cages after being separated from their parents and he also talked about good people. the 58% -- >> it's the 42% that -- >> like who are the rest, right? >> it's amazing. and the other thing is that how does he choose these people? he fills these posts -- >> we know. when they're on "fox & friends."

>> we know. >> next week asking a former fox anchor to be the u.n. ambassador. >> right, asking to replace nikki haley because she's pretty, i don't know. >> you have to look the part. >> and on the team i think he prizes loyalty above anyone else. if you're going to be on his team, not going to push back, i think that's going to be enough for him. >> this was adam schiff last night on whether they're going to get donald trump's taxes. >> any candidate for president should release their tax returns. one way to enforce that norm is to use the statutory power of congress to return a tax return for a presidential candidate who refuses to disclose it. and this is particularly important where there are credible allegations that the president of the united states may have a financial conflict of interest that is driving u.s.

policy. is our policy visa vi russia driven by and qatar driven by business interests with respect to the trump administration? >> that was likely the next chairman of the house intel committee. but the democrats pick up 23 seats and take over the house there'll be a new house of ways and means. >> it's clear that democrats have been figuring this out. they've been figuring out the sequence and which committee would look at what aspect of the trump administration, which is what they should do. there has been no accountability. there has been no oversight, really, and that's what congress is supposed to do. >> we had this conversation the other night. they have obviously already sat

down and figured who's going to do what. and what's so interesting from that sound from schiff is it's clear the house intel committee is going to focus on those questions and other questions. and it's clear it will be a very focused examination and oversight of this white house. and it will be that way for the first time. do you think he's ready for that. >> there's been a sense from the lawyers this is coming, and they are trying to get ready for it. i think the president, though, personally will blame the lawyers if something goes wrong. we see how he blamed jeff sessions. it's never going to be his fault. he's told crowds this week if the democrats take the house, we'll figure it out, it's going to be fine. i think deep down he's okay with having this foil in the house, these people launching these investigations. and he'll be able to point to them going into the next elections saying, see, this is

the democratic party, they like to get me. >> i don't buy that anything changes. he makes it up -- >> he will. and he does it right now with the media every single day. >> essentially what he's doing is he's going to red states to hold the senate because he knows 67 is the votes you need to hold the president and the chances of that are like zero. even if he were to get impeached he'd still be president and that's the calculus he's working on right now. we have to sneak in a break. . and we've grown substantially. so i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. that's right, $36,000. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. my unlimited 2% cash back is more than just a perk, it's our healthcare. can i say it? what's in your wallet? i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. i tried cold turkey, i tried the patch.

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>> that was president trump equating tough questions from the media to a racially charged ad that was deemed so offensive at least three networks including this one took it off the air. that was donald trump's message today heading out on the campaign trail. he's campaigning tonight alongside conservative radio host rush limbaugh and shawn hannity will also be in tow. what could go wrong, eugene? he's really not shoring up the independent women's vote. >> they're going to be in missouri trying to unelect claire mccaskill is what they're trying to do. i don't think they're going to manage to do that. she may hold on yet again by an eight of a percent or something like that. >> it takes a scalpel message wide, and she really has been able to carve out positions consistent with her constituents. his message is beating up the press -- i don't want to gloss

over these things. i want to hit pause and say the president of the united states just compared reporters exercising their first amendment right to an ad so racist, every network that was paid money to run it, took it off. >> fox news took it off. he didn't have an answer to it. it was like you're offensive. it was like a childish reaction, like you're a puppet from the debate. he has no answer, and he's going to continue getting thon that rally stage, and continue to try and terrify people about this onslaught of refugees. >> anti-semitism and anti-black racism is always related. if you look back to the 1960s, if there was a church bombing a synagogue was also attacked at the same time. if you talk to jewish people since the beginning of trump,

they were always afraid of this moment because anti-black racism, anti-latino racism is connected to anti-semitism violence. you tolerated it, ignored it and voted for it anyway, and you need to grapple with that reality. it's not necessarily me calling you a name, it's saying what you tolerated and put up with and what you were okay with. and i think that's an indictment of, you know, your choices. >> all right, we're going to pick this up tomorrow. that does it for our hour. mtp daily starts right now. hi, chuck. >> hi, nicole. seven hours is what our big board tells. seven hours until that new hampshire vote. i'll see you soon. thank you, nicole. well, if it's monday my election play list has one d