works. >> decided last minute just too important and had to do it. >> in state of florida, 2 million-plus ballots. >> on the march from coast to coast women sending a message to the president about this election. his agenda, also his supreme court pick. the obama factor. how much the former president can help joe biden on the campaign trail. and we begin the hour way dramatic scene in democracy and in access. seeing it there. washington square park right here in new york city happening on the streets and at the polls as today hundreds of thousands are sgatherring in cities ay cross the country for the women's march. their protesting amy coney barrett's supreme court nomination as well as building voter momentum ahead of november 3rd. this as the crowds are also lining up to cast ballots early. check this out. this morning in durham, north carolina, one of several states seeing record-breaking turnout for early voting. a live report from the ground in

a moment. first, just 17 days away from the election. both candidates hitting the trail this weekend in key battleground states. today the president holds events in michigan and wisconsin while joe biden after holding a drive-in rally in detroit yesterday will be in north carolina tomorrow. again, 17 days and counting and plenty of fast-moving developments to cover this hour with reporters and analysts. now the rally at the women's march is getting under way in washington, d.c. thousands expected there. joining me now, from that march, my colleague msnbc cori coffin. cori, right to it. what's the mood like there on the ground? what's going on? a lot of folks behind you. >> reporter: there are. really filled up in the last half hour or so, alex. a couple thousand here so far at least. we know that women's march organizers applied for a permit here of about 10,000 people and on facebook about 3,000 rsvp'd but seemed it is quickly going to overflow, and at some point

they will begin their march. we spoke with organizers and folks who felt the need to come out here today, because this is actually the second women's march this year. think back to january, i know it's difficult to do, because feels like a lifetime ago, they had their fourth annual march back in january. so i asked, why was it important to hold this second one this year? two and a half weeks out from the election, the middle of a pandemic. something you touched on earlier. protesting apoimgt of apointmen coney barrett to the supreme court. listen in. >> we are having a second one to let the country know they can count on women. we are here. we know this selection is crucial and women around the country are going to change the outcome of the election and here to show up ins for as we always do. >> with everything going on and so close to the election especially with this push to replace ruth bader ginsburg it's important we stand up and say that -- we showed up when it

counted when it mattered. we showed up every time it mattered. >> reporter: something else interesting that we are seeing out here. in this particular second women's march this year, alex, is the coming together of different groups and different closets. black lives matter here, and causes that crossed support, the first time we've seen them converge together. groups tell me it's because of the importance of this moment where we stand in 2020. very high energy here. folks are lining up all throughout this entire space we're in right now here at freedom plaza in the district of columbia and wei know they will be walking soon. they're going to first start at the supreme court of the united states. of course, continue their protest of amy coney barrett and then move to the national mall where they'll have -- you hear me things are just getting under way. >> okay.

cori. i love seeing a lot of guys out there, too. supporting their wives, girlfriends, daughters, colleagues. very cool. thank you very much, cori. check in with you again. now to a show of force at the polls. 17 days out, more than 21 million americans have already cast their votes in this year's election. in north carolina alone, more than 1.1 million have waited in line to vote in-person or they've submitted their absentee ballot. joining me, lee ann caldwell, my colleague. talk to you, good day. talk 7:00 a.m. i was watching you. there was a line behind you. what have you heard from folks and how is that line built or at least stayed, you know, as it was then, at this hour? >> reporter: well, alex, first i want to update your numbers. the north carolina board of elections just put out an outdate. it's now 1.3 million north carolinians cast their ballots already. this is just the third day of early voting.

the first weekend of early in-person voting, and durham, a democratic district and democratic activist behind me, they're trying to create a party-like atmosphere and to get their voters out to vote. the line has died down a lot, actually. just in the past hour, finally only about a ten-minute wait now, but it shows that voter enthusiasm has, is really through the roof. we talked to so many voters yesterday and in raleigh today and durham who say this election is just too important to wait until november 3rd. listen to phyllis and how she put it. >> in this election, it means so much to get out there and show my presence of what needs to be done, because this is too important just to kind of let things go just to make it easy for myself. and even though i'm one of these people that need the mask because i have health issues, this was important to me to get

out there and make that effort to stand in line and be a part of something greater than myself. >> reporter: so with these record-breaking early vote numbers, the question is obviously race, and why isn't there more places for people to vote? is this a form of voter sue pegs? we sue pegs? d suppression. there are 20 places to vote in wake county. i don't think officials expected this. speaking them on my trip up here, they said, beginning of early voting, usually not that busy. the busiest day of early voting is usually the last day. the day, a couple days before election day. i think this took a lot of people by surprise, alex. >> and just clarify quickly, because my ears perked up when you said 14 polls places open. that is county-wide but for early voting. there will be a bunch more on november 3rd. right?

>> reporter: absolutely. they've increased the number of early voting sites from 2016 to now, but it's still not as robust at it will be on election day. early vote, you don't have to live inside your precinct, you can vote anywhere in your county. they're trying to make it, where they're readily available but much more available on election day. >> lee ann caldwell, thank you from durham. now to the campaign and the president ramping up appearances, has plans to visit seven states ay cross the next five days. nbc shannon pettypiece joins us from the white house on the latest from the trump campaign good day. what's on the schedule for today? >> reporter: you mentioned, he's heading to michigan. a deep red part of that state, and then on to wisconsin, and this sort of two states, one day is the pace the campaign is telling us we can expect. advisors say the president complained he didn't have more rallies, wanteds to be more like

a 2016 schedule, multiple events a day and they're telling us to anticipate that, but, of course, the reason the president hasn't done morales like he did in 2016 is because of his pandemic. today when he goes tos with twhas will be one. state's hardest hit by this sort of third wave of infections going on, and i asked kailee mcenam kayleigh mcenany, here what she had to say. >> reporter: anything the white house is doing specifically to try to bring some of these numbers down? >> we are routinely looking at covid numbers in respective states. dr. birx traveled the question aware of embers and fires and we address those as they come. it's notable we've surged testing. with a surge in testing you will identify more cases but we're certainly attune anytime we see

a peak or spike -- peek or spike. >> reporter: not anything additional or new the white house is doing beyond what they have been doing for months now to try and keep these numbers down. of course, the president at his rallies, they often recommend masks, they make masks available but crowds don't wear them, and since the president's infection and the infection of about two dozen people close to him over the past two weeks, there are no changes at this rallies when it comes to safety precautions. you see clearly from the video how many aren't wearing masks. how packed in everyone is and while most of the rallies of outside, i note yesterday there was an event about protecting seniors held indoors in a florida ballroom with a number of people not wearing masks. >> yeah. kind of shocking. got to say. anyway, shannon pettypiece thank you for the video. see you again. meantime with me, nbc news

national political reporter and white house reporter at politico. good to see you. ladies first, gabi, you write about a strategy in the final days of the race. that president is planning rally after rally in an attempt to plane kate its 2016 come-from-behind victory. why does the campaign think that the same strategy will work? because if you look at the factors that existed in 2016, do they persist today? >> well, two words, alex. earned media. the campaign thinks that their best bet right now in the final 17 days of this election is to be in as many places as possible and on the airwaves often as possible, and the best way they can do that is by getting the president on the campaign trail holding these rallies that will be partially or fully televised and get him across the voters,

makes comments sometimes controversy but ultimately covered by the media afterwards. a strategy very much a mirror of what worked in 2016. it worked then. the question will it work for him now? a number of factors thrown out working against the president. not only just his sliding poll number, battleground states and nationally. the fact people have grown tired of the same routine over and over again at these campaign rallies. even his favorite network fox news noted that his rallies aren't full and devastating on his campaign and look at the leadership from his ton hawn ha was actually at in florida, there were significantly fewer viewers for the president than there were for vice president joe biden meaning people are more interested and more curious about joe biden as a candidate

and -- >> you've got to think donald trump did not like seeing ratings for that knowing he lost to joe biden in terms that that event thursday night. the fact the president is doing these appearances he wouldn't normally do. town hall for example this week. is that a sign of desperation? >> absolutely it is. i would pay close attention to the map where he'll be this weekend and has been the past few days. campaigning yesterday in georgia, in florida. he's planning thursday in north carolina. be in nevada, wisconsin, michigan this weekend. these are, of course, states that have a critical i al impac his campaign and ability to reach the electoral votes needed. and a state that had gone from a democratic ticket since 1972, it's indicative of the state of the race for his campaign. >> got to say. my eyebrows shot up when i saw newport beach, california. such a conservative bastion.

although they did flip the congressional seat in the last go-round. that could be concerned about. what about the president and what he says about the prospect of biden winning the election? take a listen to this. >> running against the worst candidate in the histories of presidential politics puts pressure on me. can you imagine if i lose my whole life? what am going to do? say i lost to the worst candidate in thetry of politics. i'm not going to feel so good. i nay have to leave the country. i don't know. >> seems all the president knows how to do, denigrate his opponent, hold rally after rally and doesn't feel like it is working this year. do you think this kind of style over substance approach will ultimately fail him in a couple weeks? >> probably, yes, alex. he's trying to buck up his base, he's known to do. essentially begging them, don't

allow me to lose to this person, it would be so terrible. tried it in the mid-term. if his party loses, a referendum on him, in many cases true. he argued that. he knows it isn't true, could have arguably made that about his last oh tonight in 2016, enormously unpopular and historically weak candidate and he's not saying that with joe biden and a reason he's struggled for land to punch on joe biden. a lot of character on biden hasn't stuck the way they stuck to hillary clinton. the current nbc news national polling average has him, has joe biden leading by about nine points over the president. went back and looked at 2016. hillary clinton never got close to that lead. ballooned briefly after the "access hollywood" to seven points and collapsed only a point and a half before ending at three points ahead in 2016. he's in a different time against joe biden because he's not the weakest opponent.

he's the stronger opponent. >> i want to get specific on the supreme court nomination, because on this you write, democrats hint of consequences if gop moves to confirm amy coney barrett. from the democrats' perspective, where does this nomination fit in the run-up to the election? >> well, for the first time we're seeing democrats arguably more energized based on data than republicans over the supreme court. a startling thing, because for many elections going back decades it's conservative whose have been more energized to vote and show up at the ballot vote when a conservative judge is elected. 9 prospect of the liberal icon, ruth bader ginsburg, getting reoperationed by a conservist who could reflect all she stood for, a reason seeing this as

poor importa more important even in swing states. who voters trust more to pick the next justice. really it's a gamble conservatives are taking that is worth it to them to cement the 6-3 majority but know there's a chance they'll pay a political price at the ballot box. >> yep. thank you both for weighing in on this. one "new york times" columnist cautions joe biden that she not out of the woods just yet. will biden's old boss campaigning for him get him to 270? good morning, mr. sun. good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. i'm gonna grow big and strong. yes, you are. i'm gonna get this place all clean. i'll give you a hand. and i'm gonna put lisa on crutches! wait, what?

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if you want to see the get even tougher.vision if you want to see moves and counter moves from the best minds in the gam. see you sunday night. rams. niners. on nbc. xfinity is your home for sunday night football.

the latest on the bind campaign a look at battleground states and this afternoon some famous faces are going to wisconsin, michigan and north carolina, all going to make the case for joe biden and kamala harris. this after biden spoke in person yelled at this. that was a 100-car drivin rally in michigan. to my colleague joining me with more. good day to you.

what and who is on tap for today? >> reporter: hey there, alex. how are you? hearing from joe biden in michigan last night and continuing travel tomorrow and through next week. actually just heard just an hour ago that kamala harris herself will also be jumping back on the campaign trail. she had previously canceled travel tluf through the weekend because of two member whose travel with her tested positive for covid. she and herself joe biden tested negative multiple times since that news but back on the campaign trail monday traveling to florida. final stretch, a lot of movement on the democratic ticket. what joe biden told michigan voters yesterday, there with gretchen whitmer, senator gary peters as well. both democrats. and joe biden's message was about unity. making sure that this country isn't further divided. something he said donald trump has been doing during this first term of his presidency. take a listen to what he told voters last night.

>> i'll build on the affordable care act. where you can choose to keep your private insurance as well as offer med caird-like public option giving reality cop ti competition. >> we can doonly do this if we come together as a country. abraham linking told us a house divided cannot stand. today trust is ebbing, hope seems illusive. instead of healing we're being ripped apart. i refuse to let that happen! >> reporter: you hear strong words, alex, from joe biden punching through that message of unity and bringing the country together and health care. an item talking about especially during the judge barrett hearings talking about protecting the affordable care act and what republicans are trying to do in terms of rolling that back. that's the message he was bringing forward and probably something that we'll continue to see in the next 17 days.

looking ahead, a lot of big names coming out for joe biden and kamala harris in these next couple of weeks. barack obama, of course. you mentioned earlier, coming out to stump tore his former running mate joe biden as well as senators like elizabeth warren and celebrity there's you can see. magic johnson as well. a pretty packed week ahead heading towards election day. >> keeping you very busy, my friend. thank you so much. meantime, everyone, joe biden hoping to get a last-minute boost from another familiar face. president obama set to hit the campaign trail next week stumping for his former veep in pennsylvania, a critical battleground state those two carried, by the way, in '08 and '12. joining me now, jim messina, ceo and former campaign manager to president obama's 2012 re-election campaign good to see you again is. a heal thing we're doing every saturday together. so, jim, let's talk about president obama. what he brings to the campaign trail in the final stretch of

this race. how do you see it? >> well, he brings two things, alex. first of all, absolute support from his democratic base. he is beloved by the party. he is the hero of the democratic party. he brought us from being in the minority to big wins and there is no more important democrat alive than barack obama. the second thing is with these swing voters. they trust him. his approval rating is near 60% with them. and he can talk about personally his experience with joe biden. he can humanize that in a way that is really important, and if you look at some of the stuff he did this week, he went on pod save america and talked in personal terms about vice president biden and what his value system is. that's really important to these swing voters who are trying to make up their minds. >> jim you mention we have a clip. perfect timing. >> it's great to look at policy and do they have one of they are ten-point plans on this, that or

the other. but a lot of it is, what's their basic character? right? are they people who instinctively care about the underdog? are they people who are able to see the world through somebody else's eyes and stand in their shoes? are they people who are instinctively generous in spirit. right? and that is who joe is. >> he's talking about joe biden, but certainly contrasting him not by name with donald trump. what kind of a case can barack obama make for joe biden based on those eight years that he worked so intimately, so closely with him? >> if you look at the states where they're going to put the former president, in the midwest.ennsylvania and michigan. saving the american auto industry, joe biden a leader on.

president trump criticized that decision. talk about how he thinks about policy and he's always in it with the regular person. one of the things they talked about in pod save america in a senior meeting, definitely true when i was in the white house, joe biden would say how does this help the average american? what's in the it for the average lunch pail american? that kind of value system is so important, alex. it you're still undecided on this president's race after billions of dollars spending, ubiquitous coverage and after the president of the last four years you need a touchstone to joe biden, you can put your faith in him. president barack obama can testify to that in a way swing voters will trust. >> how many do you think are really still undecided? >> it is a great question and one that keeps me up at night. i think we're down to about 5%. we're down to two groups.

people hoop might not vote. maybe too busy. why these early vote numbers, over 25 million americans have already voted as of this morning. that's one group of people. and there's people who are truly undecided. if you look at poll after poll, alex, you know how i feel about the polls. >> i feel the same. >> exactly. they're garbage, but they're a moment in time. in the battleground states you're seeing about 5% to 6% of americans who are too busy to think about this. the average swing voter has two and a half jobs, kids, average commute over an hour and haven't processed this. so they're starting to wake up and say what do i need to do here in putting barack and michelle obama on the trail is exactly the right thing to do. >> and tom edsel's writing, familiar with that, article in the op-ed biden is not out of the wood. four of the six states trump one by few points and arizona, florida, north carolina and

pennsylvania, recent months, substantially more republican added to the rolls than democrats in each of them except for arizona, and goes on to say so far democratic requests for absentee ballots have not reached the levels the survey suggest is needed for the party to cast votes at full strength on election day. as a hillary clinton supporter, you saw first hand kwhap ewhat d in 2016. is edsel being an alarmist or have a valid point? >> he has a valid point and why we cannot take anything for granteded. look at the states that i think are most important, wisconsin, pennsylvania and michigan. states we just -- polls continue to look really good, but we can't ever give up. we've got to continue to put the pedal to the metal and the numbers are true. there have been more republicans registers in the past six months in pennsylvania than democrats. i think this has been offset by

doing much better with non-college educated white voters, especially women, and that's important. but it's why you're seeing the biden campaign be really smart. why you're seeing continuing to put all surrogates you just showed in the midwest. trump is out there trying to defend georgia, which no democrats carried since 1992 and the biden campaign is just continuing to tend to their knitting, staying in the midwest making sure she have the blue wall locked down, unlike the hillary clinton campaign. >> ten days to go. i need you back on the program, jim messina. very much appreciate you, you know. thank you. two new studies showing the nation's poverty is higher than before the pandemic. is that setting off alarm bells in washington? that's next. lls in washington? that's next. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling.

back with the race for 2020. pennsylvania of course a critical battleground state in next month's presidential election and in recent weeks

headlines warning of the tug-of-war over ballot counting that could drag out the election result saying the state emerged as tipping point and could become the center of election chaos. joining me now, pennsylvania congresswoman madeleine dean a democratic member of the house judiciary and financial services committee. welcome back. good to see you. get to the "washington post" you know points out that the battle for pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes could well continue beyond election day with a growing list of balloting disputes and lawsuits setting the stage for that if the race is close for a contested election rem jisainis of the florida drama after the 2000 election. what do you hear from local officials and any serious concern about chaos? >> well, thank you for having me on, alex. good to be with you and what i've said is, pennsylvania, i believe, will be the keystone state again. i think pennsylvania will deliver very strongly for vice president biden and senator

kamala harris. i am not concerned over chaos with the exception of what this president might try to do. but i have been out in my district, people are enthusiastic. they are asking for mail-in ballots in record numbers. almost a quarter million right here in montgomery county, requests for mail-in ballots. it's overwhelmingly democrats doing that, but people know, number one, we have secured or ballot system here in montgomery county invested more than $1 million of c.a.r.e.s. none secure the electoral process. i hope to tell people vote. everybody needs to come out and vote whether by mail-in or in-person. please, come out and vote. be secure and safe. your vote will be counted. also, know that we won't know the tally on the night of the election. that's okay. our system is built for this. i'm very secure and i know that pennsylvania will deliver very

strongly for vice president biden to become our next president. >> listen, you may have more accurate information but let me suggest what the "new york times" reports about the state of pennsylvania in terms of just voter registration since june. republicans up 135,619. democrats up 57,985. that would suggest there's a lot of republican push right now, a lot of energy. are you hearing about that? just anecdotally? >> i haven't read that, anecdotally. i also have seen a sustained voter registration that was harks been very high among democrats. not just in the last few weeks or a couple of moss, but over the course of the last two years and beyond. democrats are registers in record numbers also. in pennsylvania just to give you some stats on the requests for mail-in ballots. in pennsylvania, 1.7 million, i

want to have that right. 1.7 million democrats requested mail-in ballots. that compares with 500,000 republicans requesting mail-in ballots. >> hmm. >> so i think there's high, high enthusiasm among democrats to show up and to turn out. right here in my own county. montgomery county. almost 250,000 ballots have been requested. 228 of them have gone through the post office already 52,000 are back in the hands of our election board. the commissioner is overseeing it i think very, very well. i do think while there is an increase in registration among republicans recently, i think that you're going see extraordinary voter turnout here in montgomery county among democrats. >> i love you are factually checking your numbers reading them off. thank you. 100%. appreciate that. get to coronavirus relief

negotiations. house speaker nancy pelosi who's criticize the the white house's latest relief offer but your colleague wrote, tweeted this. people in need can't wait until february. $1.8 trillion is significant and more than twice obama stimulus. it will allowed by ton start with infrastructure. obama won in 2008 doing the right on t.a.r.p. instead of what wack expedient. make the call. put it in mcconnell's point. where do you stand? >> eager for a deal for the american people. that's what's important. so i'm disappointed a deal han been made. i guess there's blame to go around everywhere. but the american people deserve better. republican senators, the leaders in the republican senate, have been very difficult to deal with and, of course, they can't even deal with their own president. the president has zigzagged on relief to the american public. he's very transactional man. he didn't want to send anymore relief to the american people

who are suffering with 220,000 americans dead until it looked like it was politically important that he send relief. i believe and i know that speaker pelosi has been negotiating day after day after day in good faith, but she's negotiating with a very unstable president. >> uh-huh. >> take a look at what general kelsey quoted as saying. if you read this today. general john kelly has told his friends that president trump is the most flawed person he's ever known. that the depths of his dishonty is astounding to me. the dishonesty, transactional nature of any relationship is pathetic, according to the general. that's what the american people are struggling under. a transactional president who serves only himself, not us. i'll keep fighting for a deal for the american people. >> yeah. i have to say i was stunned when i read that by john kelly,

heretofore pretty, pretty quiet about his time in the white house. powerful statement he made there as are all of yours. thank you so much. congresswoman good to see you. scientists have just discovered coronavirus can survive on common surfaces much longer than originally thought. how long and what that means in the battle against the pandemic, next. next. since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. nothing more important than family. introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever.

now to the new facts in the coronavirus pandemic.

the u.s. knowing what some call a third wab of infections adding more than 69,000 new cases just yesterday. the biggest single day increase since july. the midwest still a hot spot for the virus as sever states there see a surge in cases. minnesota and indiana reporting their highest single company that increases yesterday. in wisconsin icu beds at 90% capacity now, and the u.s. won't likely see a vaccine until after the election. pfizer announcing it will ask for emergency approval of the fda two-dose xaxene evaccine en november. dr. azar, thanks for joining me here. what do you make of the term "third wave of infections." is that how you classify the sur current surge in cases and how concerned it's happening heading into the fall and wint flu months? >> i know. very concerned, alex, for sure. look at what happened in our country, we had that first peak

in april. then we kind of stuck at around 20,000 cases per day. never really got down to 10,000 or below which is where dr. fauci really wanted ut beginn eg of fall and winter, just fyi. and summer a bump in the sun belt and came down again but only to 40,000 to 50,000 per day. again, not low. not where we want to be. in fact, the trend in october has been that about 50% of our states have seen their highest number of daily increases since the summer. so it's very, very concerning. another point you mentioned about wisconsin and the 90% of their icu beds are filled, staffing is a concern, capacity definitely a concern, access in these rural areas also a concern and i've read a number of articles that have also said that folks delayed getting health care during the pandemic. so now they're getting coronavirus, getting covid-19 and sicker than they would have

been even six months earlier. uncontrolled diabetes, for example, things like that. it make as big difference s. that in part why arizona and the midwest are seeing these surges? i mean, new york and california have pretty much leveled off, and i mean, we hit incredibly hard here, both coasts. >> look, alex, there's nothing special or different about the virus. we know it doesn't recognize state borders. it doesn't acknowledge that. it's highjacked by humans. it's spread human to human and really is the absence of adopting these behaviobehaviors protective behaviors collectively that ultimately will result in getting the virus under control until we have a therapeutic or vaccine available that will get us to that herd immunity level we need. >> what about coronavirus can survive on common surfaces 28 days? almost a month. can be infectious a longer period in lower temperatures. talk about those surfaces. what are the ones we need to be

concerned about and this temperature factor. look where we are in the calendar. heading into cooler months. how concerned about you? >> yes. we know the virus definitely likes cooler and drier to survive. so i think this was an interesting study. a well-designed study, but it was an experimental lab design and doesn't really reflect human shedding in the same way that a study done on human saliva would. we need to take it with a grain of salt. remember, infectivity declines also after time. so even though they may have been still able to demonstrate viral particles and it was on phone screens, on paper, on stainless steel, we know that survivability on these hard, cooler surfaces is longer. it doesn't take into account the fact that, for example, whununy infected your inmate immune

system kicks in and wearing masks. it's going to be less. not changing guidance. not suddenly saying high-touch sus surfaces are more important than aerosol. they're not. won't change behavior necessarily. it's still hand washing. >> new reporting about trump surrogates struggling in the home stretch. whether it's different than it was four years ago. it was four years ago. home quo. international hand model jon-jon gets personal. your wayward pinky is grotesque. then a high stakes patty-cake battle royale ends in triumph. you have the upper hands! it's a race to the lowest rate, and so much more. only on "the upper hands."

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president trump today going after another member of his own party. this time slamming nebraska senator ben sasse as a liblabily and the least effective. du coming after senator sasse said this on a call to constituents. >> i'm worried if president trump losing as looks likely

he's going to take the senate down with him. i'm now looking at the possibility of a republican blood bath in the senate and never been on the trump train, not campaigning for him. >> with me now, stewart stevens, former strategist for mitt romneys 2020 campaign and a leading member of the lincoln project. stuart is author of all a big lie. stuart, welcome. thanks for joining me here. do you agree with senator sasse, donald trump loses he'll take down the senate? if i lose, i'm bringing everyone down with me. >> i would say, yes and yes. trump is going to lose and bring the republican senate down. what you have here is a little sad parable with ben sasse with someone i've admired greatly in the past. he's an extraordinarily well-educated likable guy. it's just so sad that he didn't

speak up publicly against trump and take trump on. i just don't understand this reluctance to take on donald trump. and you end up with the worst of both worlds. donald trump hates you. you seem like you're not speaking your mind, and republicans are going to lose the senate. it's -- it's an absolute parable on why moral courage in the end is always better than trying to negotiate against something that you know is evil. >> yeah. let me look at this headline from a "chicago tribune" column, reads like this time in 2016 donald trump looks loomed to concede. why they're worried. biden leading in key battleground states and nationally, are the circumstances, is it different this time around? is it that this president is running on four years of a record or lack thereof?

>> yeah. it's completely different. the last race clinton was a functional incumbent. donald trump the outsider. now, of course, becoming the president, he's the incumbent. look, what we get here is so caught up in the weirdness of donald trump and source of what a freak show it is. if you thought of any incumbent president in the last six months more people die dpd from a dise than in the last 100 years, the economy the worst since the great depression and you can't leave the country, can't drive to mexico or canada. the only country can you go to in europe is serbia. we wouldn't think that that person was coasting to re-election. donald trump should be in trouble based on these external factors. he's made it worse because he has no message. and donald trump is going to be crushed. absolutely crushed. he's going to take a lot of republicans down with him. >> is they why -- i presume you

agree with the hill reporting that even trump's surrogates are struggling in the home stretch? axios reporting, brace for loss. pointing fingers. these reports, when they surface, what does it say? did we see similar stories in 2016 or is this, again, different? >> look, trump is like a late elvis. people surround him to make money and hope the doctor gives them what charts they need to keep it going. none of these people really like or respect donald trump. the only reason they're working for donald trump is transactional reasons. which is a great irony, of course, because donald trump is the ultimate transactional person. he believes in nothing. so, of course, they're going to dump on donald trump. and there's going to be a great feeding frenzy afterwards why donald trump lost, why the campaign was sump a debacle. where did all of this money go? and it's just because donald trump, the only people who are loyal with donald trump are his

family and he knows this. it's how tony soprano operates. it's only the family and no one is standing by him when he loses and it's just going to be a great sort of blood bath here amongst the trump purists. >> look, i'm curious why there is a discussion on whether trump even has a chance at all when approached this campaign in a tone deaf manner. let me say, i appreciate the confidence, certainty with which you are speaking stuart, but there are some people, that would include a recent "new york times" article that would suggest we are not out of the woods yet, if you want to have biden win. >> look, i love that tom edsel piece, he's a brilliant guy, plus a really good, those are really good facts to look at, but the totality of this indicates that this is going to be a lot closer than 1964 and the 2000, and trump -- is losing

senior citizens. no republican can win without winning senior citizens by a sizable margin. it's just impossible. the members aren't there. why is trump losing senior citizens? because he's killing them. that's like the ultimate negative message. vote for me and i will kill you. so they get this. they pay attention. and turning against trump in huge numbers. you know, we forget the only reason donald trump won, he wan in a year a republican could win with 44.6%. so trump never had a wide following. it's gotten smaller. when you look at these numbers support with the party so high, that's a much smaller party than it was. >> quick, can you pinpoint "the" turning point for joe biden? you said after the town halls this week on our network, said this is a turning point. when was that? oh -- i think we just lost him. too bad. well, that was my last question.

sorry, stuart stevens. have you back and i'll ask you again. anyway, coming up next, everything, roland martin talks with me with a question and a question ice cube could not answer. estion ice cube could n answer.

good day everyone. welcome to weekends with alex witt. 17 days to the election and president trump and joe biden out on the campaign trail this weekend focusing on battleground states as november 3rd draws near. the president in michigan, wisconsin and nevada. joe biden heads to north carolina. another day of campaigning today for the president after making a big election prediction. >> we are doing an incredible job in this country. this country is great and we have spirit like nobody's had spirit and there's going to be a red wave next week. it's going to be unbelievable