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good evening. i'm ari melber. welcome to our live coverage of this final debate. 1:00 a.m. out east as america's political tension is tracking america's health problems amidst the surging covid cases. any president could presumably be under fire for this record but especially one who recently caught the virus himself. tonight donald trump struggling to defend his failure to combat the pandemic. >> if you take a look at what we've done in terms of goggles and masks and gowns and everything else and in particular ventilators, we're now making ventilators all over the world. thousands and thousands a month distributing them all over the world. it will go away, and as i say, we're rounding the turn. we're rounding the corner. it's going away. >> trump trying to argue he's on the job while repeating discredited claims that this will just go away. that's a turn of phrase. joe biden was quick to seize on

tonight. trump also continued to claim that a vaccine is around the corner. >> this is the same fellow who told you don't worry, we're going to end this by the summer. we're about to go into a dark winter, a dark winter, and he has no clear plan and there's no prospect there's going to be a vaccine available for the majority of the american people before the middle of next year. >> in trump's telling tonight this is an unavoidable global problem that will go away. a claim fact checked by medical experts and sledded by joe biden who's making the closing argument that facing these tough realities is actually safer than lying to ourselves, and asking people to vote like their lives depend on it. we turn to a big panel of big guns as we quick off this hour. former obama campaign manager david plouffe, michael steele, and former united states senator, barbara boxer. big night in politics. great to have each of you here. how are you doing?

>> good. >> starting with you, david -- great. david, you worked for a president who in a very different way was not widely praised for his first incumbent presidential debate, was nothing like trump, but it wasn't obama's best debate. donald trump had a terrible one last time as evidenced even by the trump white house because they somehow talked him into being a little bit less combative tonight. what did you see here in this final debate, and who do you think won? >> well, ari, we actually lost the first debate in '12 as badly as trump lost this one, so it was pretty bad. but then we came back and won the next two. trump did not win this debate. we were heading that race, narrowly but ahead. he's losing. that's what matters. was there anybody watching who's, you know, leaning biden, not all the way there, the few undecided voters left who says, you know what, what i saw in donald trump, i'm going to give

him four more years, nobody saw that. and the covid exchange you saw was the most important part of the debate. it's the issue that matters most. and once again you saw no empathy from trump, no accepting of responsibility. whether it was that issue, kids separated from their families. and his only passion really he showed in the debate was about the biden family. and i think at the end of the day, the race doesn't change at all. maybe biden gains a little bit by it. but he missed a big opportunity. so, he's going to get graded on a curve by some, particularly in the republican party saying if trump just did that last time, we would probably be winning the election. all he did was probably not bleed out more but i thought the health care exchange and the covid exchange were the most important parts of the debate. and i thought joe biden did a good job throughout the debate. and listen, this is hard, having prepared candidates for this. he dealt with donald trump in

two debates, first one, complete rabid dog. this one a little less but as the debate went on, you saw more rabid dog. he kept his composure. that takes some doing. once you get on stage, whatever your playbook can get thrown out the window. joe biden gets credit for that. that's what people are looking for. calm things down, be sane, be reasonable and he underlined those attributes that have been important for him. >> if david is right, is rabid dog heeling, maybe heel, but pull on the chain in the last half an hour. to david's point, if tonight's debate doesn't change much, that's terrible news for donald trump. >> the way i look at it after listening to great experts like michael and david, i think we know who trump needs to move toward his corner.

women! he's getting killed by women across the board, every type of woman. that's number one. number two, seniors. he's got some problems with seniors. and i can tell you he had every opportunity -- because i did these debates. and you look for the opportunity, right, to go after what you know you need to do. so, david's right. the covid thing was huge. and seniors are scared to death and they're hurting. we're hurting. we can't hug our grand kids. i don't even know how to express it. i'm doing more facetime calls. but i can't kiss them over the phone. >> it's fiat had the same, is it, senator? >> no, it's not the same. and so we're hurting. and he didn't win seniors because he's callous about covid. and joe is empathetic. and the same thing goes for the questions about black parenting, telling your children what they have to do if, god forbid,

they're stopped by the police and their skin is dark, what do they do. and joe just -- you know that he felt it. and you know that donald trump, all he could say was he's the best president, you know, since abe lincoln. and the last one -- the last issue was the child separation. and again, as a woman, okay, as a senior woman, i could tell you this, you don't have to be latinx community to cry your eyes out when you see 500 plus kids separated from the people they need in their lives the most. so, i think he blew it with those groups. >> michael. >> well, i want to tag on both david and the senator's points. for me, this debate boiled down to one thing. it wasn't the environment. it wasn't foreign policy.

it wasn't any of that. it was covid. it was covid before he came to this debate. it was covid during this debate, and it's covid going out of this debate. because at the end of the day, families are still dealing with covid-19. and the economic, the social unrest and all the ancillary pieces that pull off of that just tighten that political noose around donald trump's political opportunity. and slowly and methodically strangles it. he did not give this country a reason to re-elect him. yes, he was calmer. he was more, you know -- less

fommatic, less in your face. so, the meds worked. but the conversation didn't change. and i think that's something a lot of folks will take away from this final debate. the senator put it very precisely for a lot of folks out there. i can't hug my grandchildren. and donald trump, that's your fault. i can't restart my business. and donald trump, yeah, that's on you too. and i thought vice president biden framed that part of that discussion very precisely. you could feel what he was saying and you could see donald trump reel from it. when he starts talking about, you know, ppes and ventilators, people are going, dude, what are you talking about, right? so, i think -- i think for -- for all that this debate stood for, it boiled down to covid-19.

and the president still has no answer for it. >> yeah, and that 2020 nail has really turned on covid-19, '19 being when it began, stretching well past 2020 no matter who wins. but the future matters a lot on that. i want to thank david plouffe and senator boxer. michael stays with me. another moment centered on the revelations about the fact that the united states government isn't able to locate the parents of 545 migrant children separated by the policies of the trump administration, children taken from their parents. our moderator and our colleague kristen welker asking donald trump do you plan to do anything about it? >> do you have a plan to reunite the kids? >> yes, we're working on it very -- we're trying very hard. but a lot of these kids come out without the parents. they come through cartels and through coyotes and gangs. >> vice president biden, let me bring you into this conversation -- quick response and then question to you.

>> these 500 plus kids came with parents. they separated them at the border to make it a disincentive to begin with. we're tough. we're really strong. it's not coyotes brought them over. their parents were with them. they got separated from their parents. >> that's all true. that was a breakout moment i want to bring into the the conversation victoria and michael steele still with us. professor, joe biden seemed to come alive there. viewers can judge for themselves how ernst/genuine they felt he was. but every word he said was true. it was a stephen miller, steven bannon, donald trump policy to be cruel, to do what other countries consider the torture of minors. and now it's on that debate stage, not everyone follows it as closely as some of our viewers or as you and michael might. there are people living their

lives dealing with covid. when the story broke a year plus ago they may not have heard about it. boy did they hear it tonight, professor. >> right, so i think this is a moment that reminded america of what was happening on the border three years ago when we saw the cameras. i was down there. msnbc was down there. all of these out-letts were down there physically sees when children being separated from their parents. and it's going to be sered in our collective consciousness forever in the history of this nation. so, i think bringing this up really highlighted the contrast between a biden vision and a trump reality. and what's important here to realize is this has been the most extreme and cruel manifestation of a trump immigration policy. but ari, let's not forget that under trump we saw daca rescinded. the supreme court held it up, but then dhs has constrained it through its rule making to where it's a very watered down

version. we've seen legal immigration constraint. we've seen our refugee camps go from 100,000 under the obama administration to 15,000, a sliver of what it was, keeping in mind that right now the un estimates that there are over 80 million displaced persons in this world as a result of war and oppression. so, it is a whole agenda of immigration suppression and cruelty that we have seen under the trump administration. so, this moment in the debate was critically important because we hadn't seen it in the previous debate or town halls that reminds us of the very real difference between a trump presidency and a biden vision. >> michael. >> yeah, say what you want about immigration policy, and we can go around the horn about, you know, what it is or what it isn't. but we watched children in cages. we watched families separated. and for us now to learn that

over 500 children have no parents because we can't find them, we cannot reunite them with their parents after we took them from their parents, that is -- that's an indelible stain on this administration. but to the professors point, it is an incredibly painful and indelible stain on this country that we as citizens will go into the future knowing that that's now part of our history, that we did that, that we took these kids -- as much as we -- particularly for a party that talks about family values, for a party that talks -- and this is my party i'm talking about. i mean -- you know, i've been in those rooms where they just wax on about how much we care about children and families and mothers and apple pie. and that's not what we saw in this policy. and so, you know, given what i

said about covid-19, this was the other piece. this was the bookend in the conversation in this debate tonight for a lot of families out there, for a lot of suburban women, for a lot of women who live in cities, for women period, for moms who, you know -- just think about it. the government comes into your home and take your children from you and then six months later, we don't know where they are. >> yeah. >> that's painful. >> and professor, can you speak to why this also suggests that policy and facts matter because there's a great deal of attempted cynicism out there, which is, in a way, trying to just depress civic engagement. but watching tonight, i couldn't help but get the sense that donald trump being called out on a forum where there were facts, where there was an able moderator, where people could hear the words expressing how government power is used.

all that mattered because he didn't like it and knew at whatever level he understands things this wasn't going well. >> so, there's no policy substance from the part of trump because when it came to talking about issues such as the coronavirus, the economy, there was a lot of dancing around the issue and well, we're going to have a vaccine and this or that. and a lot of vagaries and non-truths. when it came to things that he has had actual policies on, such as immigration policy, he tried to run away from it and he tried to deflect. he was pointing at the obama administration, which did have very high deportation rates. vice president biden acknowledges it and says we need to make this right. so, the one piece where he could really dig into policy, he did it -- and i've got to tell you, ari. it is really interesting because remember four years ago donald trump could not talk about immigration fast enough, right?

>> yeah, that was the closing argument. >> the border wall. >> yep. >> right? and suddenly he's running away from immigration because he knows that he has hit a nerve with the american public with the extremities that he has gone to of putting kids in cages. >> yeah, all very important. i know you've worked on this issue a lot. i want to thank victoria. michael, on a lighter note -- >> yes. >> -- those viewers who have hung out late nights here on msnbc knows the later it gets the better deeper steele experience we get. so i'm going to ask you to come back later tonight. >> you got it, my friend. >> we'll see you soon. we're going to fit in a break. we come back with an important fact check. we've done analysis and ups and downs. there are facts and things the president lied about and we're going to show them to you including what you need to know to stay safe on the virus after this break. stay safe on the vi this break y pay for what you need? really? i didn't-- aah! ok. i'm on vibrate. aaah!

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welcome back. we've got special guests coming up and our fact check. this was a contentious debate on immigration, on all kinds of other policies, and of course as discussed, the family separations. >> children are brought here by coyotes and lots of bad people, cartels. >> but how will you reunite these kids with their families, mr. president. >> let me tell you, they built cages. they built cages. >> do you have a plan for it? >> we're working on it very --

we're trying very hard. a lot of kids come without their parents. >> coyotes didn't bring them over. their parents were with them. >> trump's claims are mostly false. the administration has separated more than 5,000 children from parents. that's not coyotes. and 545 children from parents who have not been located. that is misleading. obama did run family detention centers but the administration did not target families to be separated as a policy goal. now, obama did come under fire for putting some detainees in cages. these photos, for example, are from the obama administration in 2014. trump also had his facts off on the coronavirus, falsely claiming the vaccine is weeks away. we're going to show you how that's debunked by his own cdc director. >> we have a vaccine that's coming. it's ready. it's going to be announced within weeks and it's going to

be delivered. >> if you're asking me when is it going to be generally available to the american public, i think we're probably looking at third -- late second quarter, third quarter 2021. >> that is a far cry from weeks away. donald trump also had bold and false claims about recovery rates for the virus. >> 99.9 of young people recover. 99% of people recover. we have to recover. we can't close up our nation. >> false. in fact, about 21% of the younger adults who get this under 34 still need intensive care. 1 out of 10 need ventilators. and 2.5% died from the virus, about 2.7% exactly. so, that is false. the death rate for the virus in the united states also roughly 2.6% overall. the bottom line being that while being young means you're not in the at-risk pool, it doesn't

mean you have a walk in the park. we turn to campaign veteran, sam worked on the mueller probe. and christina greer, a political science professor. good evening all. christina, your view of the down pressure on donald trump in a debate as was noted is more audible, had more words back and forth between the candidates and had donald trump caught in those falsehoods? >> i mean, i think we should stop calling them falsehoods and call them lies. the president, if he read briefs that were presented to him, he should know these things as president of the united states where we have 220,000 americans who have died. he shrugged his shoulders on several occasions. i thought joe biden came out quite strongly when he said, you know, is this the leader who is supposed to lead us out of this pandemic when he does not seem to care about all the families that have suffered. when you think about young people, ari, you put the stats on the screen we're talking

about the student who is have missed school, those who, you know, still are not fully 100%. they may not have been in the hospital on ventilators, but they're still going to have a long road to recovery. this president is immune to any sort of empathy and compassion and leadership. he said time and time again that that's not really his problem. he's got the best health care in the world. that's why he is "cured," that does not mean that the millions of americans who are struggling with the coronavirus and looking for a path forward not just for their own personal health but also for the economic health of the nation. and as we've talked about on several occasions, ari, wall street and stock market is not the pocketbook issues that so many americans really rely on. and they really need somebody who understands what they're going through. and we know this president sees his supporters as marks, and he's quite fine with just recognizing that he and his family will be fine and the trickle down economics that he gives people tax breaks, he's fine with that. and i think his lack of

compassion was on full display yet again. and it's just -- it's embarrassing to be quite honest as a political scientist and as someone who studies american politics and knows that the international community is looking at us with a very close eye to this election. >> sam, you've been in the room with donald trump. what did you think of the differences that we saw in him tonight versus the first debate? how do you think that came about? your appraisal overall? >> well, the campaign did a very good job in this debate lowering expectations. they put out that the president wasn't preparing. that wasn't true. partly they did that because they didn't want rudy giuliani to be involved in the debate preparations this time around. i thought in terms of his overall debate, he's been in five presidential debates, this is probably his second best performance. i felt his first one being the town hall after the "access

hollywood." i thought this was a good performance by him tonight if i'm a republican. i'll be the only one to say it on this network. you have to be happy. you have to focus on arizona, north carolina and pennsylvania. and i think that that's where this election is going to come down to. i suspect that the president after tonight has solidified ohio and florida. and it's going to come down to those three states. by the way, all three of those states, as of today, biden would win. he has an uphill battle. he got some good strikes in on biden. he got some good strikes in. the rule helped him. and kristen welker being the moderator helped as well because she's a great moderator, as opposed to the first one, as opposed to wallace. and i think that what we saw in ai lot of -- we get to the energy, for instance the energy issue, which anybody could admit biden basically being antifracking, antioil, that's not going to help them in pennsylvania. that's not what the president was focusing on. i thought the president could

have done better in some areas. this is the best you're going to get out of him and republicans have to be happy. >> it's well and good to say republicans can be happy. the problem is donald trump has republicans. he doesn't need more republican votes to win the election. he needs swing voters, independent voters, women. he's losing women by 23 points, suburban women by 19 points. what did he do tonight to possibly move the needle? absolutely nothing as far as i'm concerned. there's absolutely nothing he did tonight that would convince a suburban woman, white woman, who is not supporting donald trump who may have supported him to come back to him. absolutely nothing. and by the way, in terms of the fact check about covid, yeah, okay, the lie was kind of baffling because before he lied about the mortality rate of covid, he said he was really worried about it. and he was very worried about the gold star mothers potentially and gold star parents potentially giving him

covid. why would that be the case if this disease is no big deal? why would he admit to being so worried about it? why do people at trump rallies wear masks behind him if this is not such a big deal? it was baffling. it was really all over the place. >> it's also interesting the references to kristen welker who of course is our colleague but is getting widely hailed for a good job. and to that point, kristine, i want to play a little bit of our own rachel maddow's first response when the debate ended. take a look. >> as i toss to my colleagues to rachel, nicole and joy, i would only add a personal note. somebody owes our colleague kristen welker an apology. take it away. >> yeah, exactly. well, she's owed an apology by the president who attacked her over and over and over again heading into this event tonight trying to work the refs, trying to intimidate her. clearly kristen welker was not

intimidated. she is owed an apology from the president on that. but i think she's owed congratulations by the country. if there was a clear winner from the debate tonight, i don't know who would argue with the fact it was kristen welker who did an incredibly professional cogent coherent job. >> i've got just about 60 seconds. lightning round. in a sentence or two from each of you your thoughts on this because the first debate really did bog down and the president breaking the rules and deserved criticism of mr. wallace from fox news, we may be seeing the emergence of a different view here. in a sentence or two your thoughts on that. >> i thought kristen did a great job because she had follow up questions. chris wallace asked a question about race and said or you could answer it or not, that was a disservice to the american people. i like the fact that kristen asked a question and when it wasn't answered actually followed up and said, no, sir, this is actually the question that's intended. >> right, sam. >> you know kristen did well because on the other station -- i won't name it -- the people

immediately after the debate were complaining that she interrupted the president too much because they knew she did a much better job than their colleague. >> yeah, and look, she did a great job and i will say it. the reason donald trump was going after her was because quite frankly she's a woman of color and this was an obnoxious fog horn, if you will, to his supporters. that's what that was about. and i think it's a shame and i think it's terrible. but i'll say it. that's what that was about. >> yeah. appreciate the candor. important to put it on record. and again, our hat's off to her here. sam, christina, jay, a range of views on a big night in politic. appreciate each of you. i don't want you guys to go anywhere at home because we have something very special cooked up in our final late night debate of this election. we think you might not want to miss it. stay tuned. signed up as a nursing cadet

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on this final debate night we know americans are focused ton race. more viewers watched biden's town hall last week than trump's. there's record breaking early vote and it's keeping us busy in the news and up late. some favorite campaign veterans staying up late with us, michael steele. he ran the republican party and works with us as an analyst.

he has a focus and an independence that's also now on display, we should note, in his public announcement that this life long republican sees biden as the answer this year. that's a view he shares in an influential new lincoln project ad. i mention that now because we have something special for this last late night of debate coverage this year. call it unofficial marking of an unofficial tradition, "late night with michael steele." that's how we've come to view these sessions. mixed with inner muppet, popularized on john stewart's "daily show." michael, you didn't know we were doing this, but welcome to "late night" baby. >> dude, i've had my -- i've had my -- you got me on that one. look, i've had my jell-o and my lemonade. i'm ready. let's do this. >> do you approve of the graphic? >> i absolutely approve of the graphic. that's what i'm talking about.

>> we have to have a little -- yes, yes, baby. we have to have fun when we can. and in that spirit, we are going to continue down the road of something we've done every "late night" which is keep an eye on americans' reactions to all this including on the internet where it's faster than ever. biden's facial expressions were something everyone's getting in on. that includes his own granddaughter who teased biden for making the same faces now that she makes when she watches reality tv. here's one image of biden in apparent pain has he has to listen to trump. someone posting that's all of us. another viewer made a gif out of one of biden's express saying well, she couldn't resist. that's right there on a loop. steve schmidt was saying earlier biden was a good communicator with the expressions. some were noticing because it was funny. >> yeah, look, that first one,

you know, he's gotten his head thrown back. that's the one it's like oh lord, please, lordy lordy. that's what that is. i mean, i can tell you what that look is. you know, it's interesting because when you're on that stage with someone like trump, and i've done debates with guys who are kind of like whack amoles, you kind of where are you, right? the best thing to do is exactly what you saw biden do, just kind of chill, chuckle when you otherwise want to cuss, and just kind of throw your head back. now, if you got more hair, it's a little bit more effective, but that has never been my issue. that's not my issue. >> yeah, and it's -- look, we're talking about communicating in this way where you want to deal with what the other side is saying but not in a way that undercuts yourself. trump messed that up with the overinterrupting and biden found that way. another set of memes, arianna

huffington which has her own ""huffington post"" proposing a bingo on the bingo card. put down the drinking game for witch hunt. kamala harris's niece, all the family members getting in on it just saying maybe malarkey. i think that may be -- yeah, kamala family member. >> yeah. >> how much do you think the internet echos how people watch this thing? >> oh, it absolutely echos it. and the winner tonight was none of those. it was, come on, man. >> come on, man. >> that was the winner tonight come on, man. that is so -- that is so biden. it is so pennsylvania. it is so delaware. and i think the internet does track that. they like that stuff. you know, you make the face, you have the phrase, it becomes a meme. it's a way people connect. and when you're a candidate in a position like biden, it works for you. it also works for trump.

and to be honest and fair to him, i mean he's created some of these memes and some of these moments as well. and, you know, a lot of his folks like it. but what it does is it engages people in the debate. and that's the most important part where you have these kinds of national events. you want people to be engaged. we'll all decide who won, who lost, what's up, what's down. but there's got to be a little bit of enjoyment in it, you know? there's got to be the moment where you go, yeah, this is a little bit crazy, i like that. >> well, let's be clear. this is the last time we can confirm these two will be in the same place together because if the president were to be re-elected, then he would go on. joe biden would go on with his life. if joe biden is elected, with this president i don't think you can count on anything like the normal decorum of the transition meeting or inauguration day. there's no law that requires a

president to be classy about that. so, seeing them on that stage together i was thinking about as biden was, you know, basically shading trump off as a liar but in his own way, malarkey, malarkey, malarkey. jimmy kimmel tweeting that when brought up. senator rand paul, malarkey, explanation point. getting right in on it, malarkey, explanation point. and that was trending. and i mention that again, michael, because we all engage in these different ways. this is a chance where people who don't maybe watch the entire debate get that flavor of it. and the idea that joe biden is saying that the president is full of bs but in his own nice way. >> yeah, and you know, people kind of take it up. you know, they repeat and respond to it. it's an old fashioned phrase. for a lot of us, it takes us

back to our childhood. the interesting thing about joe biden -- and i say this not just because i'm supporting him. but even before i got to that moment, the one thing i liked about him is that he is homespun. he is someone we've known and connected with for a long time. and the ups and downs, the gaffes, the moments, all of that in the package, i think people look and go he's a regular guy. and it's one of those things that work for george bush 43 when he was president. he was the guy people wanted to have a beer with. they liked -- they liked being around him. so, that -- that's a unique quality in politics, particularly when people don't want to give you a lot of respect sometimes and they just want to throw a lot of shade your way. that quality is something that, you know, sort of endured -- it kind of endears you to people in a special way. and joe has that. not to slight trump, he's got it

but it's different. his is more bravado. his is more like beating the chest. >> sure. >> i'm machoman, which is why he has that appeal with a certain -- you know, certain groups within the hispanic community, hispanic men and with some black men. and that's the appeal. he's going to try to sell and sort of pull votes with this november. we'll see. but those qualities then see themselves manifested on twitter and on facebook and other social media. and there's a way of getting the country engaged. and i like that. i do like that part of it. it gets ugly sometimes, dangerously so, but it's good quality. >> well, that goes to last one i want to ask you about because everybody knows however you text or however you keep in touch or if you keep in touch with younger people there's a different energy where even serious things sometimes get tossed off as okay, you could say that's terrible or you could just say the laughing emoji kind of like i'm laughing at that and

then i'm done with it. gives work that way too. sometimes that says more. if a picture worth a thousand words, what's an animated picture worth? maybe 10,000. >> a whole hell of a lot. >> exactly. and that brings us to abraham lincoln. >> there are so many good ones out there. one of my favorites is the kid running down the hall and gets to the room -- i don't know what he sees but he makes that turn. it's so funny. >> yeah, that's a good one. we saw with donald trump getting the whole lincoln racism thing, the "breakfast club" used this right here, the idea that trump's the least racist boy in the world and they show soulja boy just walk out of the interview. this is going viral. lincoln would want trump to keep his name out of his mouth and gave that nice little lincoln shot updated there.

michael, where does that fit in? of course justice and race are serious. these are big following and thought leadership just saying please. >> yeah, and that's where -- that's where in a political moment like that when you have major institutions and certainly celebrities of a caliber that are -- people not just follow them but take seriously what they say, they're socially engaged or whatever. when they smack at you, that hurts. that's a sting that lasts for a while. that's 280,000 views. that's, you know, 40,000 retweets and 75,000 likes. and you just -- you just see it -- you just see yourself getting smaller and smaller in the moment. so, that kind of drives that conversation as well when you have particularly, ari, when you have people who don't socially engage a lot and then they make a statement in a moment like

that, they put on a meme or something. it's pretty powerful. it goes a long way because there's someone who's not normally in the game or in that space. and when they get in that space, people pay more attention. so, the effect is a little bit more powerful, lasts a little bit longer, stings a little bit harder. and -- or lightens the mood. >> yeah. all fair points. i'm going to tell you something because you know i try to keep it 100 michael, you know that. >> hold that, while you do that, someone wants to say hello. keep talking. give me 30 seconds. >> okay. take your time. michael steele gets up from the interview. you don't see that in late night television all the time. i was just going to say there are aspects of campaign coverage -- i'm talking to an empty chair. >> someone wants to say hello. >> there's aspects that i sometimes think i'm not going to miss in 2020. i will miss our late night sessions. that's all i wanted to tell you. >> i will too and so will he. he will as well.

>> so, he's always around. i didn't know he's right by you. >> yeah! he sits over -- he's over on the desk over there. i don't know, yep. so, he is my boy. he keeps me going. say hello. hi, ari. >> michael, as is so often the case, you've made our night. >> well, you know, whatever i can do for the cause, right? we try, don't we? we try. we try. >> there you have it. michael steele -- >> what were you going to say? >> oh. you know what? there's only 11 days left. why don't you bring him on every one of your remaining hits. >> i think we can work that out. >> all right. michael steele gets the last word in this segment, and we'll be right back. be right back. i'm a peer educator,... a fitness buff,... and a champion for my own health. i talked with my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with... dovato. prescription dovato

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russia's paying you a lot, china's paying you a lot and your hotels and businesses all around the country, all around the world. and china is building a new road to a golf course you have overseas. what's going on here. release your tax return or stop talking about corruption. >> put up or -- you know the rest. joe biden putting off in the final debate. there's a good reason for you to not only watch the debate but make sure you have a plan to vote. we encourage everyone to do that

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scott wiener immediately went to work, making sure families could put food on their tables, defending renters facing eviction, securing unemployment benefits, helping neighborhood businesses survive. scott wiener will never stop working until california emerges from this crisis. the bay area needs scott's continued leadership in sacramento. because we know scott is fighting for all of us. re-elect scott wiener for state senate. we told you if you stayed to the end you would get plenty of the late night vibes and nobody in our view, none of our great guests disappointed.

i want to thank you as always for watching us right here on msnbc. you can catch me during business hours on "the beat with ari melber." you can find me online on twitter, instagram and facebook. we might have extras from our late night with michael steele and his muppet friend. as always, thanks for being part of our coverage. stay safe, stay informed. make sure you vote and good night. ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off with allstate, the safer you drive the more you save you never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today

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good evening. once again welcome to a special expanded debate night edition of "the 11th hour." day 1,372 of the trump administration. a dozen days remain until the election and now the final debate of this cycle is history. tonight's debate was nowhere near as contentious as the first. thanks to our colleague kristen welker a lot of ground was covered tonight from the economy to where they started with the pandemic. >> we can't close up our nation. we have to open our schools. and we can't close up our nation or you're not going to have a nation. >> people ar