five days to go. you know where we are. we are live outside the campaign trail where president biden is hitting a new message today, set to talk student debt relief out west this hour. his predecessor, getting ready to hit the road in iowa, soon. our campaign correspondents are standing by live across the country, where candidates are out and about. in the final crunch. also this hour, news about wnba

superstar brittany grine ner russia, what the white house is now saying about a potential prisoner swap with moscow's, spoiler, it's complicated. i will tell you what americans saw today when griner had the first in opinion person visit in months. the one time adviser to former president trump getting immunity from the d.o.j. and why the government is giving kash patel a pass to try to get him to talk to the grand jury in the larlg case. and the huge amount of conservative cash pouring into midterm races that typically fly well under the radar, school boards and how it affects education across the country. i'm hallie jackson. we want to bring in kelly o'donnell, shaq brewster is in wisconsin, and ellison barber is in georgia, where we expect to see senator raphael warnock out this hour. kelly, i'll start you with. teeing up the speech that we expect to see from the president, if he's on time at some point this hour, talking student debt relief, coming at a time as you know when the white house is on defense today, over part of the president's closing

message. he's gotten criticism for some democrats for focusing on threats to democracy, and not so much at least not night on the economy. so talk through the expectations today, and how sources that you talked to are responding to this. >> well, they hear that criticism and they're also saying that the president is trying to make a number of closing arguments. and you can certainly debate whether that is effective or not, because they believe that there are key issues, whether it is abortion rights, the personal freedoms that come with that, democracy, and the need to maintain and protect american institutions, and of course, the economy. the president talked about a lot of these issues at different times. and there are democrats who would like more focus on the economy because that is where so many voters are. they'll get some of that today, with student debt relief. which has its own detractors and certainly some controversy around it. but they've had more than 20 million americans who have applied for that federal student loan relief. pell grants and federal loan

programs. the application process is available. it cannot be fully enacted at this point, because there are legal challenges to it. rep states have brought, republican states have brought cases at different levels of the judiciary to say that the president doesn't have the authority to do that, to transfer that debt to other americans, and that it is not good policy. the white house of course says that giving that kind of relief is one way to address the economic pain that people feel with higher prices in other areas, by putting that kind of money back into people's pockets, giving them relief from the burden of that debt, it allows them to do other things in their lives and make decisions about their economic choices, whether it's home ownership or other plans that they may make and that is important and it is a way to be responsive to the real world needs of many voters across the spectrum. that is debated. but that's what he will be talking about in new mexico today. and he's in new mexico, there are certainly big races happening there, and the president will also be in california, and illinois, and

the races may not be as obvious in those places, he's meeting with house members who are running for those seats, and gubernatorial races, and the white house says wherever the president goes, because of the unique megaphone that is the presidential sort of attention that comes with the president on the midterm trail, that his message goes further. and so it doesn't have to be a case where he is just with the high profile candidates, so you'll get some of that, too, saturday, with john fetterman in the senate race in pennsylvania, with his former governor partner barack obama. so a big mix of things. democrats would like it more focused. republicans say he is focused on the wrong things. >> one of the things that he has talked about in almost every campaign speech or campaign style official speech he has been giving is the issue of social security and medicare for example, we know this is particular interest to the president's chief of staff and kevin mccarthy was out today, saying wait a second, republicans will not touch the

program and senator ron johnson is someone who is brought up by the president and others as somebody who is looking to do that. and senator johnson has resisted that characterization but this is an issue that sprang out where you are, in the wisconsin senate race and there is a lot going down on the campaign trail there. >> right, and it is interesting, because republicans nationally are playing defense on this issue right now, but i'll tell you, senator ron johnson, he will be appearing here in n-about a half hour as part of the bus tour stop, playing defense on this issue throughout his entire campaign with a constant source of attack from democrats in the state. and at issue is under his plan, we move social security from so-called mandatory spending where it is reauthorized almost on auto pilot to discretionary spending, so it is part of the annual review process, he says he understands there is dysfunction in washington, but that is the only way to hold people accountable and to really review that program, and make it sustainable over time. democrats are saying that's a way to cut it, rather than just simply reviewing it, and you

even heard former president barack obama when he was in milwaukee, in the impassioned remarks saying about social security saying johnson cares more about tax breaks of wealthy americans rather than folks who worked hard all of their lives to get that social security. and johnson wants to save it and especially with the mechanism and the inner workings of dc and how contentious the budget debates get. >> there are a couple of pieces of data out today, the atlanta journal constitution crunched the numbers and reports that the senate race is the most expensive in the country. $250 million spent on ads by the candidates and outside groups and the new poll shows democrat raphael warnock the incumbent senator leading herschel walker by a single percentage points and there is inside the margin of error which is plus or minus 3% am and by the way, it is below the 50% mark they would need to avoid a runoff. we show this a lot on the show

and it is worth reminding people, there is a solid chance that we don't call the balance of the power in the senate if this in fact happens. let's prep people for that now so you're not sleeping out from election night. there is a lot of developments here in this race, right, ellison? >> yes, i mean this is an incredibly close race. georgia voters very aware of that, they have just been bombarded with ads. it's hard to watch anything on tv in this state right now and not just see an entire commercial block full of campaign ads, specifically largely campaign ads for this senate race. look, abortion and inflation, those are among the top issues for georgia voters, when you look at polls, inflation above abortion. we have spoken to voters in this state for quite a few weeks and we have spoken regardless of political affiliation, they're concerned about the economy and inflation and the cost of living and they say it is among their top three issues as they go to cast their ballot but not always

the only issue that they're focused on. you mentioned the cost of this race, it is staggering how expensive this senate race is, if you look at the exact numbers in that ajc report, warnock has raised $115 million and walker 37 million, and warnock has outraised walker by $78 million. yet this race is still a statistical tie. i was having a conversation with chuck todd just the other week and he asked me the question of whether or not this state is really, is georgia really a swing state or is it a reflection of how divided this nation is? and i think when you look at the polling and all of the different numbers, it is a really fair question and one of the things that is interesting in the last couple of weeks, being on the campaign trail is how much the candidates are focusing on turning out their base. they're spending time, by and large, in districts that they will hold, they're not really seeming to be overly focused on looking for independents, for potential swing voters, at this

point of the race. they seem to be really focused on getting their base to the polls, and then in high numbers. hallie? >> shaq, let me go back to you here, as you look at the landscape of what is happening and look at the key story lines that have emerged and are emerging in the midterms, and obviously it is when voters are voting, they are voting already, they are not looking for election day and ellison well knows this in georgia, i was down there last week with a million people, it was announced at that point already, so we know that people are going out and casting ballots. we know that issues like the economy, as we talked about at the top of the show, abortion access, or critical for both republicans and democrats, in different ways and then there is this issue of election denialism, when you look at the landscape and two states in particular, arizona and michigan, where all three candidates on the statewide race, governor, secretary of state, ag, are election deniers or election skeptics and not accepted or questioning the results of the 2020 election and now where you are today in milwaukee we're finding out that the mayor has fired a top elections official in milwaukee

for basically like and correct me if i'm wrong, if i'm saying, with committeeing potential fraud to try to prove that fraud could exist? walk us through it. >> yes, this is a deputy director of milwaukee elections commission, and essentially the mayor in an unannounced press conference today saying she was fire and we heard from the d.a.'s office that she is now under criminal investigation, with charges likely later this week. and she was fired for fraudulently requesting military absentee ballots and sending those ballots to an address of a republican lawmaker in the state. here's the thing. in wisconsin, this is a loophole that the republican lawmaker has been trying to close. in wisconsin, member was the military can request an absentee ballot online using a state system without being registered to vote and without providing identification. the republican lawmaker has said that this is a source of fraud in the election. there's no evidence that it has been done before. but they have been trying to close that loophole. and then you have the deputy

director working under her own, working as a private citizen essentially, not doing it in the office, went and entered a fake name, and had those ballots sent to that lawmaker, and it just is a sign of, one, the system potentially working, and that is what you heard from the governor tony evers, but two, this is more evidence, as more people cast doubt on not just what happened in 2020 but what happens in this election. >> shaq brewster live in marathon county, wisconsin. ellison barer live in georgia. thanks to the both of you. kelly o'donnell as well a whole lot more from the campaign trail with our rood warriors out this hour. and forgive the 2016 deja vu. but you know who else is out today? donald trump and hillary clinton. both making the rounds. we will talk about the candidates they're trying to boost. and brittney griner has met with u.s. embassy officials while detained in russia for the first time in months. what it means for her potential release from prison. and also, former trump adviser set to testify in the mar-a-lago

investigation. what the justice department wants to know and how it could affect the bigger investigation. we are back in just 60 seconds. don't go anywhere. onds don't go anywhere. this week is your chance to try any subway footlong for free. like the subway series menu. just buy any footlong in the app, and get one free. free monsters, free bosses, any footlong for free! this guy loves a great offer. so let's see some hustle! alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice

and long lasting gain scent beads. try spring daydream, part of our irresistible scent collection. . a couple headlines developing this afternoon on brittney griner, the wnba superstar held in russia for months, the white house coming out and saying a prisoner swap is still on the table but you got the press secretary on air force one within the last hour saying the u.s. is also putting forward, i'm quoting here, alternative potential ways forward. through, quote, all available channels. we will break that down from the way politicians speak to regular english. and the reason it is important, it is happening today, we found out from the state department that u.s. diplomats had an opportunity to visit ms. griner in person since august and she is doing as well as can be expected under the conditions and the u.s. is pushing for her

release and the release of paul whelan who is detained in moscow. josh lederman has this from london. some moves here, it doesn't mean it is movement in a particular direction because it is clearly not movement to get griner out. at the same time it is at least the opportunity for the u.s. officials to see griner firsthand after her wife is described as recently as this week, her mental state, she is having a tough time all things considered and by the way completely understandably. >> absolutely, and the white house today insisting that it remains a top priority to bring brittney griner home. but griner's attorneys have made very clear that if there is any prospect for her getting out of the russian prison before completing her term, it is not likely through the judicial process. the reality that became even clearer last month, after her appeal was rejected by the russian courts. her wife cherelle griner responding to the fact that brittney griner remains detained in russia, earlier this week on

"the view" take a listen. >> you know, i keep waking up, some say i'm blessed, but it's hard. so bg's my person. we do absolutely everything together. and so it has been really hard trying to adjust how to live every day without your favorite person. >> so it is not going to be through the justice system, then u.s. officials say the most likely way of bringing her home hallie remains through some type of prisoner swap but it has been months sin the u.s. put forward an offer to the russians to trade a convicted arms dealer victor bout and a step in the right direction, but there is no indication that the russians have responded to that offer but today, the white house is saying they are looking for alternative ways to potentially bring her home, which could mean they are looking at -- >> what does that mean? >> well, no one actually knows and they wee have asked the

white house, they don't don't want to say a lot about this because the russians have said explicitly if they is a prisoner swap, it has to be behind closed doors and in private and not letting u.s. officials running their mouths about. it and we have to assume that the u.s. is looking at other convicted russians who are detained in the u.s. who could potentially be released in addition to viktor bout or in addition, and we know there are several other russians who are detained in the u.s. on financial crimes who could potentially be part of some type of a prisoner swap, and the russians have been trying to get back for quite some time. >> i heard it described on the air, all available channels to be used and does that mean former ambassador bill richardson could have a more quietly, if not sanctioned role in some of this, at least the ability to get out there and do

the negotiating, we don't know. >> anything is possible, but the last time that bill richardson got involved in this, we heard from the u.s. government, saying they didn't think that was particularly helpful. so right, you know, as far as what the state department has said recently, they want this to be a u.s. government effort. they don't think freelancing by people who are not in the u.s. government is really very productive right now. >> josh lederman live from overseas in london, thanks. some new reporting into us here at nbc news, the one-time adviser to former president trump kash patel is expected to testify soon in the mar-a-lago investigation. according to a source familiar with the matter. so how did the d.o.j. get him to agree? by granting patel immunity. after a judge ruled that would be the only way to compel his grand jury testimony. ken dilanian has that reporting. tell us more. >> the d.o.j. did not want to do this. they were forced to by the judge. they tried get his testimony without this immunity grant. but what it means is that what he says under oath to the grand jury, he cannot be prosecuted

for. and what the justice department wants to ask him about, at least one of the things they definitely want to ask him about are his claims that donald trump, while president, declassified reams of material, potentially even verbally, and it's not clear, kash patel has described a declassification by donald trump and the d.o.j. wants to know if even the materials seized at mar-a-lago are subject to a plausible claim of declassification. it is one thing for him to say it in media and another thing to say it under oath in front of the grand jury and prosecutors want to lock the story in. >> ken dilanian, thank you very much. we will take you live to the trial with the congresswoman nominee in florida val demings trailing marco rubio the republican in incumbent and we will talk about her message with five days to go. defense secretary lloyd austin meeting with his south corner counter part -- south

korea counterpart trying to cool down tensions in north korea. raf sanchez has more. >> we heard from the defense secretary and the south korean counterpart at the pentagon and they condemned the missile test as you would expect today, and they are extending the u.s. joint military exercises which are going on right now, hundreds of aircraft, thousands of troops involved, and the secretary has had some difficult questions, is american deterrence working, given that the north koreans are firing record numbers of missiles right now. and there is no end in sight, really, they're firing the last couple of hours. but also, with all indications appearing to suggest that the north koreans are getting ready to move ahead with yet another nuclear test. and that would be their first in five years. the first since before those infamous meetings between donald trump and kim jong-un. it would be a major escalation, and it would be a sign of a north korea that really sees no horizon for diplomacy at the moment and is interested only in

escalation, only in saber rattling. we'll be back after this. ng we'll be back after this president biden has now signed the inflation reduction act into law. ok, so what exactly does it mean for you? out of pocket costs for drugs will be capped. for seniors, insulin will be just $35. families will save $2,400 on health care premiums. energy costs, down an average of $1,800 a year for families. and it's paid for by making the biggest corporations pay what they owe. president biden's bill doesn't fix everything, but it will save your family money.

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we call this enterprise intelligence. from the network america relies on.

the 2022 campaign trail really giving 2016 today, former president trump is in iowa tonight, and campaigning with senator chuck grassley and coffiner tim reynolds, in two races that are maybe a little closer than republicans would like, and then in new york, you have the former president's 2016 rival, former secretary of state hillary clinton, and out with

new york governor kathy hochul in a race that democrats would like and close enough that vice president kamala harris is flying to new york city tonight to make sure that hochul wins over lee zeldin and the polls are showing the race all over the place. we have more from sioux city iowa. what an interesting place for former president trump to go, on the campaign tralg, in the start of the four-day burst, and iowa as we all know is an interesting 2024 state as well, as there is new reporting out from reuters that perhaps he may declare 2024, a run for president, before thanksgiving. i think there's some skepticism on that, but thus is the reporting. >> reporter: yes, iowa not your usual swing state, hallie, here in iowa, it is one of the most skerch tive states in the country, sioux city, one of most conservative areas of iowa, more than 60% of the area voted for donald trump, in 2020, and there this is not a place that the

republicans need to go five days before midterm election but this is before donald trump is and the governor's race here is not exactly very lose but the u.s. senate race is and that's one of the reasons he is here, to shore up support for senator chuck grassley against the democrat, and voters we talked to today, saying they like chuck grassley because of the experience he has and franken has no political experience and a retired navy admiral but they like the political experience that i find interesting because they like donald trump because he didn't have political experience, so we have been talking to voters about that. and also in sioux city, which is just miles from the nebraska and the south dakota area, and as you mentioned, with 2024, goes to donald trump, as donald trump holds the values and they are about the republican candidates here in the state of iowa, but they're also about donald trump and his hopes and ambitions as well. we talked to a bunch of voters about the state of our democracy, and really the inflation we're seeing in this country right now. here is what one voter told me.

>> there is always going to be a certain amount of that. due agree. so it is what it is, right if you don't agree on certain things, you just don't agree. but at the same time, i think it's an understatement of why we don't agree. and why is it that you're so far apart, and i think there's a lot of times we're not as far apart as people think we are. >> reporter: so trump will be landing in trump force one in what he calls that airplane in a few hours and then florida with marko rubeo but not ron desantis and election eve with jd vance. >> and ron allen, i will get to you in a second. if you don't mind, i have to swing down to to florida as candidates are out on the campaign trail, we happen to have our reporters out with the candidates on the campaign trail and that includes democrat val demings with our own ali vitali, hoping to unseat marco rubio,

even though he has a pretty consistent lead in polls so far. tell us what you're seeing as you're out with congresswoman demings. >> reporter: yes, that's exactly right. we have seen this race where rubio has been trending ahead in the polls but nevertheless we're we're seeing the star power come down to florida in the waning days before election day. congressman val demings nothing on doors, thank you very much, as you are out here going door to door, what are the things you're hearing about? i know what we hear in the polls? >> what i can tell you is there is a lot of excitement and energy on the ground. and what i do know is the voters will decide, right? there are a lot of issues that are going on right now, we're hearing about them, like even climate change, we're seeing more flooding, more severe storms, and with ian, a lot of devastation from that, and we're hearing about the lack of affordable housing, and there is less affordable housing here in

south florida than there is in new york city and los angeles. people are talking about health care. the threat of taking away social security and medicare. young people are talking about college debt. we are hearing about public safety. as you know. with 27 years at the police department. public safety matters to me and it matters to the people here. so we're walking and talking and we'll do so through election day. >> and one of the people who we're hearing it from, two days ago, was president joe biden, he is someone who was down here, he did a prime time address last night, does it help him to be front and center right now given his approval ratings. >> as the daughter of a made and a janitor, to have the president of the united states come to florida, to campaign with me, to help me get my message out, isn't that what the american dream is all about? you know, i know my parents no longer with me, but they've got to be just rejoicing in heaven about that. and certainly, having the president here, talking about

the only party right now, and as we're working to lower costs has been the democratic party with the inflation reduction act. we were able to finally get the bipartisan infrastructure deal pass and we're already seeing millions of dollars poured into our state. lowering the cost of prescription drugs. capping the cost of insulin. holding some of the richest of corporations accountable where they will have to pay their fair share. those are the kind of things that we are able to talk about. and those are the kind of things that i really believe will make a difference. >> and the polling shows that those are the things that voters are concerned about, there is one county, i'm fascinated by florida broadly and one county getting attention which is miami-dade county, we're in broward, an hour down the road, a place where republicans have worked really hard to make inroads and it looks like they could be able to even win miami-dade this cycle. does that worry you? >> the voters will decide. that and i'm not concerned one bit about that. having been a law enforcement officer and chief of police, on

the ground, not reading about what voters are going through, through the papers or in books, but really talking to people about, real people about real issues, the voters will decide, and the voters know, they can look at the last 24 years with marco rubio as their senator, and look at what they, the struggles that they have placed ten years ago and continue to face today, and again, there's only one party and this work to lower costs and lep to protect people that have to go to work every day and people who have had to go to work every day and that's the democratic party. >> thank you so much, congressman, for taking the time us with. you are knocking on doors and i think we will tag along you with. hallie, back to you. >> ali vital live on the campaign trail with val demings and i know you are trying to get marco rubio, an open invite to come on the show any day. >> absolutely. ron allen is there in new york, and as we talk about surrogates on the campaign trail, you've got hillary

clinton coming out for governor hochul. listen, we know the demographic makeup of new york tends to lean more democratic here but here you have a big push with both hillary clinton and kathy hochul looking to boost turnout. >> reporter: a lot of star power. you have the vice president of the united states coming. you've got the attorney general letitia james coming here. she is the first woman of color elected statewide in new york. and that's the message. this is a history that we all know how hillary clinton has done, and that's what seems to be happening. kathy hochul is trying to create with this event certainly a reason for voters to come out and get excited about her campaign. voting started here, early voting, over the weekend, and it continues for a few more days. and hochul has been trying to get momentum. remember, she, too, is also trying to make history. she is the sitting governor, the first woman governor of new york, and she didn't win this election outright yet, she is still trying to do that, and so

a lot of symbolism if you will in what is going to happen today. and we're also on the campus of bernard college, one of the schools of columbia school, once an all women's school, and there is that as well. so a lot at play here, as kathy hochul tries to generate a lot of excitement about her campaign. on the other side, we have representative lee zeldin, a republican, who also interestingly has been campaigning a lot in new york city, which is not something that republicans usually, do but he has made crime and fighting crime and quality of life such a pillar of his campaign, that that is why he's been coming to new york, to try to lap off some votes where of course crime is a huge issue. and the polls, and analysts suggest that it's been working, because the polls have narrowed here. and that's why all of the star power is going to be here, for kathy hochul very shortly. >> ron allen live for us there in new york city.

which is of course still on the campaign trail. ron, thank you very much. appreciate it. next up, the new concerns in ukraine after europe's biggest nuclear plant was knocked offline with only days of backup fuel to keep it going. a member of the armed services committee is here to talk live about that, and a lot more, in just a second. , atand a lot morn just a second. id migraine triggers like your next period. qulipta® can help prevent migraines. you can't always prevent what's going on outside... ...that's why qulipta® helps what's going on inside. qulipta® gets right to work. in a 3-month study, qulipta® significantly reduced monthly migraine days... ...and the majority of people reduced them by 50 to 100%. qulipta® blocks cgrp-- a protein believed to be a cause of migraines. qulipta® is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie could help you save on qulipta®. they say you eat with your eyes first, so here's a good look at our new thick n fluffy french toast. artisan challah dipped in vanilla cinnamon batter. french toast the way it's meant to be. try all three flavors. only at ihop. download the app and earn free food with every purchase.

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some new developments to get to out of ukraine, where attacks from russia today have knocked out power at the big nuclear

power plant in zaporizhzhia. all 20 backup generators are now being used and there is only 15 days worth of fuel for the generators to run on, just a couple of weeks to avoid frankly a nuclear catastrophe at europe's biggest power plant. i want to brick in mickie sherril of new jersey and up for re-election on tuesday. congresswoman, thank you for being with us, and a lot to get to today. >> thanks so much for having me. >> let's start with that news out of ukraine, the threat of nuclear damage, any conversations you've had with leadership or your colleagues about this, about the potential for more aid? >> yes, this is really incredibly concerning. and we've been paying close attention to what is going on in ukraine, certainly it is a member of, a member of the house armed services committee, i was recently in kyiv talking to president zelenskyy about just what he needed weapons-wise, to continue to push back the russians and he has been incredibly successful with that and the ukrainian people have

been incredibly successful, but we've had growing concern about the plight of the ukrainians over the winter. so i worked with my ukrainian community quite closely, and they have worked hard to collect the goods that people in ukraine need, and they most recently told me when they were filling one of the trucks and shipping containers, that they were shipping off to ukraine, that in high demand is heating stoves. so people can plan to use wood-burning heating stoves over the winter. we have long been very concerned about the nuclear power plant pushing back on russia, who is really attacked that plant many times, and now to see that they're using generators, and these generators are for cooling. the power plant is not even really producing power, as i understand it, but really what they're using the generators for now is tone sure the cooling, so that we can prevent any sort of nuclear catastrophe. >> let me ask you about other information coming into to us from the fbi that relates to

obviously your state of new jersey. the fbi says it has received credible information of a broad threat to synagogues in new jersey. the fbi says at this time, it has taken all security precautions to protect your community and facilitate. we'll share more information as soon as we can. credible info of a broad threat to synagogues. our viewers are seeing it on the screen here. our team is working to find out more information about this and report this out. but congresswoman, this is obviously your backyard, your home, have you heard anything else, do you know anything else, how concerned should people be? >> well, i think we're all very concerned. i haven't heard anything about this particular threat, but we work closely with the adl, and we know threats against our jewish community have gone up significantly in new jersey. and i didn't even need unfortunately the adl's report because i hear it in my synagogues when i go to have community meetings, i fear the concerns that people have here at home and also with their children going across the country and off to school. so we have been working hard to

address this, but it's really heart breaking. it's heart breaking, because i'll tell you a few short years ago in new jersey, i felt that we appreciated the diversity that we had here, and to see this threat here in new jersey is really heart breaking. i think it gets to why we believe so deeply in our constitution, and why we believe so deeply that we're free to practice the religion that we choose to practice, and implicit in that to me is this notion of diversity, that we accept people's differences, that we are able to be stronger and better because of those differences that we all learn from each other, and so this was really, really heart breaking news. >> what do you think has changed then? and what does it say to you in that the year 2022 we're still here on a national news desk talking about anti-semitic threats with people who live in our community? >> i think this is something we

have struggled with and we have feltic w-while this nation is never perk, we have been striving to be better and it feels like in recent times, with issues of diversity, issues of anti-semitism, and issues all across my district in different groups, people are feeling very tribal. and i have to tell you, and in a state as diverse as nchl new jersey, and in a state like new jersey where we depends on everyone, i can't go anywhere right now and not hear about how we don't have enough people in the work force, how we need to make sure we have more people engaged in our community, and in our society. how hard we work to have diverse people throughout our democratic party here in new jersey, and to sort of see these roll backs, it feels very threatening, and then beyond that, to say the rollbacks, the protection from women across the nation with overturning the roe, it feels like in so many ways in this country, freedoms and protections that we've taken for granted for years now are sort of coming undone. which is why this election is so

important. it's so incredibly important that people come out to vote, to make sure that we can continue to move forward on these protections. >> you mentioned two key issues here that i want to ask you before i have to let you go and i know we're almost out of time and economy and the inflation part of the issues for americans and last night, president biden had a speech not about those issues but threats about democracy. is that a mistake? >> i think, as members of government, as people who are public servants, we need to address the nation's concerns. and certainly, the concerns i hear in my district do involve the economy, the concerns involve inflation, and gas prices, and abortion, and democracy, and i think it's incumbent upon us to address all of those. as i have said, you know, in the past, what we have to do, what i have to do is make sure i'm addressing those things that if you're a parent, what is that

last thing that is keeping you up at night? and it is not often just one thing. we're going through a very complicated time, and we're not one draconian congress. we need to address all of the nation's issues and i would just say in so many ways that's what we're focused on. we are focused, ensuring people have reproductive rights and abortion rights, but we're also, we have focused on infrastructure, and the chip sector, and reassuring american manufacturing. we've seen a rise in the manufacturing sector jobs, a greater rise than we've seen since the 1990s. we released the strategic petroleum reserve stocks so now we've seen the price of gas go down by $1.50 since its height and continuing to address each and every one of these things. fighting really a global epidemic of inflation but working on it so critically at home to bring prices down for americans. >> you have mentioned reproductive rights, abortion access, your opponent who will be on with us, has called him

pro choice, and he is comfortable with abortion up to 20 weeks but he also supports the supreme court's decision to overturn roe and put the issue to the states. do you believe that those two things can exist alongside each other, those two beliefs? >> this is what i've said to my opponent on several occasions, if you are in favor of roe being overturned, if you're in favor of overturning women's constitutional rights to reproductive freedom, if you are in favor of states having the ability to ban abortion, with no exceptions, which he is, no exceptions for life of the mother or rape or incest, then you are not pro choice. because right now, that has led, with the overturning of roe in states making these decisions to 22 million women across the country, and counties, because more states are acting on this, as we speak, not having access to abortion with no exceptions. so that's what is going on in this country.

22 million women right now. and that is not a pro choice stance. and that is why it's really important that we take this out of legislators, and put it in the hands of women. and i said to my opponent, i don't believe this is a state's right issue. i believe this is a women's right issue. >> congressman mikie sherrill, thank you very much for being with us this afternoon. appreciate your time. we should note that her republican opponent paul degroot will be on as well and it looks like he will join us at some point before the election. we have talked about important senate races and house races on the show today but it goes beyond just who voters are picking at the ballot box and what they're voting for. we're talking about ballot initiatives, more than 130 of them, with voters all across the country, big ones on the topic we were just talking about with the congresswoman, the future of abortion rights, legalizing marijuana, and sports betting and ranked choice voting and we have mark murray running on all

no sleep and continuing to subsist on no sleep. break it down for us. we know john fetterman. we know mehmet oz. these ballot measures could have a lot of impact on people's lives as well. >> here are some of the ballot measures that we're going to be watching all across the country, as you see in these states, and number one is going to be five states are actually holding big ballot measures when it comes to abortion. and maybe the biggest one, of course, is the state of michigan. and of course, we know michigan, on the presidential battleground, governor gretchen whit mer is running for re-election in michigan, and you're seeing states like michigan, as well as vermont, and california, and enshrining a right to an abortion in their state. and one state that is a little bit different, kentucky, is actually having a measure that was very similar to the one we saw in kansas back in august, and they are actually having a measure to say that there is not a right to an abortion in their state. and then hallie, we end up

looking at having ballot measures to legalize marijuana, and in arkansas, and missouri, and the dakotas, as well as maryland. and then this is one of my favorite ones in nevada. and this one would institute a top five primary system, and then ranked choice voting in the general election. very similar to what we're seeing in alaska, and we're going to see if voters in nevada actually want to change how they conduct their primaries, as well as their general elections. and then, the mother of all ballot measures, and this is in california, the nation's largest state, this is actually to legalize sports gambling, on apps like draft kings as well as also the competing measure for indian casinos, to actually have legalized sports gambling, and what makes this special is how much money has been spent, and more than $200 million of ad money has been spent, according to ad impact. and this makes these the second,

the number three most expensive races in the country, just behind the georgia senate race, between herschel walker and raphael warnock, and below the pennsylvania senate race between john fertman and mehmet oz. >> so you're saying there is more money spent on the sports betting measures in california than in the -- >> no, pennsylvania and georgia rank just above. it but only pennsylvania and georgia have we actually seen more money than in this, these ballot measures. >> a lot of cash going into this. mark murray, thank you. we will be watching all of it on our election night special on nbc news now, with you and our team, on the nbc news network and right here on msnbc. appreciate it. and another part of the erecollection, all politics alls is local umbrella, right, that we're watching that don't have to do with who's running for house or senate or governor. these are local school board races. they're usually contests that have a lower profile, right, they matter to you and your local district. i covered school board races when i was a local news

reporter. they typically don't get a lot of attention, until now, they are part of a political battle ground. school board races are on the ballot in more than two dozen states in the midterms. political action committees are pumping money into them. the 1776 project pac has spent a million dollars supporting school board candidates. pumping 600,000 to help conservatives sweep school board seats. and schools, specifically boosting parental rights is a talking point for key folks in the republican party. >> there are concerns about what's being taught to kids in schools. >> since i have been governor, probably the most significant flash point that we've seen, of course in florida, but even all over the country has been our emphasis on the rights of parents to help direct the education and upbringing of their kids.

>> nbc news national political reporter tyler kinkade is here to help us make sense of all of this. it's good to see you. let's start with the money business, talk about when national conservative groups are getting involved now and what this means. >> this is the culmination of two years of work. if you compare to the numbers that mark murray just laid out, it kind of seems like this is nothing. it doesn't take a lot of money to flip the school board races. so little is spent, because most people, i would ask viewers how many of you know who your local school board members are. most people don't, which is fine. we have a lot to keep track of in our lives, but that's what the game is, a race to frame the conversation. if you don't have a notion about when your board is, what they're doing, what kind of job they have done, it's a lot easier to get people interested in a new

candidate and flip the seat. that's what these groups are doing, and a lot of it can be effective through pushing out a social media messaging, e-mail messages and just talking to neighbors. >> we've talked about the conservative piece of this, right, but you have reporting that more liberal parents are joining in, pumping money into candidates. they are not doing it on the same levels as conservatives. a democratic campaign strategist told you the comparison is apples to apples. they told you it's like apples to apple seeds, right? >> right. i mean, the sound you just played showed several big names in the republican party talking about this issue and some of those folks like governor ron desantis are out there endorsing candidates, too, and when you talk to florida democrats, you know, they'll point out that their chair has endorsed school board candidates. that doesn't have the same star power as someone like desantis, and to put more numbers behind it, again, it's about drumming up attention on these races. so moms for liberty, for example, they are just one group

that has over 100,000 members nationwide, and they're all focused on school board seats. and so if you only need to flip a few voters, i mean, a lot of times democrats don't even cast ballots or vote on the down ballot races even if they turn in a ballot for governor or congressman. it's very easy. what republicans are counting on is that there will be a trickle up effect to help their chances in these big ticket races. >> through the course of your reporting on this, over the last several weeks, months, et cetera, has anything surprised you. something you went, oh, wow, that is not what i expected to see. >> i think one of it is just beyond school boards, there's a lot of seats at hyper local levels that we don't realize are elective, library boards, for example, it's not every jurisdiction, school boards, a lot of them are going to be on the ballot next week when voters go out across the country. but also there are elections, more than half of the year for

school boards, so for those, it's even easier to just get a few thousand people to turn out in a moderate sized city and you can flip the school board without people realizing there was an election going on. >> tyler kinkade, great reporting. i'm glad you're here to bring it to us. thank you to all of you for watching this hour of msnbc. find highlights@hallieonmsnbc and on nbc news now, our nbc streaming channel, tonight and every weeknight at 5:00 eastern, i'll see you there. for now, "deadline white house" with nicolle wallace will pick up after this quick break. l pick up after this quick break this guy loves a great offer. so let's see some hustle! the hiring process used to be the death of me. but with upwork... with upwork the hiring process is fast and flexible.

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♪♪ hi, everyone, it's 4:00 in new york as president joe biden now puts it, quote, you cannot love your country only when you win. that fundamental basic principle of living in a democracy, accepting the will of the people has seemingly been lost on large swaths of the republican party at this moment and heading into these pivotal midterm elections. in a speech just steps away from the united states capitol, the president tackled the crisis of our democracy head on blaming it all on one man, the disgraced ex-president himself whose lies about the last election are in large part defining this election. >> you know, american democracy is under attack because the defeated former