♪ hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. a closing argument from the democratic party just days before election day delivered by the current president, former president who remains one of the most popular political figures in the country in the world, and the democratic party's rising stars. in a state that is right now a bellwether in american politics. president barack obama, president joe biden, and the top of the democratic ticket in pennsylvania gathered on saturday for one heck of a rally. in it they distilled their party's message defining the democratic party as the party of freedom and democracy which at

this hour in our country's history stands in contrast to a republican party devoid of an agenda, other than serving a disgraced twice impeached ex-president who tried to overturn and steal the results of the 2020 election. president biden described the 2022 election has a, quote, defining moment for the country, denouncing the gop's embrace of rhetoric that all too often has resulted in or coincided with violence, most recently with the attack on speaker pelosi's husband paul pelosi and his democratic predecessor president barack obama used his talent as a speaker, as a message deliver, as a leader, and lent his credibility as a popular two-term president to that message that democrats are right now the only ones, the only party, that believes in democracy and fundamental american values. it was something. watch. >> what we have to remind

ourselves is that there's this common thread, there's this thing that binds us together as americans, a belief that no matter who we are or where we come from, what we look like, who we love, what our last name is, how we worship, a belief that all of us matter. the kind of slash and burn politics that we're seeing right now, that doesn't have to be who we are. we can be better. and it has nothing to do, by the way, with political correctness or being too woke. it's about fundamental values that my grandparents from kansas taught me. values i grew up with. values you grew up with. values we try to teach our kids. values we learn in churches and mosque and synagogues and temples. honesty, fairness, opportunity,

hard work, values that josh shapiro and john fetterman stand for, values that joe biden stands for, values that were enshrined in our founding documents a few piles from here. a clarion call for freedom and equality that philly's own liberty bell represents. that's what america stands for. that's who -- we are. so if you're anxious and frustrated right now, don't complain. don't mope. don't tune out. get off your couch and do what? >> vote. >> that was incredible. that's just a little bit of it. his message was also a bit of an echo of remarks earlier by the democratic nominee for governor in pennsylvania josh shapiro

running against doug mastriano, an opponent who more than props any other republican candidate in our country, embodies all things maga and the republican party's anti-democratic impulses. here's what josh shapiro had to say. >> that is to the how our democracy works. that's not how we do things in this commonwealth or in this country. and that is not freedom. you know, this guy loves to talk a good game about freedom, right. let me tell you something, it's not freedom to tell women what they're allowed to do with their bodies. that's not freedom. it's not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed to read. it's not freedom when he gets to decide who you're allowed to marry. i say love is love.

it's not freedom to say you can work a 40-hour workweek, but you can't be a member of the union. that's not freedom. and it sure as hell isn't freedom to say, you can go vote, but he gets to pick the winner. that's not freedom. that's not freedom. but you know what, you know what we're for? we're for real freedom. let me tell you what real freedom is. real freedom is when you see that young child in north philly and you see the potential in her so you invest in her public school. that's real freedom. that's real freedom. ral freedom comes when we invest in that young child's neighborhood to make sure it's

safe so she gets to her 18th birthday. that's real freedom. real freedom comes when we put vo tech in her school and opened up her eyes to the possibility of being a welder. we sent her to a union apprenticeship program and believed in her so she started a small business right here in north philadelphia. that's real freedom. real freedom comes when she hires a whole bunch of people that were never going to have a shot before. they went on to marry the people they loved, worshipped where they want, live in a community that is safe, live in a place that respects them, that is real freedom and that is what's on the ballot right now. >> and that is where we begin today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. john harris is here. he joins us. the founding editor and columnist for politico.

here with me at the table, former senator claire mccaskill joins us and former republican congressman david jolly here. both msnbc contributors. john, i'll start with you. i thought that most of the political romantic had been beaten out of me by the events over the last five years, i watched that rally, i think i watched it on c-span, but those were two speeches really definitional not just of the midterms but of this moment. >> i agree, you know, president obama shows he's been out of the game a little bit but still got it. what's striking to me, it evokes so much of his debut on the national stage, now 18 years ago, a little more than that, remember in that convention speech. what year was it in were we in new york when he gave that keynote address. >> '04. >> transfers across the -- now almost 20 years.

i agree, it was quite powerful. >> i thought that josh shapiro unleashed something that hasn't really been present on the stump and, granted, sort of a culminating get out the vote rally with the president and former president standing there raises the emotion and stakes. that was an extraordinary performance, claire, from josh shapiro as well. >> it was something from both of them, and it reminded me of a time when that was the norm, where both candidates were trying to lift people up. >> that's such an interesting point. >> bind people together. that used to be what everyone did, right. i mean, i remember the guy you worked for, when he ran for president, it was about trying to get everybody together. we can work together. we don't have to be so divided. so we have one party that is still there with the values of integrity and real freedom and truth and character and we're

america and we can do this together and then you have another party that is all about grievance about the least common denominator among us. who do you hate and why should you hate them and don't trust anybody and everybody is a fraud. so it is such a dichotomy in our politics right now, and it's hard for me -- i get emotional when i think about it because it's hard to imagine people are attracted more to the grievance than to the inspirational and aspirational. it's very sad to me that we're here at that moment. >> what do you think watching this? >> josh shapiro did something incredibly smart there that i think all national democrats should pay attention to. he dismantled the republicans' narrative of freedom. republicans shout freedom as this declaration. democrats embrace it as a calling for policy changes, right. how do you create true freedom of opportunity, equality of

opportunity for all walks of life and education and health care and the economy. and i think, look, i'm close to the florida politics which we're seeing play out in florida is a declaration of freedom you can be anything you want to be, do everything you want, but that's not true if you're an lbgt teacher or lost a family member to covid because the governor denied mask mandates or a corporation like disney who speaks out using the voice of your shareholders and employees. the republican narrative of freedom is a false one and what shapiro did is dismantled it and said as a potential next governor of the state of pennsylvania, as a democratic standard barrier what i'm about to tell you is freedom in america could look differently than what you've been promised in the last six years. it's a powerful message >> obama also has, you know, nothing to hold back, and he's made cheer that the republicans are animated by what claire is talking about the grievances,

owning the libs. this is a powerful driver. it animates the most watched hours on the favorite cable news network and animates their attraction to some of these grievance candidates and obama is at a point where he puts it on the table and makes this contrast to values that i imagine would be very salient all across the country outside and including pennsylvania. >> well, of course, senator mccaskill is right our politics today is motivated in ways by grievance, but it seems to me at all times, politics is a balance between mobilization, getting your side really fired up, and to some extent persuasion. we've got a very narrow group of people still on the fence, but that message of persuasion, hey, come join us, is more aspirational, it's more in tune with your values, very hard to balance those things an get them right. i was struck that president obama's message really was a

fine balance between mobilization, get out, this is important, and persuasion. we don't have to be so divided. we don't have to be driven by grievance and by content. we live in an area of a politics of contempt and see where it's taken us. >> let me show you more of president obama's speech. he takes on this thing i know democrats have wrestled with publicly and privately how to talk about the democracy in the context of what is real for many, most americans, that's economic angst. here's president obama. >> i understand that democracy might not seem like a top priority right now, especially when you're worrying about paying the bills. but when true democracy goes away, we have seen throughout history, we've seen around the world, when true democracy goes away people get hurt. it has real consequences. this is not an abstraction.

governments start telling you what books you can read and which ones you can't. dissidents start getting locked up. reporters getting locked up if they're not toeing the party line. corruption reigns because there's no accountability. people get hurt. there are consequences. >> he's absolutely right, and again, i know that's been a difficult issue for some democrats, not josh shapiro, but for some to put out in front of voters, with the price of everything, but he did it powerfully. >> it's really interesting because, you know, you can look at the economic data right now and there's so many things that are very, very positive. biden has reduced the deficit by more than any other president in history. we have record high job creation. we have very low unemployment.

yes, interest rates have popped, but here's what, all of that stuff goes away if all of a sudden you're paying more for bread and ice cream and eggs and hamburgers. and it is very hard to get to the abstract from that reality. in fact, when democrats try to say, but there's so many positive things that have happened, it infuriates people because they're paying more at the grocery store. i think we've made a mistake by ignoring it and acting as if it couldn't be a real motivator. it always is. what people are paying for gas and groceries is always way more important than anything else. he did the best job anybody could do explaining that if you're not careful here, you're going to end up with a bunch of people in office that do not respect your votes and ultimately means don't respect you. >> i think the part that's so powerful is that in an autocracy, nobody cares about the price of bread and milk. what's interesting and that is sort of the desk lution of the republican party they've run on

these issues before, but ran -- may have been lame solution, but ran on policies to try to address crime. they're wildly unpopular an been condemned but they ran in the '90s mandatory sentences, california, three strikes you're out. ran on economic policies, designed -- theirs' not doing that. they're just attacking the democrats for their economic policies and crime stats and not-running on policies to address them. >> for anyone who has had the opportunity to travel over the last six to eight weeks, i think something is striking on local television. all the ads look the same. you don't know who the candidate is. the republican message is consistent. it's fear and demagoguery and black an brown communities are coming for your way of life, the immigrants, crime, whatever it might be, it is not policy solutions as you're suggesting. look, the baseline to all this, though, is the threat to democracy. what you see in barack obama there, is one of the most skilled politicians on the entire planet trying to shape

public opinion instead of follow it. we know from the polls, voters are saying, particularly your low to medium propensity voters, it's about the economy. barack obama is saying there might be something bigger right now. democrats are having to wrestle with the two issues because there is something bigger. what you see there, is a real inspirational candidate that you rarely get to see and i think what might come out of this week, win or lose for democrats, is who are those inspirational figures. is it a mallory mcmurrah, is it a john fetterman, is it a wes moore in maryland. who are the inspirational democratic next generation leaders that can shape public opinion because those are the people that will lead democrats to the promise land. >> after that speech i think josh shapiro too. >> here's one more obama mash. he lowered the boom on some of the -- what mitch mcconnell described as poor quality candidates.

>> it's easy to joke about dr. oz. i mean, some of these, you know, remedies he's pushed on tv, the raspberry key tones and lavender soap and the palm oil for dementia, but you know what, that matters because if somebody who knows better, who knows better, is willing to sell snake oil, just to make money, then he's going to be willing to do anything and say anything to get elected. even if it's not good for you. he does think it's okay to dress up in a confederate uniform for a staff photo at the college where he used to teach and -- hey. it wasn't even halloween.

it was like, casual friday or something. listen, pennsylvania, let's remember what century it is. and listen, this would be funny, it would be an "snl" skit, if it weren't so serious. you cannot let somebody that detached from reality run your state. >> he's talking about -- but the oz takedown is artful as well tying oz's biography known to everybody, certainly everybody in this building, everybody in television knows what oz used to do, but lay it out, raspberry keto, lavender soap, palm oil for dementia. everybody knows someone scammed by green tea pills or apple cider vinegar for weight loss,

and he is a scam artist extraordinaire. >> one thing that struck me, it's a reminder with the right politician and the right voice, wit can be much more effective tool than just the partisan sledgehammer. you saw president obama having fun while making a serious argument. i did a flashback, one time he used that skill at wit was, of course, that dinner in washington the correspondents dinner in i think 2011 making fun, i thought brilliantly and brutally, of donald trump. >> yeah. >> and then, of course, motivating trump to run for president and you can laugh at the figures and find out there's more power behind them not necessarily to joke about. can i make one quick point. >> of course. >> listening to obama, president obama there, the elephant in the room is, he's so much more commanding and i would say articulate than the current occupant of the office who has not been able -- president biden has not been

able to go out there and make that case so fluently and in many of these districts he's not even welcomed to come out and make that case. that's not just to compare there's an obvious point, president obama is maybe better at some aspects of public presentation than president biden, but if democrats do lose the house or the senate or both, that rhetorical ability is actually something that was so important for bill clinton in 1995 when he lost congress, so important for barack obama in 2010 after he lost, they were able to rebuild their presence in part because of their skill in framing public argument. republicans you have the power in the congress but i have the power of the pulpit. i'm going to win this argument. you really have to strain to see president biden, if he finds himself in those circumstances, able to command the argument and frame the issues quite so effectively. so that means he's going to be

really possiblery in desperate circumstances if, in fact, republicans do take over one or both houses. >> claire, what do you think about that? >> well, first of all, i think it's very hard to find anybody who has the combined policy chops, intellect and charismatic oratoral skills that barack obamas. >> in the world. not just only in our country. >> there was a reason why he, you know, went to the top so quickly and stayed eight years in the white house. but i also have to remind everyone, there was a time when people didn't want barack obama to come to their states and campaign. some of this is the led chain around your neck when president. everything that's wrong is your fault. everything that is right is an accident. you don't get credit for anything you've done. >> right. >> joe biden finds himself in that place. but i do think it's -- it's interesting to note that

the two republicans that seem be too doing better than they should have a right to do are both trained tv stars. they're not policy people. they don't know anything -- >> there is no policy. >> they don't anything about how government works or the policies that are hard and complicated and take some real intellectual left. this is a guy who sold people green coffee beans and tried to tell them it was a magic pill in a bottle and a woman who was a tv star who now has decided she's going to emulate the other tv star that shot to the top of our politics. and that's the new normal. by the way, if you're good on tv, run for office because nobody cares whether you know anything about government or not. >> what i would add f jon meacham was at the table he would tell you presidents have sold different roles throughout history with different potureses. joe biden's role is not to be barack obama. it is to stop the agenda of the

authoritarian republicans, stop cuts to social security and medicare and maintain a democratically branch that keeps in check a legislative branch. you don't have to be sexy to do that. you have to be president for next two years and i think joe biden will do that strongly. >> my next teach t-shirt will be will be you don't have to be sexy to do that. my new motto. i want to show you one more thing. this is josh shapiro. i think we'll be talking about josh shapiro's campaign tomorrow and wednesday. he's run superb campaign. he's run as a bipartisan figure. his closing ad. >> i've been a republican for 35 years, but doug mastriano does not represent me. >> i've been a republican for the last 41 years. i voted for donald trump twice and i cannot support mastriano. >> when i found out that doug mastriano was part of qanon that scared me.

>> he is radical. >> a loose cannon and i think his views are distorted. >> i have never voted for a democrat for governor but year i'm going to vote for josh shapiro. >> i went out after '16 and interviewed people who voted for president obama and trump to find someone who voted two times for a republican standard bearer who switched sides and votes for the other party. it's a phenomenon if josh shapiro is turning republicans into people who vote for a democratic governor that's extraordinarily even if isolated to pennsylvania >> you've got to convince people in many states to vote for you that aren't necessarily a democrat. if you're a republican you have to convince people that aren't necessarily republicans. all these states we're watching tomorrow night are those states. >> your state. >> used to be before trump it was. i think now it is really unfortunately shifted hard. but the states where it's going to be close, those people that are willing to vote for either side, based on the reality of

the time we're living in and the character and quality of the candidates, and that's why we're going to see really close races. it's very smart when running in places like that to reach out. the question is, for candidates that don't reach out, like the trump candidates who really haven't tried to reach out, are they going to get those folks that went with trump because of free vance like a lot of the union guys and some of the people that decided they wanted to go people that voted for obama and then voted for trump. someone else who has run a great campaign, gretchen whitner. >> we're going to get to michigan. >> she deserves some credit for how she's run her campaign, held her own, under difficult circumstances as an incumbent. >> and those circumstances include not just political headwinds but threats of violence. we're going to get to it and working our way. we're going to go east to west. >> sorry. >> feel free to jump around.

there are no limits. john harris, thank you. very nice to see you. thank you for starting us off. claire and david stick around for the whole hour. millions of americans will cast their vote tomorrow in the first major election since the deadly capitol insurrection on vixz. anxiety is high. disinformation is everywhere, especially on the right wing media stump. what officials are doing to make sure democracy holds and stay safe tomorrow. plus, democratic messaging as we've been talking about with one more day to go, we'll talk to the dnc chairman jamie harrison on the issues he sees as the most effective in motivating people to get out and vote today and tomorrow. later in the program the battle over mail-in ballots is already generating a lot of legal attention voting rights attorney and friend to the program marc elias will join us. much more when "deadline white house" after a quick break. don't go anywhere today. nywhere. school counselor.

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you can feel it in parts of the country, sewn into the fabric of these midterms, venom and a sense of foreboding and danger. maybe it was the 18 cases of suspected voter intimidation in arizona including armed right wing activists in masks and camo garb watching over secure ballot boxes or similarly the 14 instances of potential intimidation or interference in north carolina. that's according to reuters. maybe it is the fact that 45% of republicans are not feeling

confident votes will be counted confidently thanks any evidence that happened ever. or maybe it's the latest urgent warning from elections officials in battleground states that bad actors on the right could exploit delays in the way count our votes to cast doubts on the integrity and accuracy of the ultimate results. the justice department this afternoon seemingly determined to control things that can still be controlled in our country moved to mitigate some of the potential for danger. the department released a list of 64 jurisdictions in 24 states in which it will monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws, but still, it is hard to shake that feeling, that worry, that tomorrow and thereafter could hold some degree of risk for some of our fellow citizens around this basic thing that we do in america, vote. let's bring into our coverage frank, former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence

and msnbc security analyst. i don't want to ask you to paint this with a broad brush so take me through what you're watching and concerns are? >> my greatest concern is, aside from the obvious of monitoring extremist chat rooms and seeing what's going on there -- there's some good news there. there seems to be not this kind of chatter that looks like mass violence is planned, but there's chatter. my main concern is whether or not local and county and state law enforcement is prepared not just for tomorrow, which would be the obvious thing, dhs and fbi warned us around the election we have soft targets and access and exposure, voters standing in long lines and candidates still out there doing their thing, but rather, i think there's so many contests that can go too overtime and i think my advice to law enforcement at all levels would be, don't breathe that sigh of relief if

after tomorrow you get through it and there's no incident but prepare for the more contentious vote counting that goes on for a day or two or three and becomes more and more tense and start, you know, if you haven't already at the local, county, and state level, law enforcement should have already briefed up election workers. election workers should have a law enforcement point of contact on their speed dial. all should be coordinated. district attorneys should be ready to charge local offenses. u.s. attorneys i know in every single district, federally, are coordinated with identified fbi agents who are appointed as election crime organizers. fbi has put out a public notice on social media saying here's how you get hold of us if someone is trying to stop you from voting, interfering from voting. my advice the long hall. in some places this is going to be a long count. be prepared for it, be prepared for overtime as i said.

that's where i get concerned about more organized crowd violence against the vote counters and the places where the vote counting is happening. >> i mean, frank, so as you're talking i'm thinking of shay moss and ruby freeman who on election day, the disinformation and images of them hadn't circulated to the degree it would and they were hunted and chased from their home, miss ruby was told she couldn't go home. the fbi moved her out of her house. how do we protect the workers in these contests you're describing that could go on for days? do they get preemptively assigned security? is that enough? >> i hope, first of all, that certain security measures taken in many places after we experience things like fulton county, georgia, are helping. in many places, for example, there's only one law enforcement official, you know, where i live

it's the head constable who has the key to the lock box with the votes in it. the odds of it being exposed to wrongdoughers is far more mitigated. but there rr needs to be plan. it's almost too late but they can do it to reach out to the election workers, officials, and make sure they have addresses. they have prioritized police response. they have drive-byes of those people's residences. that needs to be happening. there needs to be that comfort level that the responders are going to be there and they're going to do the right thing. >> i'm reluctant to cover this story because i think the fear is the point. i hope nothing happens. but i think the possibility that something could is the point on the right. i think being out there with their cameras and video monitors is the point to make you scared. i think there are open questions about whether creating this climate of fear around voting, making sure you're not registered where you went to

college or where you live and your parents' house, i think we'll have to find out afterward whether the voter intimidation, whether the, you know, hardening and the carrying around of, you know, guns and dressing up like halloween in their camo had an effect on turnout. >> well, i think the early vote shows that at least on the democratic side, that a whole lot of people are energized about voting. we are seeing numbers, you typically don't see in a midterm. >> higher than '18, right? >> yeah. i remember that year by the way. >> me too. yeah. >> it was a rough one for me. >> we were covering it, but i stopped myself. of course you remember. >> so here's the thing i want to say to everyone. remember fear is the point. >> right. >> don't let them get you to be afraid. i know how these elections are run, and i was a local prosecutor and we put local

prosecutors on speed dial and we were coordinated and we were out and looking at the various polling places. we had a hotline people could call. there was a lot of organization around security, particularly now. so the worst thing you can do in america is not vote because the republicans have somehow convinced you with some losers in a mask and camo gear and a big gun that you don't have a right to go have your voice heard. this election will be decided on literally on the edge of a knife. >> he yeah. >> there so, so many states right now, that elections will be decided by less than a half a point. >> maybe what happens tomorrow, who shows up tomorrow. >> so anybody who is thinking or has a grandmother or an aunt or someone who is i think they're out there with guns i don't want to vote, you've got to take them by the hand and say we don't do this in america. nobody scares us away from the polls. we've fought too hard for this

democracy. i feel strongly if they get away with intimidating voters by these losers we're in more trouble than i think we are. >> to claire's point i talked to people in pennsylvania and michigan who said that it feels better this weekend felt better than last week and what seems to have changed is what claire is talking about, enthusiasm and perhaps some of the late vote. >> look, i think democrats have leaned in to the turnout model and they have to, right. what we're talking about is voter intimidation voter suppression through laws and other mechanisms. this is voter intimidation. i want to point out, still lives in a town that still has a constable, by the way. not many towns still have that. but look, this is 2022 and the court, where an election where the courts told us you're not allowed to share a bottle of water with a voter but you can greet them with an assault

weapon. that sends shivers down our spine. >> the court didn't say that, the legislature said that. >> the courts have tested votes. >> true. >> the courts affirmed both. this ties into the big lie. listen, i went through an exercise with jonathan allen of nbc recently of what is a real import of the big lie. just we're electing ignorant people who refuse to acknowledge the truth and it's deeper than that. if you're told your vote in 2020 did not matter, because the election was stolen, rigged, well then the satisfaction of that grievance cannot happen at the ballot box in 2022 because your franchise has no integrity to it. now you have to lean towards intimidation and suppression and violence. that's why -- >> as a correction. >> that's why we saw on january 6th and now. >> what's insane for that, that voter, every other vote that cast on that day worked. if you're jim jordan's constituent the grievance -- you if you look at a ballot the

only thing called rig is that one line. because everyone else they sent back went. >> those with the guns who do you think they're there for? they're there for black and brown people and people that look like democrats in their view of the world. that's why they're there >> frank, stay close. to your constable and to us. we're going to be calling on you all week long. thank you so much for joining us today. up next here, republicans have sought to paint democrats as out of touch with voters, but what even is, we've been asking, the republicans agenda? what are their plans? we'll talk ground game and messaging with jamie harrison next. arrison next (music) ...innovation... (music) ...discovery? or simply stability... ...security... ...protection? you shouldn't have to choose. (music)

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we're not perfect but we are responsible adults who didn't attack the capitol on january 6th, didn't try to whitewash it. don't pretend we're for law enforcement and ignore 140 cops getting beat up on that horrible day. we're not perfect, chuck. we've got all kinds of things we can do better but responsible adults that believe in this democracy fighting for a better future. >> can't argue with anything there. another strong, direct closing argument from a top democrat facing reelection tomorrow. joining us now is a man tasked with leading his party in all matters, messaging and campaign strategy, all across the country in these midterm elections, the chair of the democratic national committee, jamie harrison. i'm going to ask you what i would ask you, ask people on my

calls earlier how are you feeling? what you watching tomorrow night? what are going to be your early indicators of what kind of night you're having? >> listen, i am so energetic right now. i'm a little tired. we've just been to 13 states in 14 days. just got back from wisconsin and i'll be back in d.c. tomorrow. but nicolle, i can tell you, our candidates are amazing. our candidates are better than theirs. our volunteers are -- >> even mitch mcconnell thinks so. >> exactly right. >> our volunteers are just blowing it off the roof in terms of door knocks and all. one of the things the lessons that i learn from 2020, you know i ran for the united states senate, we flooded the airwaves, but we did not have the ground game for close elections. that's why the dnc put $90 million on the ground. presidential turnout operations in many battleground states in comparison, we spend $30 million

in 2018, but $90 million this cycle. we started two years ago instead of starting two weeks or two months ago. i'm feeling really comfortable, i'm confident because i believe that these are going to be close elections and in close elections it's not tv ads that win, it's being able to pull the people out of the houses and take them to the polls that is -- that wins these close, close elections. i think we have the operation to do just that. >> jamie, i'm curious, on the ground game, i certainly understand that we have learn that tv alone does not do it, just like you said, and, frankly, social media and digital advertising doesn't do it. identifying our voters with the hard door knock and then the pulling them out, how much of that 90 million has been spent on trying to get early votes in, versus who is going to show up tomorrow? because we have now got this weird thing going on where it

seems like who shows up at election day are republicans and we don't win until the mail is counted and that allows this false narrative to take hold that somehow something is going on not legit. talk about how much we're going to be pulling people out to actually physically vote tomorrow? >> there is going to be a lot of push and pull, senator. part of what we've built, this is the reason we needed to start earlier, is so that our organizers are on the ground building relationships, coming up and building great volunteer teams that are in these communities and have been embedded in these communities for well over a year or so. they know the people, they've been talking to them over a year about voting and the important issues, getting some of them registered. for the first time in 20 years the dnc had a voter registration program and we've been following those folks newly registered this summer and we are following them so that they have a plan to get to the polls. we are emboldened by the early

vote number right now, because what that does is, we don't have to worry about those voters now. we need to chase the really hard to get voters. that's what we're focused on right now. it is calling those people, texting those people, knocking on their doors. we have rides to the poll already. folks can go to i will vote.com if you have any issues or need a ride, go to i will vote.com we have teams ready and willing and are on the ground making it happen. >> mr. chairman, david jolly here. i'm going to go a little parochial with you, what are the democrats' plans for viability in the state of florida in 2024? >> listen, florida is really, really important, and i think culturally florida is important to the nation. we have a large latino community there that is extremely diverse, huge puerto rican populations and other latinos all across the

state, and so we have to do more in terms of continuing to invest in that state. large african american populations we have to cultivate. it's an important state to me, and i know to the president. the president went to do one of his rallies down in south florida. that indicates what he believes how important florida is. we're going to continue to push. we have great party chair down there in terms of manny who has been working to rebuild the connections in florida. we're not giving you up. we're going to continue to fight for each and every vote in that state >> jamie harrison, this is a really busy sort of final 48 hours for you. thank you for taking time to take our questions. >> thank you so much. >> good luck tomorrow. >> go vote, folks. right wing militia leader stewart rhodes facing government prosecutors today. how that went, next. ext.

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disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. talk to your doctor about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. oath keepers founder stewart rhodes this afternoon cross-examined by government prosecutors in the seditious conspiracy trial that looks to prove that rhodes and four others are guilty for their actions on january 6th. government attorneys pressed rhodes on the oath keepers' past and how the group from the very beginning has been focused on, quote, forcible opposition to the government. appearing at racial justice protests all across america for much of the last decade. earlier in the day rhodes took the stand in his own defense,

telling the jury that the far right militia group was never supposed to enter the capitol. they weren't supposed to go inside on january 6th. joining us now, former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner. he's been inside the courtroom all throughout and telling us the story of what's going on. this was perhaps the most stunning to me is his defense was everything we did outside was the plan but going inside was off script? >> yeah. that is his claim. and it's sort of falling under the weight of its own frivolity as the prosecutor, assistant u.s. attorney kate rocozi, is doing what i would call a surgical cross-examination, just taking apart elmer stewart rhodes' testimony slice by slice. and the nice thing about watching miss rocozi work is first of all, she knows the answer to every question before she asks it. and then when elmer stewart rhodes disagrees with her she

will follow it up with what i call hard impeachment. his own words. friction, when he should said, well, mr. rhodes, you were the overall commander of the oath keepers and the operation on january 6th. and he wrote say, well no, that's true. well, let's go to your own written chats in this signal group with all of your fellow oath keepers where you say and i quote, she put it up on the screen, "i am the overall commander of the operation." that is one example. and she just took down his direct and is testimony question by question to the point where the author was sort of laughing because she was trumping rhodes' testimony each and every time. >> yeah, the rhodes vs. rhodes is easy to understand. and i wonder if you can explain -- i think it's amazing to learn that he's testified to

his ongoing loyalty to the big lie and his only problem with january 6th was that trump did not invoke the insurrection act. how did that land? >> i don't think it's landing particularly well because again, elmer stewart rhodes was caught in his own words saying we need to use the words insurrection act and use it as cover. and he's trying to maintain i didn't tell my subordinates the oathkeepers to do anything violent or to storm the capitol but then when miss rocozi would read his own signal chat posts over and over he was seen to say things, nicolle, like the final defense is us and our rifles. we're not getting out of this without a fight. and if donald trump fails to act on january 6th the oath keepers will act. we'll have no choice. so you know what? stewart rhodes can say whatever he wants on the stand but his written communications to his

own subordinates are speak a whole lot more loudly. >> right. and those obviously he never thought would be made public. everything he does in the courtroom is probably a calculation. glenn kirschner, thank you again for being in there for us. it's such a treat to get to talk to you. thank you. and claire and david, thank you for being here. this is fun, all of us at one big happy table. we'll do it again. >> we'll see you later. and tomorrow. >> exactly. and the next day. up next for us our friend voting rights attorney marc elias will be here. he kicks off the next hour of "deadline: white house." don't go anywhere. don't go anywhere. (bridget vo) with thyroid eye disease... i hid from the camera. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d was beyond help... ...but then i asked my doctor about tepezza. (vo) tepezza is the only medicine that treats t.e.d. at the source not just the symptoms. in a clinical study, more than 8 out of 10 patients taking tepezza had less eye bulging. tepezza is an infusion.

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what i fear in the aftermath of 2022, even in the best case scenario where we have peace and we have voting, is will kevin mccarthy denounce the candidates who deny the outcome of the election? will mitch mcconnell tell republican senate candidates to concede rather than perpetuating false narratives? i doubt it. the rnc is not denouncing what the pillow salesmen are saying, what the steve bannons are saying, what the kari lakes are saying. they are embracing it. so it's more than complicit. they are part of it. >> it was haunting when he first said it friday. all the more haunting now one day before election day. hi again, everybody. it's 5:00 in new york. on friday at this hour voting rights attorney marc elias said that, told us about his concerns for these critical midterm elections, now just one day away. how donald trump is no longer just the sore loser he was in 2020 with his ragtag team of

quasi-lawyers spouting falsehoods about the election on tv and in court. he's now got the weight of one of our major political parties and many people out in the states behind him. as the gop has demonstrated for the last two years, it's more than complicity, as marc said to us, to the ex-president's unsubstantiated and completely debunked claims about election fraud. there's new reporting in the "washington post" that shows how republican officials in battleground states have taken to the courts to go after one of trump's biggest targets. that's the mail-in vote. the "post" reports this. "in pennsylvania the state supreme court has agreed with the republican national committee that election officials should not count ballots on which the voter neglected to put a date on the outer envelope even in cases when the ballots arrive before election day. thousands of ballots have been set aside as a result, enough to swing a close race." in michigan christina karamo, the republican nominee for

secretary of state, sued the top election official in detroit last month, seeking to toss absentee ballots not cast in person with an i.d., even though that runs contrary to that state's requirements. a judge dismissed that case earlier today. and in wisconsin republicans won a court ruling that will prevent some mail ballots from being counted when the required witness address is not complete. "washington post" puts these moves into perspective for us. "while the rejections may have some basis in state law, experts say they appear to go against a principle enshrined in federal law of not disenfranchising voters for minor errors. critics argue that the overall purpose is to separate republicans and democrats by method of voting and then to use lawsuits to void mail ballots that are disproportionately democratic." we'll head over to georgia. there's another battle there over mail-in ballots. it's been brewing for a while. the aclu filed a lawsuit yesterday after learning approximately 1,000 absentee

ballots in cobb county were never mailed out. they say georgia's new voting law is to blame since it shortens the period of time the county can mail out an absentee ballot. here's what the executive director of the aclu of georgia andrea young told my colleague blayne alexander today. >> in 2020 a million and a half people in georgia voted by mail. the governor and i voted the same. we voted by mail. we took our mail -- we took our ballots to an outdoor drop box. this process worked flawlesly. the ballots were audited. we had numerous recounts in georgia. there was no reason to change the process. but the legislature and the governor came in, slashed the days to process mail-in ballots, and as a result we see that a million fewer mail-in ballots have been cast in this election. >> and just this afternoon in response to this lawsuit cobb county has agreed to extend the

absentee ballot deadline to november 14th. this is where we begin the hour, with voting rights attorney and founder of the democracy docket marc elias. i know it's a very busy day, it's a very busy week. thank you for making time for us. >> happy to be here. >> tell me what you're watching. we tick through some of these, but tell me what is sort of flashing red for you today. >> yeah, i think you've really captured it well. you know, democracy docket, which tracks all of this litigation, just before i came on i checked. there are 128 lawsuits that have been filed so far this year across 35 states. 82 of them are active. and at the beginning of the day i tweeted out that we were going to see decisions in 11 cases. we have six decisions so far today including the two you mentioned in michigan, which was a victory for voters there. the aclu case in georgia was a victory. we saw victories in pennsylvania. we saw victories in new york. there are images online, if you

go look, there are voting machines literally being wheeled in to vassar college today as a result of a court victory there. republicans are 0 for 6 today and democracy is 6-0. so we've still got five more cases that i expect to come in but i'm feeling good about how the courts are handling it. >> marc, is the litigation strategy to disenfranchise voters straight up, or is it to disenfranchise voters if you win and to cast doubt and aspersion on the result if you lose? is it both or -- >> oh, it's the second. i think it may be more of the second part of the second than even the first part of the second. i think that much of had litigation -- take the lawsuit, for example, in wisconsin. a conservative group brought a lawsuit to throw out all of -- or to not count all of the ballots cast by our men and women in uniform serving overseas. i mean, that's just obscene. and it's also not going to prevail. you know. on behalf of our client we are

intervening in that lawsuit to defend those voters. but that's going to wind up failing. but why bring that lawsuit? why are republicans bringing so many of these cases to try to disenfranchise voters? it's not because i think they think they're going to win but it's because it gives them grievance. it gives them grievance when they lose. and if there's one thing we know about trump and the maga movement, it loves grievance more than anything else. >> marc, i wonder sometimes -- and i said this about the voter intimidation, you know, investigations and referrals to doj. the specter of fear is the point. and so i have a lot of squeamishness when we sit around in the morning and decide whether to cover, you know, these goobers in camo outfits with their guns and video cameras. people want people to know that they're there. but it's also an extraordinary moment in american democracy that you have to feel -- to feel uncomfortable and uneasy going in to drop off your ballot is

their point. and i guess my question is around these lawsuits if it's not the point for them to prevail but the point to keep you running around fighting all of their frivolous litigation what are they so afraid of if you weren't having to defend against their attacks on voting? >> i think they're afraid that if everyone was able to vote and they'd get an accurate count they'd lose. it's nothing more complicated than that. they know if every eligible voter was allowed to cast a ballot and that it was counted accurately they'd lose. that has been the whole threat to trumpism from the beginning. let's not forget, you know, people say donald trump won in 2016. he lost by 3 million popular vote. that popular vote total deficit grew in 2020. so they have to find increasingly creative ways to prevent the majority will from willing out. and one of the ways you do it is you suppress the vote. but i think that one of the things they learned is that that's not enough and they need

to affect the way votes are counted and elections are certified. and nicolle, if there's one thing i worry about in the next couple weeks is we're now going to get into vote counting and certification season and i think we have not seen the last of the bag of tricks that republicans will have. >> will you just sort of take us to school on this? i think we all got a reeducation in the red mirage in the public hearings of the january 6th select committee when all of trump's campaign aides testified under oath to the fact their strategy was to point to what they knew was a mirage, in other words, not real, this pileup of votes on the same day that they knew would go down. they seemed to suggest in their sworn testimony that even trump was told that would be a mirage. it's not clear if he knew what mirage went. but it seems that republican legislatures have kept some of the way that we count the vote in place. just explain what that is and what election night could look like. >> sure. so look, we're not going to know the outcome in a number of the key battleground states on

election night because states are receiving not just election day votes, people who voted on election day, but also people who might have voted early in person, where those have not been fully tabulated, but most importantly it's the people who vote by mail. and those mail-in votes take longer to tally because there are, nicolle -- and this is one of the perverse things about the republican argument. vote by mail ballots are the ballots most subjected to the greatest scrutiny. they are the most likely to be rejected for technicality. so that process of scrutinizing them and frankly rejecting them takes more time. they are the ballots that take the longest to count. and of course those ballots are increasingly more likely to be of democrats. so as those ballots are tallied you're going to see more and more democratic votes come in and their vote share increase. i just a video someone tweeted out at me of steve bannon talking to doug mastriano today

and they were repeating the big lie. and mastriano was like, we can send a man to the moon, why can't we tally -- we should be able to tally all the votes on election day. and we shouldn't count anything after election day. well, the reason we can't count them all by election day, doug mastriano, is because the republican legislature in the state doesn't allow the preprocessing of those ballots until 7:00 a.m. on election day. so it's really terrible what we're seeing. >> you know, this is going to date me, but republicans used to vote by mail more than -- karl rove ascended in republican politics in part from direct mail and mail voting. if you were to offer advice, would you like to see the democratic vote spread out more among mail, absentee and same day? would that help? or is that not the point in a democracy? >> look, it's not the point. i mean, you're exactly right, by the way. and you don't have to date back very far. republicans historically voted

more by mail. until 2020. you know, until the pandemic. that was their preferred method of voting. and it was only in 2020 that republicans changed because donald trump one day decided to wake up and tweet that he didn't like mail-in voting. and all these republican consultants went scurrying back to say yeah, yeah, yeah, we no longer like mail-in voting. but the truth is the reason we have mail-in voting and early voting and same-day voting is for different voters one method or the other works better for them. they're all secure. they all get the ballot delivered and ready to be counted. and there's no reason to target one over the other as somehow more suspicious than the other. if anything, like i said, mail-in voting tends to be the ballots that are subject to the greatest scrutiny. so are the least, you know, problematic. but yet that's where republicans have decided to villainize mail-in voting. >> i think it's the georgia voter suppression law takes away

drop boxes and i think the texas law does too. and the ballots that have to be prepared and dropped off in drop box izz think run of those states requires you to show a license when you turn it in. they all require attestations. they have targeted the most security kinds of voting. i guess to your point that the voter suppression is the point. >> yeah. so that's a really important point. it's like really important, nicolle, and i can't emphasize this enough. one of the points that i constantly hear from republicans and conservatives is marc, how come you don't like any ballot security measures? why are you against all security and election integrity measures? you know what the biggest advancement in election integrity security measures was? drop boxes. drop boxes were created because people were afraid that ballots might be stolen out of the mail system. people complete their ballot and they put it in their envelope, their mailbox at the end of the street or they go through the postal service. so someone came up with the idea

of metal containers that are secure that are picked up by the election official. so the idea that they are now being targeted by republicans, they are literally targeting one of the most secure methods of voting. >> i would say it's shocking but i think we're not allowed to be shocked anymore. >> you know why. >> we know why. it's very much on brand. marc, i have a sense of how busy you are. thank you so much. i'm going to warn you ahead of time we will continue to call on you this week. >> and i'll be back. >> thank you so much. joining our conversation, editor at large of the bulwark charlie sykes is back. also joining us former maryland congresswoman donna evers is here. and "new york times" editorial board member mara gay is here. what are you looking for? i don't like predictions but what are you going to be watching? >> well, after that conversation with marc -- >> it's so dark. >> it's dark. but one of the questions i'll have for him in the days ahead is where we should be looking. we've been deluged over the past year or two by stories about partisan election officials

taking over the machinery of election counting, ballot counting across the country. so i have concerns about that. but ultimately tomorrow it's just a question of turnout. who has voted early and who shows up tomorrow. i think no matter what your partisan affiliation is i really hope americans go out and vote and let their voice be heard and are not intimidated by some of these measures meant to keep them home, which is really shameful. >> you know, charlie, something i keep thinking about is we haven't had an election in sort of post-covid america. so the same-day turnout, what do we look back? do we look back to '18? what are your questions about what's going to happen tomorrow? >> well, i'm really struck by how much we don't know that we don't know. >> right. >> and that's certainly one of the questions. we don't know what is the difference between the ground games of the parties this year as opposed to two years and four

years ago. what are the polls missing? what are they picking up? what is this campaign of fear and grievance that you are talking about? i was really struck by your conversation because i think people do need to strap in that this is not just going to be a one-day affair, that the overtime is going to be extraordinary because we've spent the last two years with republicans ginning up and creating this machinery for election denial. and much of the republican base has now been -- has marinated in this for the last two years and now expects the challenges that used to be one-offs. i will tell you i lived in wisconsin and in the past i have voted absentee or i voted early. i didn't do that this year because i am watching the legal challenges, i do not want my vote to be disqualified or suppressed because i leave off a date or a digit on my address. and i do think that if the

election is close here there is going to be a major effort here in wisconsin to disenfranchise my fellow citizens. and i don't want to lose that. and i wonder how many other voters are feeling the same way. because i think right now when you think about how deeply -- you know, how deeply immersed the republican establishment has now been in election denialism, does anyone think that they will not apply this to close elections in georgia, pennsylvania, arizona and wisconsin over the last few days? so you know, really strap in. we may be about to experience something that we have never seen in a midterm. >> charlie, i am voting in person tomorrow for the first time in i don't remember the last time i went and voted in person. i was usually working when i was on campaigns and i'm working now. but i'm doing the same thing. i can't even explain my reasons. especially in new york i don't have those worries about being disenfranchised. but i have the same feeling that i want to defy the republican machinery and i want sort of a

true count maybe on election day. and i just want to ask you one more question. i think that what happened in 2000 was this earthquake, right? trump sowed doubt about the election we know from the january 6th committee that he was working with tom fitton on invalidating the election seven months before he lost it. the truth is our democracy is in worse shape now. i mean, 48 states passed voter integrity laws after the courts, many of them led by trump-appointed judges, found zero fraud. the democracy's in worse shape now than it was two years ago. do you think that our expectations are too bleak? do you think they are not bleak enough for what could happen tomorrow? >> i think that we ought to have a high level of concern because otherwise we'll be taken by surprise. so i think it is legitimate to be alarmed. look, the window of what is acceptable has shifted. so again, in my home state of wisconsin the chairwoman of the state assembly elections committee actually is pushing to

invalidate all military ballots. i want you to think about that for the moment. thank you for your service and go buzz off. this would have been absolutely inconceiable even a few years ago that someone would be openly talking about disenfranchising large numbers of serving voters. and yet this is the environment that we're in right now. so we don't know -- just like, you know, if we had this conversation the day before the 2020 election and you asked me that same question, i would say yeah, we ought to be very, very concerned. and yet even then we had no idea the lengths they would go post-election. and i think we ought to have that same level of vigilance this time. >> you know, and donna, the other thing that's undeniable is you could argue, i suppose, if you're mitch mcconnell or kevin mccarthy that the decision to humor trump and let him lick his wounds by not acknowledging that

president joe biden was the president-elect on november whatever it was, 4th or 5th, you could argue i guess that they didn't know that there would be a deadly insurrection at their place of business, that five law enforcement officials would lose their lives, that hundreds would be traumatized from engaging in what they described as medieval hand-to-hand combat. but we know now. we know better. what do you think of the people who are already out there saying they will not accept the results of the election if they don't win? >> well, i mean, look, i think we understand that that is true, but you know, the fact is that there are already millions of people who already cast their ballots, that in many of these states what are they going to decide, that one election was wrongly decided but the rest of the races that are on the ballot were not? and i think the american people are getting smarter about this.

but i do worry that because of the endless litigation, because of the threats at the polls, that that has its own way of potentially suppressing the vote. so i think it's going to be important for voters to be patient about the outcome. we already know that in some states because there's a delay in counting mail-in ballots that that could take some time to decide some of these races that are going to be very, very close. and again, i think the watch word for the american people as it was in 2020 is to be patient and allow democracy to work, allow the process to move forward. and then we have to continue to challenge the election deniers. because now they're not just denying a national election, they're denying electionsed up and down the ballot. you know, as the president has said, this really is a threat to democracy, and maybe that will

move some voters. but the key here is going to be patience through the week. and in some cases, maybe even into next week and beyond, to decide this election. it doesn't mean that those votes are invalid. >> all right. no one is going anywhere today. when we come back, in the fight to defeat election deniers another democratic candidate in a tough race has won the endorsement of republican congresswoman liz cheney. that democratic member, u.s. congresswoman abigail spanberger of virginia, will be our next guest. don't go anywhere. plus a hard-hitting new ad from senator raphael warnock in georgia aiming to win over republicans who aren't quite comfortable with herschel walker's personal history. we'll get the latest on the race that could determine control of the u.s. senate. plus, there are five states where reproductive rights are literally on the ballot tomorrow. and perhaps none more crucially than michigan. where an up or down vote could change the legal status of abortion moving forward.

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when tomorrow night is through, and i use that word loosely, some states will need extra time to count the votes. in some instances like we've been discussing that could take days. but virginia is not one of them. elections officials there are telling us that they expect to have a nearly complete vote count late in the evening tomorrow. keep an eye on what happens in that state's 7th district. specifically the race for u.s. house. it is considered a high-stakes bellwether contest. congresswoman abigail spanberger

taking on trump-endorsed yesli havinga. spanberger actually picked up an endorsement over the weekend from republican congresswoman liz cheney. here's what the vice chair of the january 6th committee said to nbc washington. >> we're at a moment where we cannot afford to elect people into office who excuse in any way what president trump is saying about the last elections, people who suggest, as abigail's opponent has, that somehow january 6th was just the exercise of first amendment rights. >> democratic congresswoman abigail spanberger of virginia joins us right now. thank you so much. i know these days are pretty fraingt and busy, so thanks for making time for us. >> thanks for having me. >> let's start with that endorsement. first, are you happy to have it? and how do you sort of deploy that in these final 24 hours? >> i'm absolutely happy to have

congresswoman cheney's endorsement. particularly at these times of pretty significant division within our communities, the fact that congresswoman cheney, a woman who has demonstrated incredible principle in defense of our constitution, in defense of our country, the fact that she would despite our policy differences, there's areas where we agree and disagree, that she would endorse me, recognizing my commitment to working across the aisle, my commitment to getting things done and notably my commitment to defense of democracy, particularly given the contrast with my opponent in this race, i'm proud that she chose to endorse and i've been talking about it across the district. >> and you have been -- i played in the last hour former president obama's closing argument around democracy. it is these themes of apolitical priorities of the national defense and homeland security have been things that you have talked about long before a

closing argument. tell me what you hear from your constituents and what sort of conversations you're most sort of eager to have and which ones give you some pause. >> i've been having conversations across our district where i begin by saying what's most important to you or people will bring to me the issues that are driving them to the polls or the issues that matter. and really across the board it's different for everyone. i think what is a clear theme is a level of uncertainty. for many that's a level of uncertainty related to the economy. how they're going to pay for their prescription drugs or their food or their gas. and for some it's uncertainty about the rights and the very freedoms we have as americans. concern about voting rights. concern about elections. and concern frankly from many people who have previously or long considered themselves republicans who are worried about the trajectory of the country, who are worried about the fact that in a race like ours my opponent has defended the january 6th

insurrectionists, has called the fbi corrupt and deep state, has pledged to not only support legislation to free anyone in prison related to january 6th but to compensate them. and here's the clear contrast. she's also in support of a nationwide abortion ban, the government dictating pregnancy to women under all circumstances. and so in our district i hear about all of these issues. i think people want -- and this goes back a bit to the congresswoman cheney endorsement. people want to see things getting done. they want to see pragmatic legislaors who are building coalitions around policy that's can move our country forward, help our communities and strengthen our economy. >> you know, when i was working in politics on september 11th it was a different -- it was a national issue but in virginia it was a local story. and so many people were affected at the pentagon. and i wonder if january 6th is the same way. does that come up? do people feel like political violence was right on your

doorstep at the capitol because it was so close to the state? >> i think -- i can't speak to what it's like in other states but it certainly is relevant and close to home here in virginia. when i've been making visits at early voting stops, one day i saw a capitol police officer who i recognized because i speak to her frequently in the halls, and she lives in the district and was voting. another day i was approached by a gentleman who told me his story. he had been a capitol police officer until 2014, when he retired and he spoke to me about sitting at home watching the attack on that capitol and his fehr for the people that he cared about, the people he worked with who were in that building. so i do think there is a bit of a very personal nature, particularly because we have the very men and women who fought to protect the capitol, everyone in it, and our very democracy live in or near our district. >> congresswoman abigail spanberger, the stakes are very high. we'll all be watching the race

tomorrow. good luck. and thank you for spending some time with us. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. donna, she's very much in line with the values and priorities of her district. she also makes this congress better. and that is part of -- those two pieces i think are part and parcel to liz cheney's endorsement of her and her message around that endorsement. how do you -- you know, what do you make of -- what are you watching in her race and in her district? >> well, i have to say i was not surprised at all that abigail spanberger would be the kind of candidate that liz cheney would endorse. her district -- i'm in the washington region, and so i hear the ads all the time as well. but you know, her district has a lot of federal employees in it, people who are connected to the federal government. and she described people who work at the capitol. and so the -- while january 6th and democracy may not be at the

top of the list for all voters it's certainly in that construct. and i think that members like her represent what i say is the breadth and the depth of the democratic party. we saw liz cheney endorse alyssa slotkin and abigail spanberger. those are exactly the kind of members who really strengthenca. and i think that she is the kind of member who as she describes works across the aisle because her distr requires that. >> right. all right. the three of us are going to head down to georgia after fitting in a quick break. the senate race in georgia of course nothing less than potentially determining control of the u.s. senate. incumbent democratic senator raphael warnock is making a direct appeal to republicans with an unsparing new ad against his opponent herschel walker. we'll show it to you after a quick break. don't go anywhere.

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republicans are speaking out about herschel walker's history of violence. >> herschel walker hasn't earned my respect or my vote. and you know, i'm like hundreds of thousands of other republicans here in georgia. we're confused. we don't really have anywhere to go right now. >> if you held a gun to your wife's head and threatened to blow it off, you're a bad man.

and georgians deserve better. >> georgians deserve better than herschel walker. that is the brand new hard-hitting tv ad quoting republicans from georgia's democratic senator raphael warnock. it landed, debuted over the weekend. it is the latest in the sort of war of words between warnock and his republican opponent herschel walker. it's a final proposal by warnock's team to win over any remaining undecided voters including frustrated georgia republicans in a race, as you saw, where one candidate is, quote, so bad, so wrong for the state, that the other can successfully enlist two republican state officials to criticize their own party's candidate. it's happening in pennsylvania as well in the shapiro race. a kind of underreported phenomenon. joining our conversation tia mitchell "atlanta journal-constitution" washington reporter. tia, i know georgia a little

bit. these republican endorsements for senator warnock could be determinative. tell me how this ad landed. >> yeah. so it could be determining the outcome of the race, but we do know that a lot of people in georgia have already voted and a lot of people in georgia who plan to vote tomorrow have already made up their minds. so the question is can this ad sway republicans who are on the fence to either vote for warnock or perhaps leave that race blank or vote for the libertarian candidate? so i think the ad for a lot of people is landing exactly where they already are which means for those who are already skeptical of walker or were already saying he's not the right person to represent me in the senate, it's reinforcing that. but there are plenty of republicans who we've been talking to who have said the allegations are not swaying their vote, they believe walker

when he says it's all lies, and so two more republicans saying walker's a bad guy is not necessarily going to change their minds. he's their candidate and they are sticking with him because they want to flip the senate. >> and i guess probably a lot of the vote is made up. but we've been talking about what's going to happen tomorrow. if you're trying to figure out what to do on this line, that was the incumbent lieutenant governor. >> right. >> duncan. you see these two well-known republicans in the state. i worked in republican politics a long time. it used to be just an earthquake. and maybe things are so different now. if you're looking for a reason not to vote for walker that might be it. >> yeah. i have to say in such a close race, what appears to be such a close race anyway, i think it's a very smart ad for the warnock camp because you're fighting for every vote at this point.

so i actually do think that the reality is in part because of the right-wing media kind of juggernaut that undecided voters and voters who are open to changing their minds, who haven't already, are probably few and far between. but you are fighting for every single vote. so number one, that ad makes sense because some voters just make a game time decision. they go with their gut. they tell us about it afterwards, which drives some of us crazy. and then you also have on the other side what i'm very curious about down in georgia, is to see how the democratic base there reacts to this race. so you know, it may -- we certainly can predict that black voters in the state will largely vote democratic as they do often, but how many will show up? how enthusiastic will they be? that also could make the difference here. and i'm particularly interested how they respond to this race given how cynical and sad unfortunately this race has been, just the idea that these two black men are

interchangeable is so shameful and so absurd and so -- i think black voters probably know that but i'm really looking forward to seeing the returns down there. >> say more. >> well -- >> i feel like there's more. >> sure. i think that while it's true that, you know, black americans tend to affiliate with the democratic party i don't think it's so much about a partisan affiliation so much as it's about a survival mechanism for understanding intuitively who is going to stand up for you and for the issues that matter to you most in your life. and i think that someone like raphael warnock, who though certainly imperfect, no candidate is perfect, you know, a pastor, somebody who has taken hard votes, someone who has worked extremely hard for his community, to put him and his resume up against a candidate like herschel walker, who's essentially just a celebrity and has really some questionable

personal history, it's sad because to me it's just he evokes the stereotypes of a black man and the way i think we fear unfortunately -- there's a history here in this country. we fear as black americans that that is how our black men are seen. and so herschel walker is essentially a living and walking embodiment unfortunately of those stereotypes. of course he's a human being. i don't know him personally. so this is really not about him. it's about the cynicism around suggesting that, you know what? it's fine. because we'll just put up a black candidate and they're interchangeable. as though herschel walker is interchangeable with raphael warnock or barack obama. it's really hurtful, and i think black voters will recognize that for what it is. and i think if republicans think they won't they may have a surprise coming tomorrow. >> well, half of that cynicism

is the right-wing media establishment's disparagement of the victims of herschel walker's domestic violence. so just reflexively, the woman who had a gun held to her face was, what, misremembering? lying? that is sort of the rot of the right-wing disinformation machine in overdrive. >> i have to tell you that i think it's the definition of insanity that anyone is seriously considering the possibility that herschel walker will be a united states senator. i mean, when you think about it, the lies, the hypocrisy, the abortions, the violence, the obvious unfitness for office. but you asked before whether -- what the rules are. what matters. herschel walker wins tomorrow night or in the runoff election, and i think it's a pretty good indication that nothing matters, that it is all tribal, that it's just simply whether or not you're going to vote to give one party control over the other party. because you know, it is an extraordinary moment when somebody -- when somebody like herschel walker is even

competitive. look, you and i both remember when any one of these scandals or stories would have been disqualifying, when it wouldn't have been just two excommunicated republicans cutting an ad, it would have been the entire party cutting him loose. >> right. >> it would have been universal. and that's not happening. so i think that's a pretty good indication of where we are in our politics right now. and by the way, a quick reminder, to keep an eye on tomorrow night, you have to get 50% of the vote to win the election. >> right. or you go to a runoff. >> if neither candidate gets 50% we are in a runoff. so for all you georgia voters who think it's going to be over tomorrow night, not so fast. >> yeah. vote. vote, vote, vote. tia, i want to ask you one question. i was reading some of your coverage, some of the local coverage. senator raphael warnock has run a very -- as a very bipartisan senator. this is not the first republican that has appeared in his campaign messaging. he's run on bipartisan legislation he's worked on. so just talk about the race that he's run in that regard. >> yes. that has really been part of his

message, is not only is he willing to work in a bipartisan fashion but he's willing to part ways with his party on certain issues. you know, for example, he pushed for suspending the federal gas tax over, you know, party leaders, president biden didn't necessarily support that. and raphael warnock said this is what i think you should be doing. you know, he's been out front on issues like voting rights and even some of the legislation as far as health care and health care costs, you know, a little bit in front of perhaps how quickly some of the party leaders were moving also on student loan forgiveness. so he's been saying i can work across the aisle, kind of giving himself -- trying to appeal to those moderate voters. >> tia mitchell, i know you are running all over the place. we really wanted to talk to you and we're really grateful to you for making some time for us today. thank you so much. still ahead for us, the key battleground state where the right to an abortion is on the ballot and voters there will

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♪♪ whenever heartburn strikes get fast relief with tums. it's time to love food back. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums ♪ a lot of the young people -- i'm 25, and women, they're voting and they're primarily voting because of roe being overturn. but i think a lot of them are going to vote, you know, in support soft democratic candidates that support a woman's right to choose, you know, because abortion is health

care. >> it's still so jarring to hear, because roe was overturn. that really happened, and that was one supporter of michigan governor gretchen whitmer on why she'll be supporting the governor tomorrow. it comes as abortions are literally on the ballot in michigan and in states like nebraska, kansas, pennsylvania, georgia, wisconsin, florida, kentucky, north carolina, and arizona, where ballot referendums and the candidates who win could determine whether abortion is accessible at all for women who need abortion care. joining us from east lancing, michigan, moderator of washington week on publics, my friend and colleague, she's been reporting from michigan leading up to tomorrow's vote. tell me what you're hearing. >> reporter: good evening, nicole. all eyes are on michigan, and i'm here at michigan state university where they're saying go green and go vote. that is the slogan as this crowd is waiting in anticipation of

governor whitmer to come out and support and rally. you can see the crowd is a pretty big crowd. mostly democratic -- i would say fully democratic crowd. they're talk about a woman's right to vote. they're saying it's critical for people to supreme court proposal three. gretchen whitmer went on to say, this is a central part of her closing message. this is critical part of why she wants to be re-elected. he opponent says the opposite. she's saying abortion isn't an important issue, she's saying economy is important. also saying that on abortion rights, she doesn't believe abortion should be legal in any case, including rape and incest, so anybody's case what happens here. the race tightened in the last few weeks and month but gretchen whitmer is confident she'll able to pull out a win here. but as you can tell, a lot of energy as the governor is

supposed to be coming it on stage in a few hours. i have been talking to the crowd. they're excited and ready. this is basically what preelection day looks like here in michigan. >> earlier in the program, claire mccaskill made a good point that nobody had to ensure all these national forces we talk ability you're on the front lines, what voting roe looks like, but gretchen whitmer had to live with the fear of political violence as it was directed at her. how much are those things in the air in terms of the base that's behind you tonight? >> it's a critical question i spoke to the governor one-on-one. she was clear she understands that political violence is something that's a threat to democracy, to her personally. they were political convict of plotting to kidnap and do harm to her, so this is definitely top of mind. there are a number of republicans, including people running for governor, but also

people in this state, secretary of state as well as the attorney general -- [ inaudible ] so not only do you have the threat of political violence and people being convicted here, but you have republicans on the entire ballot to might change the makeup of the leadership, and people in michigan know it. >> donna, let me bring you into this conversation. governor whitmer has run a fantastic campaign. she has had to deal with some of the -- a lot of the election deniers. we've covered the efforts in the state. it was the target of a lot of trump's efforts to overturn his loss. what do you make a her closing message? and what are you going to be watching for in michigan tomorrow? >> i think it's really interesting that we've asked the question across the country about whether abortion politics are a driver in any of these races, and what strikes me is that gretchen whitmer has the ability, obviously. she can walk and chew gum at the

same time, and she's decided that to drive enthusiasm, to drive more voters to the polls, that this issue, the question of linking herself with proposal 3 on the ballot, is going to do that. and i think that she's right about that, that that's the differencemaker. these young people who may be registering and voting at higher rates than they have before, and i think gretchen whitmer has made the calculation that to get that edge at the end, she has a direct contrast with her opponent and she has the enthusiasm going into election day. >> yamiche, are you going to be there election day? >> i will be here in michigan on election day. i'll be looking for, what is the results of the abortion referendum? around the country you see inflation be the top issue, but there are some polls that really

say voters think abortion is a being issue. as well as the governor's race. also the mood in term of, are people feeling intimidated? are people feeling safe? also, threat to democracy. with all the election deniers on the ballot, i'm wondering, are people going to win? >> you're from michigan. what are you watching? >> i went to school in michigan, and one of the things that's very striking listening to her is that actually it's not just gretchen whitmer who has had to deal with the immediacy of the threats. everyday michigan voter have been dealing with so many of the same national threats personally, so michigan is one of the states where abortion rights, immediately after the dobbs decision, were, you know, kind of in question. and so i think that everyday uncertainty is going to drive more women especially to the polls, probably for whitmer,

than otherwise what happened. >> yamiche, charlie, donna, mara gay, thank you. quick break. we'll be right back. 'll be righ. they were the first to be verified by usp... ...an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the number one pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term

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thank you so much for joining us on this monday, and please join rachel maddow, joy reid, and steve kornacki and me in two hours. for now, it's time for "the beat"