tv Alex Wagner Tonight MSNBC October 16, 2024 1:00am-2:00am PDT
1:00 am
it was explicit in these complaints. you had a woman named karen complaining about -- parking and someone saying they were a pregnant white woman and others complaining about black lives matter shirts people were wearing. it's pretty explicit and it's a good idea for reporters to get ahead of this as much as possible and be educated of what we are looking at. this will be the strategy to create a lot of misinformation, especially on x now that it's owned by elon musk. >> thank you both. that's all in on this tuesday night. tuesday night. >> it happened in 2020 but we all knew it was going to happen. of course it's going to happen. we see it. >> it's a very large iceberg. thank you, my friend. in-person early voting started today in georgia. the previous day record was
1:01 am
setback in 2020 with a whopping 136,000 people. today blew that record just out of the water. the georgia secretary of state's office reports that more than 300,000 people voted today in the state of georgia. 300,000. that is more than double the previous trecord, if my math i correct. now, even though voting has already begun, the race to win over georgia's voters remains very much in full swing. tonight former president trump issw expected to speak at a ral in georgia. there's a live shot there. he was supposed to speak about an hour andse a half ago, but there is still no sign of him. as you can imagine, most people attending a trump rally are pretty likely to have already made up their mind about who they're voting for. but if you don't regularly to watch trump rallies, and you have not seen what they have become, well, you should see what happened in pennsylvania last night. now, by now you may have heard that multiple attendees at that
1:02 am
rally needed medical attention because of just how hot it was inside the venue. you may have also heard at some point trump decided he no longen wanted to take questions at this town sthall, but instead he jus wanted to playns some music. and you have probably heard trump then just stood there kind of swaying and occasionally, i guess, we'llio call it dancing r more than 30 minutes. you've probably heard all of that bybl now, but really you g to see it. >> would anybody else like to faint? >> let's do it now. >> please raise your hand. >> you know what we could do, though, if my guys could do it, let's make this a musical fest. so put on paverattti singing ave
1:03 am
maria. turn it up. we want it louder. ♪♪ >> i mean you have to hand it to trump, ave maria is really not your typical rally song. that is how the musical portion of trump's rally last night got started. it began as a response to medical emergencies in the crowd, but then after ave maria stopped playing, trump talked about maybe taking a few questions more before ultimately deciding that, no, actually, he wanted to just keep playing music. >> let me hear that music, please. >> everyone. let's thank president trump. god bless you.
1:04 am
1:05 am
shame ♪ ♪ it's hard to hold a candle in the cold november rain ♪ >> trump went on like that for more than 30 minutes. can you imagine if kamala harris just stopped taking questions in the middle of a rally and started doing whatever that is? no questions, just beyonce's "freedom" on loop for half an hour? can you imagine that? it would be the defining event of the election. newspapers around the globe would a talk about how harris w in cognitive decline. people would be demanding she drop out. but when trump does whatever thismp is, everyone on stage ju bobs along with the guy pretending it isn't unbelievably weird. and last night was part of a pattern. trump has been primarily doing only highly curate asked choreographed events a that loo like real interviews but that
1:06 am
actually feature friendly moderators like republican governors kristi nome and sarah huckabee sanders and congresswoman ana poleana luna, just teeing him up for softball questions. trump then rants and raves about whatever he wants, and the moderators just nod along. for the most part trump has been avoiding any genuine skepticism. today we learned he canceled a schedule interview with cnbc, which comes just a week after he bailed on an interview with "60 minutes." >> a week ago trump backed out. the campaign offered shifting explanations. first it complained we would fact check the interview. we fact check every story. trump has said his opponent doesn't do interviews because she can't handle them. he had previously declined another debate with harris, so tonight may have been the largest audience for the candidates between now and
1:07 am
election day. >> now, today trump did do a somewhat adversarial interview. he was speaking with bloomberg's editor-in-chief at the economic club of chicago. and watching trump get interviewed by an actual journalist who is actually tryingna to get answers out of donald trump, well, that was reallywe something. >> should google be broken up? >> i just haven't gotten over something the justice department did yesterday, where virginia cleaned up its voter rolls and got rid of thousands and thousands of bad votes, and the justice department sued them, that they should be allowed to put those badlo votes and illeg votes back in and let the people vote. so i haven'tle gotten -- i havet gotten over-- that. a lot of people have seen that. >> the question is about google, president trump. >> in this interview trump also claimed that 2020 was a peaceful
1:08 am
transfer of power and said that if he did call vladimir putin up to seven times after leaving the white house, it would have been a smartwo move. trump refused to comment on whether or not he did or did not call thedi leader of america's biggest geopolitical adversary but wanted everybody to know it would have been really smart if he did. and then he said that vice president harris should take a cognitive test. i would love to see a cognitive test. i don't think she could pass a cognitive test. i mean, i've watched. i don't think she could pass a cognitive sstest. >> this weekend vice president summary of her a medical a records. and yesterday a group of 230 doctors, nurses, and health care professionalsse called on trumpo release his medical records. so far he has declined. instead, trump has pointed at the seasonal allergies in vice president harris' health
1:09 am
records, an affliction trump claims is a veryen messy and dangerous situation. who exactly should take a cognitive test again? joining me now are claire mccaskill, former democratic senator from missouri, and mark leibovich, staff writer from "the s atlantic." it's great to have you both here. i don't know, do i apologize for making you to watch trump dancing for an extended period of time on stage? trump's spokesperson had this statementum following that 30-minute dance atathon. president trump has more energy and moreid stamina than anyone politics and is the smartest leader this country has ever seen. heun does multiple public event every single day and the public can see he is sharper and more focused than ever before because the future of america is at stake. claire, how do democrats respond inw a post-truth world? >> yeah, i think kamala harris is onto something. she keeps telling people to to
1:10 am
watch his rallies. you know, we're not watching them, and most networks aren't coveringet them because it's ha to cover something full of so many lies, you can't fact check it in realtime. and it's irresponsible to give somebody a platform that lies as frequently as he does. but there are some places you can to watch them. there are some far-right extreme cable networks you can find where they covere every word h says. and i really wish those people that remain undecided would to watch one of them. because whether he's telling people to vote on january 5th or instead of arizonians, he says -- he can't put sentences together. he's trying to claim it's some kind of rhetorical flourish he has, which is total b.s. it is not good. and at theb. end of the day, al,
1:11 am
this is about judgment. it was his judgment to scream out they're eating cats and dogs. it was his judgment to go into some kind of d.j. curated swinging awkward dancing last night when the election is 20 days away. he's not well. >> literally if this was anybody but donald trump the act of w swinging andna swaying and dancg in place at a town hall for 39 minutes would be the end of their candidacy. >> yeah, i mean the amazing thing about this -- well, first of all, i loved watching kristi nome trying to act normal the whole thing and looking at the body language through the audience. people kind ofth turned around looking at each other and so forth. it's really strange. i hate toea use the bird strang or weird what our english teach told us not to use, but it's
1:12 am
unprecedented. it's something between does trump actually want to win this, is he that bored? is he really not well, or is there something more going on here? i think, yes, this is not the first time he's refused to disclose his medical records, but this is a candidate who does not ever get told no. this is clear. any sort of real candidate, real campaign would have some advisers to sort of have an intervention with him saying, look, this is not going to win you ans election. and i think harris is actually do some work for him, which is, look, people need to to watch this and n actually getting him some visibility he might not otherwise have because people are so freaked out. >> it also tells you so much about the sort of thrill of trump. it's not about anything substantive, claire. it's not even a shared connection between the audience andet trump. keep in mind, this musical interlude starts happening when
1:13 am
there are people fainting in the audience. we didn't have time to play the back and forth, but trump makes fun of people fainting in the audience. anybody else going to faint? this person doesn't care about the health ofn people supporti him and o refuses to take cessis andak dances on the stage, and they stay there in the room. as mark points out, it's kind of awkward stagecraft where you can see the supports, but they're still there. they justst listen to "ave mari and "november rain" with him like it's normal. >> yeah, and he was too cheap to turn on the air-conditioning. and by the thway, people drop i his rallies all the time. he did one in 100-some degree heat10 in arizona and nevada, a people faint with some regularity and he just goes on. he didn't want to go on last night. he was tired asked he wanted to sway and bebop instead of answeringeb questions. i predict today after that bloomberg dainterview, i predic
1:14 am
that's the last time he does an interview with anybody who's not inrv the tank. and what he did there when the bloomberg journalist tried to hold himli accountable on his ridiculous economic plan, the ridiculous tariff everything 100% plan, the idea he can do away withhe taxes on everything that is popular in america and somehow avoid an economic calamity, he just said, well, you're alwaysid wrong. he turned it personally against the guy asking the questions because he could not handle answering with any specificity on anything. so i do think you're now only going to see him in the bunker with his o favorites, the ones that will protect him, the ones that willhe make sure thee doest get the awkward questions or have to do math. and he will try to closeout the campaign that way. >> you know, mark, to claire's point i'm reminded of something your o colleague charlie worzel
1:15 am
wrote in the atlantic about what this moment represents in terms fractures in society. he says this moment is nothing less than an cultural assault on any person or institution that poperates in reality. the jobs are different. you could be a reporter or doctor or scientist or a democrat, but the thing these people share is they all must attend toll and ascribe the wor as it is. this makes thel dangerous to people who cannot abide by the agonizing constraints of reality as well as to those who have financial and political interests inia keeping up the charade. i mean, this is a moment where it's not just about donald trump versus, you know, the crowd or donald trump versus tariffs, but the larger sort of conconstruct here are people who are based in reality and who are not. with trump anyone based in the fact that brushes up on the position he's taken or that challenges him, could be a victim to trump if he is elected once again. and i sort of wonder, you know, first of all what youf make of
1:16 am
that signpost or that post that worzel plants formally in today's politics in which we're in a reality, anti-reality dichotomy. >> fraum, everyone should read charlie'sre piece. it's tremendous. but certainly what journalists do, what medical experts do, what any kind of expert does. and when you to watch, you know, this spectacle we just did, and by the way i think i could have watched that w all night. it's great. but there's always been an ellmt of burr lusk and kitsch to these trump spectacles kind of like a cult-likee following. there's like a circus atmosphere. when you see this and think this guy's a jump ball away from winning the next election, you realize there is a fundamental disconnect between what should be and what is reality and what actually this spectacle can
1:17 am
become, which is, you know, anotherwh presidency for donald trump, which is pretty scary. >> claire, do you feel like there is any hope that kamala harris can -- i mean, to me the late stage of this election is really just one person trying to compete on policy and put out specifics ofan an agenda and another person who's just riding in the sort of pixy dust of his own imagination. i guess i just -- do you have any hope that reason and logic can prove, you know, a winning hand among those undecided voters? >> i think trump will help her. when help goes on a sunday show and says he wants to use the military toe go out and round his political opponents, when he says we have a corrupt press and we know how far he went to try to prosecute his enemies in his first term when there were guardrails, i do think people are tired of this act, and i'm
1:18 am
optimistic and hopeful that the field voters who decide their votes at the last minute, are going to come downt on the sid of optimism and hope instead of ugly, lying grievance that trump markets every day. >> claireev mccaskill and mark leibovich, thank you guys for putting it all in perspective. i appreciate yourll time tonigh. coming up kamala harris is making aco big, final push to shore up support among young, black men. will it work? but first, everybody's going to michigan, and there's a reason for that. that state just might decide the election. michigan congresswoman and senate candidate in one of the tightestda races in this countr alissa slotkin, joins me coming up next. slotkin, joins me comi up next.
1:23 am
look, we have 21 days until the election. we will win. we will win. it's going to be hard irk, though, it's a tight race. but here's the thing i know about everyone who's here. we like hard work. >> today vice president kamala harris landed in michigan, the state that could very well tip the scales this november, something that both campaigns are keenly aware of. trump and j.d. vance have reportedly hosted 13 events across michigan since harris entered the race, and trump has another event planned for this friday in detroit. harris and tim walz, meanwhile, have held nine events so far and will also return to the state on friday.
1:24 am
remember that joe biden won michigan by just under 155,000 votes in 2020 and the state is also the site of a hotly contested senate race that could determine the balance of power in the next congress. joining me now is michigan congresswoman alissa slotkin who's running in that senate race against former congressman mike rogers. thank you for joining me. i'm eager to get the view as i always have in terms of what's happening on the ground in michigan. we are some reports in "the new york times" there are some democrats worried about a, quote, lack of urgency in terms of the ground game in the state. they say it's hard to get yard signs and mailers and local officials aren't as mobilized as they should be. do you have a thought on that? can you confirm or deny the concerns raised in that reporting? >> well, look, i think any
1:25 am
michigander is pretty focused, we weren't activated, didn't have as many visits. biden won in 2020, so we've learned how to really mobilize. and i think, look, we've got 200 people on the ground of the harris campaign. they're active every single day. of course we want more -- of course the change at the top of the ticket means it was harder to get swag in the beginning and hard signs, but i was out in macomb county today -- i was in luvonia today, but the campaigns are out there and it's a very, very busy time in michigan right now. >> i wonder what you make of the fact another union -- another union i think the biden-walz team and to some degree the biden-harris administration trying to count on decided they're not going to endorse the democrats. the michigan firefighters union is skipping a presidential endorsement. that seems not good and also confounding given the
1:26 am
biden-harris administration on unions and the generally democrat support for union labor and union organizing. how serious is that? >> i mean, look, we've seen a couple of unions do this at the national level. local level it's a very different story. teamsters certainly at the state level has been endorsing and really out there supporting democrats. and even if their national leadership is doing something different, that's interesting to me. but this is to me about leadership. and whether you're going to lead or you're going to follow. and there's no missing the fact that halot of union leaders including the state voted for donald trump, maybe voted for him twice, are looking to potentially vote for him again. there's a real push and pull going on in the rank of file of a lot of union members, but this is why leadership matters. we're seeing people like sean fain and the uaw lead from the front. one side cares about collective
1:27 am
bargaining, one side, the democrats cares about union labor and have put their money where their mouth is literally. it's not great but i think it's a failure of leadership, not that it reflects some massive shift. >> it's going to be close in michigan, maybe as close as it was in 2020 when it was $550,000 votes give or take. what's your concern as far as the arab american voters in your state, in a really close election. i wonder what you make of hamtrammic, michigan, one of the largest population centers for muslim and african citizens. and many supporters who are
1:28 am
propalestine, that it supporters should not vote for donald trump. i wonder what differences both of those realities make on the margins. >> we've got a lot of different sort of groups going on here right now, and it's sort of like a mixing bowl effect. we've got folks who are -- we think would never be trump voters are now saying they're going to vote for trump. folks who are frustrated with the top of the ticket and who are saying i'm going to vote for a third party, that's a classic michigan issue. we're like that in every election. and, you know, i think donald trump has been kind of trying to make his way into some of our ethnic and religious communities and making promises he can't keep, telling people he can't possibly deliver on, trying to make them believe he's not going to be who we know him to be from the first four years that he was in office. so we've been having counter conversations. certainly the mayor of hamtrammic is bangladeshi american.
1:29 am
i had big events with them this week including one of a stop to one of their local businesses. it's a competition here. i just think people think they understand a place like michigan if you're in new york or ka are, but we're in a very different place with independently minded voters. they don't just do what you think they're going to do, and that's why you have to work here. nothing happens without work volunteering, just out there door knocking. it's a real thing and it matters here. >> yeah. i'm still stunned by the fact i was in michigan a couple weeks ago, and there were just such a number of folks who were genuinely union labors whose jobs in many ways benefitted directly from the work of this administration, who really didn't know which way they were going to vote, really didn't have an opinion on what biden and harris had done for them and their jobs and were genuinely going to make the decision they said on their way to the polls, in line.
1:30 am
and donald trump arrives, you know, in michigan and insults detroit and then has either the audacity or shamelessness or wisdom, i don't know, to say he's going back to detroit on friday. does that kind -- does nothing -- is up down and down up? i mean, how -- how do you explain away the sort of insults and the disregard that trump is showing to michigan voters by name, calling out detroit, and his just surprising strength in the state? >> yeah, i mean, he came to detroit, dumped on detroit. today he was in chicago having another talk, dumped on detroit again. like you're not even detroit anymore, man, and he's still talking about it, and yet he's coming back on friday. and he doesn't understand we're proud of that city and the historic turn around that's happened there. and everyone feels committed to it, so i can't explain his decision making. look, you have to imagine
1:31 am
michiganders, the media market in detroit is expensive. people are just being bombarded in mail, digital, tv. and frankly, michiganders, most of them can't stand that political stuff so they're sort of shunned out. like you said they're making decisions at the very last minute. it's kind of a vibe check, and it's the job of both parties to make their case and try to get in under the wire because of those voters. that's why it's such a hotly contested place. that's why we're a swing state. that's why we're always competitive here and the minute you flip on michigan it's going to flip the other way. >> mike rogers said he's worried about democrats planningtia nan gans at the polls. how worried are you about republican shicannery onary after election day in your state?
1:32 am
>> just to be clear he said shenanigans in southeast michigan, which is detroit. we know what he's saying when he says that. we have a strong secretary of state. we believe in our democratic process. the vast majority of michiganders just want free and fair election, and they want them to be certified and want them not to be involved in all the drama we were involved with in 2020. most people understand joe biden won that election, and i think i don't fear that we're going to have a problem with our elections because we have responsible clerks and a responsible secretary of state who's going to make sure it's implemented well. >> congresswoman alissa slotkin, in one of the tightest baltales in the country, thanks for taking the time tonight. really appreciate it. still ahead this evening three weeks before election day, kamala harris is stepping up her appeals to black voters with a wide ranging sit down interview in detroit with radio host charlamagne "the god."
1:33 am
how'd she do? that's next. god." how'd she do that's next. but i'm protected (pause) with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious for those over 60, including those with asthma, diabetes, copd and certain other conditions. but i'm protected. arexvy is proven to be over 82% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease from rsv and over 94% effective in those with these health conditions. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. arexvy is number one in rsv vaccine shots. rsv? make it arexvy. (♪♪)
1:36 am
1:37 am
1:38 am
election, according to recent polling. this evening the vice president attended a radio town hall with charlamagne "the god" co-host of the breakfast club, which a wildly popular hip hop radio show with a majority black audience. and harris made it clear she is not taking anyone's vote for granted. >> look, i've been in this race 70 days. some people are just getting to know me, other people have known me. i feel strongly i need to earn every vote, which is why i'm here having this candid with you and your listeners. i have to earn people's support, and i am working to do that. >> harris used the opportunity to speak directly to black men, to emphasize their humanity and the roles they play in their communities. >> the other piece -- and this is something that is critically important -- is to see black
1:39 am
folks in particular as a whole human being and understand we are talking about sons, we're talking about fathers, talking about grandsons, talking about grandparents, talking about uncles. >> harris also used the interview to highlight donald trump's embrace of policies with explicitly racial and racist elements. >> ask donald trump what his plan is for black america. ask him. i'll tell you what it is. look at project 2025. project 2025 tells you the plan includes making police departments have stop and frisk policies. you know what he says he'll do, terminate the constitution of the united states. >> that's right. >> let me remind folks you know what's in the constitution of the united states? the 4th amendment, which protects you against unreasonable searches and seizures. the 5th amendment, the 6th amendment, and the 14th amendment, and he's going to terminate the constitution of the united states? >> many young men and young men of color among the key undecided voters in this election, harris chose to contrast herself and
1:40 am
trump in the starkest possible terms. >> it's two very different visions for our nation. one mind that is about taking us forward and progress and investing in the american people, investing in their ambitions, dealing with their challenges. and the other, donald trump, is about taking us backward. >> the other is about fascism. why can't we just say it? >> yes, we can say that. >> how did she do? will that message resonate in the communities harris needs to win? i'm going to talk to someone who's on the ground in perhaps the most critical swing state and among the very voters harris is trying to convince coming right up next. g to convince comg right up next. [coughing] hi susan, honey? yea. i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin, with real honey & elderberry.
1:41 am
1:45 am
president obama was out there last week waving his finger at black men. when are liz cheney and hillary clinton going to wave their finger at white women? so the finger wagging should start today or tomorrow. >> well, i think what is happening is that we are all working on reminding people of what is at stake. >> that was vice president kamala harris at a radio town hall in detroit tonight, responding to a question from host charlamagne tha god about the different ways in which the democratic party is grappling with its soft support in key constituencies. joining me now is isaiah thomas, majority whip of the philadelphia city council.
1:46 am
council member thomas, thanks for being here. i'm so eager to get your perspective on the town hall that happened today and more broadly support for communities of culler and specifically young men in those communities. just to start off, can you sort of describe to me how you think these different approaches, one from president obama, who has in some ways sort of scolded black men for not offering kamala harris full throated support, saying they're not feeling the idea of having a woman president and effectively making excuses for tat. and kamala harris today taking an opposite tact, saying i need to earn votes and saying i understand i need to earn votes. which strategy do you think is more effective? >> good cop, bad cop. first of all, thank you have for having me. i'm super excited to be a part of the conversation and when you know campaigns and understand campaign strategy the idea and goal is to raise items to the forefront, make sure that people are discussing things that we
1:47 am
know are important, we know are going to move the needle and rule the agenda. and i'm just thrilled to see that plaque men specifically are part of the conversation as it relates to the direction of the nation, what we're doing with this election, but also what happens and how we hold elected officials accountable, what are the tangible outcomes we can count on based on our vote. so as someone who's been on the ground doing as much as i can, this is the message we are hearing in black communities, specifically focused on black men. we feel like this is something that's been reflective of something we've been asking for. and at the end of the day both approaches are effective. there are times you feed to have the aggressive teeth the former president did. and i would want her to have the perspective of someone who's very humble, as someone approaching this as every vote counts, every stone needs to be
1:48 am
uncovered. and we definitely want to let black men know their vote is important to this campaign. >> fascinating good cop, bad cop. i get that's a necessary two pronged approach. i wonder today's town hall was remarkable not just because of what she addressed but what she didn't talk about. one of the issues she didn't really spend much time on is abortion. can you talk to me how resonate that issue is in the communities you're in and you're a part of? did you sense much logic behind the issue she didn't spend much testimony on today, which is one democrats think is a big winner for them on election day? >> craw, i mean, when you think of the issue of abortion and women's right to choose, honestly, that's the easy topic to discuss. that's one of the things i like to call the home game. where we are listening to you we're at the tail end of this campaign, coming down the
1:49 am
stretch and it's important we have as many away games as possible. we need to have tough conversations with folks that might not necessarily cheer when we finish talking or clap at our major speaking points. we need to go into rooms and spaces and places where people are skeptical about voting. we need to educate and inform them. we need to make sure they understand what's at stake. we need to make sure they can connect the dots as to what local, state, and federal government has done for them in the past, how their vote has delivered tangible resources that have benefitted and moved the needle forward and also make sure they understand what's at stake. so at the end of the day i think the work is going to continue in part of the effort for the city of philadelphia, but we do know we have more to do over the next couple of weeks. >> isaiah thomas, please come back to the show. this is an ongoing conversation and i think going to be a dominant conversation. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it, and we're going to keep doing the work in the
1:50 am
ety of philadelphia. thank you. coming up, republicans from j.d. vance down the ballot are still having a hard time believing voters when it comes to protecting reproductive rights. ohio's senior democratic senator sherrod brown joins me here to talk about exactly why that is. that's next. talk about exactly why that is that's next.
1:53 am
1:54 am
we had a big referendum in the state of ohio. the state of ohio voted 60-40 to go in the other direction and to implement, i think, a much more liberal abortion regime than certainly the people on the other side were campaigning for. well, what do you take from that? i think the proper thing to take from that is we have lost the trust of the american people. when we went out there and campaigned our position they instinctively mistrusted us, and we need to get trust back. >> that was vice presidential candidate and ohio senator j.d. vance this past weekend with his take on ohio's abortion policy. remember that in 2023 ohio voters chose overwhelmingly to
1:55 am
enshrine abortion access in the state's constitution. but the lesson mr. vance took from that was not to respect voters desire for reproductive freedom but to focus on convincing them that they don't actually want that at all. down ballot republican candidates in the state seem to be following suit. republican and senate candidate bernie merino recently insisted abortion isn't that big of a deal, saying it's crazy for women past 50 to think it's an issue at all. joining me now is bernie merino's opponent, senior senator sherrod brown. senator brown, it's great to have you on the show. >> thrilled to be on your show. thank you. >> do you have a take on why it is j.d. vance and bernie merino seem the intent on remaining at odds with what voters want on the subject of abortion and reproductive freedom? >> well, merino thinks he knows better. he passed decision 53 in a huge
1:56 am
number across the state. ohioans have clearly stated what they think. he holds onto an actual abortion ban. says he's 100% pro-life, no exceptions rape, incest. and they're spending a lot of money on this issue where they should go to sherrodbrown.com and contribute 15 or $20. he thinks he knows better. he wants to override what ohio voters said, and we're simply not going to let him go to washington. >> it's such an extraordinarily tight race. it's staggering to me you'd take a position so distinctly the opposite of voter demands and for the harris-walz ticket and voters writ large, unionization petitions doubled during president biden's administration. and yet the teamsters and international association of firefighters declined to endorse
1:57 am
vice president harris. why is union support a problem -- >> i don't speak nationally. i know what's happening in ohio. just last week i was endorsed at the firefighters in cleveland and with the teamsters event in cleveland and at the youngstown plant with probably 50 auto workers talking about no we need to stand up for them. we saved the pension of 100,000 union workers, so it really is -- it's -- i think too often people think they look at left and right in politics. to me politics isn't left to right, it's who's side are you on, and you listen to people. i knew when i got in this race they would spend tens of millions of dollars, because when you stand up for workers and stand up to special interests, wall street and the companies that outsource jobs, you stand up to the drug company, they come after you. more money in this race against me literally than any senate race in history. that's why i ask people to help because there are four big
1:58 am
billionaires on their side spending tens of millions of dollars and lots of others. i ask people to come to sherrodbrown.com and contribute $15, $20 there. that's why in the end when you stand up for workers and stand up to interest groups, you win a state like ohio. >> yeah, i do -- i don't mean to belabor the point, but you have the endorsement of these unions. you mention saving their pension plans. that's something joe biden did. i just kind of wonder what explains the disconnect between you, right, a democrat working to help union workers, and someone at the federal level doing the same thing but not getting the credit for it. >> i talked to tammy baldwin today because she fought on these issues. i talked to bob casey, the teamsters and firefighters with them. so all i know is if you focus and you realize politics isn't left to right, it's who's side you're on.
1:59 am
to me of course i won a teamsters endorsement. i got it. i was with the international president of brick layers or painters. and their endorsement means a lock to me and i get it, but really matters more is what a painter or bricklayer turns to another painter or bricklayer in the construction site and tells her i'm voting for sherrod brown because he's the most prolabor guy, he's fighting for workers. that's how you win elections. that's why i will win as close as this race is, i will win because i stand up for these workers and people knowing i'm on their side. >> to that end you talk about this race, $400 million have been spent on your race in ads. it's the most expensive race this cycle. what does that reflect in terms of stakes? >> well, it tells you that they don't want somebody like me. they don't want somebody going to keep wall street honest, put a check on wall street, oversee
2:00 am
wall street, make sure they can't rip people off. the drug companies don't want somebody like me, take on those companies that outsource jobs, take on those companies -- the oil companies, because when you stand up to them, that's why they want to beat you. as i said when i got in this race again two years ago i knew they would spend tens of millions of dollars because they don't want me in the senate because i stand up for them. that's why, i guess -- that's why i'm going to win because we stand up for them. the voters in ohio republicans, democrats, independents, understand i will stand up for them and represent them aggressively and personally and fight like hell for their interests, for workers interests. >> senator sherrod brown from ohio, thanks for your time. we will be watching your race. that is our show for tonight. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. by voting in this election, you have
4 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC WestUploaded by TV Archive on
