three arizona republicans are having trouble recognizing their own party. will hear more from them and other arizona borders tomorrow morning, starting at 10:00 a.m. on in his obesity. and tomorrow will be committing a meeting of the delsea banned book club. her body of work has been starting conversations, capturing adolescent emotions, furthering women's sexual agency, and enraging book banners for decades. i will be talking with judy bloom. we will open the cover of forever, her seminal book about teenage love and sex , per first published in 1975, alongside the award-winning author jason reynolds, who has written a modern-day answer to that book, told from a boys perspective. 24 seconds for now, it is called. do not meet this beating of the banned book club at 10:00 a.m. eastern. now it is time for the last word with jonathan capehart, in for lawrence. we are covering the swing

states tonight. i was talking to colin allred in texas, i'm in arizona. you are talking to someone in north carolina and talking about michigan. so we are working to the places where people are making decisions. >> and you left out another state, pennsylvania. we've got senator bob casey on the show. so, america, we've got it covered between ali and me. >> i love it. you have a great show, i will be watching. >> all right, thank you. there are just 18 days until election day, and more than 10 million votes have already been cast. and with early voting now underway in arizona, former president barack obama held a rally in tucson tonight in support of vice president harris and governor tim walz. he said this about donald trump. >> donald trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided. between us and them. between the quote real americans, which, by which he means his supporters.

and the outsiders who don't support him. because having people divided and angry, and aggrieved and resentful, he figures that boosts his chances to get elected. now, those are his intentions. i do have to point out that along with his intentions, there is also a question of his competence. have you seen him lately? i mean, he is out there, it he is giving 2 1/2 hours beaches, just word salad. you have no idea what he is talking about. he is talking about hannibal lector, he is talking about this, he is talking about that. he held a town hall meeting where he just, let me explain. because i've done a lot of town hall meetings. the point of a town hall meeting is to take questions.

he just decided you know what, i'm going to stop taking questions. and then he is swaying to maria and ymca for about half an hour. folks are standing there not sure of what's happening. can you imagine if i did that? can you imagine if rubin did that right in the middle? now, our playlist would probably be better. but he called himself the father of ivf. i do not know what that means. you do not either. he said january 6th was a day of love. do not blue. vote.

made january 6th sound like it was woodstock. you would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this. no, no, i'm not joking. you would, right? you'd call it your cousins and you'd say have you noticed? so, imagine if, coming from a guy who wants to be given unchecked power. for donald trump, quote, freedom means that the powerful can do whatever they please. that is his definition of freedom. i want to fire workers for trying to organize a union. i should be free to do so. they want the freedom to throw out votes. if they lose an election.

they want to control what women can and can't do to their bodies. and, in other words, for trump, freedom is getting away with stuff. and it's like you said in the middle of the pandemic. when he said i do not take any responsibility at all. i am not sure any american president has ever uttered those words other than donald trump. people were dying. hospitals overrun. i do not take any responsibility at all. that is his idea of freedom. i do what i want, and i'm not responsible for anything. we have a broader idea of freedom. we believe in the freedom to provide for our families if we are willing to work. the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water. the freedom to send our kids to

school without worrying if they will come home safely. we believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own lives. how we worship. who we marry. what our family looks like. and we also believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make different choices, and it does not make them bad people. it does not make them evil people. it does not make them enemies of the state. >> on tuesday, barack obama and tim walz are headed to wisconsin for the first day of early voting in that state. barack obama was not the only one campaigning in a critical battleground state today. the democratic candidate herself, kamala harris, was in michigan today holding events throughout the state. here is what vice president harris said in oakland county,

michigan just a few hours ago. >> we are the underdog, and running as the underdog. but make no mistake, we will win. we will win. we will win. yes, we will. we will win. and we will win, because we understand, and we will win because we understand what is at stake. america is ready to chart a new way forward, ready for a new and optimistic generation of leadership, that is all of you. it is all of us. which is why democrats, republicans, independents are supporting our campaign.

in fact, you may have seen earlier this week, over 100 republican leaders from across the country join me on the campaign trail. including some who served under donald trump's administration. because, you know, they know him best. they understand what is at stake. and i believe americans want a president and deserve a president who works for all the american people. all the american people. and that has been, as you all know, the story of my entire career. i have only and my career had one client, the people. one client. as a young portland prosecutor i protected women and children. as attorney general of california i fought for students and veterans who were being scanned by for-profit colleges, and as vice president i have stood up for workers and

seniors. and as president i will fight for all the american people, always. always. and together, we will, together, i want you to shout your own name for a minute. let's do that really quickly. shout your own name for a minute. that's what i'm talking about! it's about you! it's about your family! it's about you! that's what i'm talking about! that's what i'm talking about! because together we will build a brighter future for our nation. together. donald trump has a different

approach. i don't need to tell you, he is full of big promises, but always fails to deliver. always fails to deliver. so, remember, he said he was the only one -- you know how he talks. the only one who could bring back america's manufacturing jobs. remember when he said that? and then america lost almost 200,000 manufacturing jobs when he was president. including tens of thousands of jobs right here in michigan. and those losses started before the pandemic, okay? making donald trump one of the biggest losers of manufacturing jobs in american history.

>> donald trump was also in michigan today, where he held a rally tonight in detroit, his first time back since insulting the city. spoiler alert, it did not go so well. >> it's not love, it's not respect. i won't pay the bill for this stupid company. >> and that was after it was reported that trump was having

trouble filling seats at that rally. trump fans, perhaps even trump himself may be tired of his act. the 78-year-old republican candidate canceled an appearance at the trump friendly nra next week due to campaign scheduling changes. in recent days donald trump has canceled an interview with 60 minutes, cnbc, and an interview with nbc news senior business correspondent christine romans. could it be because he doesn't want to answer questions about yet another stockmarket record close under the bid and administration? you can always count on fox delivered that great news. >> we have green on the screen here. dow is at a record, the s&p is at a record. this could change in five minutes, though, because these numbers are pretty close. the dow is up 38, s&p is up

three. s&p needs a gain of 18. the major averages of the week are tracking their sixth straight week of gains. the dow and s&p, longest winning streaks of the year. >> or, is donald trump just suffering from exhaustion? today politico reports that donald trump has also canceled his appearance on the shade room, where earlier this week vice president harris sat down with the black owned independent media company. politico reports, quote, a trump adviser told shade room producers that trump was exhausted and refusing some interviews, but that could change at any time, according to two people familiar with the conversations. today, vice president harris addressed those reports. >> i've been hearing reports that his team is saying he is suffering from exhaustion, and that is apparently the excuse for why he is not doing interviews. and of course, he is not doing the cnn town hall. he refuses to join other debates. and, you know, look. being president of the united states is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world. so we really do need to ask if

he is exhausted being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job? and i think that is a question that is an open-ended question that he needs to answer. >> donald trump did make time to visit fox and friends, where he said this. >> what's your favorite farm animal? >> favorite farm animal. >> i'll tell you what i love. i love cows. but if we go with kamala you won't have any cows . >> then he seems to suggest that abraham lincoln could have avoided the civil war. >> lincoln was probably a great president, though have always said why wasn't that settled? it doesn't make sense, we had a civil war. >> well, half the country left before he got there. >> yeah, but you almost say why wasn't that? as an example, ukraine would have never happened, and russia, if i were president. >> and after receiving that history lesson from the fox host, donald trump seems to not

know or not care that abraham lincoln took office after many slave states seceded to form the confederacy. because the confederate states were for slavery, unlike the union, which was not. it was also treason against the united states of america. why wasn't it settled? who could no? today the atlantic published an article titled trump is speaking like hitler, stalin, and mussolini, saying, quote, trump blurs the distention between illegal immigrants and legal immigrants, the latter including his wife, his late ex- wife, the in-laws of his running mate, and many others. he has said of immigrants, they are poisoning the blood of our country, and they are destroying the blood of our country. he has claimed that many have bad genes. he has also been more explicit. they are not humans, their animals. they are cold-blooded

killers. he refers more broadly to his opponents, american citizens, some of whom are elected officials, as the enemy from within. sick people, radical left lunatics. not only do they have no rights, they should be handled by, he has said, if necessary, national guard, or if really necessary, by the military. in using this language, trump knows exactly what he is doing. here is what governor walz had to say about donald trump's rhetoric in north carolina yesterday. >> he was at a town hall, but he got after real question. he got asked why he and his running mate are making up stories about legal migrants in this country, doubling down on disgusting stories, and telling lies that the republican officials in these areas are saying are lies. the republican governor of ohio had to send state troll to

escort kindergartners to school, because of the stuff they are saying. so look, look, they are begging him to stop. okay, let's acknowledge this. there are outsiders coming into communities, stealing jobs, making life worse for people there, and they have names. donald trump and jd vance. those are the people coming in. those are the people coming in. >> governor walz was in winston- salem yesterday, campaigning with former president bill clinton, and rapper common for the first day of early voting in the state. the new york times reports, quote, more than 353,000 people cast ballots, a record for first day of early voting. leading offer discussion tonight is anderson clayton, chair of the north carolina democratic party. anderson, great to see you again. thank you very much for being here. tell us how you see north

carolina's record-breaking early voting numbers yesterday. >> thanks for having us, jonathan. i think what we saw in north carolina yesterday was everything that we wanted to, in terms of high record turnout across the state, in our counties that we wanted to see, like mecklenburg and wake, but also long lines, that made it so even our rural counties, we saw people excited to get out and vote for democrats up and down the ballot this year, and for decency on the ballot this year. >> your state is still dealing with the aftermath of hurricane helene. the new york times reports, quote, the political consequences of the storm remain unclear. christopher a cooper, a political science professor at western carolina university, conducted analysis of 2020 voting data and found that in 13 counties affected by helene, roughly 55% of the votes went to mr. trump, and 45% to joseph biden junior. so, anderson, are you worried about low voter turnout in those counties?

>> we are doing everything to make sure that folks that have been devastated by hurricane helene have every right and are able to access their constitutional right to the ballot box this year, in every way possible. anyone in the state of north carolina that has been questioning how they get to the ballot box, if you are in a county that has been disaffected, you can go to the website, the state board of elections has set it up especially for those folks. so, making sure that we are advocating for that to people out in western north carolina, in those counties that have been affected in the state, and also ensuring that we have a voter protection hotline that is manned 24/7 in north carolina to ensure that anyone who calls it is able to get the help that they need to. >> anderson, is there a firewall number the democrats are hoping to hit in the early vote? >> well, we are hoping to beat point numbers, which is what we are doing right now. we are expecting to see at least that turnout continue. we saw it today on campus, i

got to go to souls to the polls and meet with folks out there who are excited to get out and vote, some of them for the first time. we are seeing record turnout in many places that we need to across the state, but only time is going to tell, so if you are somebody in north carolina that has not gotten out about yet, or you know someone that hasn't, you should get out and knock doors with us this weekend and talk to those voters. you can go to in cdp.org to get started with us. >> you anticipated my next question. we are 18 days away from election day. what would be the most effective way to get out the vote in north carolina, not only for president, but also for governor? >> definitely we are looking at the most competitive races up and down the ballot, not just our governors race this year with mark robinson, who is running, our current lieutenant governor right now, but also people like michelle morrow running for superintendent, who said she would like to see the public execution of president barack obama. she is someone that belongs nowhere near our school

children, and we need to make sure we elect moe green this year, who is running on the democratic ticket, and someone that has been a champion our public. we are expecting everybody to feel the energy from those races down ballot, like council estate and are judicial races this year. our supreme court race is so important, with allison riggs on the ballot. we have seen the production of our courts when they are backing up our state legislature, that is taking far too much power in the republican supermajority right now that we find ourselves in in north carolina. every race up and down the ballot is important, and we are knocking doors everywhere to make sure that folks get out and know the stakes. >> anderson clayton, thank you for coming to the last word. coming up, almost 1 million voters in michigan have already cast their ballots in the general election. we will talk to michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson next about concerns she is hearing from michigan voters ahead of going to the ballot box. that is next. beat it, punks! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

the itch and rash of moderate to severe eczema disrupts my skin, night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now i have rinvoq. a once-daily pill that reduces the itch and helps clear the rash of eczema —fast. some taking rinvoq felt significant itch relief as early as 2 days— and some achieved dramatic skin clearance as early as 2 weeks. many saw clear or almost-clear skin. plus, many had clearer skin and less itch, even at 3 years. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin, heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease

risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. disrupt the itch & rash of eczema. talk to your dermatologist about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. you all have a lot of money. learn how abbvie i know about 20 of you and you're rich as hell. we're going to give you tax cuts. i am not rich as hell. i work hard. i scrape to get by. donald trump wants to give tax breaks to billionaires, but kamala harris has plans to help us. she's going to crack down on price gouging and cut taxes for working people like me. i voted for donald trump before, but this time i'm voting for kamala. ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad.

patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth, they have to make a choice- one versus the other. new sensodyne clinical white, it provides 2 shades whiter teeth as well as providing 24/7 sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. patients are going to love how do i not break the bank?" we gotcha, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices.

better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get an unlimited line free for a year. plus, a free samsung galaxy s24 fe.

the people of the state of michigan will not be intimidated. one of the seven battleground states were donald trump plotted to overturn the 2020 presidential election, michigan has been a focal point of some of the most chilling threats of political violence from the movement. over the past four years, michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson has been threatened, had protesters show up to her home, and been targeted in swatting incidents.

she has spoken about some of those experiences on this show. in 2022, before the january 6th select committee, benson delivered a gripping account about one of them. >> about 45 minutes later we started to hear the noises outside my home, and my stomach sunk. i thought it's me. and then it is just we don't know, i mean, the uncertainty of that was what was the fear. i mean, are they coming? are they going to attack my house? i'm in here with my kid. i'm trying to put him to bed. and so it was, that was the scariest moment, just not knowing what was going to happen >> benson isn't alone. michigan, after all, is the state where trump campaign operative michael roman reportedly said he wanted to start a riot at detroit's tcs center after votes started pouring in at that polling site for joe biden. make them riot, roman said on november 4th, 2020, according to a recent bombshell filing by special prosecutor, special

counsel jack smith. do it, roman added. michigan is one of the states where fake trump electors are being criminally prosecuted. it is still a pending lawsuit in washington, d.c., a michigan civil rights group called out trump for openly seeking to disenfranchise black voters. the first version of the lawsuit, which focused on the trump campaign's actions in detroit said, quote, defendant's tactics repeat the worst abuses in our nations history. as black americans we are denied a voice in american democracy for most of the first two centuries of the republic. the naacp later joined that lawsuit in an amended complaint, accusing trump of violating the reconstruction era ku klux klan act, by systematically targeting cities with large black populations. nevertheless, michigan voters persisted. and this morning, benson announced on x that

944,819 people have already voted, writing, quote, with over two weeks to go until the polls close, november 5th, already almost 1 million citizens have voted in michigan . three escalation points. this is great news for democracy all across our state. folks are engaged and enthusiastic about voting this year. let's go. secretary benson still faces challenges. this past august, benson's home was targeted in two separate swatting incidents within 48 hours. a form of political violence where callers report hoax calls to law enforcement to provoke an armed response. benson is also fending off lawsuits trying to erode confidence in the election, including a case that the republican party state and national branches filed, challenging overseas votes, including by military voters.

more than 16,000 are at issue in that case, and nearly 1 million people have voted absentee already. the for early voting has even begun. we will check on the status of those ballots in just a moment. 18 days until election day, and we will see how long it takes until we get an election outcome. joining us now is jocelyn benson, secretary of state for the great state of michigan. secretary benson, thank you very much for being here. we know absentee ballots are going to be something republicans target. what assurance do voters have that their early vote will be counted? >> well, first, thanks for having me, jonathan. great to see you, and thanks to your great work in michigan you can actually track your ballot online if you vote from home and mail it back in. at michigan.gov/votes, you can see that your ballot has been received and counted, and collier clerk if you see any discrepancies. so that level of transparency helps voters stay informed and engaged, so that theyca