he is facing one of the toughest challenges in the country against a little known democrat, debra ross, a dead heat. a race that can actually determine the next senate majority. he's really trying to fire up his base and align himself with donald trump. at this private event with volunteers in wardville, north carolina, he made those comments you just played, similar to what donald trump said on the campaign trail in august, when he said the second amendment people should take matters in their own hands. unlike trump, burr is saying sorry, saying the comment was, quote, inappropriate, and i apologize for that. at the same meeting, burr also said i'm going to do everything i can to ensure clinton does not fill that final supreme court seat that's vacant now. and he promiseped ped at that he would be loyal to trump.

by the way, she is going to need help and that's why i want all of you to focus on making sure debra ross is going to be a senator right alongside her when hillary gets elected. because debra heard your stories. she has been out there fighting for working families and making sure they get a fair shot and that seniors are secure with the retirement they earned. and unlike her opponent, she doesn't support donald trump. i want to take a minute to talk about senator burton. he and i came in together and personally he is a decent guy. i have nothing against richard burr. when i hear him say there is not a separation between me and donald trump, that's troubling. either he actually means it, in which case he agrees with everything donald trump says, that's what you mean when you say there is not a separation, or he doesn't mean it and he is saying it to get elected. that's not good either way. you don't want a senator who spends time saying yes, sir, mr. trump. what do you want me to do, mr. trump? lately he has been mimicking donald trump. he joked about violence against hillary. that's not s

. >> the north carolina head shaker, a tougher than expected battle between richard burch and debra ross. the contest. >> is philly in the house? >> pat toomey -- incumbent ron johnson gets a big push from top republicans, speaker ryan and rnc chairman, priebus. kelly o'donell, nbc news, cleveland. news election coverage begins on tuesday night. another developing story of the unfolding drama in south carolina where police say the suspect in that kidnapping there has confessed to four murder and may have killed even more people. sarah dallas is in south carolina and that is latest. >> reporter: this property revealed gruesome secrets. authorities found another two shallow graves on his land. >> we are in the process of trying to get that person removed from here and doing a thorough investigation. >> he confessed four murder and employees gunned down. >> the victim's loved stood before a judge. >> melissa ponder's husband was one of the victims. >> give me closure to know what happened that day. it would not bring the peace that you would think that one would feel. >> scott's mother, bev

and i really, really hope you will send debra ross to washington! now, we are all fired up.resident and michelle in philadelphia, the president was talking about how absolutely consequential this election is. and of course it is. i really believe it's the most important election of our lifetimes because we've never had a clearer choice. never. it is a choice between division or unity. between strong, steady leadership or a loose cannon who could risk everything. it's a choice between an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. and it is a choice that really goes to the heart of who we are as americans. what i saw before i came in and what i see now is a sense of potential, of joy. there's america's best days are ahead of us. if we reach for them together. we don't have to accept a dark and divisive vision for america. tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive, big-hearted america. [cheers and applause] our core values, our core values are being tested in this election, but my faith in our future has never been stronger. i love our country, and i belie

compared to 45% for debra ross. lina is in the head quarters with more. >>reporter: burr severed ten years in the house. he said this is his last campaign for house. now he said it's time to get back to work. >> well, i'm going to focus on the things i've been focused t take up in washington. i think that's what people deserved. we have to create jobs and put the american people back to work. >> ross congratulated burr and urged her supporters to turnout to him when they see issues that need to be addressed within the state. when burr completes his six longer in the senate. >> voters have sent him back to washington. thank you. >> you mentioned sam irving from my hometown. >>> it's cloudy out but it's keeping temperatures warm. >>reporter: all of the heating gets trapped and we had a nice southwesterly flow ahead of the cold front switches keeping things warm for us as well. this is a look picture. we are starting to see some of the rain approaching roanoke rapids. most of it's been pretty dry. a shower from rocksford. i mean very light showers. this batc

your attorney general and your next governor is here. [ applause ] >> and your next senator, debra ross ross, is here. [ applause ] >> and you are here, too. [ applause ] >> and some people are like, what about me? i am going to talk about you. how much this country is going to depend on you over these next few days. i want to thank all the organizers who are here. i know you rallied tens and thousands of volunteers and registered more than 100,000 voters right here in north carolina. [ cheers ] and it is now grass roots work that led us to win north carolina in 2008. six days, i love you, too. i got some business i got to do here. i will give you a hug on the way out. right now we got to focus on some business. not business but -- [ inaudible ] >> already, we are having a little bit of trouble with the microphone. >> you can vote right now. [ cheers ] if you are not registered, you have until saturday to register and vote at one one stop location in your county. if you don't know where to go, go to iwillvote.com. you can find the one stop location near you. we can finish what we starte

as you are talking about jason candor, the surprise race is debra ross in north carolina. >> that races fascinating to me too and here's the reason. you know, candor is running this classic sort of up-and-coming fresh face versus the old creature of washington campaign. roy blunt is this i'm new. that's not really what's going on in that north carolina race. tell me who deborah ross is. i thd fer -- find her particularly fascinating. >> she's a champion for consumerism and civil liberties and women and families. she's served in the state legislature. some folks forget that piece of it. >> she was a public interest lawyer, basically. >> yes. absolutely, and i think that's really resonating when you are up against richard burr who is somebody who walked away from north carolina, is tied to all the special interests, who by the way has had a terrible week after he suggested violence against hillary clinton. >> he apologized for it and said it's a joke. >> it is not something to joke about it. >> he said he would try to keep scalia's seat open for four years were he to turn to the senate.

debra ross is up, warming up the crowd. the president should be here in a moment.e of the people here have been waiting since 5:00 a.m. this morning outside in the rain for the president to get here. that's how popular he is here. you are right, at this point, the early voting figure, the african-american turn out is lower and the enthusiasm gap is -- that plclip that you just played, president obama gave the address of the early voting place. that's how intense it is and where they need to be. the other issue here is intense voting rights battle, there are thousands of people waiting for a federal judge's decision. 70,000 people have been purged. they want to vote on tuesday and they're waiting to get that right. that's the issue here. >> we'll see the president coming out there shortly. >>> just a programming note for you. we'll have a one on one sit down interview with the president tonight. that'll air in with chris hayes on msnbc. blacks are indeed fired up. it is read wrong even if there is a slight difference between the early vote then and the early vote no

that's debra ross. she's the senate candidate. this is all about -- voting for the down ballot and going forward. >> i think there was one in the crowd wearing a duke shirt trying to emphasize your point. chris, obamacare aried thcarrie state in '08. why did the clinton campaign feels that president obama can help now. >> reporter: the smallest margin of defeat in 2012. they know who his voter is. if there is one thing the obama campaign can put in practice is micro targeting. know who those voters are and in a city like this and a region like this, they have the democratic support. they want to get those numbers. they also know that there are two parts of this. they never believe that the black vote can be as strong as it could be for barack obama. the second thing is there is been a number of courts and suits and democrats of charge voters and suppression and t the -- you can bet we'll hear president obama talk about that today as well. >> chris, send me an update on those shirts whether it is for duke or the election. >> thank

and i really, really hope you will send debra ross to washington.e all fired up when we were with the president and michelle in philadelphia. you know, the president was talking about how absolutely consequential this election is, and of course it is. i really believe it's the most important election of our lifetimes because we have never had a clearer choice, never. it's a choice between division or unity, between strong, steady leadership or a loose cannon who could risk everything. it's a choice between an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. it's a choice that goes to the heart of who we are as americans. what i saw before i came in and what i see now is a sense of potential of joy there's no reason, my friends, why america's best days are not ahead of us if we reach for them together. we don't have to accept a dark, divisive vision for america. tomorrow you can vote for a hopeful, inclusive, big hearted america. [ cheers and applause ] our core values -- our core values are being tested in this election, but my faith in o

are you ready to elect debra ross to the united states senate? will be the independent voice that north carolina families deserve, and unlike her opponent she has never been afraid to stand up to donald trump. and then, are you ready to elect our next president and commander-in-chief? [cheering] well, -- hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary, hillary. you know, did any of you see those debates? well, i spent four and a half hours standing next to donald trump, proving conclusively i have the stamina to be the next president of the united states. but you know, he kept saying things like, well, what have you done for 30 years? we know what he has done for 30 years, starting with discriminating against african-americans and denying them housing back in the 1970s. i chose a different path. i have spent my career fighting for kids and families, and i helped to create the children's health insurance program as first lady. that now provides health care to eight million children a year. and i have to tell you, i

are you ready to elect debra ross to the united states senate?he will be the independent voice that north carolina families deserve. unlike her opponent, she's never been afraid to stand up to donald trump. and then are you ready to elect our next president and commander-in-chi commander-in-chief? well r well, you know. did any of you see those debates? well, you know, i spent four-and-a-half hours standing next to donald trump, proving conclusively i have the stamina to be the best president and commander-in-chief, but you know, he kept saying things like, well, you know what have you didn't for 30 years? well we know what he's done for 30 years, starting with discriminating against african-americans and denying them housing back in the 1970s. i chose a different path. i have spent my career fighting -- >> we are listening to hillary clinton, she is speaking in winterville, north carolina, about 200 miles away. donald trump is speaking in concord, north carolina, the same state, and president obama is speaking in jacksonville, florida. we will k

debra ross a woman running against the incumbent senator, richard burr, the senate intelligence chair. they've got a governor's race, the governor here has been very controversial to progressive democrats on lgbt issues and also voting rights, there's a lot going on in this state. and they believe that these kids and other college students and others in the research triangle could be the answer, that and a very strong african-american vote. they're not at all sure they can make this happen. >> andrea, it's easy to lose sight of how much has happened in the last two weeks for the clinton campaign, about 10 days ago, that first letter from the fbi about the e-mail investigation, and here we are monday night going into tuesday, we're just about a day away from the second fbi letter also in its own way unexpected. from your time around hillary clinton, you know her well, you know what she's like, how did that all play out over the past 24 hours? how did she seem balancing all of those revelations with what she was doing on the ground? >> well, she's been fairly philosophical about it in t

>> well, brit, behind me is democratic senate candidate debra ross.illary clinton will be taking the stage with bernie sanders not long from now. the latest quinnipiac poll here in north carolina shows hillary clinton up by 3 points. but other polls show it to be a much closer race here. and that is why she is bringing out the big guns, like sanders, as well as grammy award winner pharrell williams. he was on her campaign plane just a little while ago. and there was an awkward moment on the tarmac when he emerged from the plane with her. and, in fact, donald trump's plane landed at about the same time. so they had to walk by that plane. so, both candidates very close together here in north carolina. here's what hillary clinton said not long ago. >> donald trump was endorsed by the official newspaper of the ku klux klan. do any of us have a place in trump's america? >> no. >> it's not just about communities of color. that is not who america is and we're not going to let it ever go back to that. [cheers and applause] >> clinton has had a weaker turnout

they've got, and they got to take two out of three are first, north carolina, richard burr versus debra ross. burr leads by a 1.5 in real clear politics. democrats as of friday evening, 12,000 fewer democrat early votes than in 2012. republicans 151,000 more. this is in a state romney won -- >> real quickly burr is the indumb can'i incumbe incumbent. >> all three of these are holding on -- excuse me, two of them are holding. second a new hampshire, kelly ayotte versus maggie hassan. ayotte has led in seven of the last ten polls. this will be the most expensive per capita senate race in the history of america. $120 million will be spent -- >> again, that's a republican seat that they're trying to hold onto. and then there's one seat that's a democrat seat, harry reid, the majority leader, is retiring. >> republican congressman joe heck versus former attorney general masstow. the gop has cut the democratic lead in early voting by only 2,000, but this could be like 2012. barack obama took the state in the presidential race and republican senator dean hiller was elected. >> so you think republic

debra ross a woman running against the incumbent senator, richard burr, the senate intelligence chair. they've got a governor's race, the governor here has been very controversial to progressive democrats on lgbt issues and also voting rights, there's a lot going on in this state. and they believe that these kids and other college students and others in the research triangle could be the answer, that and a very strong african-american vote. they're not at all sure they can make this happen. >> andrea, it's easy to lose sight of how much has happened in the last two weeks for the clinton campaign, about 10 days ago, that first letter from the fbi about the e-mail investigation, and here we are monday night going into tuesday, we're just about a day away from the second fbi letter also in its own way unexpected. from your time around hillary clinton, you know her well, you know what she's like, how did that all play out over the past 24 hours? how did she seem balancing all of those revelations with what she was doing on the ground? >> well, she's been fairly philosophical about it in t

incumbent senator richard burr holds a narrow margin there over democratic challenger debra ross. for the latest on that race we turn to bob buckley. hello, bob, what are you seeing down there. >> there are three huge races here, of course, the president is one. another one is the governor's race here and then you have got that senate race. and if there are any of those republicans feel best about, it is probably that senate race. richard burr has never won by huge margins. he won by almost 10% last time, 55% of the vote. that's the most he has ever gotten in one of these races. he does not expect it to be a big margin. he feels fairly confident he is going to pull it out. is he a likeable figure in this state. is he chairman of the intelligence committee in the senate. and there have been some attacks against him that. so voters have felt were a bit unfair and he may get a few sympathy votes that way as well. >> what is your thought about him? does it look to you from what you know about whatever voting there has been already that he is in good shape or not so much? >> probably s

. >> burr has been in a dogfight all year against debra ross. burr has run what some think is a lackluster campaign. he is up slightly and up a little bit in this elon poll out. >> elon is a college. >> average showing him up a little bit. early voting is going on in north carolina. if it's true which statisticians say it is that african-american turnout is way down over 2012, this helps burr, of course, because those are solid democratic votes. if it's also true that trump is moving a little bit in north carolina and is gonna try to put that one on the board for himself, that would help burr, so i think this is slightly lean republican but still another dead heat race on the map. >> we have got time for a couple more. florida, what do you see there. >> this one is going towards the republicans. marco rubio left the presidential campaign and went back to run for his senate seat. democrats thought they had a really strong shot here until aruba came back. patrick murphy has been a bit of a mess as a candidate. we have had a few close polls there.

eye on well, one oface, as those closely watched races, hold on urr trying to to his seat against debra ross there. us to the latest in the senate polling and what we know contest. guest: we have three competitive statewide races. competitive race, gubernatorial race and the burr-ross senate race. republicans running in the three races, burr is probably in better shape than of the other two. but the polling has been razor call probably too close to at this point. urr has not been as active a campaigner as national campaigners would like to see. he didn't start campaigning until october. picked a quick fight with the raleigh news observer, telling them not being ampaign events are so they can't cover him. he is running a quick thoughted campaign and his supporters says he's always done that. republicans are nervous about he's handling the campaign at this point. ost: we talked to the hill newspaper earlier in the program about the down ballot impact hillary clinton e-mail investigation announcement from the f.b.i. on s. it having any impact in that north carolina race? guest: it is hard to te

you have katherine cortez masto, the firstis panic latino senator, kamala harris, katie mcginty, debra rossat are the prospects for increasing the number of women in the senate? >> i think it's probably pretty high. every one of those races is really very close with the exception of illinois which is not close at all and that will be a pick up for women. i think that the senate seats are really margin of error sort of races. and they depend a lot upon whether the candidate has been a good candidate whar, what issue going on, the republicans i think successfully localized a lot of these elections, talk about what is going on in their state. if there is more of a wave, momentum in hillary's wave, she will sweep in a lot of these women. >> and what is going on in north carolina? >> yeah, and just to take up on jennifer's point, north carolina is one of those states where they have just -- their state ledgess have been so massively conservative that i think having a woman in that senate race and also their governor who has been just horrible for women will bring people out. >> and on health car

things may swing in debra ross's favor.t seems like an uphill battle for her. >> a contentious state in north carolina. so many issues with the transgender issue involving bathrooms and the nba pulling out of charlotte. how did all of that play out in both the senate and the governor's race? >> hb2 is a pretty key aspect of the governor's race. as i look at those numbers that is locked in tight. what that tells you there are some voter who are picking richard burr for senate and voting for donald trump. hb2 may have hurt him. it doesn't seem to affect the senate race. there have been a wide variety of other issues dominating the ads and the rhetoric in that race and hb2 is not a federal issue hasn't factored into that quite as much as it has in the governor's race. >> collin campbell, let's look at donald trump and hillary clinton as we look at the results. donald trump holding on to a lead at about 50% of the vote compared to 47.5% of the vote for hillary clinton. no state has been getting so much attention in this race th

as well, one of those closely watched races, senator burr trying to hold on to his seat against debra ross. take us to the latest in the senate polling and what we know from that contest. guest: we have three competitive statewide races. presidential race competitive gubernatorial race and the burr-ross senate race. of the three republicans running in the three races burr is probably in better shape than any of the other two. but the polling has been razor thin probably too close to call at this point. burr has not been as active a campaigner as national campaigners would like to see. he didn't start campaigning until october. he has picked a quick fight with the raleigh news observer banning them, not telling them where campaign events are being so they can't cover him. he is running a quick thoughted campaign and his supporters says he's always done that. republicans are nervous about how he's handling the campaign at this point. host: we talked to the hill newspaper earlier in the program about the down ballot impact from the recent hillary clinton e-mail investigation announcement from

north carolina senate can be called, incumbent republican richard burr will win the race against debra ross a state that was not sure how it was going to go. we haven't called the governor's race here. this is the sitting incumbent republican senator, the chair of the senate intelligence committee. he was in a tough race down there. it was believed at one point he was trailing and then they threw a lot of money in this race and debra ross, a lawyer for the aclu was not a perfect fit for this candidate, this nominee at the beginning. but democrats suddenly thought they had a real chance to pick this off. the fact that republicans have won the senate seat in north carolina now seems that it is more likely that they'll hold on to the u.s. majority, the majority in the u.s. senate. which would mean that mitch mcconnell would stay the majority leader and that's a big deal. >> i already lost money tonight to dane that perino. i don't know why you picked on me. when you look now to missouri, to what's going on there with roy blunt, you know, that just becomes so critical. joe heck, again, the repu

. >> woodruff: democrats thought debra ross was a lawyer, former director for the aclu in the state of carolina had very appealing scanned daylight she led by a little bit part of the time. amy walter, the race has gone back and forth. >> actually, it was a surprise that she had gotten that close. democrats had hoped to have more high profile candidate. she was not their top pick. they were actually quite surprised how close this race was. in part because richard burr had decided to wait until basically last noint start campaigning, he says, start campaigning until after labor day it looks like he was correct. there were lot of republicans who were frustrated, we had so to spend way too much money in the race. key have put this one away. but most important thing about north carolina race is that now it's not taking democratic chances for winning the senate off the table. but it's coming really close. we are now closer to a 50-50 senate. if not republicans holding on. >> sreenivasan: all right. a little bit of talk that texas may turn blue this election, a shade of purpose, emily from t

debra marie subbing on behalf of grace hopper. michael jordan. maya lee. lawrence michaels. eduardo padron. robert redford. diana ross. vin scully. bruce springsteen. cicely tyson. [ cheers and applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states. ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you. thank you. everyone please have a seat. we have some work to do here. this is not all fun and games. welcome to the white house, everybody. today we celebrate extraordinary americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us towards progress. i always love doing this event. but this is a particularly impressive class. we've got innovators and artists, public servants, rebel rousers, athletes, renown character actors, like the guy from "space jam." we pay tribute to those distinguished individuals with our nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. now, let me tell you a little bit about each of them. first we came close to missing out on a bill and melinda gates incredible partnership because apparentl

debra marie accepting on behalf of grace hopper. [ applause [ applause ] michael jackson. [ applause ] maya lin. [ applause ] lorne michaels. [ applause [ applause ] newt minot. eduardo padron. robert redford. [ applause ] diana ross. [ applause ] vin scully. [ applause ] bruce springsteen. [ applause ] cecily tyson. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the vice president of the united states. >> ladies and gentlemen the president of the united states. and mrs. michelle obama. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. thank you, everybody, please have a seat. we've got some work to do here. [ laughter ] this is not all fun and games. welcome to the white house, everybody. today we celebrate extraordinary americans who have lifted our spirits, strengthened our union, pushed us towards progress. i always love doing this event but this is a particularly impressive class. [ laughter ] we've got innovators and artists, public servants, rabble-rousers. [ laughter ] athletes, renown character actors like the guy from "space jam." [ laughter ] [ applause ] we pay tribute to those distinguished individuals with our nation's highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom. now, let me tell you a little bit about each of th