martha mcsorley -- mcsally would be the most likable. in a primary, it's hard to know beforehand even with a bit of polling who would end up making it through. did end at making it through, which is important for the senate map because it arpaio or ward had won, it would make republican's job very difficult. [video clip] >> i am as impressed as anyone that my opponent brags that she owns over 100 pairs of shoes. i have over 100 combat missions serving our country. applause] my opponent is someone who is left of the pelosi democrats, a green party activist. she protested our troops in a pink tutu. she called to shut down luke air force base. she calls yourself a proud prada socialist. now that she is running for the ema -- ihollywood sin cinema. say that is hollywood she has undergone an extreme makeover makeover, she is a fake production running on a phony script to full the voters -- fool the voters. guest: kristen cinema has had most of the airways to herself during this republican primary. while republicans have been battling one anot

they feel that the very first numbers show that martha mcsally will be taking the night tonight.hey believe she's the front runner of a tough primary. i looked over to her staffer, they give me a big thumbs up. they're waiting a bit more time and a bit more of a comfortable lead. they think this night is going to be doing their way. you can hear it yourself, don. this is a happy room. we certainly can when you put the numbers up on your screen, we heard it. kyung, i want you to standby, i want to bring in rebecca. rebecca, you are at kelly wa ward - what's going on there. >> reporter: make no mistake, don, kelly ward is the under dog tonight. it could have been a different race but a crucial turning point in this senate race was the decision by joe arpaio to toss his hat in the ring leading the vote between kelly ward and sheriff joe arpaio that's what we are seeing in the votes ti t tonight. the other is president trump, kelly ward has been a supporter of the president, has framed herself as such during the primary and there was some question whether the president as he has in o

martha mcsally/(r) u.s. a:"as we say in a fighter engagement in the air, fight's on."natsshe should know... mcsally is a retired air force combat pilot. natsa congresswoman who won in a moderate district.she's now shifting to the rightsitting at the table with trump in washington echoing him on the trail.rep. martha mcsally/(r) u.s. senate candidate from arizona:"i think the mueller investigation mueller "i think the from arizona:"i think the mueller investigation needs to wrap up // ...there's been no collusion // so let's get over it. let's move on // i had a 97 percent voting record with the president's agenda more than anyone else in the arizona delegation. so those are just the facts."but before president mcsally felt differently calling his access hollywood tape "disgusting" and "unacceptable" tweeting she was "appalled." to this day, not revealing if she voted natsopening herself wardbut also republican rom senate candidate joe arpaio long time maricopa sheriff convicted of criminal contempt for racial

martha mcsally is up there while kelli ward and joe arpaio is here. them and she has support of them. there is no anti-trump candidate here. the most vocal is kelli ward. mcsally going down the middle here. joe arpaio pardoned by the president only winning down around here. the question is what comes next for them? >> on the democratic side, 58% reporting that she's almost 82%. she is the democratic hope for tipping one of the arizona seats in to the democratic category in the senate. this is jeff flake's seat. that's what we are talking about here. jeff flake has been one of the biggest opponents of donald trump's. there is a certain irony that all three people running to take his seat are people who are different than him and the other seat is john mccain which is appointed by governor doocey. right now he's cruising ahead here and 58% reporting. he'll then have a challenge of his own. on the democratic side, if you look at david garcia, he's strong of 58% reporting. david garcia is a little bit of what we have seen with gillum down in florida. he's

martha mcsally is kind of a moderate.'s why i was asking about arizona, which is always very republican, a stronghold of the republican party. what we have seen in arizona, martha mcsally ran away with the vote. joe arpaio was in the distance on this one, as well as kelli ward, who is pretty right wing, let's be clear. martha mcsally, a republican moderate in arizona. what does that tell you? >> i think really what voters want is what we are seeing from the white house, to really go down to the lower levels in terms of job security, americans being safe and secure, especially those that live on the borders, and they are looking at someone who is going to be front and center in terms of what americans are really looking for and striving for, especially when president trump says he puts americans first, especially the forgotten men and women. so walking the walk, talking the talk, i think that's what americans really want to see. cheryl: jehmu, you can't ignore the power of the president. we were all wondering if his voice

the candidates include congresswoman martha mcsally, former sheriff joe arpaio, and dr. kelli ward. and they are all a far cry from mccain-style republicans. in fact, they've aechd been trying to outtrump one another for months. >> it's remarkable that none of the candidates on the republican side are looking to be the mccain candidate. all of them are looking to be donald trump's candidate. >> sheriff joe arpaio. >> reporter: 86-year-old sheriff joe, as many call him, could not be further from the so-called establishment. as the top law man for 24 years in maricopa county, arizona's largest and home to the largest city, phoenix, arpaio opened an outdoor jail made of concrete slabs and canvas coverings. at arpaio's tent cities inmates were dressed in cartoonish black and white striped uniforms as well as another unconventional item that today is framed on the wall of his office. >> you were having the male inmates wear pink underwear. >> everybody wears pink. >> reporter: arpaio's methods for punishing criminals drew criticism for being inhumane and discriminatory. in a 2001 departm

martha mcsally fended off a challenge from two hard-line conservatives. she will face off against the democratic representative. this race can help decide which party takes control of the senate but let's talk about florida. elizabeth, zinn you weyou were describe the emotion of that moment. >> thanks for having me. it was pretty clear that people were cautiously optimistic that andrew gillum would outperform the polls but it wasn't until polls closed at 8:00 p.m. in the western part of the state that you saw people seriously consider the possibility that andrew gillum was going to win that night and as numbers started rolling in, as broward county, the liberal stronghold in south florida started reporting their numbers, the mood got more and more and more excited and by the time a.p. called the race for mayor gillum it was a deafenning roar. >> gillum is not the type of democrat that democrats believe is electable. of course they've lost five straight election there is with white candidates running for governor but it's unusual and the reason it's so int

. >> late yesterday, arizona congresswoman martha mcsally won her republican nomination in the race to replace outgoing enator jeff flake and beat joe arpaio. e'll face krysten simema who won her primary. let's listen to her acceptance speech. [applause] >> i'm honored to introduce martha mcsally as she prepared to deploy to her next mission to washington, d.c. as a united states senator from the great state of arizona. [cheers and appl >> thank you, everybody. thank you. wow. >> thank you from the bottom of my heart. i'm humbled and honored to stand before you for the very first time as your republican nominee for the united states senate. [cheers and applause] >> it's tmenting to celebrate but keep something in mind, it's not our objective, our mission is in 70 days. we have 70 days to win this seat and candidly, it's difficult to celebrate anything this week as we mourn the loss of senator mccain. and we prepare to honor him here in arizona and in d.c. before he's laid to rest at annapolis. senator mccain was an american hero. he paid an unfathomable price for our freedom and upon r

washington time, martha mcsally running in the arizona primary for u.s. senate endorsed by rejected senator jeff flake. and turned it down. a first. nbc news captured video of mcsally reading and reacting to the president 's tweet in which he appears to say, oh, no. earlier she refused to comment. >> you're looking to replace jeff flake. jeff flake won the election in 2012 represented the state 18 years. what do you think of jeff flake as a representative of the state? >> today is about the next senator for this state. you guys can make the comparison. >> has he served you well? >> you guys can sort that out. >> well -- so, let's -- heidi, obviously, i mean, the republican party has changed a great deal since donald trump started running. since donald trump got elected. that's the sort of thing you would never see in the past. where a candidate wouldn't even talk about a man who served his state honorably. but talk about arizona and how arizona may have avoided, the arizona republican party may have avoided a disaster in the fall, and actually moved away f

the president tweeting in part martha mcsally is an extraordinary woman. is now a highly respected member of congress, has my total and complete endorsement! mcsally will face democrat kyrsten sinema in a battle for outgoing senator jeff flake's seat. whoever wins will be arizona's very first female senator. kyung lah is outfront with our very first in our series "born to run." >> let's go fly, fight and win. >> reporter: from the moment republican martha mcsally launched her senate run -- >> i will give my all. >> reporter: -- her history as america's first female fighter pilot cut central to her campaign. >> wow. >> reporter: to her primary victory. >> we have 70 days to win this seat. >> reporter: now an all-out attack against her democratic opponent, representative kyrsten sinema. >> everyone remembers where there were on 9/11. >> reporter: this is mcsally's opening onslaught. >> while we were in harm's way in uniform, kyrsten sinema was protesting us in a pink tutu and denigrating our service. >> some women are looking at that as a bit of a cheap shot.

we talked about martha mcsally. i want to play one quick ad from m.g. hager. >> i was on a rescue mission in afghanistan. as a combat search and rescue pilot. i heard the windshield crack and realized i'd been shot. but we continued the mission and air lifted the patients out. after taking even more fire, we crashed a few miles away. i strapped myself to the skids and returned fire on the taliban while we flew to safety. that got me a purple heart, and i became the second woman ever awarded the distinguished flying cross with valor. >> i love that the military -- the vets we've been playing who are running for office, by the way, both are women today. >> it's interesting to hear how they talk about their service. that's very interesting. we have quite a few combat veterans coming into congress now in the senate, in the house. that's a function of the fact we've been at war for 17 years. so the people who were 18 on 9/11, shortly after 9/11, are now rising up as a political class. military service is clearly not sufficient. just ask president wesley clar

and in arizona, republican congresswoman martha mcsally will run against democratic congresswoman kyrsten sinema to replace retiring u.s. senator jeff flake. we will have a full report, after the news summary. the arizona candidates held off campaigning today as final tributes ban for the late senator john mccain. a military honor guard greeted e e hearse that carried mccain's casket to the stpitol in phoenix. governor doug cey was among those who spoke at a brief ceremony. >> john mcca was about more than politics. he brought us abovpolitics. john is probably the only politician who could gets to set aside politics and come together as a state and nation, as we have. >> woodruff: afterward, mccain's widow, cindy, and their childre spent privments by the casket, before the public was admitted to pay their respects. the senator died saturday of brain cancer. he would have been 82, today. a white former polexe officer in could get 99 years in prison in the death of jordan edwards, a 15-year-old black youth. roy oliver was found guilty of murder yesterday by a mostly white jury in dallas cou

the front runner is air force veteran congresswoman martha mcsally.ess that race, doctor and relentless trump supporter kelly ward. who created controversy this week by claiming that the announcement that senator john mccain was discontinuing treatment was timed to hurt her campaign. and then you have former sheriff joe arpaio who was pardoned by president trump a year ago. kacie hunt is nbc's capitol hill correspondent and she's in scottsdale, arizona. i know you have been following this case very closely. lay it out for us. >> the symbolism here really, the contrast, could not be any starker. you have jeff flake choosing to leave the public stage. and of course john mccain passing away. both of those men critics of this president. but the reality is the ground has shifted dramatically underneath them here in arizona. if this race is showing anything, it's the republican party is being molded in trump's image. in the heated arizona battle to replace the most anti-trump republican senator, the biggest question in the primary is who's the trumpyist? >>

congressman martha mcsally, and former sheriff joe arpaio battling it out for the g.o.p. nomination for the seat held up by retiring senator jeff flake. carolyn came to florida for a test ground for how to campaign successfully in this era. peter doocy isn't live in arizona with the latest. >> the retiring republican senator jeff flake is not popular at all with the republicans trying to replace him. but the front runner, congresswoman martha mcsally is still stressing why it's important for the party to keep the seat ready. >> arizona is a firewall state. i'm the firewall to make sure that chuck schumer, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders are not in charge in the senate. >> in today's primary, sally is facing joe arpaio, who won a pardon from president trump a year ago this week. and dr. kelly ward who is cleaning up a controversial facebook post where she suggested that the mccain family ended the late senator 's cancer treatment at a time that would hurt her politically. the winner will face the winner of the democratic primary where kiersten cinema is declared front

. >> martha mcsally will face the democratic congresswoman. >> we're not done yet. still to come, contests in massachusetts, rhode island, and right here in new york. >> thank you so much. well, the sentencing phase in the trial of a former texas police officer convicted of murdering an unarmed black teenager will resume this morning. roy oliver was convicted yesterday in the death of 15-year-old jordan edwards. it's a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case and oliver faces 5 to 99 years in prison. >> we are the jury unanimously find the defendant guilty of murder as charged in the indictment. >> moments after the verdict was read, hugs, tears and looks of disbelief as family and friends of jordan edwards got the justice they have been fighting for. a conviction of former police officer roy oliver. >> i'm happy. very happy. it's been a long time. a hard year. >> footage from oliver's body cameralayed duringhe tal showing oliver and his partner responding to a loud house party in april of 2017. oliver exits the house when he hears gunshots outside and then fir

air force, martha mcsally fought a tough primary against conservative challengers.n the gop nom anything for the u.s. senate representing the state of arizona. and like her military chops, she came out swinging, fighting, looking squarely to november. >> tonight marks the chapter, the next chapter in this campaign, the beginning of a 70-day vicinity to electing arizona's next senator. i am impressed as anyone that my opponents brags she owns over 100 pair of shoes. i on the other hand have over 100 combat missions serving our country. she's a fake production running on a phony script in order to fool the voters. >> reporter: mcsally spent the bulk of her speech attacking the winner of the democratic primary, kyrsten sinema, currently in congress. both of these women are well financed. this is expected to be an ugly and brutal race between these two women, whoever wins will make history. they will be arizona's first female senator. >> the year of the woman continues. if democrats retake control of congress in november, president trump warning there will be violence.

>> well it told us that martha mcsally was starting to walk away with that race in last ten days.elly ward had serious misstep and joe arpaio was nothing more than a boutique candidate. the -- sinema had a free run and did well in head-to-head polling because she wasn't taking any incoming fire but can she consolidate republican party in arizona while still appealing to enough moderates to make this largely red state continue its character and continue to elect republicans to this senate? >> we're going to have our first female senator? arizona either way. that wherever that race goes in november real quick i have to head -- go to oklahoma really quick brad. i thought this was a bit of a surprise, businessman it was actually -- in politics frankly a newcomer he went against mick a very successful mayor in oklahoma city, and he criticized him for not being trump enough. brad it worked. >> i don't really know oklahoma politics i wasn't following that race but that's happened around the country that was a story of delaware desantos against adam and story elsewhere and martha mcsally

martha mcsally, national republican said they believe she's the most electable. they believe she is clearly, in their mind, the only elected republican on this list in the fall. even then, on the democratic side, kirsten sinema. what have the polls shown in this race? we'll put it on the screen in arizona. most recent poll, sinema 48%, mcsally 44%. when is the last time a democratic candidate won a u.s. senate race in arizona? 1988. dennis cosini was his name. the last time a democrat won an election in arizona? '96, clinton beat bob dole there. this is a state with a rich tradition. the democrats are changing a little bit, trump has some issues in this state. trump won in 2016 but only by three points over hillary clinton. democrats think if they get a favorable midterm climate, if they get a strong candidate, this could be the year that break those arizona. and, of course, as we say, arizona senate, florida senate and you mentioned the florida governor's race. >> let's talk about that for a second. you and i are both getting some active commentary on twitter ri

congresswoman or martha mcsally faces former state kelly ward and joe arpaio. >> pick their governor and rones i pas agricultural commissioner. adam putnam and president trump tweeted yesterday, congressman ron is a special person who has done an incredible job running for governor of peel strong on crime, borders and wants low taxes. he will be a great governor and has my full and total endorsement. and in oklahoma former oklahoma city mayor mick and businessman kevin sid are faces each other in runoff race for governor there. >> well, a lawsuit against tesla, over the production of its model three sedan have been thrown out. lauren: just like that tracee carrasco joins with us that and other headlines making news this morning. >> good news for tesla but a judge in sphrifng dismissed a security fraud lawsuit in which tesla shareholders accuse the company and ceo elon musk of misleading them about the progress of production of its model three vehicle. the judge said that while shareholders claim that tesla fell short of its production goals, federal security laws do not punish compan

they don't want another senator cut from the same cloth as john mccain and jeff flake and martha mcsallyupported by mitch mcconnell. she's supported by the never trump swamp. you know, you see cory gardener, senator gardener coming out and begging president trump to endorse martha because he knows they need that finger on the scale because the people of arizona want ward. >> mitch mcconnell and mitch mcc republicans in washington seem to be concerned that you couldn't win a general election. do you see any truth at all in that argument? >> i don't because there's not one shred of evidence that martha mcsally could win the general when i can't. this is our chance in arizona to actually have a true conservative in washington, d.c. in the united states senate from our state. it might be our last chance for decades to come, maybe ever, to be able to get somebody that's cut from the same cloth as ronald reagan, as rand paul, as ted cruz, as mike lee. people are looking for people like that. i'm so honored to have the endorsement of my own congressman, congressman paul gosar who has been worki

martha mcsally, the front-runner in the republican race, you know, maybe she can kind of stake out thatof independent ground, but in the primary race, it's just sort of like something she has to do, she really has been trying to curry favor with president trump and the trump voters. you know, how successful she's been remains to be seen. certainly kelli ward and joe arpaio try to paint her as a rino, as an establishment figure, rtry to link her with mccain and flake and mcconnell. but it seems like the voters are sorting it out. it seems like she's taken a strong position here in the final days before the primary. >> steve, really quickly, you're writing a whole book about partisanship and the rise of it. what happens now with john mccain? is partisanship here to stay? >> i mean really john mccain in so many ways, he was a throwback even before the trump era he was a throwback because we've seen this move towards polarization the last 20 years. remember where that maverick reputation came from nationally, a lot of that was in 2000 when he teamed up with russ feingold on campaign finance

you've got martha mcsally, combat veteran, choice of the party establishment. you have arpaio, pardoned by trump. kelli ward, as antagonistic as anybody, to say the least, toward john mccain. where will the balance of power be there in arizona? >> it's tough. you have a three-way race. if it was yust kelli ward versus martha mcsall lly you would hav that clean pro-trump versus establishment battle but sheriff joe arpaio, who will get double digits in the polls most likely, muddles that. most expect martha mcsally to win and by double digits but we also have to look at how she won. she began this race as sort of a pragmatist, centrist who wanted to do things like daca. she has steadily moved, as the primary heat sort of got to her out there in arizona, she has moved toward that trump wing. even earlier today, won't even say a nice thing about outgoing senator jeff flake. tomorrow, if she is the likely nominee, as we presume her to be, she has to attempt to move back to that centrist position where kerstin sinema is sitting nicely. that's why she has a polling le

now i want to play martha mcsally answering a question about jeff flake. and it will -- she's in, this is today, in mesa, arizona, campaigning. and she's asked about -- replacing jeff flake, this is martha mcsally, supposed fro frontrunner trying to walk the line of hugging trump and trying to be electable in a swing state in november. here's how she dodged the flake question. >> what do you think of jeff flake as a representative of this state? >> today is about the next senator for this state. so you guys can make the comparisons. i just ask people to look at my record. i'm someone who's always been my own person. i've always walked to the beat of my own drum. i've been serving our country the entire adult life. >> has he served the state well? >> you guys can sort this out. >> i've been watching her from day one. she's been always nervous, watching our pile there, wondering when is trump going to officially endorse him, doing everything to prevent the endorsement. and she did a good job. she prevented the endorsement. she's going to get this primary. ho

candidate, the one that is the favorite of republican senate leadership, like mitch mcconnell, martha mcsally, ahead of kelly ward and joe arpaio. any reason to think that could change? >> reporter: chris, the only reason could be that we have seen so many unpredictable twists and turns in our politics in recent years that, you know, one wants to make sure that we don't say in advance what we expect. >> absolutely. >> reporter: but i do think all the indications and trends are moving in martha mcsally's direction. there were definitely some nerves in washington there for a while. there was reporting that mitch mcconnell and others had tried to urge president trump to put his finger on the scale for martha mcsally in this race, because as you referenced in the intro, this has really been all about, who is the closest to president trump? these candidates have sort of been falling all over themselves to show their ties to the president. and so, that said, though, in the last kind of couple of weeks, they have started to feel a little bit better about where mcsally stands. so to answer your overa

here now congresswoman martha mcsally now running for jeff flake's senate seat.primary so good to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> are you supportive of this cut in salaries. >> i agree with the president the federal federal bureaucracy out of control. bureaucrats who continue to really fail but it's very difficult to fire them. i saw that when i was in the military even with department of defense employees. so i agree that we need to freeze the spending. but i want to work through in the house version has already done that we have got like border patrol agents, for example, those working in our ports of entry those actually putting their lives out there on the line. i think there is a way for a not one size fits all and make sure we are cutting the fat where it is. we are rewarding a merit based system. we have to move the whole system away from. >> martha: potential carveouts to protect those folks. >> democrats including my senate opponent who wants to protect the union workers instead of actually the taxpayers. and that's where we need to be for the

here's martha mcsally, who has had her own issues with president trump.n to this ad. >> who will stand with president trump? not former democrat kelly ward. ward supports amnesty. >> people who are here should not have to live in fear. >> kelly ward, wrong on illegal immigration, wrong on president trump. >> i'm martha mcsally, and i approve this message. >> we live in interesting times. >> yeah. and if you're a democrat, you are kind of -- if you're the democrat, you're looking at this going, okay, i've got a plausible path in what is really a swing state and what is a region where democrats in other states have been gaining ground. >> if kelli ward wins that primary, you'll see republican-leaning groups like the chamber of commerce and others endorse the democratic candidate. >> the democrats are already probably the favorites to win this arizona seat in a very democratic year in a state that's been tilting more and more purple. and yes, the polls have shown that kelli ward polls are worse than the democrat. >> one of the many fascinating races to watch

martha mcsally was the only one in the race he was going to be competitive.he figured out a way to talk to arizona republicans in such a way that made it clear that though she was not a ground-floor team maga, she was go with them, and she could go on a beauty kyrtsen sinema. she was already pivoting to the general election before it occurred and she was contrasting kyrtsen sinema as a code pink protester versus herself in a flight suit and you will see more of that. >> shannon: let's talk about kyrtsen sinema because she's portraying herself in commercials and speeches and all the things she was doing, a centrist. there really is a different historical background for her getting to this point. she has had some pretty progressive positions along the way in the past. so how does is go down with arizona voters because i'm sure a lot of that will be dredged up on both sides, that is part of the campaign but sinema has taken a different tract heading into the fall race? >> voters will forgive you if you change your positions, if you're moving in their direction.

. >> reporter: congresswoman martha mcsally is considered the establishment candidate, but the former fighter pilot has swung right, too. >> like our president, i'm tired of p.c. politicians and their b.s. excuses. >> reporter: mccain, by contrast, enlisted a local democrat, tommy espinoza, to co-chair his first senate race in 1982. >> when i look at arizona, look at all the republican campaigns. they're all, you know-- i'm going to have a strong wall, i'm going to keep the immigrants out. john mccain never drank that kool-aid. >> reporter: mccain's friends tell me he was disappointed in the tenor of the senate primary here, but he himself was not entirely immune to the pressure to please the base, embracing controversial causes from time to time, like the confederate flag, a move he later came to regret. john. >> dickerson: nancy cordes for us in phoenix, thanks, nancy. senator mccain will lie in state tomorrow in the arizona state capitol building, and in the u.s. capitol on friday. when he is laid to rest on sunday, the pallbearers will include retired air force colonel and former

and you're getting to the heart of the problem for someone like martha mcsally.-runner. she is the expected winner here, and if she does win she is one who comes from a moderate congressional district, and you heard her right there, jim. she has pitched to the right, embracing trump through the senatorial primary, and now she is going to have to figure out how to talk to the moderates in the middle. she only has ten weeks to get that message out, and those moderates include more than one million registered voters. democrats are going to be looking to see if she has any major shifts. that's going to be the heart of their attacks against martha mcsally, again, should she win. now, we can't leave you without talking about kelly ward. she is entering today still saying she is a con tender, still saying she believes she will win. she is basically trump on steroids. one gop operative told me, jim, if she wins it would be a huge disaster for the gop establishment, jokingly telling me if she wins he's going to leave the state. it is a joke, but that's how problematic it

martha mcsally and kelli ward and former sheriff joe arpaio. ward released a statement and many spoke out. >> for this, i apologize. for this, the intention of my comments were no way directed at senator mccain or his family. >> the frontrunner for the democratic senate nomination is on the ballot as well. the republican race for governor between ron desantis has been hotly contested. desantis asked for president trump's endorsement and he got it. >>> it may be the most expensive race. breaking news. a secret letter from the top north korea official is what led the president to cancel secretary of state mike pompeo's latest trip to north korea. our colleague josh rogin first reported that pompeo received the letter from kim yong-chol. warning that denuclearization process was quote again at stake and may fall apart. we have cnn's will ripley live in hong kong. >> reporter: dave, this is the biggest warning sign yet that the u.s. and north korea diplomatic relationship is in certi serious trouble. this letter delivered to mike pompeo by his chie

>> martha mcsally. >> even though the polls are close? >> the polls are close, but not that much. ht now? >> 15% for joe arpiao. >> that 15 plus 27. we want to saw thank you to rotini the pig who belongs to one jeremy rosenberger, thanks for watching us tonight on "kasie d.c." we'll be back tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern, good night for now from washington. >>> we're americans, and we never give up, we never quit, we never hide from history, we make history. >> mccain's not in it for the wins and losings of politics. he is politics. >> he is scandal. >> he was willing to walk away. >> and stuck b

she is experienced, martha make sally -- martha mcsally.rst woman air force pilot in the history of the united states. the air force is really important to arizona because of our military bases. and she loves her country. i think that is the kind of person we need in the senate, federal that ran on the level from southern arizona, who represented what we consider a blue congressional district. she won as a republican. that is an indication that she can work across the aisle and work with people. we need solutions in d.c. we don't need a standoff. typically, that is the way the people of arizona feel and across the country, by the way. david: i was going to ask a question. that going forward to the general, what are the issues that the arizona voters will vote on as they decide between a democrat and republican candidate, whoever the republicans? >> the issues on both sides is they want good government. how do we get good government? person has a good record. she served in the arizona legislature. she recently ran on the greenpeace party, wa

[cheering] >> i am honored to introduce martha mcsally as she prepares to deploy to washington, d.c. as the next senator for the great state of arizona. [applause] >> all right. wow. [applause] thanks, everybody up. thank you. thank you. from the bottom of my heart. i am humbled and honored to now stand before you for the very first time as your republican nominee for the united states senate. [applause] it is tempting to celebrate, but let's keep something in mind. this is not our objective. our mission is in 70 days. we have 70 days to win this seat. candidly, it is difficult to celebrate anything this week as we might a loss of senator -- as we the loss of senator mccain. senator mccain was an american hero. he paid an unfathomable price for our freedom and continued to serve with conviction, honor and sacrifice his whole life. from my early days as a cadet, we studied him as an example of courage, leadership, and honor. senator mccain came to an event for me when i first ran for congress and he told the crowd that the main difference between the two of us was that my takeoff equa

republican martha mcsally and democrat kristen sinema.epublican ron desantis will be up against tallahassee mayor andrew gillum for governor. manuel bojorquez reports. >> as the mayor of florida's capital city i humbly accept the democratic nomination. >> andrew gillum seized the nomination for governor despite being third in the polls just a week ago and outspent by tens of millions. he has emphasized his unlikely rise. >> what's impossible? the son of a bus driver becoming mayor of the capital city? >> i was the only non-millionaire in the race, and that was no slight to any of my opponents but to simply say it means something to have had the experience of what it meant to watch your mother and father trade between which bills they could pay before something got cut off. >> reporter: in picking gillum florida democratic voters banded the traditional strategy of playing to the center and took a hard left. gillum supports medicare for all, abolishing immigration and customs enforcement, and impeaching president trump. >> next governor of

closely with inside elections reporter, leah askarinam j of the winners of yesterday's primary was martha mcsally. sinema in theten general election. sally's congresswoman mc victory speech from last night. [cheering] >> i am honored to introduce she preparesy as to deploy to washington, d.c. as the next senator for the great state of arizona. >> all right. thanks, everybody up. thank you. thank you. .rom the bottom of my heart i am humbled and honored to stand before you for the very first time as your republican nominee for the united states senate. it is tempting to celebrate, but let's keep something in mind. this is not objective. our mission is in 70 days. we have 70 days to win this seat. --didly, it is celebrate difficult to celebrate anything this week as we might a loss of senator mccain. as we prepared to honor him here in arizona and in washington, d.c., senator mccain was an american hero. he paid an unfathomable price for our freedom and continued to serve with conviction, honor and sacrifice his whole life. cadet, early days as a we studied him as an example of courage, leadership,

. >> look, martha mcsally is different than ron desantis. she has a much more moderate voting record. on the democratic side of the aisle, she has a mod cat record. so arizona is the complete opposite of florida. in arizona you have what we normally think is politics to when you go towards the center. in florida, we have a different test case. >> that's if you ared a viegz martha mcsally, do you tell donald trump to come in or. >> i would probably keep advice, donald trump, can you stay, tweet some things out, ron desantis is a different story. his numbers are different. >> expands on that, the president's numbers are firm in florida and close to his disapproval number, right? >> exactly. you don't see that in the governor's race, you see it in the race, rick cot is running strongly against bill nelson that fits this mold of the old white male more moderate. it will be interesting, if gillum wins, the progressive gays i base will have a bigger base. >> it can bolster bernie sanders. coming up, the life of john mccain set to start moments fro

martha mcsally is facing a competitive race against kyrstin. it's a top of the broadcast, mechanically kyrstin. it's a top of the broadcast, mechanically tried to be a little more conservative. she declined to praise flake yesterday as you mentioned. she won fairly handsly. it was a three-way contest. look for her to potentially moderate now that that primary is over. in florida, again another really competitive race for scott presumed to win the republican nom nation. he didn't have any trouble last night. she bringing a lot of money and strong challenge towards bill nelson. >> a stunning one out of florida, the gubernatorial race out of that state. >> i want to switch gears and talk about the drama inside the president's administration, particularly his relationship with jeff sessions. there are reports that president trump has for now at least decided to hold off on firing the attorney general. what is the likelihood president trump actually sticks to that promise and what do we expect to see if, in fact, he doesn't and he does go ahead and

your thoughts on martha mcsally winning the race. kelly ward and joe arpaio were her opponents. >> mitch mcconnell plays for keep. for the republicans if mcsally had lost that primary, we'd be taking it off the board. it would be a democrat pick up for sure. if kelly ward won, that would be gone. mcsally will make this a good race. we have this as a toss up. it could be really anybody's game. you have two good candidates who will go hard at each other. you have two swing district female members of the house running for a senate seat. >> in terms of martha mcsally she was a never trumper. now she changed her take on the president. he put out a gracious tweet about his support for her. what kind of senator is she if she gets to washington? >> there's a setting of bandwidth. you heard from adam but you nam -- putnam in florida. the republicans learned how to dance to it. don't talk about the things that trump says that are divisive or explosive. lindsey graham, quoted john mccain about -- help them where you can. don't get drawn into th

they want somebody to depend on and they know it is not martha mcsally. is anything you can caps on from martha is that you cannot count on her. david: as i listened, i wonder whether your campaign might not be a microcosm to the entire nation. one would of thought in this midterm election tax cuts, and the regulation would be a major positive statement, yet we have some in the distractions, starting with the president going off on every frolic and detour -- will you distract voters from your core message given all this other stuff? kelli: no, my opponent is trying to distract from the message. my message has been clear from the beginning, that we have to build the wall, we have to repeal obamacare, we have to grow the economy, but we also have to cut spending, and we have to make sure the military is a strong so we can have peace through strength, and we have to take care of veterans. on the spending front, that is one of the biggest issues because the economic impact of the jobs act has been huge. it is a great first step. unfortunately, my opponent is

martha mcsally and kelli ward and joe arpaio. on monday, ward apologized for suggesting an announcement by mccain's family that he was ending his cancer treatment was designed to hurt her campaign. >> i do understand how many could have misconstrued my comments as insensitive. i apologize. the intention of my comments were in no way directed at senator mccain or his family. >> frontrunner for the democratic senate nomination is sinema. the republican race for governor wi has been hotly contested. desantis received the president's endorsement. primary day has one of the most expensive senate races. >>> breaking news. a letter from a top north korean official is apparently what led the president to cancel secretary of state mike pompeo's latest trip to north korea. our colleague josh rogin reported it that pompeo received the letter from kim yong-chol, a top aide to kim jong-un. cnn has confirmed the letter sent to pompeo that warned the denuclearization process was at stake and may fall apart. cnn's will ripley live in hong kong.

martha mcsally has been positive about the president.ere any chance we may see a tweet from president trump about this race? do you think he is going to stay out of it ? >> i think he stays out of it. i think the dye has been cast to a certain extent. again, i don't think this is a close race. he does well to 12stay out of i. they will probably vote forward and arpaio. i don't think he gains anything by doing anything in the 11th hour. i think he was very smart to endorse in the florida race which is on tonight. i think that's going to be the difference in that race. >> that opens the door to talk about florida. the president did endorse in that republican primary, supporting desantis. he has been a defender of trump. how big of a role do you think the endorsement will be in florida? >> i think it will be big. he won florida by a little over one point. that being said, his approval rating in the state is pretty high. as my work is, if you want to win a primary as a republican, you get on fox news. desantis has been all over fox news. cer

congresswoman martha mcsally has declared victory in the race for the state's other u.s. senate seat. the air force veteran defeated former state senator kelly ward and former maricopa county sheriff joe arpaio. it opened up after jeff flake didn't run again. >>> today in texas, a white former police officer fouled guilty of murdering an unarmed black teen will be sentenced. the verdict against roy oliver came as and two iv admithe shot into the passenger side of llitarers rdfrom the former was officer's body camera showed the car driving away. >>> california lawmakers are poised to set new rules for police body cameras. it would require law enforcement to release video or audio within 45 days of a police shooting or any use of force that results in a serious injury or death. that would not apply if releasing a recording would interfere with the investigation. the assembly is expected to make a final procedural vote before sending the bill to governor brown stouns 6:09. police say they finally tracked down the driver involved in a deadly street racing crash on the peninsu

the best thing that martha mcsally has going for her is that both arpaio and ward are in the race andivide up the vote more drawn to the trump message. i think this is a moment where you get the magnitude of the change in the republican party that we have watched over the past 20 years, with the passing of john mccain exactly as this primary is unfolding. >> what are you watching most, molly, in florida? what do you want to see after we get the results tonight? >> i'm watching the democratic primary most closely in florida, just because that's the one that seems the most up in the air. you have a really interesting dynamic between a more moderate presumed frontrunner with high name recognition and some progressive challengers who have -- seem to get a lot of traction in recent weeks. in the republican primaries, both the governor and senate, seem like a forgone conclusion with a similar dynamic that we observe in arizona and other republican primaries across the country. buddying up with trump is the best way to gain the favor of the republican base. i think we pretty much know how th

martha mcsally saying this during her victory speech last night. >> it is a choice between a doer and a talker. between a patriot and a protestor. my opponent is someone who is left of the pelosi democrats, a green party activist. protested our troops in a pink tutu and called to shut down luke air force base. she calls herself a proud prada socialist. >> dana: more issues discussed in arizona? >> one thing that mistake sinema has made. she didn't make more of this gentle period that she had. look, kelli ward is terrible at running for senate. she had an even more disastrous run this time than last time and did worse in expectations. sinema's expectation was the dog fight would be so bad she should stay out of it. mcsally did so well that sinema turns out to have wasted an opportunity to try to define herself in the primary and mcsally will try to do it for her. sinema better get some stuff on the air in a hurry. >> dana: i can picture protesting in a tutu. >> the picture is there. >> dana: thank you. russia will hold his largest military exercise since the cold war. it will include t

. >> late yesterday, arizona congresswoman martha mcsally won her republican nomination in the race to replace outgoing enator jeff flake and beat joe arpaio. e'll face krysten simema who wo

martha mcsally more to the middle, ward and arpaio. trump won the election or the state by three points in 2016, is this a primary thing? the candidates are running close to trump and the winner would go back to the center in the general? >> the winner is going to have to shift center at least in the general election. it's a tough environment with the republicans where so much of the vote is coming out of the phoenix summer. they have been drifting away and will have a big say in how this turns out. my sources tell me republican turnout, they think, in this primary is going to be up. the problem they are seeing is democrats are going to be up even more. so, republicans are very nervous about this. i think looking back to 2016, now, i think arizona every four years is over hyped as democrats get it done and then they don't. what a lot of republicans were telling me, leading up to the november election in '16 is they thought hillary clinton had a shot to win. once the comey letter came out, the bottom dropped out. there's a reason for de

and suggested it was a fake news media narrative and then we have the probably front-runner, martha mcsallylso embracing trump but she won't say whether she voted for him in 2016 and when the "access hollywood" tape came out she was scathing of him. she's pushing the fact she has voted with him in congress 7% of the time. the democrats need this. their candidate probably is going to be the congresswoman. she's running against one other candidate who hasn't gained much traction and she's a center left candidate so the issue is though arizona hasn't voted in a democrat since 1988, that might change, it will be a close race according to everything we're hearing. back to you, erica. >> nick watt, thank you very much. >>> joining me now, "new york times" correspondent jonathan martin. jonathan, good to have you with us. there you are, now we have you. as we look at this, you wrote about this along with maggie haberman in the "times" and as we look at what's happening in arizona, nick late out what we've seen with martha mcsally and changing positions, the different narrative on her part going fr