we're live tonight with all of it beginning with nbc's mike viqueira. he's traveling with the president in chicago. hello, mike. >> reporter: hello, lester. good evening. the president left washington this morning for one last weekend campaign swing. trying to close the deal with core democratic voters urging them to get to the polls and hold back what many expect will be a big republican wave. he began his day in philadelphia, at what amounted to a pep rally for campaign volunteers challenging the crowd to go out and knock on 20,000 doors between now and election day, boosting the chances of the senate democratic there in -- democrat there in pennsylvania who is locked in a tight battle with republican pat toomey. then it was on to connecticut, normally a solid blue state, but the president taking no chances. there to support another senate candidate dick blumenthal, and tonight here in his adoptive hometown of chicago, another big rally on another college campus, the university of chicago just a stone's throw from the house he still has here. lester, w

northbound's mike viqueira is on the road with the president tonight. mike, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, lester. another town, another rally, another big crowd for the campaigner in chief. this time today here in minnesota as he wraps up a five state swing over the course of the last four days, his mission to fire up core constituency, many of those same groups that sent him to the oval office just two years ago, like young voters he had rallies on college campuses here, in washington state and in california. and with women, he had a backyard discussion in seattle on economic challenges that they face. all along the way, he was raising millions for democrats as he bashed republicans over and over again. another immediate goal, lester, to shore up senate democratic incumbents in blue states like patty murray and barbara boxer, and most importantly key ally harry reid. he had a fund-raiser last night for harry reid. there's more campaigning on the way for the campaigner in chief over the course of the next ten days. he'll go to ohio, illinois,

with elections a month away, mike viqueira takes a look at some of the races. >> reporter: last night in california, the fight over immigration got personal. >> jerry, you should be ashamed. >> she's talking out of both sides of her mouth. >> reporter: republican candidate for governor meg whitman said she was surprised to disver the truth about her housekeepe >> we hired someone who i thought was here legally. she was not. we unfortunately had to let her go. >> repter: t housekeeper alleged whitman knew of her illegal status for ars. with latino support vital for both candidates, her point, jerry brown, attacked. >> let's be sympathetic and really empathize with the millions of people in the shadows. and you want to keep them in the shadows and are trying to evade responsibility. >> reporter: brown holds a slight edge over whitman in recent polls. with elections less than a month ago, california is one of the few bright spots for democrats. >> i think we'll have a good day on november 2nd. i don't know how high or how wide tha tsunami will be. i think it will significant. >> reporter

nbc's mike viqueira is traveling with the preside in las vegas.aig. the president begins his day here in las vegas, he travels to minnesota for another campaign stop, the fifth state in four days of this western camign swing he'll be there to support the democratic gubernatorial candidate mark dayton. all along the way addressing b rallies, seattle, washington, in support of patty murray the democratic incumbent from that state, barbara boxer in california. in one 24-hour period in california he raised $2.5 million for democratic candidates and for the democratic party, and yesterday a big rally for his close ally and ry endangered senate democratic leader, harry reid. of course he shepherded through harry reid with the health care bill and the stimulus package, all of the bills that are controversial and costing democrats votes elsewhere in the country, yesterday president obama paying back that allegiance byampaigning here in las vegas for reid. craig? >> mike viqueira on the road with the president this morning, thanks. appreciate that. >>> to

let me bring in mike viqueira, who joins us live from the white house.here the president will be campaigning. a lot of people are curious. you have a 20-point lead in the senate seat held by joe biden. why spend the day there with so few days left? >> well, it is joe biden's old seat. joe biden wanted to be. why not bring the president along with him to sort of fly the flag, show the colors of the administration. number two, this is a race they would like to bring attention to. they would like to portray tea party favorites like christine o'donnell as being the vanguard of the party. as being the face of the party heading into 2012. with people like sarah palin and christine o'donnell at the helm, they're going to drive the republican train off the cliff. that's only good for democrats. they are there. the president has a lot of political travel scheduled over the course of the next month, or the next two weeks before election day. this weekend in ohio with michelle obama, trying to fire up that base. trying to fire up that youth vote. we've seen it time

and mike viqueira is live at the white house. and the vice president if chris coons is up double-digits? >> well, one obvious reason and one not so obvious reason. the obvious reason of course is because mr. coons and mrs. o'donnell are running for his old seat. joe biden's son did not enter the race for fear of facing mike castle who is popular in delaware and thereafter, speaking of sarah palin, she helped christine o'donnell to vault to the front, and defeat mike castle, and not incidentally dooming republican chances of winning a majority in the senate, because as you point out, she is losing by double-digit, and there is a poll out today, norah that had her losing by 11. that is sort of an outlier, because most of the polls are 18 points she is behind chris coons. another reason why the president is there with vice president biden is that this is one of the few bright spots for democrats all across the country. they are eager as the white house and democrats to portray republicans in the back pocket of the tea party a group

nbc's mike viqueira live at the white house. the president putting in serious miles. sounds like in that speech his voice is getting hoarse. tell us what does the white house have planned over the next two weeks? >> reporter: the hour is late, stakes couldn't be higher, and both sides pulling out all of the stops. president obama in nonstop campaign mode. yesterday in the normal democratic bastion of massachusetts that strong hold, he saw fit to raise money for senate candidates across the country. let's have a little more listen to what he had to say. it was quite interesting. he brought this issue of social security. remember back in the bush administration, there was talk of partial privatization, investing a portion of social security donations from taxpayers, contributions from taxpayers into the stock market. the president raising that spector yet again yesterday in boston. >> that's why we'll fight the efforts some in the other party to privatize social security because, as long as i'm president, nobody's going to take the retirement savings of a generation and

nbc's mike viqueira is there tonight. mike. >> reporter: good evening, lester. before this march, organizers have said it's not about comparing themselves to the tea party or recent marches that have happened here on the national mall. but as the day wore on, it became obvious that these marchers had one thing in common with conservatives and that is a frustration and anger with washington politics. this time it was a show of strength from the left, an attempt to change the story line this campaign season. >> they had their turn. it's our turn now. >> reporter: one nation working together. today thousands streamed past national monuments to gather at the steps of the lincoln memorial. it was a patch work of progressive causes. >> we're going to do exactly what we did for obama. we're going to unify and continue the struggle for working families. >> reporter: coming little more than a month after conservatives met in the same setting, today liberals said that they too are angry about the direction of the country. >> we've bailed out the banks. we've bailed out th

mike viqueira is traveling with the president and he joins us from las vegas. morning, mike. >> good morning. the president is going to be leaving las vegas this morning heading to minnesota. he's got another one of those big rallies on tap. this one for mark dayton. this kngd concludes this four- five-state swing he began in oregon. big rally there for the democratic candidate for governor. then on to washington, another big rally on the campus of washington. for patty murray, another endangered senate democratic candidate, this time for the senate, then he headed to california. raising money, $2.5 million in the course of just 24 hours. another big rally. this one in favor of jerry brown running for governor there in california. and barbara boxer, yet another senate democrat who is in trouble. last night a rally at a middle school in las vegas for harry reid. the embattled senate democratic leader, of course, two points behind in the latest poll. a bruising battle here in nevada. if the president can hold those three states for the democrats in the united stat

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house this morning. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. this is it. closing arguments in election year 2010. the president plans a weekend blitz to try to help struggling democrats in a year when many are predicting a republican blowout. president obama kicking off a final campaign sprint last night in virginia. the president was on the stump for tom perriello, an embattled house democrat. mr. obama's trip a reward for a vulnerable ally who hadn't run away from the president, in a year when many are, like north dakota's earl pom roy in this last-minute appeal. >> i'd like to introduce myself. i'm not nancy pelosi. i'm not barack obama. >> this sit, folks. we're getting right down, we're getting right down to the end. >> reporter: in ohio, john boehner, the man many expect to be the next house speaker, worked to build what he hopes will be a republican wave. >> you have to accept it. >> no. >> do you have to take it? >> no. >> hell no you don't. >> the president plans a weekend blitz to ral

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. pate in the election could mean the difference between democrats losing the majority in the house and the senate? >> and that's a consistent message we've heard from the president himself and the vice president. you know, stop whining, buck up, stop sulking. the beatings will continue until morale improves they almost seem to be telling the left, the base of the democratic party. we've seen the president embark now on a series of rallies begin last week in wisconsin, of course, in the liberal stronghold of madison at the university there. an adoring crowd. he's going to do something similar, and they hope will be in another adoring crowd on sunday in philadelphia. last night it was yet another fund-raiser for the democratic national committee. there's no question, contessa, that this enthusiasm gap is something that democrats are contending with. they are heartened by recent polls, including nbc news/"wall street journal" poll that shows the so-called generic ballot test, when they ask

. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live on the white house north lawn for us this morning. vick, obviously going to heart president reacting to the 9.6 unemployment rate later this morning but the white house is trying to draw attention to this issue of outside funding to republican campaigns. tell us about t. well, you are absolutely right and talked about it a lot on this show, starting with a group run by karl rove and ed gillespie say they are not running it, they found it had, called american crossroads, millions of dollars being mured these elections by these outside groups and robert gibbs yesterday complaining from the podium as president obama did yesterday, twice at rallies in maryland and in chicago against these groups. you know, a lot of people were talking about the ineptitude of the rnc, particularly under michael steele. they are lagging behind, having to borrow money, the dnc, the congressal campaign committees on the democratic side raking in the money relative to what the republicans are doing, an official party capacity but outside groups are more than m

msnbc's mike viqueira joining us live from the white house a good day to you, mike. >> hi, alex. >> let'students. anything the mtv poll will show us? >> put your finger on the problem here, a disaffected and discouraged democratic base includes all democratic voters, those on the left and the youth vote that showed out in such force for the first time in many cases in 2008 to help vault president obama into the west wing and the oval office here in washington. michelle obama is being used very sparingly from the beginning. her office has said that she will not be engaged in partisan attacks, but what they are doing is sending her out to those regions, those places, those events where she can help motivate that base. yesterday, it was in wisconsin to help the deeply politically troubled russ feingold. a lot of people saying he is a goner at this point. last night in chicago, for some house races, also the senate race there, trying to race money, sheb did early voting in today and goes on to denver for more fund-raising tonight. you mentioned the president, a series of campaign rallies, he

. >> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house. a good sunday morning to you, mike. >> good morning, alex. >> you have been travel with the president as he tries to keep steele's predictions from coming true. what has been in the reaction? >> to the president, he was in a lot of blue states, washington, seattle, portland, in san francisco, los angeles. i mean, these are areas where his support is still strong. yesterday, he wrapped up that five-state, four-day tour in minneapolis, where he still, the entire state of minnesota is above 50%. you know, that san indication, alex, not necessarily good news for democrats that the president has to go to these areas and shore up his support, make sure that people like patty murray in washington, barbara boxer, you see him there at usc, 37,000 at that rally in california, go to college campuses like usc, go to college campuses like the university of washington and yesterday the university of minnesota, try to get young people part of his coalition back in 2008. women, add backyard discussion

nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house with details on that. mike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, amy. another month, another dismal jobs report. the economys growing too slowly to bring the unemployment rate down, and with elections just weeks away now, voter frustration is mounting. even as he toured a thriving maryland small business, the president acknowledged the jobs picture around much of the country remains bleak. >> the only piece of economic news that folks still looking for work want to hear is, "you're hired." and everything we do is dedicated to make that happen. >> reporter: the october unemployment rate stuck at 9.6%. unchanged from september. with almost 15 million americans still looking fowork. the jobs loss leader governments. including 76,000 positions in cities and counties. most of them teachers. and even with private employers adding jobs for a ninth straight month, mr. obama says he's sti working to dig out of a deep economic hole years in the making. >> i'm not interested in trends or figures as much as i am in

nbc's mike viqueira joins us from the white house. ike, give me a sense of the meetings happening today between the government and the taliban. >> reporter: well, it's very interesting. two reports, one in "the washington post," one in "the wall street journal." the first time since 2008 when those saudi-sponsored talks broke down between the karzai and afghanistan. they are talking -- the administration, we asked robert gibbs about that today. they're aware these negotiations are going on. there are pre conditions as far as the american side is concerned with talks with the taliban, many in agreement with the taliban, specifically that the taliban renounce al qaeda and renounce violence in afghanistan and also operate under the rules of afghan law. the second report in "the wall street journal" relate and very interesting as well, contessa, says the report sent up to congress about pakistan and their cooperation with the fight on terrorism, this report says that pakistan is not engaged in some instances in military engagements in the

nbc's mike viqueira joins us live now. 33% are less likely. 43% say no difference. >> i think it's aroad brush. the insider polls are always very interesting. we want to open them up because a lot of the people polled are insiders and sources working the media business. i think what the white house is saying is that's fine. we understand there are a lot of districts around the country where a visit by the president is not going to help. we've seen a number of places where the candidates are running away from the president and the signature achievements of the health care by their likes. student loan reform, health care reform, you name it. there are districts where the president can help. that's to wit something we just learned from the briefing from robert gibbs a few moments ago. that is michelle obama, obviously the first lady, recently named by forbes magazine as the most powerful woman in the world will be joining the president on the campaign trail october 17th in columbus and cleveland, ohio. we've known that the first lady was going to be on the campaign trail now. the idea i

. >> mike viqueira live at the white house for us. >>> and now a look at what government is perhaps doingebook account. it is today's gut check poll. but first, there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. harry winington talking to the "washington post" five years after being thought by then president dick cheney in a hunting accident. he says the injuries were more serious than first reported. he had a collapsed lung and suffered a heart attack in the hospital. he says he's still waiting for an apology. part of an iconic image of the 1960s is up for sale. tommy smith is auctioning off the gold medal he won at the 8 '68. he says he's selling the medal for the money. and the dalai lama for president? when a california student asked if he would ever want to be the president of the united states, the dalai lama laughed. he said he would make a lousy u.s. president and added within a few weeks the economy would face bankruptcy. those are the things we thought you should know. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices? sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up yo

mike viqueira this morning. seriously, what are some of the other findings here. >> reporter: it's no wonder they left for home early. they wanted to steal the report card out of the mailbox before their parents got home. when does disgust turn into enthusiasm for the other side. i think it's a "washington post" poll that's out this morning. let's have a look at other results. preferred voters. they asked registered voters, would you prefer dem control. 47% said yes. prefer gop control, 43% said no. when they asked very interested voters, preferred dem control, only 40%. gop shoots way up to 52%. and that is what the president and other democrats have been fighting all along over the last few months. right track/prong track, up 59%. up 12 points from ten years ago. 63% said that it is getting better. that sounds okay, but when you look at it as compared to 2000, that's down. they're fighting this enthusiasm gap. it's real, alex. the president has had a rally. he held one two weeks ago in madison, wisconsin. peop

mike viqueira is live. what do you expect come tomorrow? >> reporter: well, this is the first monday in october and that's when the supreme court convenes for a new session. you're right. elena will be joining two other females on the court. they're out of the box with some very controversial cases that are going to have far-reaching implications. first of all, there's this issue, alex, many see it to be very distasteful, the anti-gay protests at military funerals. it's now reached the supreme court. they're going to hear the kiss on wednesday and it promises to be very controversial with the very basic first amendment rights at stake. there's also a law in california banning the sale of violent video games to children, another first amendment question that's going to be taken up fwi court. >>> there's also going to be a case out of arizona about where else hiring illegal immigrants and penalizing for hiring illegal immigrants. this is going to pit the state's rights, state's laws, versus federal prerogative. the ideological make-up of the

mike viqueira is live at the white house for us, mike, how does the president sell this report? how is he planning to counter republican claims? >> well, it's all a matter of expectations, as so often happens in politics, chris. you can look at this report two ways. it is a good news/bad news kind of thing. this is the last time that americans are going to be reminded by their own government and official capacity that the unemployment rate is still over 9%. 9.6% and the last time they'll hear that confirmed by the government before november 2nd and that is the election day, democrats have a month to talk about it. the bad news is this time is the last time they're going it be reminded and it is still 9.6%. two points higher, almost a full two points higher than when the president took office. obviously, the president has struck the theme over and over and over again over the course of the summer and accelerating now as we head head long into the political season. this is republican ditch that was dug, so to speak. the republicans drove the economic car into the ditch. let's not

. >> going on the highlight reel for you, mike viqueira. well, this is unfortunate.shington speak it's todd and samantha or suzanna or contessa. loosely translated it means chuck and savannah. >> both my father and grandfather had to go by todd. they went with it. i'm fighting the todd. >> i'll answer to any leigh syllable "s" word. savannah, sahara. >> if you have washington speak you'd like us to clarify send to sahara at dailyrundown@msnbc.com. okay, guys, heads or tails. heads. no, that's the name of the new oreo cookie. what's the name of the new oreo cookie? [ eli ] heads or tails. tails. tails. heads. heads. tails. heads. heads? oh, no. heads. what? [ shaq ] heads. [ venus ] tails. [ apolo ] tails. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more $2, $3 fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no more paying to access your own money. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it'd be like every atm in the world was your atm. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 the schwab bank high yield investor checking(tm) account. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 zero atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a great interest rate. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no minimums. tdd# 1-

. >> let's speak to mike viqueira. he joins us from the white house. explain what else did the president have to say while i was on the stump for coons. >> reporter: it's not so much what he said, but where he said it. he was in delaware alongside joe biden. campaigning there for chris coons. a democrat running against the controversial republican, the tea party favorite christine o'donnell, who of course vaulted tr nowhere. she was reported by my even in her part. after receiving the endorsement of sarah palin of the tea party, defeated mike castle to become the republican nominee. you know the story since then. the tape surfacing where she said she dabbled in witchcraft. the snl spoof. she's a witch burner. but despite the vice president and the president talking about everything they have done, the theme is familiar. we wants to use the metaphor of the economy in the ditch. the republicans asking for the keys back. it's hard to find a political pundit, expert, analysts you name it, who think the republicans won't take a house majority come november

mike viqueira joins us live. the president putting in serious miles around the country.s getting big crowds on the root and that has good and bad things that come with it. the bad is he's hearing frustration from the voters. >> reporter: that's right. we heard a little of that in boston yesterday. experts measure political trends in a couple of different ways. they say, in any given year one party or the other could be facing stiff henad winds or political waves. they're talking about a loss of a house, turnaround in the house on the order of 50 seats, experts are calling for now, with the president is out trying to put up a fire wall, mitigate the losses. part of the problem, a lot of the independents that voted for him in 2008 walking away, voting for republicans this time around. of course, another problem is the president is not on the ticket so no matter how much he pleads with his party's base, there isn't that motivating factor as well. speaking of that base, a lot of disappointment on some of the civil rights issues dealing with gay americans, a lot of people ups

. >> mike viqueira is live at the white house. >> hi, alex. >> do both with the guys believe the parties are going to win or some serious spinning going on? >> i can't look inside their heads and determine what they feel in their heart he is. michael steele, the pundits, the neutral observers, experts on his side. both of the gentlemen talking about the house of representatives. most people feel they will earthquake the republicans, yes, get the 39 seat these need net and probably a lot more to gain control. they haven't had it for four years and make john boehner the next speaker of the house, opposing nancy pelosi hurricane a matter of speaking. tim kaine points to the fact that yes, the early voting trends are surprising a few people. many states, alex, some states don't go to the ballot box on election day mail-in ballot or walk-in balloting. nevada, for example, we came from a visit with the president, they have early voting there that lasts for two weeks prior to election day. a lot of those trends show that democrats are making a surprising early showing but a lot of people are no