o'rourke does not? senator cruz: six years ago when i ran for senate, i promised the people of texas i would fight every day for lower taxes, lower regulations, and more jobs. that i would fight to secure the border. that i would fight to defend the constitution of texas and i have kept that promise. that is what i have done every day in the senate for the last six years. you are right. we have a real race in the state of texas. the hard left is energized, angry, many of them are filled with hatred for president trump. we are seeing tens of millions of dollars flowing from all over the country to congressman o'rourke's campaign. and the reason is simple. as he takes extreme left-wing positions, positions further to the left of elizabeth warren or bernie sanders, he gets millions of dollars. for example, congressman o'rourke has said he is "open to abolishing i.c.e.." abolishing the immigration customs and enforcement agency. those are his words. now, nancy pelosi has never said that. congressman o'rourk

o'rourke: true to form.ughter] before we bring the debate to a close, each candidate will have a 92nd -- 90 seconds for the close. let's start with you, senator cruz. sen. cruz: in november, there will be a lot of things on the ballot. both congressman o'rourke and i will be on the ballot. but there will be more than that. jobs will be on the ballot. we have seen in the last two years, 4 million new jobs all across this country. paychecks will be on the ballots. seen texas employers like american airlines, southwest airlines, at&t, giving bonuses and pay raises. your 401(k) and your savings will be on the ballot. as we have seen, the pensions of millions of texans going up. simplenderstands a very formula. when you cut taxes, when you simplify the tax code, when you lift the burden on small business, it is good for texas. it expands jobs. it expands opportunity. there is a fundamental choice in this election. a choice between we are seeing nationally, socialists. like bernie sanders, and indeed, congressman

>> well, look, i'll start with what o'rourke said last night, true to form, beto o'rourke has had histo since childhood and there's pictures of him wearing t-shirts calling him beto so to say he changed his name is not true. cruz, ben's right, like traditional politic, you say all sorts of things about each other and then come back together. senator cruz is a true leader who can really lead the state and inspire not just the people of texas but around the country to get involved. look at his fund-raising. he has raised more money than any other senator running for the senate seat. online -- >> and what about out of state? >> no pac money. >> a lot of it out of state. >> o'rourke is the future of texas and the future of this country. >> larry, you know, is cruz's defeat on the presidential campaign trail, you know, largely explaining why this is such a tight race? >> that's one reason, fred. we've actually seen this over the years, a number of cases. when senators run for president and lose, they've in a way flown too close to the sun. and the wax melts and they head down to earth and

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if you are progressive, you love was o'rourke was saying.son o'rourke caught fire. >> and the question is will he win. issues related to that as we at least nationally are looking at texas and georgia as those potential purple states, and we did it in the last cycle, this cycle, and the coming cycle. i am going to play sound related to the issues to the second amendment. let's take a listen. >> thoughts and prayers, senator cruz, are not going to cut it any more. the people of texas, children of texas deserve action. >> hold on a second. let me be very clear. more armed police officers in our schools is not thoughts and prayers. i'm sorry you don't like thoughts and prayers. i will pray for anyone in harm's way. >> patrick, sounded from the crowd there that was clearly an issue that the watchers were caring about. >> yeah, and obviously gun rights are always a national issue, but this hit close to home in texas with the santa fe high school shooting, and you saw cruz and o'rourke split starkly on what's needed after that school shooting, dea

o'rourke is not.me as a kid. >> they're running in opposite directions on that front. >> how are -- o'rourke is going out there registering voters. >> yeah. he's visiting every county in texas, something ted cruz has not done. he provides an interesting alternative. he is a young face. very charismatic on camera. he represents the folks who live along the border. one of the questions i have though is what is the chilling effect that the administration's immigration policies have create d along the border? there are some people not comfortable putting their names on a clipboard at a rally. they don't trust the government because of everything that's happened. that has to be one of the things he's going against. >> what does success look like for o'rourke? does he have to win, or does close feel like a success? >> look, he's running to win. i think we're seeing a candidate unlike any other. he is a special candidate. you see his energy, the dynamism, the way he's running his campaign. he's been to all t

o'rourke may be better off not debating.ng pretty well right now out in the 254 counties not facing cruz. maybe he would rather not debate. >> i think the problem is that there's still a large number of voters who don't have an pinlt of beto o'rourke. and ted cruz is coming in and dumping a lot of negative campaigning on him. as if to say, i'll a pretty normal guy and here are my issues. ted cruz thinks he is a great debater but he didn't win, if you want to put that it way, a single republican debate in 20 debates that he was in. when he gets on the stage, he gets smirky. he thinks he is the smartest guy in the room. he didn't win any of the debates. can he control himself enough? can he subliminate his natural personality enough, not condescend to beto o'rourke to stay on that stage? >> i think beto should just talk about the possibility of his father's involvement in the jfk assassination for an hour, five nights in a row. what a bizarre time we are living through. thank you both. >> thank you. >> if you have a three-day

o'rourke is not.a nickname as a kid. >> they're running in opposite directions on that front. >> how are -- o'rourke is going out there registering voters. >> yeah. he's visiting every county in texas, something ted cruz has not done. he provides an interesting alternative. he is a young face. very charismatic on camera. he represents the folks who live along the border. one of the questions i have though is what is the chilling effect that the administration's immigration policies have create d along the border? there are some people not comfortable putting their names on a clipboard at a rally. they don't trust the government because of everything that's happened. that has to be one of the things he's going against. >> what does success look like for o'rourke? does he have to win, or does close feel like a success? >> look, he's running to win. i think we're seeing a candidate unlike any other. he is a special candidate. you see his energy, the dynamism, the way he's running his campaign. he's been

o'rourke's campaign to say in no way he was referring to police.uise campaign has gone after o'rourke for what they believe is an antipolice stand, including that nfl players who meal for the anthem are not disrespectful. anthony ling initially began as a protest to alleged police brutality. that we need more immigrants to work job than americans, including black americans, won't work. as an example, he used a cotton gin in his hometown. >> the wages that i paid or the number of hours that we set in the work, no one -- for this country who is he willing to work. >> despite saying no one is willing to work a cotton gin, being misconstrued and that without mexican and central american migrants, some jobs would go on work. tomorrow marks the first firstf three debate between ted cruz and beta o'rourke. >> shannon: will be watching, thank you. after the midterms and the kavanaugh confirmation vote, anybody's guess how long this will take. conventional wisdom was the delay would favor the democrats, but a reporter went on the show to say it could be wor

do they have enough to get beto o'rourke across the line?ng some sort of air support for ted cruz, it does suggest that at least from cruz and the republican's perspective, it is a race. they're sounding the alarm. there's no question about that. i think the cruz campaign would tell you itself that they're not taking this race lightly. they understand beto has over performed. he has out rizzsed them. he's been to all 254 counties. he's getting all of this incredibly positive press attention. to jennifer's point about the polls, let me drill down one second on this. the same polls that poll the senate race poll the governor's race. the governor is on the ballot, possible republican. nothing like beto. in the same polls that show the bet/oh ted cruz race, single digits. they show an almost 20 point lead for the governor. you have to agree there are greg abbott/beto o'rourke voters or believe that there is something going on being a focal point for democrats who all things left to the side, they do see an opportunity here. >> jennifer? >> liste

o'rourke's mugshots from skirmishes from the '90s and light hearted mochrie of o'rourke as a dazed andfused punk rocker. >> we sat down with the senator at a bbq joint in austin. >> he's going hard hard left, higher taxes, higher regulations, aggressive gun control. impeaching the president those are great issues to raise money in hollywood, but that doesn't reflect what texans are. >> conservative political passion in this state runs deep and it's well organized. if he focuses on turning out the vote, he wins. >> if freedom loving texans, if common sense texans show up at the polls and vote, we'll have a good election and win in november. >> something is happening on this campaign trail. but then again, texas democrats have been here before. that i have seen a few democratic stars burn brightly in the past then election days turn those stars into dust. will the same story repeat itself this year? >> jim, we have more evidence that republicans not only here in texas, but across the country are growing increasingly concerned. recently, donald trump announced he will be coming to texas i

o'rourke repeated by attacked cruz on tax cuts.use republicans thought it would be the winning issue at the beginning of this year but the issues in texas at that debate are the national issues we hear everyone in the country everywhere in the country. >> you talk about the motivation that you haven't seen since anne richards, it all determines on voter turn out how will it play out. >> we need to look at texas hispanics and college educated women in the suburbs and neither group breaks down cleanly on party lines, how each man makes the case will determine who cops to the polls in this who comes to the polls in this election. cruz is the only republican with a tough reelection ahead of him. this is the world he's lived in and he's known judge kavanaugh a very long time and he's walking a very careful line. back home the conservative anti-abortion choice groups are holding the line for kavanaugh and you can tell cruz is being carrybackful not alienate them or women in the suburbs. >> how about the tv ad wars. >> the money o'rourke

o o'rourke is neck and neck. he is only at 54% with hispanics. the number well up into the 60s if not higher if he wants a shot at ted cruz. >> thank you, phil being my reporting partner in crime. thank you so much for joining us. hope to see you back here sunday at 8:00 a.m. eastern. wolf starts right now. >>> hello, i'm wolf blitzer and it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. thank you very much for joining us. we begin with breaking news. the latest counter proposal in negotiations with the u.s. supreme court nominee. attorney for christine blasey ford said she is willing to testify about the sexual assault accusation against kavanaugh. holding the hearing on monday would be a deal breaker. now republicans are responding with their latest offer. let's go to manu raju. what's the latest? what are you hearing?

on the o'rourke side he is try to swear off outside support. there haven't been a lot of groups that have come in for him yet. obviously at the end of the day taking control of some of those groups do despite what he said. host: we highlighted texas senate race. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this is nancy scola, the technology reporter for politico. there is a picture of two people appearing at these hearings -- tell viewers about who was on capitol hill and why they were there? guest: sheryl sandberg, the chief operating officer of race book testified on election security and the use of platforms by foreign adversaries in the u.s. election process. she was joined by the ceo of twitter, jack dorsey. jack then travel to the other side of capitol hill to the house for the energy and commerce committee where he testified so low on the idea that twitter may be biased. host: what is the significance that you had the ceos of these platforms to talk about these issues? guest: it has been a long time coming. the companies are in the spotligh

tomorrow marks the first of three debate between ted cruz and beto o'rourke.is anybody's guess how long this will take the conventional wisdom was the delay would favor the democrats but nbc political reporter on the bill press show thinks it could be worse for the left. >> delay get another weekend putting it closer to the midterms will not be helpful to them because republicans historically been much more motivated by supreme court nomination then democrats. shannon: former clinton pollster doug shoen. who does the favor? democrats would love to delay it beyond the midterms and retake the senate but what does the delay do? >> as of literally today the wall street journal is out with a poll that shows not surprisingly republican attitudes are hardening for brett kavanaugh. democratic attitudes particularly democratic women against brett kavanaugh and independents moving against brett kavanaugh as well. i think it could probably with the partisans benefit both sides. the independents being the key group. right now they are moving anti-brett kavanaugh. it depen

and in all these issues, o'rourke was speaking to people of color.entioning what people of color want. even when his dwi was brought up, he turned it around to talk about white privilege, how he gets a second chance and african-american men consistently do not. he's clearly thinking the people of color of this state can rise up and help me out here. but i also want to come back to the first issue was the issue of the dreamers. and i'm sure that immigration is a big issue in texas. but it's, again, how the republicans have hijacked the national conversation. immigration is not the critical issue in american life today. right? in the future, they're like, you guys were talking about immigration and not climate change, right? not the economy was not the top five issues? so -- but, you know, the republicans have made immigration to be the number one issue that you would start this debate with. >> that's why trump got elected, immigration. >> on that issue that the was brought up, demographics, who might come to the polls here, how much is turnout going t

the race between ted cruz and beto o'rourke.last night in their first debate. we'll get you caught up. >>> president trump calls them violent animals. america's most feared and violent street gang is making headlines again with a series of killings on the east coast. lisa ling embeds with law enforcement to understand the real terror of mostly sunn-- of. >> reporter: armed with tactics of seduction, coercion, and threats, ms-13 has had no shortage of potential recruits. over 100,000 unaccompanied minors have arrived in the united states since 2014, and most are vulnerable to recruitment. under the cover of night, i met one such target. a young teen recently reunited with his mother after a decade apart. how old were you the first time you saw someone get killed? >> 9. >> you were 9 years old? did a lot of your friends join ms-13 in el salvador? >> yes. ten of my friends -- >> what happened to their lives? >> two of them are dead already. >> the season premiere of "this is life" airs tomorrow night at ten:15 p.m. -- 10:15 p.m. ea

you got ted cruz, beto o'rourke. there is a big debate tonight.ll the democrats could flip this. i think in 2016 when hillary was campaigning in texas, that was blowout there. is it a real chance for democrats to take that seat? >> number one, if liberal hoax could help determine a winner, beto o'rourke would be ahead. there is some poll tag indicates o'rourke is closer than i might expect. yes, there was a quinnipiac poll that had them up by double digits. it sults a much tighter race to me o'rourke has a shot of winning, texas is texas. cruz is most likely going to pull out the victory. >> let me ask you this, on the generic ballot, a preference for democrats over the generic ballot, is there a marker there that makes a race like this competitive? oftentimes, i'll hear smart folks like you say it's a 10% difference, they can turn the race, is that relevant or is it more local? >> i mean it's both. right. senate races are more local than house races are, believe it or not. but if i were to pick a specific number, i'd probably say democrats need t

congressman o'rourke did something else.ried to make a centrist argument on the issue of the second amendment. >> last question here. you look at the polling and i wonder what it tells you at this point. we have the cook political report moving this. many democrats in texas are optimistic think it can go their way. what your looking for >> turn out, turn out, turn out. and who gets their folks to the polls especially if the progressive left decide to back o'rourke with the fervor we've seen in other primaries. >> my thanks for your time on this saturday afternoon. in our next hour much more reaction from christine blasey ford's decision to testify on capitol hill in the coming week. need a change of scenery? kayak compares hundreds of travel and airline sites so you can be confident you're getting the right flight at the best price. cheers! kayak. search one and done. comfort. what we deliver by delivering. >>> welcome back, everybody. i'm david gura at msnbc headquarters in new york. we begin with that breaking news. just m

. >> a new quinnipiac point finds cruz is nine points ahead of beto o'rourke, cruz at 54% and o'rourkeat 45%. real clear politics does the average of all the polling data and shows cruz up by 4.5 points. do you think this is real? do you think beto o'rourke -- >> i've been hearing this a long time how texas is going to go blue. >> texas can go blue. >> beto o'rourke has a real chance, he's on the ground speaking directly to the people and they are running a great ground game, and i do believe there's going to be a surge of unlikely voters to vote in the mid-term election, and if beto can turn those folks out in texas and they check the box for him, the issue is that folks are not necessarily -- like a governor's race in texas is not going to bring the people out. this is the race among some or congressional races on the democratic side. they will bring folks out so he has a chance. >> the governor, greg abbott, is very popular. >> he's extremely popular in texas. >> do you think ted cruz is kind of in trouble or is this acting like he's in trouble? >> remember the peanuts? >> lucy and

so is beto o'rourke the left's obama-like answer to trump in 2020? is posing this, guys. here's a little more from that piece. whether he wins or loses his race, and, yes, even if he loses, o'rourke should be included in every conversation about the 2020 democratic primary. that's because unlike most of the paint-by-numbers politicians in his party, o'rourke actually understands how politics should be conducted in the donald trump era. authentic, full of energy, stripped of consultant-driven sterility and waged at all times with a social-media-primed video screen in mind. mark, what do you think? >> i think that it's true but i think that's a few steps ahead of ourselves here. beto o'rourke obviously has succeeded in exciting the liberal base, the democratic base. a lot of people in texas, a lot of donors across the country and that video went instantly viral and has got a great following. but the bottom line is he's got to get elected to the senate in texas, which remains until we see otherwise a very conservative state and exactly the kind of state

beto o'rourke obviously has succeeded in exciting the liberal base, the democratic base.onors across the country and that video went instantly viral and has got a great following. but the bottom line is he's got to get elected to the senate in texas, which remains until we see otherwise a very conservative state and exact ly the kind of state where colin kaepernick and kneeling during the national anthem is not going to play well. so i would say that it's obviously a very, very good moment for beto o'rourke, he's clearly raised a lot of money and gotten a lot of people's attention out of that, but it's unclear whether it's going to help him get elected in the state of texas. >> is this maybe playing not quite as well locally? >> it has gotten 44 million views, which is remarkable. that's almost as many people as voted on one side of a presidential election. so he has -- and i think that he -- i think that peter hamby that wrote that piece is right in terms of how beto is running his race and that there's no pollster and there's no consultants and it's all very close to th

he got nabbed gazing at his senate race rival beto o'rourke.he photo, inspiring mockery like this diary entry. "i wonder if he thinks about me." someone else called it humanizing. "who among us has not stared at a picture of beto o'rourke and gently caressed the picture with our thumb" in another? just like senator cruz seemed to do. get a grip. cruz is probably reading a news article about the race featuring his opponent's face. it's not tinder. but there were plenty of tinder jokes. swipe left, swipe right. hmm. beto o'rourke supporters look on him as having the charisma of a bobby kennedy. ♪ playing air drums to the who as he drives through a watta burger. >> thank you. you too. >> reporter: while ted cruz suffers the slings and arrows of late-night comedians. >> i noticed he looked like a blobfish. >> reporter: the same day the in flight photos were snapped protesters at a d.c. restaurant hounded cruz and his wife. chanting about the supreme court controversy but adding insult to injury with this reference to his opponent's hotness. >> beto

there are also states that implement the kind of policies congressman o'rourke supported, high taxes, high regulations, open borders. you look at california. it is hemorrhaging population. you know, the cost of a one-way u-haul from california to texas is more than 300% the cost the other way around.

first debate between tid cruz and bait toe o'rourke.joining us. >> hey, kids, good morning. anna: kids, that's kind. pete: i will take it thank you. anna: give us the run down of what happened last night. give us the highlights of those fireworks? >> well, it was almost as if mitch mcconnell were scripting the talking points for a guy i called beta o'rourke. the reason i call him beta he wanders around texas pretending he is latino by calling himself bait toe. i go to speaking engage 789s, you all realize is he not a latino, right? people gasp. they don't realize it's all part of marketing for this leftist here in the state of texas. anyway. ed: what did you think of this clash over guns. i thought it got pretty hot over the second amendment as well. >> absolutely. absolutely. and when beta o'rourke got in ted cruz's face about thoughts and prayers are no longer good enough, ted cruz had just gone through a detailed step-by step plan to arm law enforcement officials and to add cuter r. security to the nation's schools and schools of tex

republican ted cruz and democrat o'rourke wasted no time scrapping it out over who is more tex an. >>in texas and would have an idea of what texas values and interests are. within months of being sworn to service your senator ted cruz was not in texas, he was in iowa. >> congressman o'rourke dunce seem to understand that representing texas is not doing a photo op in each county in texas with reporters in tow. but it's actually standing up and fighting for the people of texas. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: o'rourke has the political wondering if he can topple the republican senator ted cruz. he's embraced a progressive agenda, universal health care, educationalry form, granting so-called dreamers citizenship status, as well as criminal justice reform and legalizing marijuana. >> god bless, texas. >> reporter: cruiz is on a mission -- border security. even in this debate escaping the shadow of trump was impossible. cruz was asked if he lost his dignity after trump insulted his father and wife. >> i've got a responsibility to fight for every here and every person in this state. i ha

beto o'rourke follows into this category.e is basically saying i think gillum will win because gillum is a star, selling star power and embracing it. you buy, are we celebritifying politics nor now? >> i think that's always been true. >> to a point. >> people need energy and excitement. i think what you get in some of these candidates like beto and gillum is not only do you get the star power, you get the youth and you get you know a lot of substance that goes behind that. i think that's a winning formula. >> the rob with the star power is there is always the morning after and then you have to wake up and you realize, oh, my god, he's raising taxes in a state with no tax? >> we'll wake up to -- >> how does that happen? to pay for all of these free programs? that's the other side, folks. >> fair enough. julia, peek, we will give you a break. we will talk a little more puerto rico with the governor of puerto rico. up ahead, supreme court drama, democrats seem to be trying everything to stop the brett kavanaugh nomination. the c

when asked, "what do you like in to dour spare time," o'rourke said, play guitar."id, "organize my documents." [ laughter ] when asked, "what is your ring tone, o'rourke said, "don't stop believin'." ted cruz said, "the sound of my voice gently whispering the word 'moist.'" [ laughter ] en asked, "what is your favorite breakfast meal," o'rourke said, "pancakes with syrup." ted cruz said, "toothpaste with orange juice." [ laughter ] >> steve: really? >> jimmy: no, that's impossible. finally, when asked, "what is yo plan if you don't win t election," o'rourke said, "spend time with my family and keep fighting for what's right." ted cruz said, "organize my documents." [ laughter ] bad answer i could say why he's not in the lead. [ applause ]th i sa "the washington post" just published a board game based on education secretary bey devos. and that's not the only board game based on trump's white house. for example, there is also chutes and leakers. anlaughter ] next, there's unother words that will get you deported. [ laughter ] then -- then there's total lack of strateg

and in texas, beto o'rourke is challenging ted cruz. guest: i think that ted cruz will ultimately pull it out, however, it is important to know that beto o'rourke has nationalized this race, which creates a bit of an issue for ted cruz. obviously not endeared himself, rightly so, to the left, whereas beto o'rourke has. the ability to raise money online has helped him make this campaign in the senate race more competitive. host: a follow-up on our early conversation, obama never separated children from their parents or legal guardians, but did separate those with no proof of legal attachment. that is correct, i believe, but it is very important to note, what i would audiencesmind our here is that the family separation at the border happened before president trump. he did put some policies in place that the justice department has been enforcing, but a lot of the pictures that surfaced initially were from 2014 under obama. host: one of the many debates you were covering, sammy has been waiting from south carolina. morning, thanks for takin

i appreciate it. >>> "outfront" for us next, ted cruz, beto o'rourke, their first debate happening rightow considered a toss-up, yes, in texas. how did that happen? in the red state of texas. >>> and president trump has hailed the government's response to hurricane wrmaria and puerto rico as an unsung success. others call it a failure. what really happened there. ughhh! oh, boy. hey, joy, a lot of people, not a lot of party. yeah, darryl needs to put the play in playlist. i can't stream out here. joy can, she's got the new iphone on verizon. just got it. best phone, best network. nice. and only verizon gives you six months of free apple music. (heavy metal music) darryl, no... read the room. sorry. that's okay. (mid-tempo funk) okay. i did it! yeah! dj! ♪ but he has plans today.ain. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. the world is full of different hair. that's why pantene, the world's #1 conditioner brand, has conditioners

beto o'rourke. otherwise known as robert o'rourke. you are going to win with your hispandering? >> you know what? ted cruz has been out there for a long time and he hasn't really represented anybody, especially when it comes to hispanics. he hasn't really stood up for what hispanic are for. >> we are talking about polls a moment ago. eddie glaude the polls take into account likely voters. is where we're going to see not the likely voters, but the ones that are faithful? >> 100% and his road to victory is along the road are with latino voters, but the chilling effect this administration's policy has had is going to make it hard. >> it's interesting to see, cal perry, great idea. thanks for coming on. >>> donald trump is trying to use the money angle to bring peace to the middle east. it working? don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadw

quote from the profile on beto o'rourke. roger, you think about his platform positions. gun control. he supports players that took a knee. that don't go over well in texas. medicare for all. is he running on a national platform for 2020 or is he running in texas? >> i think it's very clear that he's running in texas. he spent the last 35 days doing 100 events around texas. whereas his opponent, senator cruz, hasn't had even a fraction of that number of events. neither has he made them open to the public or the press. so he's very much running as a texan. i think he has a great case to be made. he's optimistic, he's forward-looking. he's being very transparent about what his agenda is. he's not trying to play it cute as if he's trying to sneak an agenda by a red state. he's very transparent. >> leland: alana, something for republicans to exploit? >> absolutely. it does appeal more to a national race. i don't think this is texas at all. i lived in texas for many years. texans are patriotic for their country. they see a person that is not relating to them as a texan. i thin

otherwise known as robert o'rourke, do you think you are going to win with your his pandering. >> whyfor a long time and hasn't represented anybody when it comes to hispanics. he hasn't stood up for what hispanics are for. >> the victory along the boarder is by mobilizing the latino borders, but the chilling effect by trump, people don't want to put their names on those sign in sheets. >> i want to get your thought on the latest reporting we are getting. mick mulvaney, are they pulling back. is he going to lose support? >> donald trump is going to hold a huge rally and michael avenatti is i think -- i think they are running scared. the president does not want to back a loser, regardless of what he said. >> the president supporting ted cruz is not helping. >> it's a weird situation. 47-47 on approval, disapproval. i'm not sure it helps ted to have the president down there. >> you were at that football game. what was the sense of talking about politics. >> we talked about this. you get outside the beltway and people are more civilized. you can take texas out of the civilized game. it's

in a reuters poll, you have o'rourke leading cruz by twopoints.lier, ted cruz was up nine points. is there any universe you see moving this from republican to toss up? >> not yet. not yet. yes, our poll did show o'rourke up by two over cruz, which caused some ripples. >> some ripples? >> somewhere in the margin of error. look at the polling averages. it has cruz up. what's significant, it's an actual race. who would have thought a year ago, two years ago, the senate race in texas with an incumben it would be. six weeks ahead of the election is what matters. >> republicans are going to be competitive if you have glowing media profiles on o'rourke, cruz and i know some of the people who are allies of his say he's been vilified in the media. no surprise it would be this close. >> they are trying to make themselves feel better. there's no secret, the republicans are not happy about the resources putting into texas to save ted cruz, who the president doesn't like and they could be in missouri or north dakota, west virginia. these democratic held senate

as senator cruz attempts to beat back an unexpectedly tough challenge from congressman beto o'rourke.se the relationship between donald trump and ted cruz has been one of both mutual contempt and mutual convenience. you may recall that when the two were both candidates in 2016 and cruz was showing a little traction. trump retweeted a picture of heidi cruz and melania trump with the caption the images are worth a thousand words and cruz responded with this. >> i don't get angry often, but you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids, that will do it every time. donald, you're a sniveling coward and leave heidi the hell alone. >> so will you support him as the nominee? >> i'm going to beat him. >> spoiler alert, he didn't. just a couple months later trump suggested ted cruz's father might have been involved in the assassination of jfk, a bit of reporting he picked up from "the national enquirer." >> his father was with lee harvey oswald prior to oswald being shot. the whole thing is ridiculous. what is this, right prior to his being shot and nobody even brings it up. they don't even tal

a poll from this week shows senator cruz up by 9-point over o'rourke.euters, released this week shows o'rourke up by two on cruz. for the dems, o'rourke have been something of a fund raising bonanza. $9 million just over the web and just over the month of ago according to the latest reporting on politico. all of which brings us to the last thing before we go tonight. it has to do with our politico divisions. while they are not new to the trump air err trump error. there were households in the country where lincoln's name is not mentioned and plenty of others, we have not quite seen a president's ability to split families and friendships like this. a campaign ad that went up today. it is an attack ad no doubt is designed to take down incumbent congressman from arizona who's running for his fifth term. he's a dentist by trade and he's a thorough trumper. he famously ther rorized that charlottesville was the work of the west. he's being attacked by his six siblings. >> none of this is pleasant for any of us. >> it is horrible to have to do this. >> to spea

the latest poll has cruz and o'rourke in a dead heat. can o'rourke pull it off?if the polling is correct and, again, if he gets the turnout he needs. he's not doing as well with latino voters in texas as hillary clinton did in 2016. he'd need to do better than her, i think, to overtake senator cruz and win statewide as a democrat. he ismachine, the great hope of the democratic party. a win or close loss puts him at the top of the 2020 contender list. they're looking for their next barack obama. he has been to every single texas county, some of them several times, drawing crowds in places that people have not expected him to. it's time for senator cruz to get nervous. that's why he's having president trump come to the biggest arena they could find to do a rally in october. >> we keep hearing that this is a referendum, jonathan, on president trump, but could it turn out that maybe it's that but maybe even more, a referendum on business as usual in d.c.? >> i think there's a part going on there. look, o'rourke has shown democrats and republicans who are watching how

for the dems, o'rourke has been on something of a fund-raising bonanza.go of august according to the latest reporting on politico. all of which brings us to the last thing before we go tonight. it has to do with our political divisions. while they are not new to the trump era and while there were households in the country where lincoln's name dare not be mentioned, same with obama and plenty of others, we haven't quite see a president's ability to split families and friendships quite like this. case in point is a campaign ad that went up today. it is an attack ad no doubt is designed to take down incumbent republican congressman paul g sar from arizona who is running for his term. he's a dentist by trade and he's a thorough trumper. he famously theorized that charlottesville was the work of the left and maybe even by george soros. he's pro-life, he's anti-dreamer. he's called comey and rosenstein treasonous. the ad is for his democratic opponent mike brill. what makes it unusual among attack ads is gosar is being attacked by his six siblings. >> none of t

>> potentially, you talked to people from both parties and it's going to be very hard for beto o'rourkewin the race. cruz is still the favorite and they are up in single digits, but it's closer than it should be and you have the republican cavalry coming in and supporting cruise and do whatever they can do get him over the finish line. >> trump's support worked in the primaries, no question. i forget what the record was. it was 4-1 that at least his endorsement helped. in the general state like texas, does trump's arrival convinced it will be a net positive? >> this is the big question in a lot of races coming up this fall. what i think the white house people and the people close to trump are betting is that democrats are enthuse and they come out no matter what. the question is how can they bring out the republican voters and to a great extent, trump is the best motivator to get them out to the polls in november. >> ted cruz, what's the closest race he has had in texas. what's the closest that a republican has been threatened there by democrats? >> it has been a while. it's a conservat

and the good news about these polls is that they continue to trend upward in beto o'rourke's favor.caught fire with a group of people who typically do not vote in midterm elections. that's why i think he's going to win. because we are seeing an extraordinary turnout. our democrats doubled their turnout, over a million more democratic voters voted in this primary than had voted in the midterm when i ran in 2014. i expect that that's going to get even stronger. and not just that democrats are going to be turning out in bigger numbers, but a lot of those moderate republicans and independents are going to come b beto's way -- >> i'm over on time, george, a final sentence. >> i was going to say, ted cruz didn't endorse john cornyn when he ran last time around and cornyn's busting it for ted cruz, walking blocks, making cone calls. i think they're rallying around senator cruz and i think he's going to win. >> i think i hear you saying the block is hot as they walk the building. we'll keep an eye on it. my thanks for a spirited debate. >>> the kremlin is now the chief suspect in these atta

charles: beto o'rourke may be pushing the envelope too much running on race and social injustice. this incident that happened with senator ted cruz and his wife in a washington, d.c. restaurant, they were chased out of there. >> it lad nothing to do with congressman o'rourke or anything having to do with this campaign. but there is a level of divisiveness that is unfortunate. but it only seems to be coming from one side. charles: does that help or furt ted cruz? >> i don't know that it's relevant. it shows the democratic party is becoming unhinged. democrats say that does not represent what i believe in. charles: there is a "wall street journal" nbc poll that shows a major lead for democrats over republicans. a senate hearing has been set for 9:30 friday morning for judge kavanaugh. ovide you with better solutions for these challenging times, one that is willing to disrupt the industry, and break free from conventional thinking. (thudding) we are a different kind of financial company. we are athene, and we are driven to do more. your insurance rates a scratch so smallr you could f

. >> reporter: joining us is cowboy comedian, o'rourke trying to get his point across.r response to his comments and ted cruz's response? >> it is a tragic situation they are referring to. hundreds of thousands of people, i encourage mister o'rourke and senator cruise to come on the show and talk about these things but there are not two systems of justice. it is a way to pander to a certain demographic of voters. i understand police officers have to be held to a higher standard and accountability but that does not mean they are excluded from the criminal justice system and not excluded from the idea you are innocent until proven guilty. i would encourage mister o'rourke to bring that rhetoric down because it is insulting to our folks in uniform. jillian: i don't know if i have ever seen you in a suit, you are looking sharp. number 2, it is back to the wrong cops, tough time to be a police officer. how do we move past that? >> it is hard. i live in the dallas-fort worth area. i know a lot of police officers. i don't know any police officers who have ever gone into the st

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he's talked about o'rourke being a rock band, wearing a dress.h of those things in a rock band. i was in a rock band in college. texas senate race, quinnipiac, in my home state of connecticut. 54 cruz, 45-o'rourke. one more. 47 o'rourke, 45-cruz. this one came out today. reuters ipsos, uva center for politics. texas, tennessee, arizona, nevada. dean heller in trouble. that's four states. they need two. >> strong analysis. thank you very much. remember, close ain't close enough. they got to win. >> true. >> so thanks for watching. let's get after it again tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern right here on cnn. have a great night. ♪ take us downtown, waze. waze integration- seamlessly connecting the world inside... with the world outside... making life a little... easier. introducing the well-connected lincoln mkc. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's dise