Im bob costa, reporter from the Washington Post. Welcome back to the post lives daily show. We launched this show yesterday so you could have uptotheminute election news every day at 1 p. M. Eastern. Today, i will be joined by former House Speaker, newt gingrich, who is a strong supporter of President Trump. In just a minute, i will be joined by former attorney general eric holder, who has been working on redistricting for years now with president obama and he has been advocating for democratic nominee emma joe biden. Two great guests today. First, i wanted to run through my notebook with the headlines im paying attention to in these final days. Number one, florida remember tim russert 20 years ago in 2000 said that was the focus for that election. It seems to be the focus once again. Biden andPresident Trump in florida today. They know that that corridor is vote rich. You see them going to broward county, making sure black voters come out strong. We will talk about Voter Suppression in florida and across the country, but it is notable that in florida, five days to go, its where they are both paying attention to. President shows vice biden is ahead narrowly, 50 1 , with likely voters, President Trump is 47 of likely voters, and that is within the polls margin of error. In pennsylvania, a deadly shooting of a black man in philadelphia has roiled the campaign and Vice President biden has seized on the news in pennsylvania of rising number of coronavirus cases that has exceeded now 200,000 in that state. , ayou see in pennsylvania competing narrative from the trump side, law order, knocking Vice President biden, but Vice President biden is being critical of any rioting and looting and really swinging that spotlight in pennsylvania on the pandemic. My sources tell me he is speaking to suburban voters as well as urban voters with that kind of message. Immigration, cant forget about that, Vice President biden knows it is key to get the latino vote out and he knows be on the latino vote, you have suburban people paying attention to this issue as well. Inking about children being separated from their families and how biden has announced a task force about making sure immigration is in the headlines in the final days. Real quick, Vice President ial candidates, senator harris is reaching out to historically black universities today. Vice president pence is in iowa, making sure evangelical voters come out and speaking to conservative voters in nevada. Right now, i want to bring in eric holder, the former attorney general, the 82nd attorney general. Hes chairman of the democratic redistricting committee. Welcome to the program. Mr. Holder thank you for having me. I look forward to the conversation. Robert you are tracking Voter Suppression and redistricting efforts across the country, but lets start with Voter Suppression. What are you paying attention to five days to go . Mr. Holder the concerns i have about the long lines, which i think reflect overwhelming enthusiasm by the American People, but i also note that if studies show you are africanamerican, youre seven times more likely to have to wait in line one hour more than your counterpart. Im concerned about that. Im concerned about the measures being taken by the Republican Party to keep people away from the polls and they are going so far as to say they dont want to count all the votes that have been cast. There have been lawsuits in texas to somehow take those votes that have already been cast by people who drove up in their cars and not count those votes. It strikes me, this is something i think is a major differentiator between the parties. Democrats want as many people devote as possible, want all the votes to be counted, republicans want to restrict the number of people who can vote and then apparently dont want to count all the votes. That is inconsistent with who we say we are as an american democracy. Robert we remember 10 years ago, the republicans sweeping across not only congressional races but state houses. Are democrats going to do better this time around in winning state seats and state legislative seats . Mr. Holder could question. I think democrats are going to do a lot better. Quite frankly, democrats did not focus on the state legislative races that we should have in 2010. As a result, the 2011 this redistricting went well for republicans and led to the gerrymandering we have seen that has affected our politics over the course of this last decade. Democrats are focusing now on state level races and it certainly something i have been doing, going around the country that i get it this is an existential president ial election, but you have to focus on these down ballot races and the state races will probably have a greater impact on your life on a daytoday basis because these are where decisions are made on womens reproductive rights, criminal Justice Reform will come from the states out of health care a lot of Health Care Decisions will come from the states as opposed to the federal government. Be morecan you specific, which states do you believe democrats will be best and on the state level . Mr. Holder i think we are going to do in a whole bunch of states because of the work we have done what we have independent commissions drawing the lines. Michigan, north carolina, i expect we will do well in texas, ohio, pennsylvania there have been structural changes we have put in place to make the vote more fair this time. Inthe extent we had concerns 2010, those will not be replicated in 2020. Robert when you look at a state like florida, where the candidates are telling me where the candidates are going today, my sources are telling me white voters are casting ballots at a higher rate than black voters. What does that mean for this campaign . Im not sure thats true. I see pretty extensive amount of support and enthusiasm by africanamerican voters. Not only for the candidacy of joe biden and kamala harris, but as a reaction to the efforts to suppress the vote in the africanamerican committee africanamerican community. I have not seen those kinds of reports. Im confident we will see a robust turnout in the African American community, not only in florida, but around the country. Robert do you believe the Biden Campaign is fully prepared for the post election fights in the courts . Mr. Holder i think we are. I hope it doesnt come down to a fight post election and the courts. I think we can avoid that by simply counting all the votes. I think there will be a winner and i expect it will be a pretty decisive winner. But to the extent it comes down to a court battle, we have lawyers at campaign headquarters, lawyers all around the country, im working with groups who are interested in these issues to coordinate to the extent we can, so we have our legal bases all covered. Robert what about the doj . You know it as well as anyone. You were attorney general of the United States. When you look at attorney general barr, how do you think he is position for this election . Is anything concern you . Mr. Holder it gives me a great deal of concern. As well aslicans democratic attorneys general, they have been a player for fairness and have posted monitors where you expect to see problems. I dont expect that from the Justice Department this time. If the Justice Department were autral, that would be disappointment, not focusing on fairness. This attorney general has weaponized the Justice Department in service to the president that appointed him and that gives me a great deal of concern. Robert how has he weaponized it . For doing coming out things that are consistent with the president best political interest, whether its interfering in cases that put supporters of the president at risk with regard to manafort, stone, people like that. With regard to the way in which they have taken position in election cases, theres a whole variety of ways this attorney general has put the Justice Department on the side of the president as opposed to the people. Friend and longtime ally, president obama, was in florida earlier this week. Where do you believe he should go in the final few days of this campaign . Mr. Holder first of all, i think hes getting a few things off his chest, so that was interesting to watch. I think hes going to go to the places he needs to be. Certainly florida, i think the industrial midwest is a place that will require some attention toward the end of the election process. I think democrats are still suffering ptsd from what happened in 2016 and do not want to repeat what is perceived to be a mistake by not devoting attention to michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania pennsylvania is obviously a critical state, but i dont think we should forget michigan and wisconsin as well. Robert what is your assessment of the Postal Service at this moment and its ability to manage all the ballots coming through . Mr. Holder the Postal Service has been crippled. As i said in a tweet yesterday or the day before, people need to not use the purse not use the Postal Service, rely on the Postal Service to get there ballots to the balloting places on time. Theres been a deliberate attempt by the trumpet ministration postmaster general to decrease the ability of the Postal Service to handle this Record Number of mailin ballots. Studies show firstclass mail deliveries are down well below 90 , which is i pink an acceptable rate. And they have been successful which i think is an acceptable rate and they have been successful. But nows not a time to rely on the mail to get your ballots in on time. Robert on the Voter Suppression question, does the physical activity at polling places and intimate asian the people who are concerned their vote might not count because of a mistake on the envelope where they didnt fold something correctly, how could that affect the final tally . Mr. Holder i dont know the extent to which this will be a problem, but it is something that gives me a concern. Which is why my organization filed lawsuits in a variety of places to try to make sure the ballots dont get tossed for crazy reasons. Signature matches how many people can say your signature has remained absolutely constant over the course of your life . To make sure people are doing the right thing, the problem in pennsylvania with naked ballots, not putting your ballot into the security envelope, there are a variety of things people are unfamiliar with the mailin ballot process that perhaps have not done in that gives me some concern that ballots that are legitimately filled out for technical reasons might not accounted, so im very worried about that. Robert you have seen the rise of militia groups nationwide, the threats on different democratic governors. Is the department of justice under President Trump doing enough to address that threat . Mr. Holder it depends on what part of the Justice Department youre looking at. If you look at the fbi, i think director ray has rightfully called up the problem with these white supremacist groups and expressed those are of primary concerns. I have not seen the same kind of rhetoric coming out of the attorney general, Deputy Attorney general, they have been i think notably and unfortunately silent when it comes to that. I have great faith in the men and women of the Justice Department, the career folks, and great faith in the people at the fbi. I think these problems will be handled but i think a tone of an acceptance has to be expressed by the leaders of this nation and i would expect to hear the president come out against with these militia groups have done in michigan, i would expect to hear that from the attorney general and they have not given voice to the concerns i think they ought to have to the extent they should. Robert if Vice President biden wins the white house, should he retain chris wray as fbi director . Mr. Holder i dont see any reason why he should not finish out his 10 year term. Those 10 year terms are there so you have stability at the fbi, so you dont have what you had i dontector hoover, so see any reason why people would have laws lost faith in the job hes done. He has had a tough job trying to navigate what the president has thrown at him and a criticism that has come this way. I supported his nomination and i dont see any basis now to not hold him on. Do you support the effort to prosecute President Trump potentially if he loses the election out of office . Mr. Holder that is something that i think has to be considered. I think a look has to be taken at the cases that might be made against him, not the least of which is the case that involved michael where the president was individual number one. Thats a threshold determination that has to be made, but and accountability is something i think has to be a guide. But we also have to understand what would the impact be of the prosecution of a former president . A nation that wants to heal, a new administration that wants to enact a program it ran on, would that be too large a distraction . Theres going to be a tension between accountability and the desire to move on. Robert how do you lean in that tension . Mr. Holder i think given the breadth of corruption we have seen in the trump administration, i tend to lean toward accountability. Not only with regard to the president , but those who served within the administration and abuse their offices. If Vice President biden wins, are you open to returning to a cabinet position . Mr. Holder [laughter] that is something i havent really considered. I would try to serve in any way that i can but i suspect the Vice President and the new Vice President , harris, have their eyes on may be some new folks to serve in the cabinet. Thing here you were probably watching the final days, vicein recent President Biden talked about his regrets on immigration during the obama years. Do you share his regrets about not being able to enact comprehensive Immigration Reform . Mr. Holder im not sure i would call it regrets. But regrets in the result we have to remember a bipartisan bill came out from the United States senate and the people who were behind that think i think deserve a great deal of credit. That bill never got a vote in the house of representatives. John boehner never put that measure before the house. They knew it would have passed. The Freedom Caucus prevented that thing from being presented. I regret the fact comprehensive Immigration Reform was not acted upon. It could have been acted upon, but republican failures in house prevented it from occurring. To the extent i have any regrets, it is the needed leadership and house of representatives. Toert if you are not ready jump back into the cabinet life, who do you think Vice President biden, if he wins, should pick at the next attorney general . Mr. Holder i think hes got a lot of good choices. I think you ought to look for somebody who has some degree of familiarity with the department. I dont think this is the time for people learning on the job, and 70 who will be able to meet the moment, somebody who will be able to deal with the civil unrest that has engulfed our nation, the need for criminal Justice Reform, and enhanced Justice Department effort at protecting the right to vote. Somebody whos got that experience and some buddies got the ability to meet the moment and who is going to be politically savvy. There will be a lot of things thrown at the next attorney general, fair and unfair, that will require some degree of political acumen. Robert no name mentioned. We will leave it there. Attorney general eric holder, we appreciate your time and i hope you come back soon. Mr. Holder thank you for having me. Robert i will now turn to former House Speaker newt gingrich, who is a longtime supporter of President Trump over the past four years. He served as the 50th speaker of the house of representatives. Speaker gingrich, welcome back to Washington Post live. Mr. Gingrich good to be with you. Have you back. A few years ago, we werent talking about georgia as a battleground, the state you represented in congress for years, now it is a battleground. Are you worried about President Trumps chances in that state . Mr. Gingrich im not worried about it. I think you will carry the state. But it certainly more of a fight that would have been a few years ago and i think you have to give Stacey Abrams and other some credit for how much they have gone out and organized and have gotten people registered, which is what america should be all about. In the end, President Trump will carry georgia and i suspect in have both u. S. Senate seats. But it is more of a fight that would have been 12 years ago. Have those suburbs around atlanta changed over the last 20 years . Mr. Gingrich i think they are m