in the cross fire as the war between israel and hamas escalates, and questions of mount about gaza's future. former congresswoman jane harmon is here to discuss. trump's on trial, don jr. prepares to return to the stand in the new york civil fraud trial while his father suffers a setback in florida, for now. charles coleman junior will be here with insights on what it all means. and, spotlight los angeles, mayor karen bass tells me about her old efforts to ease the homeless crisis in los angeles, and how she is helping other big city mayors meet the challenge. i'm jonathan capehart, this is the saturday show. this week started with democrats hair on fire. on monday a new york times poll showed presidential biden trailing donald trump in five out of six key battleground states. by tuesday night, voters had their say, and it was not good news for republicans. they were trounced at the polls on election night, after voters in ohio, kentucky, and virginia soundly rejected candidates who campaigned on a hot button issues like abortion. in ruby red ohio, voters and trying to right to abortion in the states constitution. a state trump won by eight points in 2020. they also legalized recreational marijuana. in ruby red kentucky, incumbent democratic governor andy beshear beat back a challenge from the states republican attorney general who has defended in court a 2019 law that bans abortion under most circumstances. trump won that state by 26 points in 2020. in swing state virginia where republican governor glenn youngkin bit his room with presidential bit -- republicans control of both chambers of the legislature, so that he could push through a 15-week abortion ban, democrats took control of the house of delegates and held on to the state senate majority. and yet, some republicans remain confirmed citizens of earth to, where tuesday's results mean nothing, and democracy is but a petty annoyance. >> you put very sexy things like abortion and marijuana on the ballot, and a lot of young people come out and vote, and it was a secret sauce for disaster in ohio. i don't know what they were thinking. but that is why thank goodness, most of the states in this country don't allow you to put everything on the ballot, because putin marks these are not the way to when a country. >> and if that does not alarm, you then this latest threat from the twice impeached four times indicted 91 council former president who is out on bail or bond in three different jurisdictions should. >> i could certainly have been in reverse, it could certainly happen in reverse. what they have done is, they have released the genie out of the box. you understand that. they have done something nobody thought would happen. i happened to be president, and i see something doing well and beating me very badly, i say go down and indict them, mostly that would be -- they would be out of business. they would be out. they would be out of the election. >> just remember, he tried that with bill barr when he was president in the run up to the 2020 election. but also remember, listen to what he, says because he is telling us what he will do if republicans retake the white house in 2024. tuesday's election results should be a bomb for worried america, if only democrats would spend more time focused on that than the age of a president who is getting stuff done. joining me now, rachel -- political strategist and author of hit them where it hurts. terrence seth mayer senior adviser for the project and former -- residents collar at the university of virginia center for politics. and long time no see for old friend joe walsh, not official affairs correspondent for the nation and author of corporate bs. but it is not bs. look at the screen. rachel, let me start, with you what are the off-year election results tell you about where the country is right now? >> yes, it is something else that is not bs, jonathan, i understand people were freaking out badly about those polls that came out over the, weekend and i spent a lot of time trying to explain to people that polling now is measuring laden partisanship. what matters is these hard data points. throughout 2023, special elections, democrats haven't just been over performing, they have been really over performing. so this two state election cycle for me was the main bellwether i needed to see, to understand where the democrats would come into 2020, for advantaged, or disadvantaged. because no matter what, it is going to be a very tight outcome in the presidential election, no matter who the nominees are. so with a tuesday coming into the books, now i'm able to tell people how positive i feel the democrats strategy is, we are showing victories through 2022 and 2023. it is on to 2024 with more road rage. >> and you know, you wrote that virginia governor glenn youngkin was the biggest loser monday night. i think i have an idea why. tell me more. >> well, glenn youngkin, first, of all scared a lot of democrats. people did not necessarily think he would win in 2021, but he did. and he did it by wearing that nice fleece vest, coming across as nice suburban dad who thought schools had gone too far in certain areas. he was a moderate, he did not talk about abortion. donald trump endorsed, him but he somehow found a way to keep donald trump out of virginia. and so, he seemed to herald this suburban comeback for republicans. and then, he made the crucial mistake of telling us where he stands on some issues. running on a 15-week abortion, ban super unpopular. and also, his meddling in the schools. trying to change curriculum, wipe out teaching about race, change teaching about gender. harass transgender students. those things were not what people voted for 2021. i think coming out of covid, parents were -- they felt the schools stayed closed to, long et cetera. he interpreted that as a mandate for his private hard-line views. he put himself on the ballot. he wasn't on the ballot. he spent at least $15 million, probably more to electoral publicans, and he failed. so it made it a referendum on him. i don't know where he goes, because as we all, know virginia has a one term limit for the governor, not running for president, not running for reelection. we will see. >> and you know, republicans have to be down over the abortion issue, but there is a lot of video of donald trump taking credit for overturning roe v. wade. there is no way for republicans up and down the ballot to run away from the issue in 24 and 24, is there? >> no. they made this bed, and now they have to lay in it. it is a loser bed. because every single major election since jobs have been overturned republicans have lost it is obviously out of step with the american people on this issue. it is an extremist position. this is what the mega stream missed on. it is a republican party allow themselves to be taken over by these people and so the american people so far in the elections we have had since dubs have demonstrated that they are an interested in going the way of the handmaid's tale. so i think in 2024 you are going to see trump has already started to do this. he started to moderate on his position for abortion, because people running his campaign are smart people this time around they recognize this is a huge electoral albatross around his neck. and almost 30% of republican women are pro-choice. so this is a problem for him in the swing states that will determine this election in arizona, wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, georgia, nevada, they know that this is a mobilizing issue. not only is it about abortion anymore, it is about individual freedom. the government coming in and telling women how to make decisions about their own bodies. the last time i checked, less government interference in every day individual lives was supposed to be a republican position. how did they square that? they can't. so as long as -- it doesn't matter who their nominee is. we all know it is going to be donald trump. but as long as they have a maga speaker of the house, who seems to believe in national abortion bans and is a complete lunatic on a lot of these social issues. this -- democrats can use, because it happens to be true that these people are extremists and want to take individual right away, particularly from women. that is a losing election argument. >> and speaking of speaker mike johnson, later today we are going to see what his big plan is for see our, potentially hopefully maybe not have the government shutdown on november 17th or 18th, but we will see. rachel, can you, please and i will keep coming back to this new york times cnn poll, throughout this conversation, but can you please explain the discrepancy between the polls and how they sent them kratz hair on fire? they sweat bad news for the democrats, especially when it is questions about, do you support the president, and should he, run and all of that. yet when voters go into the voting booth, they and up voting for people, or for issues that democrats at large, and the president in particular support, and have been pushing. where is the disconnect? >> yes, i'm happy to fill that in. it gives me an opportunity to shamelessly plug my new book coming out in february. what it starts off doing is getting people to watch the saturday show, and my, friends and everyone on twitter, to understand we are all like unicorns when it comes to our political reservoir of knowledge. average americans have none of this reservoir. right now, average americans are paying zero attention to the presidential election. so what we are capturing right now in polling, and have been capturing is the continued ill-advised conversations on people like jean phillips, and potentially having a different nominee, is some of that desire. if i call a person who knows little ball politics, and do you want the old guy that you don't like already because nobody ever meets the standards of getting stuff done in our system. it is not the system of getting stuff done, it is a system of -- that always depresses people. we are capturing a lot of that imaginary world where i take biden, and i replaced it with my nominee of choice. it could be whitmer, it could be buttigieg, the point is there is not one nominee of choice. so what i would tell democrats, is no matter what you see in the polls now, what you would be seeing under a competitive democratic primary, probably would be worse, because the more this electorate sees of the republican parties extremism, the better it will be for us electorally. it is a heartfelt to swallow when i tell clients and candidates, voters are just not that into you. but they are not. the really are not. we won't be able to get good public opinion out of the cycle, i don't, think until after labor day. you know what's great? i'm keeping you guys over for another block! we are gonna continue this conversation with rachel, tara, and joan after the break. you're watching the saturday show. heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms, like carpal tunnel syndrome, shortness of breath, and irregular heartbeat could be something more serious called attr-cm, a rare, underdiagnosed disease that worsens over time. sound like you? call your cardiologist, and ask about attr-cm. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. i work hard, and i want my money to work hard too. so, i use my freedom unlimited card. earning on my favorite soup. aaaaaah. got it. earning on that éclair. don't touch it, don't touch it yet. let me get the big one. nope. -this one? -nope. -this one? -yes. no. what? the big one. they're all the same size. wait! lemme get 'em all. i'm gonna get 'em all! earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. ma, ma, ma— ( clears throat ) for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops. with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain. vicks vapocool drops. vaporize sore throat pain. back with me now is my power packed panel, rachel bitecofer, tara setmayer, and joan walsh. tara, that same new york times poll that i keep harping on that has democrats hair on fire. like, oh my gosh, the world is over! that same poll, at the very end, notes that if trump were convicted and jailed but was still on the ballot he would lose those battleground states to president biden. what does that tell you about trump's hold on the republican party? >> well, it tells me they are still going to come home to him no matter what even if he is on the ballot and, as we call them, the ban on line voters here at the lincoln project. seven to 11% of republicans who are not on board with donald trump, who are sway-able, that they would do the right thing here. either stay home or vote for joe biden. but that is a long ways away, you know? the idea that he is going to be jailed, everyone needs to understand that that is not going to happen. he will be convicted, most likely. chris christie is out here explaining to people, rather well, what will happen with the convictions. going to jail is not going to happen, before the election. will that help in a generaeleco? i would hope so. goodness sakes, this is the united states of america. i would hope enough americans have enough sense not to vote in a convicted felon. you know, we have 75 million votes the last time. so, god only knows. it just goes to show you that democrats really need to start messaging that contrast. except that it will be biden and trump and start making that contrast now. today's veterans day. republicans have co-opted the messy on patriotism, the flag, the military. they have a senator in tommy tuberville who is disrespecting every single man and women in uniform by holding out those nominations for the promotions in the senate. democrats should be running ads on that every day. particularly now, when people are paying attention to. it as we celebrate our veterans, republicans disrespect them every day. including law enforcement, as well. that is another subject. star embracing the contrast and stop letting republicans co-op this narrative. get people to pay tension now. set the narrative now. they have winning issues here. >> right. a couple points there. donald trump won 12 million more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 after all the mess he pulled during his presidency. also, to your point, tara, the president, president biden, loves to say, don't compare me to the almighty. compare me to the alternative. if your alternative is donald trump, that is one hell of an alternative to run against. joe, all the thoughts you have right now on democrats with their hair on fire. the new york times cnn poll. what the biden administration should be doing, right now, to ensure that the next trump biden face-off goes the way it did in 2020. >> quickly, to tara's point, there is another and they could cut. that is about donald trump insulting wounded veterans. calling people who serve losers. saying he never want to see a wounded veteran onstage will ever again. there is that. there is that other contempt. by her has not been on fire this week, jonathan. people are acting like joe biden will go to the polls alone. he will. not the only poll that matters is election day. i know that has become a cliché but it is absolutely true. democrats have been killing it in state legislative elections. they stopped the, quote, red wave in 2022. they took back virginia. there will be so many other people on the ballot with joe biden. i still think that he will be reelected. he will do fine. you cannot act like someone sitting in their living room talking to a pollster, i don't know how it happens but that that is the beyond and all of this conversation. democrats are winning. abortion will be on the ballot. it is completely. school boards. intellectual freedoms. student freedom. that will be on the ballot. guns and gun safety will be on the ballot with joe biden. his positions are in line with all of the american people. the majority, i should say. not all. but the majority of the american people on these issues. to act as though all we have next november some referendum on, is biden too old? is trump to criminal. yes, he is. but that is not what is going to be. it is going to be a national mobilization. i like our odds. i'm happy to be a democrat. >> i need to get you in on this one. i'm gonna end on rachel, real fast. you wrote about senator joe manchin's announcement that he was retiring. his strong about whether he might make a third party run for president. do you think he will actually do that? why can't he do what most retiring politicians do? that is retire and go make some money? >> he's got a lot of money. maybe that is not his motivating factor. >> more money? >> yeah, more money. there is never enough money for these wealthy zillionaires. i don't know how that works. i don't think he wants to. run the more i thought about it he doesn't want to go out a loser. he would be a total loser. he would be a loser on the national stage. he is not pro-choice, he is pro gun, he is pro fossil fuels, he is really out of step. there are some people, my friend mike to masking in the new republic said he would actually take votes from trump. i think there is as good a chance of taking them from biden. i think he is a narcissist who will not run because he cannot win. >> rachel, less than 30 seconds left. if he were to make a third party run, does he stand a chance? >> no. let me be clear, none of these people stand a chance. ross perot earned 19% of the popular vote. and astronomical amount have the third party vote share. vera-elect her all -- he can only vote as a spoiler. question mark on manchin as to whether or not he will hurt dems or republicans the most. at the end of the day if he doesn't want to have a big fat el attached to his history than he should stay at a national politics. >> alrighty. rachel bitecofer, tara setmayer, -- thank you all for coming to the saturday show. coming, up the latest in the israel-hamas war as hospitals are caught in the crossfire and israel expands temporary humanitarian corridors. and gaza stay with us. students in a new kind of classroom. ♪ using our technology to power different ways of learning. ♪ harnessing ai to plant new beginnings. ♪ so when minds grow, opportunities follow. after switching to the farmer's dog we noticed so many improvements in remi's health. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. it looks like nutritious food, and it is. i'm investing in my dog's health and happiness. get started at longlivedogs.com ♪♪ we're not writers, but we help you shape your financial story. ♪♪ we're not an airline, but our network connects global businesses across nearly 160 markets. ♪♪ we're not a startup, but our innovation labs use new technologies to help keep your information secure. ♪♪ we're not architects, but we help build stronger communities. ♪♪ we're not just any bank. we are citi. ♪♪ ( ♪♪ ) rsv can be a dangerous virus [sneeze] for those 60 and older. it's not just a cold. and if you're 60 or older... you may be at increased risk of hospitalization from this highly contagious virus. not all dangers come with warning labels. talk to your pharmacist or doctor about getting vaccinated against rsv today. rsv vaccines, including pfizer's, are now available. -we're done. -what about these? 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