And welcome to politicsnation from atlanta, georgia. Tonights lead, a split down the center. The midterm elections are just 16 days away, 17 states have already started voting in advance of november 8th. 12 states will join that list this week. And a brand new National Poll from nbc news suggests that americans have their minds made up about several things ahead of next month. President bidens Approval Rating is holding at 45 . The highest number he has enjoyed in over a year, yet still lower than democrats would like with their senate and House Majorities hanging in the balance. Voters remaining evenly split on congressional preference. 47 preferring democrats in control of congress, 46 preferring republicans. The Passion Driving Voters this Election Cycle is unprecedented. With seven in ten americans expressing high interest in this midterm election, a likely indicator that we can expect record turnout next month, but with that, our country remains deeply polarized. Eight of ten americans from both parties believe their political opposition poses an existential threat to the country. What will that divide mean for the country after november 8th . I will ask george a candidate Stacey Abrams in just a moment. You absolutely dont want to miss it. First, joining me now, senator kirsten senator, 16 days till midterms, more than half of the country is engaged in early voting by the end of the week. A lot of issues on the table, along with some of those new polling numbers, which i will get to in a bit. But broadly, why do you think democrats will be able to hold on to the senate just about two weeks out from election day . I think democrats can hold on to the senate because of the quality of our candidates. Weve extremely strong candidates, who are doing well in their states. And despite states being red or purple, we have democrats leading in the polls today, so i am optimistic. You look at races like mark kelly in arizona, he is ahead. Maggie hassan in new hampshire, Reverend Warnock in georgia, Catherine Cortez masto in nevada these are incumbents that are doing very well in their states. And on top of that, weve got five open seats, including fetterman in pennsylvania. We are doing very well. We are up in many polls. Why is it so important that democrats retain control of the senate at this time in your words . Everything is at stake that you care about. If democrats can hold the senate, that means we can stop more rightwing judges from being appointed and populating our judiciary across the board. Democrats can make sure there is a wise, thoughtful addition to the Supreme Court to counter the radical right that trump has created. Right now, womens reproductive freedoms are basic civil rights and or a quality and citizens is at risk nationally if we dont hold the senate. Right now, President Biden and democrats are doing good things to rebuild the economy. Weve already passed the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Weve already passed the bipartisanship bill. Creating jobs and we did a lot to help the cost of things, getting the cost of medicines down, energy those are things that are really vital to american families. We are just doing a good job of moving this legislation to help people forward and i think we are just getting started. Senator, former President Donald Trump has been campaigning for republicans and there are rumblings he may also insert himself into the midterms, even after the votes are cast. Rolling stone reports today that trump wants to aggressively challenge close races that are not declared on election night. He is particularly fixated on the Pennsylvania Senate race, where he and other republicans are already preparing to wage legal and activists crusades against the Election Integrity of democratic strongholds, such as the philly area. The stories site sources familiar with trumps conversations, although abc has not independently verified their accounts. How worried are you about trumps once again, throwing our President Trump has not stopped trying to throw our democracy into chaos. He contested the last election, he will contest the next election. And this is what President Trump does. He does not fight fair. He is dishonest vandalized. And he continues to lie. Democrats are prepared. We have our own lawyers. We have our own arguments. We will make sure that we win these elections by a Strong Enough margin that there is no room for President Trump to contest the outcome. I think that is essential in the four incumbent races i mentioned, as well as in some open seats like pennsylvania and wisconsin and ohio and North Carolina and florida. We need to work very hard to get every vote out, to not give an inch, and to make sure people understand what is at stake in this election. Its the future of the country, whether we have a quality, whether we have Voting Rights, whether we have reproductive freedom, whether we have a growing economy, whether we get people back to work, focusing on education and health care and jobs it was President Biden, who got us out of this pandemic and got the economy moving again and that is what americans want. Senator, going back to one of the nbc news polls i mentioned earlier, 81 of democrats think the Republican Partys agenda is an existential threat to the country. 79 of republicans think it is the democrats agenda that is the threat. I cant help but wonder what it means that voters are so polarized, going into november and what that means for either party, should they succeed. I think its vital that democrats correct the record and talk about all the strong bipartisan work we are doing, things that we have come together to pass common sense reforms like investing in infrastructure, common sense investments Like Mental Health care, to make sure we can end gun violence, common sense bipartisan work, like making sure america can be at the forefront of manufacturing, ai, quantum all these things that create jobs and make us more nationally secure. We also put in place a lot of reforms as well as the cost for energy down, as well as advancing new technologies, like greene and urge you to create green jobs. I think theres a lot of misinformation out there and i can tell you that both cisa and did release a statement, a warning, that unfortunately, adversaries worldwide are trying to attack people in america, to make them really be divisive and to be angry with one another, purposefully, to undermine our democracy and undermine our confidence and it. Voters should be aware that when you are having a fight online with someone, you may be having a fight with a bot, who has nothing to do with the american electorate, so i would just really talk about what is getting, done why it helps people, why getting Prescription Cost down for putting a cap on overall medical costs for our seniors for their medicines. That matters. And really correcting the record that democrats are working hard on a bipartisan basis to get things done for the American People, to help jobs and the economy and health care, to improve our education system. Those are things that matter to every American Family and we are getting things done and we are doing it together. All right, thank you for being with us, new york senator kirsten transitioning now to a very important Gubernatorial Race here in georgia. Joining me now, georgia gubernatorial candidate, Stacey Abrams, a democrat. Miss abrams, first of all, thank you for being with us tonight. And we truly appreciate, ahead of your mid term contest, according to the Georgia Secretary Of State this weekend, more than 660,000 people have voted early in person as of the end of friday. I spoke at three church services. I preached that like your parents at three services this morning here in atlanta and 90 of all three congregations have already voted. Total turnout is nearly 730, 000, including absentee ballots. Looking at this early turnout, where does your campaign see the momentum going with two weeks to go . Thank you so much for have thing me we think that there is deep energy amongst voters who are too often not reflected in the polls. And the most important pull is the one that you show up to two past we are excited and enthusiastic about the turnout, but we want to encourage everyone to make sure we dont let the momentum drag. Week two is just as important as week one and we know for all of those who showed up in week one, we now need you to call three of your friends and make sure they show up this week. Voter suppression is alive and well in georgia and they are pushing this argument that says that because we have record turnout, there is no suppression. That is completely wrong. That is like saying because more people get in the water, there are fewer sharks. The sharks are still out there, but the best way to overcome them, is to have more people participate in the process. Voter turnout is the antidote to voter suppression. It is not proof that there is no suppression. We believe that as voters, we understand they will show up and they will turn out in record numbers. Miss abrams, georgia has obviously emerged as a southern battleground. Its role in making joe biden there was of course the effort by President Trump to affect the outcome of that election in your state. And following all of that into 2021, the passage of the socalled Election Integrity act, restricting drop boxes and getting more power to the State Legislature over elections, triggering a Justice Department lawsuit over allegations that the law violates the Voting Rights act. With all that, with that scene set, for our viewers in other states watching this race, why has georgia become this bellwether and what does its issues mean for the rest of the nation . Lets begin with the composition of georgia, we are the most diverse state in the south. We are 48 African American, latino, aapi and native american, 50 white. That means that you have a very racially balanced population. But we also know is that georgia unfortunately lags behind on a number of key metrics. This is the most dangerous state in the nation for women who get pregnant. The highest Maternal Mortality rate. Georgia has the second highest rate of People Without Health Insurance cards, which means when you get sick, you might get health, you might not. We have the fourth highest Eviction Rate for housing. All of those issues are front and center. This is a conversation in this Election Cycle about the economy. We knew that inflation is a global phenomenon, but the state of georgia can do something to influence pricing at home. And unfortunately we have a governor who has refused to do his part. He has refused to expand medicaid to reduce the cost of health care. He has refused to address the Affordable Housing crisis. Sitting on 400 million in funds that were intended for the use of people to keep them in their housing. He is refusing to do real pay raises for our teachers. And he is refusing to invest in our Small Businesses to the extent that even though half the population minority businesses only get 1. 5 of state contracts. He says he used to study the issue. What this signals is that this election is a referendum on a kind of state we want to be, not only in the south, but as a bellwether for the nation. And if we do it, i know we can, if voters show up, what we can demonstrate is that we want someone who not only cares, but is willing to help. And is not going to attack our freedoms. Brian kemp and his cohort, brad raffensperger, have spent the last four years attacking our right to vote, making it more difficult to participate in our elections. They have gotten credit for simply not committing treason. But that is the lowest bar in america. We need leaders who actually believe in our access to democracy. And the last thing i will say on this is that we keep focusing on election denial about the outcome, but the more permissions version is denying access and that is what brian kemp and brad special isnt, denying access to the right to vote, keeping people away from their participation in our democracy. And that is more dangerous because you dont even have to manipulate the outcome i dont have to remind you. Youre opponent, brian kemp, who just messaged had campaign for reelection against you in large part under the theme that youre soft on crime. It was repeated in your first debate with camp last week, his questioning of your Law Enforcement and relationships and it comes at a time critics are arguing some republican candidates are intentionally linking race and crime as a tactic to undermine the black opponents. Whats your take, miss abrams, do you agree with those critics . I noticed mr. Campus been willing to use every racial trope in politics. He called me an angry black woman on the stage. He darkened my skin in his hats. Hes tried to link me to false allegations that i dont support Law Enforcement. Unlike mr. Camp, i dont feel compelled to list every man who supports me. Im not a member of an allboys network, i dont have the club roster, what i can tell you, love supported by Law Enforcement. Im supported by returning citizens who want an opportunity to participate in our society again. Im supported by those victims of gun violence who watched our streets be flooded by weapons because of the weakening of gun laws. They know that because of his decision to eliminate a background check. Georgia has become a hotbed of gun violence just in the last two days. The number of violent incidences with guns have been across the headlines across the state. What we know, brian kemp has fallen back on the same races tropes that have too often been a part of how they win elections. What we know, georgia is different today than it was 50 years ago. Were not going backwards. And were not looking backwards. People understand in georgia, we need to have a complicated understanding of the need for both Public Safety and accountability. And justice. That all three pieces are the way you move the state forward. Thats why were seeing so many people energized, enthusiastic, and pushing back against brian kemp. And his attempts to scare us into submission. Were gonna fight our way to progress. I look forward to being part of that progress. Miss abrams, i need to ask you this, some political observers have raised the concern that in the midst of your rematch with governor brian kept, you havent garner the same kind of fervor from black voters that you did during the first contest with him four years ago based on his approach. Obviously, the black vote for democrats seeking statewide office is critical in georgia. Well those voters show up in the numbers that you campaign for, campaigned with, and that your Campaign Needs to be successful in two weeks . Ill tell you. If you look at the turnout that were seeing. Not only is that record turnout overall. Its record turnout amongst black voters. Ive been traveling the state for the past week in our lets get it done core. Encouraging people to turn out to vote. Like you saw this morning in the churches, people are enthusiastic, theyre ready to go. Whats been wrong about these reports is that these reports have been looking at a snapshot. The question is, who are you taking a picture of . Are you taking a picture of those families who cannot send their kids to college because the hope scholarship doesnt go far enough, black children are the most likely to lose hope. Assuming they even get. It are you taking a picture of those students who are trapped and underfunded schools or brian kemp slashed the budget in 2019 until federal democrat stepped in and paid for education in the state of georgia. Are you taking a picture of the 40 of those who get access to health care if we expanded medicaid knowing that 40 of those people are black. Well we know, black voters arent only enthusiastic, theyre showing up in record numbers. Theyve already exceeded their turnout in 2018. Theyve exceeded their percentage of the population, that to me is a strong sign that the reports of our unrest, the reports from greatly exaggerated. What were seeing instead is not only enthusiasm but a determination to navigate brian kemp voter suppression, to navigate the challenges and barriers. They understand whats at stake. More money in their schools, more money in their pockets, more opportunity in our communities. And more freedom in our lives. Because the effect of his ad tie abortion ban, that sixweek abortion ban, is gonna be incredibly harmful to black women in the state of georgia. Lets remember, the south is home to 56 of black people. And unless i become the governor of georgia, will be in a wasteland, a desert, that has no access to reproductive rights from texas to south carolina, from tennessee to florida. Unless i become a governor of georgia, repeal that law, make georgia in ways this for black women, and for women across the country. All right, Stacey Abrams, you seem fired up. The voters i talked to seem fired up as well. Thank you for being with us. Up next, recent polling reveals americans favor republicans when it comes to major midterm issues. How is the dnc gonna respond, after the br