Transcripts For MSNBCW Meet The Press 20201026

Economy . I would transition from the oil industry, yes. Oh, thats a big statement. I would transition. That is a big statement. And covid. Were learning to live with it. We have no choice. He says that were learning to live with it. People are living to die with it. Giving both candidates some late ammunition. How safe is bidens polling lead . Can mr. Trump repeat his 2016 Election Night shocker . And who will control the senate . My guest this morning, Kate Bedingfield from the biden campaign, corey lewandowski, democratic senator Sherrod Brown of ohio and congressman denver wriggleman of virginia, plus, several members of Vice President pences staff test positive for covid as daily u. S. Cases hit an alltime high. Its real. Its very real. Theres probably not a day i dont cry. Joining me for insight and analysis are amy walter, National Editor for the Cook Political Report, Yamiche Alcindor with pbs news hour, nbc news senior Political Editor mark murray and anna palmer, senior washington correspondent for politico. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Announcer from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. This is meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. Nine days. Nine days before americans finally decide who will take the oath of office on january 20th. Nine days before control of the United States senate could be determined. And nine days before we have a sense of whether the country says, yes, we want four more years of President Trump, or the voters say theyve had enough, and they choose joe biden. Thursdays debate probably changed little, which may be a good thing, if youre ahead nationally by roughly nine points, as biden is right now. But where does this race stand . Heres an easy way to look at it. Lets start with the 2016 election map that President Trump rode to victory. Now, lets assume right now, as the campaigns are assuming, that joe biden takes two trump states, where hes been consistently ahead all year wisconsin and michigan. Throw in nebraskas second Congressional District, as nebraska splits their electoral votes, where hes also leading. If that happens, it leaves President Trump with this path. He could not afford to lose any of the following states pennsylvania, North Carolina, florida, or arizona. And right now, he is trailing in all four right now, but they are close. But again, if he loses any one of them, its game over. Remember, this also assumes that mr. Trump hangs on to ohio and to iowa and to georgia and to texas, all of which right now, neck and neck. And if mr. Trump was searching for an october surprise, he did get it, but it may not be the one he was looking for. We are now well into a frightening record third surge of covid cases that has just hit Vice President pences staff very hard, just as mr. Trump and mr. Biden are making their Closing Arguments. The people of wisconsin must stop these antiamerican radicals by giving joe biden a thundering defeat. Everybody knows who donald trump is. Weve got to show him who we are with joe biden, youve got 47 years of all talk, no action. Were turning the corner on this. He just said that this week. The nerve. He cant answer a tough question like, what would you like to do in your second term, then its our job to make sure he doesnt get a second term with nine days to go and 60 million votes already cast, donald trump and joe biden are making their Closing Arguments. Trailing in the polls, President Trump is still searching for a message that will stick. Joe biden admitted that he wants to abolish the oil industry. That wasnt too good. Texas, are you watching, right . Pennsylvania. Hoping to capitalize on this debate exchange. Would you close down the oil industry . By the way, i would transition from the oil industry, yes. Oh, thats a big statement. I would transition. That is a big statement. That is a big statement. Because i would stop why would you do that . Because the oil industry pollutes significantly. Oh. Im not banning fracking in pennsylvania or anywhere else. Its the latest trump message, after weeks of struggling to land on one. Last night, biden refused to rule out courtpacking. In other words, they may take 16, 17, 18 people. You cant let biden be president because hes not at the top of his game mentally. Remember he said that . Wheres hunter . We made the tshirt. It was a number oneselling tshirt. But the president s attempt to replicate the 2016 victory with an october surprise is falling flat in the midst of a crisis where he is losing the publics trust. Thats all i hear about now. Thats all i hear. Turn on television, right . Covid, covid. Covid, covid, covid, covid. A plane goes down. 500 people dead. They dont talk about it. By the way, on november 4th, you wont hear about it anymore. Friday marked the highest daily number of cases since the pandemic began, with hospitals in the west and midwest overwhelmed and death counts rising. In my 34 years as a physician, i have never seen so much suffering from a single disease over such a short period of time. We are reporting 3,874 new cases for a total of 36433 confirmed cases since the start of this pandemic. Excuse me, please. Were learning to live with it as i told him, were not learning to live with it, were learning to die with it, because hes doing nothing as the pandemic surges, President Trump appears focused on personal grievances, rather on governing. Nobodys ever gone through what ive gone through, nobody. No president s ever gone through this, no president. Anybody else would have gone into a corner, sat down in the corner of a room, put their thumb in their mouth and say, mommy, mommy, take me home, please. Joining me now is Trump Campaign Senior Adviser corey lewandowski. Corey, welcome back to meet the press. Good morning, chuck. Let me start with whats happening with the Vice President. There are now reports that theres a third staffer of his that has tested positive. We know his chief of staff tested positive. One of his senior political aides. Let me ask you this, corey, is the Vice President going to selfquarantine . I know that as head of the task force, the guidelines that are issued like this indicate you need to selfquarantine. Is the Vice President going to selfquarantine because of the amount of interaction that hes had, particularly with his chief of staff, mark shore . I havent spoken to the Vice President or his team in the last 24 hours, chuck, so i couldnt answer that, but i am sure that the Vice President s going to take all of the precautions necessary, very similar all right, we have lost Corey Lewandowskis audio, so we are actually going to im going to turn to the biden campaign. Were going to see if we can get that audio back. But im going to bring in Deputy Campaign manager and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield. Kate, my apologies there its quite all right. Welcome to meet the press. You know, this day in age. Live television. What can you do . Live television and the technologies were all using these days. So, look, let me start with where you guys are headed in this final stretch. I saw a report on tuesday that this week, the Vice President s going to go to georgia. Mmhmm. Is georgia that critical to 270 that he should spend the last week of the campaign in georgia and not in pennsylvania, michigan, or wisconsin . I ask you, because you remember, four years ago, some criticism of the Clinton Campaign for focusing too much on georgia and arizona in the final week. Well, look, were focused on maintaining as many paths to 270 electoral votes as we possibly can. We believe that were seeing energy all across the country for joe biden and against donald trump. You know, the vp is going to be or i should say vp biden is going to be in georgia on tuesday. Thats right, hes going to be actually making a significant message speech there. Hes going to be delivering a Closing Argument set of remarks at warm springs, georgia, which, obviously, has historical significance in this country. And hes going to be making the case that we can unify this country, that we can come together to overcome these crises, that there is no challenge too great for americans to meet. But the first thing they have to do in order to do that is vote. So, hes going to be making that Closing Argument. You know, youve heard him make this argument directly to the American People throughout this campaign. You heard him make it at gettysburg a couple of weeks ago. It is a core foundational belief of his that we can overcome this hyperpartisan moment that were in and that we can unify the country. So youre going to hear him make that case in warm springs, georgia, on tuesday. And of course, warm springs, georgia, made famous by fdr. Yes, exactly. When he would go down there to rupe to recuperate. This is a statistic here. This is since september 1. The final four states as weve out leaned them, arizona, North Carolina, florida, pennsylvania, four pretty crucial states. In all but pennsylvania, President Trump has personally been to those states, campaigned in those states. Hes been to North Carolina more than joe biden, to arizona more than joe biden, to florida more than joe biden. Only in pennsylvania has joe biden been there more. Are you concerned that your strategy for having a light physical footprint with the two nominees, with your two nominees are you at all concerned that this may that you may regret the lack of physical presence on the ground . No. Look, we are campaigning incredibly hard. Vice President Biden has visited all of these battleground states multiple times. He was in pennsylvania yesterday doing two events, one in luzerne county, one in bucks county, along with dr. Biden. So, no, we have been very aggressively campaigning. But heres the difference between what were doing and what donald trump is doing. Were doing it safely. Were taking into account the safety of these communities that were visiting. You know, i saw a usa today story i think a couple of days ago that shows that covid spikes are following in the wake of these Trump Campaign events, where theyre going and doing these superspreader rallies that are putting people in jeopardy. And were never going to do that. That is, you know, first and foremost, we are going to be looking out for public safety. Weve done that from the outset of the pandemic. I think we have campaigned aggressively and creatively and safely. And you know, frankly, i think thats what americans are looking for. Theyre doing that in their own lives, all across the country, figuring out how to adjust and live safely, because donald trump hasnt been able to get this virus under control. So, in the final nine days of the campaign, were going to campaign hard and were going to campaign safely. Okay. I want to ask you about the remark late in the debate about the oil industry, where the former Vice President said he wants to transition away from the oil industry. And look, some of these remarks that he said, he has said them before. But let me ask the question to you this way, kate if you work in the oil industry, if you believe that fracking has been good for the economy, and youve heard the statements from joe biden, longterm, joe biden doesnt sound like a supporter of those industries, so why shouldnt those folks think, you know what, Donald Trumps going to be more supportive, not joe biden . Are you comfortable with that . Lets be really clear about something, chuck, there is only one person in this country who joe biden thinks should lose his job, and its donald trump. Donald trump is trying to distort joe bidens position on this because hes desperate to be running against anybody but joe biden. Thats been true from the start of this primary. Look, he as joe biden said on the debate stage, he is not going to end the fossil fuel industry. He is going to end subsidies for the oil industry. He believes that your taxpayer dollars should go to education. Donald trump believes they should go to exxon. That is a contrast and a conversation that were willing to have any day. But look, if you take a step back, joe biden has put forward an aggressive Climate Change plan that has been endorsed by climate groups, but its also been endorsed by labor, because it is also a jobs plan. It is a plan that will make significant investment in Carbon Capture and sequestration, in if infrastructure. Its a jobs plan. And so, you know, he believes that we are not only going to create new jobs, we are going to maintain jobs. People are not going to lose jobs under a biden administration. Before i let you go, one state on Election Night that you want to you care about the most on Election Night thats going to tell you where this race is headed . Im not going to do that. I think there are a lot of states that are going to be critically important. What i would say to everybody watching is, if you are somebody who has been hurt by Donald Trumps presidency, if youve been frustrated by it, if youve been embarrassed by it, go out and vote. Nine days. You can vote early. You can vote in person. You can vote on election day. Vote in whatever way makes the most sense for you. But across the country, no, everybody, turn out and vote and lets make change in this country. All right. Kate bedingfield, Deputy Campaign manager with the biden campaign. Kate, thanks very much. Thanks, chuck. And we do now have the audio fixed with corey lewandowski, so corey is back. All right, let me stick with that first question there. And you had started to answer. You said you dont know the details of how many more staffers. Do you think it would be appropriate for him to campaign in the next 24 hours, or do you think he should quarantine . I mean, if you came into contact with marc short as closely as he did, would you be quarantining . Well, look, i would make sure that the Vice President s taking all of the precautions necessary, as he always has done. I am sure he is tested regularly, and he is in the best care of the best physicians in the world at the white house. So im sure hell do what is necessary and what is appropriate. And look, weve also seen Kamala Harriss team, members of her team come down with covid, and she took the necessary precautions. So, lets see where this goes, but i have not spoken to the team directly on that, chuck. You heard in our introduction piece there the president almost complaining about how much focus theres been on covid, covid, covid, covid, as he sort of said it. Do you think thats the right message to be sending right now . We just had the two highest days yet of new cases in this country, back to back, friday and saturday, and the president seemed to be lamenting the coverage of that. Is that the right message you want to send with nine days to go . Well, i think the president s message should be and continues to be the promises hes made and the promises that hes kept. Whether you care about middle east peace, which hes been able to do, rebuilding our military or building the strongest economy with the lowest unemployment rates for africanamericans, Asian Americans or hispanic americans our countrys ever seen i think thats the closing message. And the closing message is, we have an opportunity to set our country forth in the next four years for a path that weve been on for the last four years, and that includes Economic Prosperity for everybody, including making sure that our immigration system is one that benefits this country, not other countries. You know, thats whats really important. And safety and security for people at their homes, their businesses, their places of worship and standing with the men and women of Law Enforcement is the message that resonates with everybody across every socioeconomic status in this country. I want to ask you about some comments that got leaked out to the Washington Post last week that the president made at a fundraiser where he basically wrote off republican chances, apparently, in the senate. And he even added, he doesnt even want to help some of these senators. There are a couple of senators i cant really get involved in. I just cant do it. You lose your soul if you do. I cant help some of them. I dont want to help some of them. Does the president really think that republicans have a better chance at winning the house than they do at holding the senate . You know, i dont think so. Look, this president s been out aggressively campaigning for members of the u. S. Senate. Hes asked surrogates, including me, to go out and help. I was in arizona on thursday helping raise money for martha mcsally, one of our battleground states. And so, this president s been very forward in helping u. S. Senate candidates around the country be successful. Hes helped raise money. Hes had a Great Partnership with Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell. Theyve raised money together. And we feel very, very strongly that were going to retain our majority in the u. S. Senate. He said he didnt want to help some of these senators. He took a shot at Susan Collins about ten days ago. Is that the senator hes referring to . You know, i dont know, chuck, but i can tell you this, President Trump is going to be in maine this afternoon. Ill be joining him up there. And hes going to be campaigning in the maine second Congressional District, a district that he won four years ago, and could be pivotal in this election cycle. And obviously, this president wants to make sure that in addition to his reelection, were retaining the majority in the u. S. Senate and were taking back the house of representatives. You were very careful there. Does he want to see Susan Collins reelected . I think the president wants every republican reelected, regardless of who they are and if they break with the president on some of the issues, and the reason is, the alternative is much worse. Look, if Chuck Schumer becomes the Senate Majority leader, were going to have a very different path forward and we would see Less Supreme Court justices nominated, wed see less federal bench members nominated. So look, we want a republican majority, to be crystal clear. Ill ask you, whats the one state on Election Night thats going to tell you more about whats happening in this campaign than any other . Well, chuck, i know the last person wouldnt answer the question, but i think florida is the battleground state. It always has been, always will be. We feel very strongly about where we are positioned right now in florida. Its an east coast state. I know theyve got some part of their voting in the next time zone, but ill tell you what, when donald trump wins florida big on Election Night, its going to set the path for the rest of the night. Florida will be one of the early states were all able to follow on Election Night. Corey lewandowski, Senior Adviser with the Trump Campaign, thanks for coming on and sharing your perspective with us. Thanks, chuck. President trump and republicans are losing suburban voters, joe biden and democrats are struggling with working class whites. Ill talk with two electives on the front battle of shifting coalitions. E front battle of shg coalitions welcome back. The changing Political Landscape is posing challenges for members of both parties. Democrat Sherrod Brown won three Senate Elections in ohio, surviving a state that took a sharp turn to the right in 2016. In september, Denver Riggleman overcame the challenges of a blue district and won a seat in 2018 but lost his primary this year to bob goode, who describes himself as a biblical conservative, in part because of rigglemans support for samesex marriage. And both senator brown and congressman riggleman joins us this morning. I want to start with senator brown. Senator, we did a deep dive on our undecided voters in the nbc wall street journal poll for the last nine months. We combined everybody thats told us undecided on the president ial race, so we were able to find out, who are these folks . And a third of them are members of union households. And it just sort of it was one of those that confirmed sort of the anecdote that says a union member maybe culturally feels the pull of the republicans, maybe on policy feels the pull of the democrats. How do you talk to that voter thats undecided still . Well, joe biden is the most proworker candidate nominated by either party in the last 30 years, and he its for joe, its all about the dignity of work. You contrast joe biden, who is running his campaign through the eyes of workers, will govern through the eyes of workers. And the reason hes leading from scranton to cleveland to toledo to detroit, to milwaukee, is because he is the dignity of work candidate, contrasted with trumps daily, weekly betrayal of workers in everything he does. And that contrast is so clear. Politics, as you know, chuck, is whose side are you on . And joe biden clearly is on the side of workingclass america. Are you at all concerned, though, about the fracking comments, the perception on the oil and gas industry . And the reason i ask you about it, its not on the specifics here. I think bidens position is clear, that hes against the subsidies for the oil industry. But it is more of the perception that hes somehow antiworker. Theres a lot of good jobs that come to the fracking industry. So, are you concerned that that person looks at it and says, look, maybe joe bidens okay with my job for now, but hes going to eliminate these jobs as soon as he can . Look at the other side of the ledger. Donald trump has refused to raise the minimum wage, has taken away overtime, which joe biden and i worked on and others, of 100,000 ohio workers and a similar number in pennsylvania. Trump has put on the Supreme Court and federal judgeships, and as the secretary of labor, antiunion judges, anti the corporate lawyer hes lets say it this way. When theres a fork in the road and you side with either corporate interests or side with workers, every single time, donald trump has sided with corporate interests. And again, contrast that with joe biden as the dignity of work candidate that will always put workers first. All right, but i think about your old Congressional District that you used to represent that, you know, youre telling me that those voters, are they going to be okay with what joe biden has said about fracking and the oil industry . Theyre not going to get cold feet and think, mm, hes going to get rid of those jobs . No. I mean, joe biden trump won ohio by eight points. Its an uphill fight, but were going to win it and we are winning it because biden is a dignity of work candidate. I won it by seven, and i won it because the same formula joe biden is following. You talk to workers directly. You have good africanamerican turnout. And the suburban voters just off the charts in places like columbus, in dayton and toledo and akron and cincinnati are just overwhelmingly breaking to biden. Thats why hes going to win. He is the dignity of work candidate. People in the suburbs understand that, too, and that contrast is so very, increasingly very, very clear, as trump is maybe just look at this one thing. 600,000 workers in ohio were getting 600 a week unemployment. Trump and mcconnell just took it away and said, sorry, youre on your own. Thats way more important than any one comment that joe biden or donald trump made. Its see what i do, watch what i do, dont just listen to what i say. You know, if joe biden wins, theres going to be a lot of people who are going to want to say, hey, your mandate is to do x, no, your mandate is to do y. So im going to ask you, what do you believe the american electorate would be sending as a message, as a mandate, if joe biden is elected president . Address the covid crisis, the pandemic, the Public Health disaster that trump has made worse and worse. The first thing out of the box i mean, the first thing out of the box may be the john lewis Voting Rights act to restore Voting Rights that the Supreme Court has taken away. But the first really big thing we do is a covid package with infrastructure, putting millions of people back to work, helping those who are unemployed, helping open our schools safely, providing emergency rental assistance so people will not be so we can stop this wave of evictions that is building. All of those kinds of things. But its fight its ending this pandemic and getting the economy back on track, which donald trump has not only failed donald trump as president obama just said on your preview, donald trump doesnt even have a plan for a second term, having no idea what to do about this pandemic. And joe biden, chapter and verse, is ready with a big infrastructure package right to buttress it. Senator Sherrod Brown, democrat from ohio. Always good to get your perspective on this program. Thanks for coming on and sharing your views with us. I appreciate it. Pleasure. Let me turn now to congressman Denver Riggleman, for those in virginia, the district he represents is charlottesville, so its a little bit of rural virginia, a little bit of northern virginia, a little bit of college town virginia. Congressman, im curious, youre in one of these areas that, while in virginia, we dont i think we have an idea of where the states going to go, but its districts like yours. Wheres it headed . Because where its headed probably tells us where the countrys going. What kind of insight can you provide . Our districts 10,000 square miles, so bigger than new jersey, chuck. As you know. Weve talked about that. About but going from fauquier county, suburbs of d. C. Down to say the North Carolina border, republicans are different from north to south and so are dra s democrats. Right now when you look at my district, donald trump is polling plus three, but the republican candidate is actually nin minus three, a sixpoint split. And thats with the district of virginia, its so diverse. In 2018, i beat the Senate Candidate by six points in the district. So, this is a district that is a swing district at our plus six, but we see the explosion of growth in sort of the southern part of the suburbs of d. C. , but also in charlottesville. We now have a true swing district in a blue state. And it looks like right now, wed better Start Talking to everybody, rather than just a narrow portion of the public. What have you learned almost since coming here . Look, you have not been a political guy your whole life. Obviously. You got into politics late. You got ousted in a republican primary. And so, youre aware of sort of these divides inside the party. Talk about these divides in the party. Is this sort of would this be the reason if donald trump loses and republicans lose control of the senate, would you say its these divides in the party thats the reason . Yes. I mean, i think its that simple. I mean, if were looking at just a colder personality in the Republican Party where ideas and policies sort of go away, we have a real problem. Now, dont get me wrong, i think some of joe bidens policies are pretty bad, on a policy perspective, when you talk about courtpacking, which i think is really, almost like a judicial arms race, you know, a selflicking ice cream cone. Youre talking about Energy Policy or economic policy. But i think what you have with the president right now is that when im talking to people, theyre not really worried about policy. Theyre just like what President Trump says goes. And right now in this district, thats not working very well. And i think in the state its not working very well. But what ive learned, chuck, right now, is i really thought the battlefield of ideas is where its at, but it really gets very, very personal, and i think thats something weve got to worry about. You were very aggressive in working with somebody across on the other side of the aisle, trying to get a bipartisan resolution to condemn this wacky qanon conspiracy that has led to some violent actions by some of these believers. And of course, theres Marjorie Taylor greene, the republican candidate for congress in georgia thats likely to become a member of congress. Here youve got a large majority of the house to condemn qanon, and then very quietly this week, we saw that the Republican Party has officially endorsed Marjorie Taylor greene and donated the maximum amount of money that the nrcc can do. What message does that send to the party as a whole that they did that . So, i might as well just piss everybody off, chuck. So, i think if were doing this, if were looking at the spread of misinformation as part of something just to pander to a certain subset of voters, i think weve lost our way. And thats the thing ive been talking about. Yes, i agree with most of the policies for limited government and growth and a lot of what President Trump has done in this district has been wonderful. But when we start to represent as a party thats part of this antisemitic Conspiracy Theory that believes that theres some kind of pedophilia cabal on the democratic side of the house, i think were in for a rough ride. And i just wish we could stick to policy, because if we stick to policy, its almost impossible to vote for joe biden, and were not. I scratch my head as a former intelligence officer, chuck, what are we doing here . This is people that believe lord of the rings is a documentary. The fact that were trying to appeal to them is ridiculous to me. Are you still a republican . Ill tell you what, im a republican, what i thought a constitutional republican was, but the way the gop is going in virginia, its very difficult for me to stay with any party. I believe the duopoly is really, the twoparty systems really failing the American People right now. Congressman Denver Riggleman, a republican from the charlottesville area in virginia, thanks for coming on and sharing your perspective with us. I appreciate it. Chuck, i appreciate you. Up next, will democrats take the senate . Whats the path for republicans to hold on . Will we even know before january . The panel is next. Will we even know before january . The panel is next. Its totally normal to have constipation with belly pain, straining, and bloating, again and again. No way. More exercise. More water. And more fiber is the only way to manage it. Is it . Maybe you think. Its occasional constipation. Maybe its not. It could be a chronic medical condition called ibsc, and time to say yesss to linzess. Linzess works differently than laxatives. It helps relieve belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. Do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. Do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. Get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If its severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomach area pain, and swelling. Change your thinking to ibsc. If your constipation and belly pain keeps coming back, tell your doctor and say yesss to linzess. Welcome back. Heres where im going to be living for the next nine days. The other focus in the next nine days will be control of the senate. Right now it is 5347 in favor of the republicans here, meaning democrats need a net gain of four seats if President Trump is reelected or three seats if joe biden wins. Vice president breaks the tie. Earlier in the cycle, we had identified six republican senators in jeopardy steve daines in montana, cory gardner, martha mcsally, joni ernst, thom tillis and Susan Collins in maine, plus one democratic incumbent, doug jones in alabama. This is the senate map we assumed we were going to be dealing with, with the last nine days. But look at how this map has expanded. It has added quite a few competitive races. As of right now, youve got Lindsey Graham in south carolina, both republican senators in georgia, david perdue and tilly loeffler. Dan sullivan of alaska is in a tight race and the open republican seat in kansas yes, kansas all of them are in some measure of peril. Then id add democrat incumbent gary peters of michigan. He still finds himself in a tougher than expected race, despite joe bidens strength in michigan. Finally, on the outdoors here, yes, there are more Competitive Senate races. John cornyn in texas, Mitch Mcconnell in kentucky. Look, theyre both favored, but they havent put their opponents away. Same is true for democrat tina smith in minnesota. So, to be sure, democrats are not going to win all of these races, but its worth keeping in mind that in a wave year, which this could be for democrats, close races tend to go all in the same direction. And boy, do we have a panel of political experts to chew over this. Amy walter with the Cook Political Report, Yamiche Alcindor, White House Correspondent for the pbs news hour, nbc senior Political Editor mark murray, and anna palmer, the senior washington correspondent for politico. All right, were diving deep into the senate. Amy walter, this is what you do all the time. You worry about this six years in advance. Here we are, nine days to go. Whats your senate race obsession . Im obsessed with North Carolina, because to me, no senate race kind of sums up where we are in 2020 than this one. A latebreaking sex scandal involving the democratic candidate. Now, normally, that would put a race that democrats were ahead in maybe behind, right . This could impact this race negatively for the democratic candidate. Instead, hes still running ahead. Thats democrat cal cunningham. And the reason hes still running ahead is because donald trump is running behind in North Carolina. Look, the race for the senate is like the race for the white house. It is an existential question about donald trump and nothing else. Politics is not local. Its national. And thats a big problem for republicans in a state like North Carolina. Finally, chuck, the other reason im obsessed with it, polls close at 7 30 in North Carolina. The ap called the race at 11 00 p. M. In 2016. Well, its no, we are we are excited about North Carolina here at nbc for those very reasons as well. Mark murray, get in on this. What is your senate race obsession that you think will help tell a story . Yeah, chuck, im obsessed with iowa. And if democrats end up falling short in North Carolina, iowa is probably their next best opportunity to get that majority. And were seeing iowa in play because democrats are performing on average about six to ten points better in Congressional Districts in state across the country than they were four years ago. Iowa epitomizes that. Donald trump ended up winning iowa by nine Percentage Points in 2016. It is now an even steven race, in the president ial as well as the Senate Contest between joni ernst, the republican incumbent and theresa greenfield, the challenger. Were also seeing the senior vote play an important role. Democrats are overperforming with seniors. And we know that iowa has one of the oldest voting populations in the country. And now were seeing republicans fighting back on issues like immigration, on policing, as well as saying, hey, heres what a democratic Senate Majority would end up doing. And so, those are all the forces at play in the hawkeye state, chuck. Both North Carolina and iowa feel like places that, as the president ial goes, so goes the senate, or vice versa. Yamiche alcindor, what is your senate race obsession for these last nine days . South carolina. Im looking at the race between Jaime Harrison and senator Lindsey Graham. This is a race that was solidly looked at as a republican seat. It was then moved over by the Cook Political Report as a tossup. Its really fascinating because Jaime Harrison has essentially been able to raise boatloads of money and put Lindsey Graham on the defense. This is a state that President Trump won in 2016 by 14 points. Theyve not sent a democrat to the senate in two decades. So, if this if Jaime Harrison is able to pull this off, its going to be a major blow to republicans. It is also interesting, of course, because Lindsey Graham has really emerged as one of the closest allies to President Trump, and thats going to make this race a really interesting one to watch. And yamiche, i want to play a piece of this tv ad that Jaime Harrison is running, because hes decided to add a third candidate to this race. Take a look at this ad. Bledsoe was protrump from day one, opposes all abortions, and bledsoes against all gun control. Lindseys changed and bledsoes too conservative for south carolina. Now, yamiche, bill bledsoe has technically dropped out and endorsed Lindsey Graham, but his names on the ballot. What does that tell you . Does that tell you that Jaime Harrison doesnt think he can get 50 , that if he wins, he needs some help . Thats what it seems like. It seems as though he was answering questions about this, and that thirdparty candidates name, first, is going to be at the top of the ballot, which is interesting because of the way that they do it in that state. He says, hey, i want to be able to explain to people that there are all these people on the ballot. The interesting thing thats happening here is that watchers of this election say that maybe Jaime Harrison cant pull out 51 , but if he pulls out 47 and is able to win, this could still mean that he could take that seat. So, in some ways, it shows that Jaime Harrison is thinking about this race and saying i need to look at other candidates as well and remind people about that. By the way, whats interesting is the democratic strategy in kansas and alaska is also counting on thirdparty candidates, essentially making 47 or 48 a winning number. Anna palmer, last but not least here. Whats your obsession . Im really focused on maine. I think we always knew it was going to be a tight race with Susan Collins. Shes the only republican in the senate from the new england area. But the real question to me and why it poses a much bigger issue for republicans is shes running as a bipartisan moderate who, if she wins would be chairman of the Senate Appropriations committee. And is that a message that can win in 2020, or have republicans completely become the party of trump where it is tribalism that wins the day, less about bipartisanship and trying to get deals done . Shes a 24year veteran of the senate and has been wildly outraised by sarah gideon. So, these next nine days will be critical for her. What do you make of what does Lisa Murkowskis decision to confirm Amy Coney Barrett . She had been sort of with Susan Collins on this idea that they werent going to vote for anybody before the election. Does this add pressure to Susan Collins, anna . I think the decision by murkowski to say on the procedural vote shes not going to be forum, but for the vote that will confirm Amy Coney Barrett, she is going to support it. I do think that puts pressure on Susan Collins, but i will say, shes the only republican who has not endorsed trump this cycle, and she is going to need those more suburban, moderate republicans to stay with her and not vote for sarah gideon. So, she has a very fine balancing act here in the closing days of this election. Amy walter, if the Georgia Senate race runoffs are what decides the Senate Majority, does that mean it was a bad night for democrats on Election Night . Yeah, it would be thats probably a good way to think about that, chuck. I mean, i think democrats have at least five seats right now where theyre currently ahead. And so, if we go nine days from now, it meant that they only won three of those, and it would probably be the North Carolina and iowa and, yes, determining control of the senate in georgia in january. Wow. Yeah. Like i said unbelievable. I have talked to democrats who said, if Senate Control is on the line in january, thats not a campaign they necessarily look forward to running. Right. Let me pause it here. When we come back, were going to look at two counties that may go a long way towards deciding who will take the oath of office in january. Stick with us. Ake the oath of oe in january stick with us. Take the oath of office in january. Welcome back. Data download time and a final look at the five counties in the five swing states representing different critical voter groups that weve been tracking all Campaign Season long. This week, were checking on two makeorbreak states for President Trump, pennsylvania and florida. First, to Beaver County in western pennsylvania. Mr. Trump won the county by 19 points, thanks largely to white voters without college degrees. According to analysis by pew, he won nationally by 44 points, but in our recent nbc news wall street journal poll, President Trumps advantage with that group is down to just 21 points. And beavers where we find my colleague, Maura Barrett. So, maura, is beaver still Trump Country . Reporter well, chuck, beaver used to be a democratic stronghold, but those noncollegeeducated white voters are also bluecollar unionworking voters who used to work in the steel industry, and now theyre hoping that natural gas could be a boost for their local economy. So when we hear President Trump talk about fracking, hes speaking to the voters right here in Beaver County. And when we look at the Campaign Schedules in these final days leading up to the election, President Trump is focusing on areas like western and central pennsylvania, where hes got strongholds. Meanwhile, we see biden yesterday going to counties where the race is tighter because hes hoping to shrink those margins that trump has here in the state. Remember, pennsylvania went for trump by just 44,000 votes in 2016. Chuck . Maura, thank you. Now lets go south to miamidade in florida, where were looking at hispanic voters specifically, including cuban and venezuelan americans who are leaning republican this year. Hillary clinton won miamidade in 2016 by 29 points, and she won hispanic voters nationally by an even bigger margin. Biden is still polling ahead of President Trump with the group nationally, but by a smaller margin than how Hillary Clinton did. My colleague, ellison barber, has been talking to voters in miamidade. So, ellison, is biden going to do better than Hillary Clinton did . Reporter hey, chuck. Yeah, the Trump Campaign has spent a lot of time trying to tie former Vice President joe biden to farleft socialist policies, even suggesting that if he were to win, the u. S. Could become the next venezuela. Biden is not a socialist, but that message has resonated with many in miamidades venezuelan and cuban communities. In recent weeks, biden has pushed back more forcefully on that narrative, but some of bidens latino supporters here in miami have told us theyre worried he waited too long to aggressively push back. Chuck . Ellison barber in miami, Maura Barrett in beaver, pennsylvania for us. Thank you both. When we come back, russias at it again. Iran is, too. How safe is your vote . Nbc news vote watch is next. Ote . Nbc news vote watch is next. We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections or any criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of your vote or undermines Public Confidence in the outcome of the election. That was christopher wray, the fbi director. He, of course, was joined by the dni director john ratcliffe, too, when they announced what was a confirmation of both iran and russia doing this. Yamiche alcindor, you know, the decision to make this announcement public, it was a bit of a scramble. What more do we know as to what motivated them to go public with this, the need they thought they had to go public, warning, again, about these outside agitators . Its a great question. And from what we understand, their main motivation continues to be that they want to warn the American People that there is election interference and that there are foreign adversaries that are trying to attack and meddle in the 2020 election, but there are critics of this that say this is also in some ways a political move. You heard director ratcliffe say this was intended to harm President Trump, but there are Election Officials and election experts who say this is really about sowing discord and that russia continues to be a much bigger player and a much bigger threat than iran. So, there is this idea that this was in some ways also tainted by the politics at play with President Trump often saying that hes the victim of this, and foreign adversaries wanting to hurt his campaign, when, in fact, its really about the entire idea of perception hacking, being that you give the idea that there is foreign interference in the election and it scares people, makes people not want to trust the systems. I know perception hacking is something. Anna palmer, i know you deal with a lot of these members of congress who actually are quietly more concerned about this sometimes than we hear from the president. But im curious how concerned they are about the russia angle . Peter strzok, the former fbi agent who became, obviously, the president decided to make a symbol of the investigation. In his book, he really sort of rattled me and others when he talked about all of the things russia could have done in 16 and didnt. Heres what he told me on my podcast. He said let me take a listen. There are things that could have done that they didnt and that i fear that is coming. Theyve improved those and perfected them and theyre going to use those this time around. Anna palmer, do you get the sense were ready for whatever it is that russia thought about doing four years ago and didnt . Look, i think both Senate Republicans and democrats, and even in the house, have done a lot of digging in terms of election security. I think they are aware that countries, particularly russia, are working against american interests here on this. But i also think there is a concern about what the president is doing to sow discord and kind of the americans confidence, actually, in the voting system. And thats Something Else that you also see privately a lot of members of congress concerned about, that the president is actually doing just as much to dissuade people from feeling like their vote is actually going to be counted. Well, this brings us to the other part of sort of this, i dont know what to call it, sort of election shenanigans, right . One is the outside influence. The other is lawsuits. And it does look like, mark murray, that the state of pennsylvania is going to be the center of the legal fight, perhaps. I just want to throw up a bunch of headlines here. The philadelphia inquirer, overall, one out of five requests for a mailin ballot are rejected in pennsylvania. Heres the center for Public Integrity what happens to the socalled naked ballots, accidentally sent without that inner envelope . Naked ballots wont count. One election commissioner said that could swing the election. Spotlight, pennsylvania, if the validly of ballots cast november 3rd is called into election, the Pennsylvania Legislature could decide to offer its own state of elections by invokiing article two of the constitution. It seems like pennsylvania could be ground zero for disputes over an election, if this is close. And pennsylvania is shaping up to be the Tipping Point state. The 270th electoral vote or more for either joe biden or President Trump. And you know, as weve seen this race over the last year, it has been incredibly stable. But what you just mentioned, all of the uncertainties with how the vote is counted on election day, about signaturematching, about these kind of naked ballots on whether people put the ballot in an actual envelope or they dont. And of course, if joe biden ends up winning pennsylvania by several Percentage Points, as the polling indicates right now, i dont think any of this is going to be a problem. But all of a sudden, if this is like a one or twopoint race, all of those things come into play, which is why there have been so many legal challenges. And again, i think on election day and maybe election week, all of the uncertainties about how the vote is counted is going to be the biggest story were all going to be following. Amy walter, is this the unknown . You know, the numbers are the numbers, but as ive said, one of the things ive been saying the unknown is how were going to administer this election. Is this ultimately the thing that we dont know until we see it done . Well, one of the good things about this cycle and the fact that this pandemic did hit in april instead of, say, october, is that Election Officials are actually prepared for this. Usually, the unknowns, chuck, are when something happens in an election nobody was prepared for. So, while i think most Election Officials would have liked to have a bigger window, like two years to prepare for this, rather than just six months, i think that they know what to look out for and they are preparing for this. But i agree that the bigger challenge right now is where the president is, in terms of his rhetoric right. Both on election day and after. And that to me is more than anything. And finally, the fact that so many people are voting right now suggests that the disation campaign isnt working. I have to leave it there. Nightly news across america this week. Lester holt hits the road in nevada, wisconsin and pennsylvania, talking to voters about their top concerns as america votes. Thats it for today. Thank you for watching. Well be back next week from election headquarters in new york city, two days before the biggest day of this year, because if its sunday, its meet the press. I have a plan. Its the most beautiful plan youve ever seen. You dont even have a plan for me. First im creepy. Then im sleepy. You say i have dementia. Then you say im a criminal mastermind. Which one is it, kemo saabe . Look, i cant show you my plan. Its under audit, along with my taxes, which are prepaid, just like a drug dealers telephone. Snls take on the last president ial debate with election day just eight days away. Polls show a dead heat in key battleground states. The question is, whats the state of the race when joe biden feels safe enoh